Starcraft: The Fate of the Artifact

Chapters

Chapter 2: The new mission(revised edition)
Chapter 3: The Value of Commitment
Chapter 4: At What Cost?
Chapter 5: At Long Last....
Chapter 6: Introductions and Hostility
Chapter 7: Mutual understanding
Chapter 8: The Council of Celestia
Chapter 1: Stargazing(revised edition)

Chapter 2: The new mission(revised edition)

Ponyville Park: Time until the Raiders arrival:

6 days: 20 hours

Rainbow Dash pawed at the ground impatiently. Scootaloo was supposed to be here to practice her flying an hour ago. Normally she was the first of the two to be at the designated practice spot, so when Rainbow flew over the park to find it empty, she was slightly confused. She turned her head to the sky, the sun had only just risen, and Rainbow didn’t have to work today, so she told herself to be patient. Scootaloo would be here any minute now….

*Tick Tock*

Rainbow was starting to get worried. She told Scootaloo to be here early right? It wasn’t like the pegasus filly to just miss out on flight practice, or anything that had to do with the cyan mare. Still, she shrugged it off. Maybe she was sleeping in? They hadn’t spoken at all the other day, so she might have been tired or something. Yes, that was it, Dash assured herself. The poor filly was simply exhausted from all their exercises. She would be here soon….

*Tick Tock*

The athletic mare was quickly growing paranoid over the absence of her… “sidekick”. Normally she cherished the time she got to spend AWAY from the annoying little squirt, but when they planned a practice session, she was never late. She looked once again at the all-powerful ball of heavenly light. It was about 8:20. Rainbow started panicking, jumping into the air and hovering around in tight circles. What could possibly have kept that foal away from her hero for over four hours? Rainbow held her head high, and took off for Twilight’s house. She always knew what to do in these situations.

Meanwhile, at the Everfree forest:

Three young flies were marching about the edge of the deadly, forsaken sea of trees and undergrowth. Scootaloo had seen a comet crash inside the forest, and after creating a plan, had subsequently told her best friends about it. Her friends were eager as always to go exploring, but not so excited to venture into the nightmarish woods. Nevertheless, Scootaloo was able to convince them with her “perfect” plan. They would sneak out around six in the morning, find the comet, and be back at home before anypony knew what was wrong. It worked, to an extent. Applejack and Big Macintosh always got up very early, and had to question where the three were going so early. They said truthfully, that they were going crusading to find a comet. Applejack figured that they were just goofing around; you can’t just find a comet. Still, she only let her sister leave after all her chores had been completed. And by the time that had been finished, it was practically eight!

Scootaloo quickly rounded up her friends and they dashed of to go crusading. Because they left on such short notice, they didn’t bring much in terms of equipment. Scootaloo did make sure they brought three crucial items. They packed an emergency flare; a few apples for the three to enjoy and most importantly, a gallon jug of water?

“Scootaloo, ma back’s tired! And ah though we weren’t gonna do any more crusadin’ in the forest. Not after what happened LAST time.” The southern, red-maned filly whined. Her name was Applebloom. She was an earth pony, and usually the leader of the three “Cutie Mark Crusaders”. But since Scootaloo saw the comet crash, she got to be the leader this time.

“Hey, it’s not my fault there was a cockatrice on the loose that day! And I don’t care how tired your back is! We need that water in case we get covered in tree sap! And because you’re an earth pony so you’re the only one strong enough to carry something so heavy!” Scootaloo retorted. In many of their quests to obtain their cutie marks, they somehow got covered in tree sap, which worried Scootaloo especially because tree sap is difficult to remove from feathers.

“I don’t know, I think I agree with Applebloom on this.” The final filly commented. Her name was Sweetie belle. She was a unicorn with white fur, and a curly pink and purple mane. She was probably the smartest of the three children. After all, she did read an entire dictionary once. “And last time Rarity found out I was in there, I got grounded for a week! Or maybe that was because I knocked over all of her dress-making supplies?” She pondered; bring a hoof up to her chin as she contemplated the reasoning behind her punishment.

“Come on, you guys, I know where the comet landed! It’s not to far away from Zecora’s hut. And we go there all the time! We can just go in, get it, stop by Zecora’s hut, and leave before any of YOUR family knows were we went.” Scootaloo’s comment made the other two flinch. It was known that Scootaloo was an orphan, and whenever the other two talked about having people that worried about their well being she became defensive. Sweetie walked over to the pegasus and gave her a friendly embrace.

“Ah guess if Applejack wonders where ah am ah could say we were with Zecora.” Applebloom spoke up to reassure her friend. Zecora was a Zebra. She was friendly enough, and she got along well with everypony. But whenever she talked, it was in rhymes. This made communicating with her somewhat tricky. Scootaloo returned Sweeties embrace, and slowly but surely regained her energy.

“Thanks girls. It’s nice to know that I have friends like you. That I can lean on when times get tough. No matter what.” The two separated and turned their attention toward the looming Everfree forest.

“And before we go,” All three fillies took in a deep breath and screamed at the top of their little lungs.

“ CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS COMET FINDERS GO!!! ” They then quickly galloped into the forest.

Meanwhile, at Zecora’s hut:

Zecora’s hut was filled with the sounds of…nothing. All was quiet at this hour, and the foreign mare was happily sleeping in her bed. Zecora had no big plans for today. She had preformed her weekly rituals yesterday, and she didn’t have to find any more ingredients for any potions. No, she was just going to relax and enjoy her morning… Until a sharp rapture pierced her home and almost scared the poor creature out of her skin.

“Zecora? Are ya in there?” Applebloom asked from outside her hut. Zecora wearily opened her door to greet them, still trying to fight off the sleep they had robbed from her.

“And hello to you, young Applebloom.” She said with a yawn. She smiled warmly, but she was angry about this encounter. Why are they even here at this hour? Did their parents know about this?

“Hey, Zecora, did you notice the comet fall into the forest two days ago?” Sweetie asked politely, like always. The gears in the zebra’s mind started turning, grogginess leaving in turn for alertness and attention.

“This object, I did see fall. But what makes it so special for you all?”

“We wanted to try and find our cutie marks in treasure hunting!” The three of them said simultaneously. They looked they were about to burst with excitement with what they might find. “Can you come with us, Zecora? It would much safer if you did.” Sweetie still didn’t want to be in the forest, but Zecora was a responsible adult, she wouldn’t let anything bad happen.

“That comet holds something dark, I can tell. To venture there would not end well.” It is best to ward off the fillies from that place, she told herself. She had seen the comet crash as well. (She was in the neighborhood at the time) Even though she had not yet seen it, it gave off an aura. A dark, flowing energy that somepony with a stable mind would not dare touch with a forty-nine and a half foot pole.

“But Zecora, we just want to see it once!” Scootaloo begged. “We can look at it, and then go home, okay?” Her eyes began to fill with tears as she pleaded with the zebra.

Something inside the zebra knew that to dissuade these children from whatever they have their sights on is like trying to argue with a manticore: Tedious and it might get you killed. Looking back at their faces, still filled with undying conviction, she released a sigh of defeat. It was far too early for her to deal with this; surely a glimpse of the comet would not be a bad thing?

“Before we go, I must prepare some tea. I cannot venture with my stomach empty.” Zecora let them inside her hut while she drearily lit a fire in her fire pit, pouring the water the crusaders brought with them into a kettle to get it to boil, letting a very grateful Applebloom rest her back. As the water begun to heat up, the fillies wandered around, trying to occupy themselves. Applebloom helped prepare the tea and some breakfast for the zebra, while Sweetie was checking out some of the wooden masks from Zecoras homeland. Even though the zebra had told them that they symbolized good will and hospitality, they still looked unsettling.

Scootaloo had seen a jar hanging precariously over the edge of a shelf. She tried to hover using her tiny wings, and thanks to the practice time with Rainbow dash, she actually managed to fly up to the jar.She grabbed it with her fore hoofs, cheering to herself in her head. You ROCK Scootaloo! She imagined her hero saying. At this rate you’ll be as fast as me! Well maybe not that fast. Still hovering, she pushed the jar back into its proper place on the shelf, before descending to the floor. Her orange face almost split apart as she grinned with more sheer joy than ever before.

“Wow Scootaloo, you’re getting better at flying all the time!” Sweetie congratulated her friend. Zecora stepped back into the room. Having finished making the tea, she set aside some for all of them, motioning for them to sit down. She had to tell them that this desire for adventure was best left unfulfilled.

10 minutes of futile pleading and begging later:

The Cutie mark Crusaders and their escort Zecora, were finally ready to find the comet. Zecora had tried to make the little ponies see the danger they might be in here in the forest, but they were as stubborn as a brick wall. She tried explaining that the comet was giving off an aura that scared off even the most fearsome of Everfree predators. Scootaloo simply laughed at the supposed fearsomeness of said creatures. The monochromatic mare tried to tell them that it was too early for this kind of journey, but the sun had to say otherwise, judging by the way it lit up her house with its radiant glow a moment later. Defeated, she led them outside to begin this hopefully short venture into the forest depths.

“All right, little fillies follow me. If this exciting comet, you wish to see.” Zecora then began trotting off deeper into the forest. The cutie mark crusaders followed suite.

The Hyperion: Jim Raynor’s Bedroom:

Time until arrival:

6 days: 17 hours

Jim bolted upright in his bed. He was panting heavily, beads of sweat ran down his forehead. His white shirt was glued to his chiseled chest by his own perspiration. He glanced at the bedside table and flipped the lamp on. With the room filled with light, he reached out to grab his most cherished keepsake: a picture of Sahara Kerrigan before she became infested. He ran his finger over the small photograph, reveling in the times they shared, and the future they hoped for.

His thoughts turned darker, now that she was this monster, she had committed atrocities far greater than anything he had experienced. The casualties resulting from her control of the swarm measured in the billions. And though it hurt Jim to do it, she had to die. Or did she?

An old ally had recently visited Jim: Zeratul, a wise, old, protoss Dark Templar. They fought the zerg swarm alongside each other many times, and had developed a strong companionship. This was cemented when Jim helped defend the protoss home world from what was almost the ENTIRE swarm. Even though the planet eventually succumbed, his contributions were invaluable in the evacuation of the protoss.

Zeratul had appeared suddenly on the ship one night, giving Raynor a memory crystal, and instructions to study its contents. For within it lay the key to the galaxy’s salvation. At first Jim didn’t know what to think about this ordeal, but Zeratul seemed to be in pain, and he told him that Kerrigan was involved in the destruction of the universe.

James placed his hand on his heated forehead and shook the grogginess out of his system. He wouldn’t sleep. Not until he lived that final memory from the crystal. It was a vision of the future that the Zerg Overmind saw. A future in which, Kerrigan was dead. He rose from his bed, putting on a clean shirt, his cargo pants and boots, and begun making his way slowly to the lab. The previous visions from the crystal flooded his mind as he walked down the empty corridors.

A terrible fate was soon to befall the galaxy. Through the messages, Raynor had discovered the presence of a Zerg and Protoss hybrid. It wasn’t natural; it was as if something took the greatest traits of both races and forcefully twisted them together. And if Jim was correct, then there were a lot more where that one came from. And whatever was controlling them was not going to mess around….

Meanwhile in Ponyville:

Dash flew over to the Library where Twilight lived and knocked loudly on the door. No answer. She tried calling to her instead. “Helllooooooooo? Twilight, you in there?” There was still no answer. She backed up a few steps, thinking to herself. ‘What’s with Twilight today? She usually gets up pretty early. Maybe something important happened.’ She looked at the position of the sun. It looked to be about 9:30. So she should definitely be awake by now. And if not her, then her assistant Spike would have opened it instead. Quickly losing all uncertainty about her course of action, Rainbow did the next thing that came to mind.

Dash quickly turned around on her forelegs and bucked the door right off its hinges. The sight before her Dash had seen many times before. But it still made her uneasy. Twilight and Spike were both asleep in the middle of the library, which looked like she had just randomly tossed every book off the shelves without a second thought! And given how well she treated books, this was a shock.

As soon as Dash kicked the door, Twilight woke up with a screech. She then started running back and forth from bookshelf to bookshelf, mumbling incoherently to herself. While she was putting books back on the shelves, Dash could only make out a few words like, “re-shelving day” and “oversleeping” and “banishment” while Spike tried desperately to calm her down. Dash normally would have tried to snap her friend out of it, but she was in a hurry.

“Meh, its Spike’s problem now.” She said with a shrug as she flew off to Applejacks farm. “Maybe AJ knows where Scoots is.”

The Hyperion’s Lab:

Jim looked down upon the alien crystal, its final memory waiting to be relived. He shuddered slightly, not wanting to know what horrible fate awaited them. He looked around the lab once more. Stettman had left for his own bed a while ago, but he might return at any moment. Turning back to the table at his waist, he sighed.

“I don’t think I want to see any vision of the Overmind’s. But if Kerrigan’s involved, we need to know.” The crystal began glowing brightly as Raynor watched the prophetic vision. The Overmind’s deep voice echoed through his mind as he saw the Protoss prepare themselves for their ultimate destiny.

“On a distant, shadowed world, the protoss will make their final stand. Their heroes will gather. Their forces will be marshaled. And they will die, bravely. But still, they will die. And my zerg will become slaves, to the hybrid.” The Overmind’s voice faded as a new scene came into focus.

An army of protoss warriors had bunkered themselves inside an enormous fortress. Shining phoenixes patrolled the skies, providing support for the hundreds of void rays and carriers that made up the impressive fleet. Imposing colossi stood ready at each of the fortress’ three bridges, ready to burn anything in their field of vision to ashes with their thermal lances. Lastly, Raynor saw Zeratul, standing tall and proud in front of a legion of protoss warriors, High and Dark Templar alike, standing shoulder to shoulder with their psionic blades high above their heads. The end had come, but they sure as hell wouldn’t go down without a fight. Raynor absorbed as much of this scene as he could take, for it was truly a battle of life and death.

Back to the Cutie Mark Crusaders:

The four of them had been marching along the path quietly for while now. Applebloom looked up at the now completely awake Zecora. She seemed to be shuddering, like a cold wind was blowing past her back. She asked what was wrong, and the zebra simply told her she was all right, but that they should not linger in this place. Scootaloo tripped over a rock when they arrived at a sharp turn in the path; tumbling into Sweetie in the process. The white filly got up and turned to her friend.

“Would you watch were you are going?” She asked while brushing herself off.

“It’s not my fault there was a rock in the way!” Scootaloo shouted back angrily.

“If you weren’t so clumsy, it wouldn’t have mattered!” Applebloom and Zecora kept walking, there was a clearing up ahead, once they arrived, they could rest and get the two to stop fighting. Then they arrived; and their jaws dropped in awe of the sight before them. Scoots and Sweetie kept walking and bickering the whole time, not noticing that the other two had stopped moving until they walked right beside them.

“What are you looking…at?” Sweetie’s white face grew even paler as she saw the hideous wreckage that lay before them.

The remains of the carrier were charred to a dark black. The pieces of the hull that still retained its gold coloration were twisted into horrifying caricatures of what they once were. The impact of the hull on the ground had created a massive crater, with some smoke rising from the flaming carcass of the mighty spacecraft.

The ship had landed in two distinct, equally gargantuan pieces that lay not too far apart from each other. The parts that show they used to be connected sparked with electricity occasionally. And there was no doubt that any creature that was on board this ship was certainly dead. Many of the nearby trees had been snapped in half, or crushed under the ship’s enormous weight. As the four of them stood in disbelief, Scoots noticed something at the bottom of the crater. Peering downward, she could barely make out a small, glittering object, seemingly untouched by the carnage around it.

“I think I can see something down there!” Scootaloo called out to her friends. They were all mesmerized by the strange ship, so her words did not reach them. Rolling her eyes, she called out again to get their attention. “I’m going to check it out.” Before anypony could react, Scootaloo had jumped into the crater, flapping her wings as fast as she could to slow her fall. Her friends called out to her, but they realized she couldn’t hear them from down there, so they began the slow decent to the bottom of the impact site.

Meanwhile, at Sweet Apple Acres:

Rainbow and Applejack got along very well together. They were very competitive and could turn almost anything into a contest. Normally, the only reason Rainbow would show up to the farm on a weekend would be to brag about how cool she was. But this was urgent. Dash didn’t have any free time right now. She saw Applejack just resting against a tree, with her Stetson hat pulled over her eyes. Rainbow flew over to her friend and hovered right next to her.

“Hey, AJ! Have you seen Scoots around anywhere? She was supposed to meet me for flight practice today but she never showed up and I’m really worried because something terrible might have happened and was she here at all today?” Rainbow was frantic, and practically shot the questions out at a hundred miles an hour.

“Yes ah have seen Scootaloo today.” AJ replied calmly, pushing up her hat to get a view of her friend. “She wanted ta take ma sister somewhere, somethin’ about crusadin’ or somethin’. Ya know those three are always up to somethin’.” It was true, the three fillies did have a lot of adventures, and unless they directly needed help, they usually kept to themselves.

“Well, I kind of figured out THAT much!” Dash yelled, still hovering with her wings in front of her friend. “I just need to know where they went. Did they say where they were going?” Dash asked, quickly losing her patience and temper.

“Ah think they said something about a comet. Why? Does that help?”

Dash’s mind suddenly stopped. She had seen the comet fall into the Everfree forest. It was very late, so not many other ponies saw it. But if Scoots did see it, then she was in extreme danger. She should know better than to just wander into the forest like that. “Oh man! Why did she have to go there?” Dash swiftly turned around, and took off in the direction of the forest, leaving her friend in the dust.

At the Impact Site…

Scootaloo had managed to get to the bottom of the crater without sustaining any harm. She was proud of herself for being able to suspend her fall like that. Dusting herself off, she turned back to the mighty craft. Now that she was face-to-face with the hull of the ship, she felt a surge of anger flow through her entire being. The object that she thought she saw turned out to be nothing more than a black rectangle with weird markings on it.

“A BOX? THIS IS WHAT I CAME DOWN HERE FOR!” Scootaloo shrieked in disbelief. This treasure could have been anything. It could have been diamonds, or some rock worth MORE than diamonds! Scootaloo started to leave the wreckage, but as she did, she noticed something odd about the box; there was a huge hole in the side of it.

“Whoa.” Was the only thing she was able to say. It looked like something had burnt right through the black container, but what? What could have made such a massive ship crash like this? As she stood there gawking at it, the other three managed to get down to her.

“Scootaloo!” Applebloom screamed. “What did ya do that for? Ya nearly scared me to death!” She was relived that her friend was okay. But something was off. Scoots kept looking at the black box. “What is that thing?” Everypony just shook their heads. Even Zecora, who seemed to know everything, was unsure as to what this box was holding.

“In this place we should not be, so let us turn our backs and flee.” Zecora said with a worried look. As she glanced around the area, it grew more and more unsettling. This place was giving off a powerful energy, and she was worried about what else it might attract.

“I don’t wanna go just yet.” Scootaloo spoke in a determined voice. “Not until we find out what’s in this box.” The other two fillies tried to get their friend to budge, but she was passionate about this discovery. This was HER adventure. HER treasure. She saw the comet fall. SHE was going to discover what this box contained. Not even Celestia herself could move her from this spot.

With a defeated sigh, Zecora walked up to the box. “If it will satisfy your curiosity, then the contents of this box, we shall see.” Zecora then pushed against the box with her forelegs. Tilting it until the object inside came tumbling out of the hole in its side.

It was a small, blue triangular prism with light blue markings around its body that had a bright, luminous glow to it. It seemed to give off a certain…. Energy. They couldn’t explain it, but just by looking at it, they could tell that it carried unbelievable powers.

“Um, okay, we saw it. Can we go back home now?” Sweetie asked. Unsure of what the object was and determined not to find out. But even as she said this, Scootaloo, as if possessed by this object, began reaching out for it.

Scootaloo could barely hear her friend’s voices. Their warnings to turn away: to get out of the crater before something terrible happened. Their pleas fell on deaf ears. Scootaloo knew that, just as that rock had been Rarity’s destiny: This object was going to be hers. As she touched its surface, her thoughts were instantly melted away as she plummeted into a dark void.

The Hyperion’s Lab:

The never-ending battle against the swarm was becoming more and more futile by the minute. They were surrounding the protoss base, and it was only thanks to the arrival of hierarch Artanis and his powerful mother ship that they managed to survive at all. They had fought the hybrid back for now, and they were doing the best they could to recover, but it truly seemed that their efforts were in vain. Their powerful fleet had been reduced to almost nothing, the mighty colossi looked as if they would topple over at any minute, and the high Templars had exhausted every last drop of their energy. They had almost nothing left, and soon, they would meet their creators in the afterlife.

Outside of the memory, Stettman walked back into the lab. The nerd stretched out his back and yawned loudly, getting ready to go back to his research. He quickly noticed that commander Raynor was deeply entranced by the crystal, as he did whenever he looked into it. But something was off. He turned his head to see that the three artifacts were glowing. Faintly at first, but slowly increasing in intensity.

“Fascinating.”

****

The inside of Scootaloo’s head became a raging torrent of mindless thoughts. Her mind was bombarded by memories and sounds that meant nothing to her. She thought she would just keep falling forever in this void, but slowly, the feeling ceased. She got up to her hooves; unsure of what exactly she was standing on in this place. She put some pressure on the ground beneath her, and found it to be firm. Satisfied that the earth was not going to break away from underneath her, she gave the darkness around her full attention. The world around her started rippling, like a pool of water that somepony had thrown a rock in. It became more and more intense, until an image formed in place of the darkness.

The image formed in front of her, as if she was looking through a mirror at the violent scene. She saw a massive- no, massive wasn’t enough to describe this army. The numbers of these beings must have been in the millions. The group of aliens lied on a blood stained, ash covered battlefield. The alien beings wore gold plating with strange markings on their clothes, and appeared to be writhing in anguish over something, but she could not tell what. She thought to herself, “Why are these creatures so sad? What’s happening?”

****

A dark, echoing voice pierced through the remaining protoss entrenchments. Coursing through the minds of all that were there. The creator of the hybrid had come at last to destroy them all. And though the protoss stood their ground, all hope had vanished.

“FOOLISH, PRIDEFUL CHILDREN, THERE WAS ONE AMONG YOU WHO COULD HAVE JEAPORDIZED MY GREAT PLAN. BUT IN YOUR RECKLESSNESS, YOU MISSTOOK HER FOR THE TRUE THREAT!” With the realization dawning on him, Zeratul fell to his knees.

“The Queen of Blades! How could we have known?”

****

Scootaloo was completely and utterly confused. Who was this queen of blades? Why was she so important? Who was talking to those aliens just now? What is going on? Why are they fighting these other things? What ARE those other things? As she pondered, the aliens in her sight were viciously torn apart by yet another race of aliens of all shapes and sizes. Anything from flying, tube-like creatures with bat wings that spewed balls of acid: to hulking monstrosities with four scythe-like blades that tore through bone and metal alike. The heroic, gold-wearing aliens had been brought to extinction before her eyes, and she could not be more perplexed by it all.

The image in Scootaloo’s mind faded, until all that was left was the dark void. She was even more confused. What was going on here? Nothing was making any sense at all! Who were the good guys? It couldn’t be those hideous, purple things, right? They were awful to look at, much less fight!

She held her head in her hooves, trying to make head or tails of anything that she just witnessed in that horrid event. She suddenly got the feeling that the temperature around just dropped twenty degrees. She began shivering uncontrollably, and she felt a presence behind her. She slowly turned her head to see a gargantuan pair of glowing, red eyes. Her jaw dropped in fear as the monstrous figure loomed over her miniscule form. It did nothing, only glaring at her fiercely, like she was a fly buzzing around somepony’s face.

She bolted up in fear, adrenalin pumping through her veins as she fled for her life from this monstrosity. As she galloped away as fast as she could through this infinite darkness, she turned head back to see that the pair of eyes had not moved away from her in the slightest. Her own pupils dilating in fear: she let loose a bloodcurdling scream and stopped running. Scootaloo covered her head with her legs in a vain and desperate attempt to hide her tiny form, only to hear the phantom’s bellowing laugh.

“YOU HAVE NO PLACE TO HIDE, AND NOWHERE TO RUN!” The cruel, merciless laughter of this monster echoes powerfully through the void, consuming the frightened filly completely. Then suddenly, it stopped. She moved one hoof from over her eye to peer into the shadows, and the monster was no longer there. Breathing a mighty sigh of relief, she fell onto her back, panting and sweating. She lay on the cold blackness for some time, content with not having random visions flung into her mind.

After a while she sat upright, waiting for something to happen. Then it occurred to her, “What if I can’t get out of here?” she asked out to the darkness. And in response, a bright flash of light pierced the veil of shadows. It was blindingly bright, like staring at the sun for too long. When it faded, the darkness had been replaced with a calm, white room. She looked at the ground again, it seemed like there were blue carvings in the white reflective floor. She could not make out a singular pattern, but they were glowing faintly, just like the artifact had been.

She looked around the room, seeing golden pillars than ran up and up, until a fog-like substance swallowed them up. It lingered near the floor as well, just under her heels, but it was a soothing sensation that she welcomed heartily. This place did not appear to have any walls, just a long stretch of pillars that formed a sort of half-circle. At the center of this circle was a massive throne. Made of gold and adorned with the same glowing runes everything in this place seemed to have, it sat in silence.

Noticing something out of the corner of her eye, she looked at the carvings on the floor. The blue trace marks glowed brightly, and the pillars lit up as well. Each sending forth a ray of light that impacted the seat of the throne until the glow became so intense that the filly had to shield her eyes.

After the light had settled, Scootaloo heard a voice. She tried to find the source of the voice, but it seemed to come from all around her. Whipping her head around, she saw that there was a hazy, blue figure in the throne. This creature seemed familiar almost. It was very tall, wearing a long, flowing cape that came down to its feet. It had its legs crossed, and the creature was resting its chin on the palm of its hand. Then she realized; this was one of those creatures she saw in that earlier vision! But what did it want with her? After looking her over, this creature finally spoke, uncrossing its legs and sitting up straight.

“I am Nyon, Protoss executor and leader of the Tal’Darim. I am communicating with you via these artifacts.” His voice was deep and commanding, yet the filly wondered how it could talk without a mouth. It gave Scoots the impression that those under this creature’s command would follow his orders without a second thought.

“You who have touched our holy relic shall be given a task to prove your worth. If you are unsure of the task at hand, allow me to shed some light on the situation.” The apparition clapped his hands together, and the white world around them turned into a lush jungle. With flying birds and animals and plants the likes of which she had never even dreamed of. Large waterfalls dotted the landscape, and massive structures were scattered here and there. They looked to be altars, and there was something at the center of each one.

A mysterious purple gas was flowing freely from the altars. The Tal’Darim were worshiping it, as far as the filly could tell. And they clearly sought to protect it, judging by the army they had stationed at each one. One of them stood up from his position at the altar. It was Nyon! Scoots turned to the apparition, who had a grim look on his featureless face.

In this vision, Nyon marched over to a clearing in the jungle, and saw several humongous structures. Scoots could tell that they were not the buildings of the protoss; they were completely different in design and coloration. There were several creatures standing guard, they were huge, blue monsters and they carried what Scoots assumed was a weapon in their claws. She noticed that one of these other creatures was taking the gas from the altar! Nyon psionically projected his voice to the leader of these trespassers in an attempt to drive them off without the use of force.

“This land was sacred to the Tal’Darim, before Terrans ever reached the stars!” So those other creatures are called Terrans? The filly thought to herself. “You must depart, immediately.” The Terran commander, a black creature who appeared larger than all the rest, stepped forward and looked at Nyon sympathetically. He pushed a button on his helmet, and the gold, skull-adorned dome on its face came up, revealing a face that greatly contrasted Nyon’s own.

He had a nose, ears and a mouth, and a short, scruffy beard covered his mouth. His eyes had a look of compassion that Scoots was not expected. When he spoke, he almost sounded like Applejack.

“Hold on now, we just need some of this gas here. And we’ll be long gone before ya know it.” Nyon instantly became furious, startling the filly with his aggression.

“NO! You shall not defile the breath of creation!” He teleported away from the enemy camp, and the vision faded into a different location. The planet was barren, like everything on it had been dead for a terribly long time. There were more protoss structures, and a gargantuan temple in the distance. There was something attacking the door to the temple, and as the vision turned, she could see it was those same Terrans from before!

“Man! Why can’t those guys just leave Nyon alone! He never did anything to them!” Scoots shouted at the vision. She witnessed the Tal’Darim fiercely fight to protect their artifacts. She saw them give their own lives to defend them, but it was in vain. For in the end, the Terrans escaped with the relic. The vision faded, and she turned to face Nyon. He looked down at her with a powerful resolve.

“We will come to this planet to retrieve the fallen artifact. Until then, it must be you who keeps it away from those who would seek to abuse it. Until I arrive, guard this treasure with your life. Its powers are far too great for this world.” With that, the protoss apparition vanished, and Scoots was violently pulled out of the white void.

“Scoots! Scoots! Snap out of it!” Applebloom was viciously shaking her friend, trying to bring her back to the world. Scoots just hung limply in her friends’ hooves. Her eyes moved around lazily, and her breathing was irregular. Sweetie started crying. Her uncontrollable sobs were long and full of despair. Zecora checked Scoot’s heart rate. She was still alive, just unconscious. Just as Zecora was about to tell the two of them to leave, Rainbow Dash appeared over the clearing.

Dash looked around the Impact site, looking for Scoots desperately. Suddenly she saw an emergency flare go up, just barely missing her left wing. She looked around in shock. When her gaze drifted downward, she could see the Cutie mark crusaders and Zecora. She flew down to the bottom as quickly as she could. When she got closer, she almost crashed into the ground from shock. Scootaloo was unconscious and breathing irregularly.

Dash grabbed Scoots and started shaking her vigorously. “Come on, squirt! What’s wrong with you?” Her voice was shaky, and she wasn’t sure what to do. Nothing like this had ever happened before. “I’ll take her to Ponyville hospital. You three go to Twilight's house. Tell her EVERYTHING that happened.” With that, Dash cradled her unconscious friend in her forelegs, and took off for Ponyville. There were so many questions she wanted to ask them, but none of them mattered now. The only thing that was important was making sure her little friend was okay.

The Hyperion’s Lab:

The last message from the crystal was finished. Zeratul had given Raynor his parting words of wisdom. That was the fate of all things, should Kerrigan die. Utter destruction. He was horrified. After all the atrocities she had committed, that woman would be the one to prevent the apocalypse? He closed his eyes and backed away from the crystal. Jim brought his hand to his temples and applied some light pressure. Without acknowledging Stettman in the slightest, he left to the cantina. No way could he possibly sleep after that.

With the lab empty once again, Stettman began wondering why the artifacts were glowing like that just now. What secrets did they hold? What marvels could be uncovered by it? After thinking very carefully, he decided against it. Raynor would probably go into a rage if he found out he had been messing with the artifacts. Or they would explode or something, knowing his luck, so the nerd walked out of the lab as well, turning off the lights, and leaving the artifacts untouched… for now.

Chapter 3: The Value of Commitment

Equestria: Approximate time until Raynor’s Arrival:

5 days: 10 hours

Scootaloo’s mind was once again an empty, dark void. The difference was that now, she was in control of her thoughts. And thank Celestia that she was; otherwise she might have gone insane. Now, Scoots was concentrating on the most recent events. That creature Nyon, said that it was her temporary duty to guard that blue thing. But how? She was still just a filly; she could barely fly, let alone actually fight! Sure, she was the strongest out of her friends, but if she had to fight those Terran? She wouldn’t last for a minute. As she tried harder to focus on a way to protect the artifact, she could hear a voice calling for her from across the void.

As she opened her eyes, her vision was still hazy. She could barely make out where she was. She could hear some ponies talking, but she couldn’t make out any words. She detected the heavy odor of disinfectants; it felt like being smothered by a mattress. A horrible thought crossed her mind.

“Am I dead?” She thought to herself with fear. That thought vanished as soon as it emerged when she felt the fluffy cotton mattress of a bed beneath her body. As she tried to bring her eyes back into focus, she noticed bright white walls. The kind one normally finds at a hospital. She realized that somepony was staring right at her face. It was Rainbow dash, her face still wracked with confusion and worry. As she noticed that her friend was awake, she let out a long-held sigh of relief, the pain on her face slowly fading away.

“Wow, squirt, you had me worried for a second there.” Dash said in a truly gratified tone. “But it’s good to know that you’re okay.” Scootaloo nodded and tried to stretch her legs and wings. She was surprised to find that she wasn’t injured. As Scoots looked around the room, she saw several other faces. Applebloom, Sweetie, and Twilight and even Spike. But Zecora was missing.

“Where’s Zecora? Where am I? What happened?” Scoots asked while trying to shake the grogginess out of her head. Twilight spoke up to answer her questions.

“You are currently in Ponyville Hospital. You have been unconscious for almost a day. And don’t worry about Zecora, she was perfectly healthy last time we saw her.” Twilight’s voice turned somber. “Rainbow was worried sick about you. She flew you all the way here from the middle of the Everfree forest.” As she said this, she turned her head towards Rainbow, who was blushing a bright scarlet and looking down at the floor.

“Ahm so glad you’re okay, Scootaloo! Ah thought for SURE that somethin’ bad had happened to ya’.” Applebloom chimed. “Can ya tell us what happened when you touched that thing? What happened to ya? You were just fine, and then ya went all limp an’ stuff. Ya nearly scarred us to death!” Everypony in the room leaned towards Scootaloo, waiting for her reply. Scoots ran her options through her head, should she tell them everything? She decided to fill them in on everything except that strange battle where all the Protoss died. She still wasn't sure what had happened, and she didn't want to answer a lot of questions. She sat upright, and began her story.

"Well, at first I woke up in this dark space. There was nothing but darkness all around, and it seemed to go on forever. Then I turned around and there were these BIG, glowing, red eyes!" She waved her arms to emphasize her point. "It was scary. Scarier than that cockatrice in the forest. So, I ran away from it. But it always seemed to be right behind me. Eventually, it went away, and I was all alone again. Then there was this bright flash of light, and I ended up in a weird room." Twilight raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"How was it strange?" All the ponies grew even more interested with the child's vision.

"Well, it was all white. Even more white than Rarity's fur, but not as bright. There was this cool fog-thing that floated on the ground and ceiling. Then this strange thing showed up!" As expected, everypony gasped, but Scootaloo continued anyway. "It was tall, with back legs kinda like ours, in a way. But his had toes like Spike. Its skin was also kinda scaly like Spike, and there was this thing sticking out of the back of its head. It was freaky in every sense of the word. He also had a face with only two eyes. No mouth, no nose, no ears, or anything. I was just looking back at it when... He spoke to me."

"How did it talk without a mouth? That can't work. You need a mouth to say things, and eat! How can something live without a mouth?!" Sweetie turned and shook Twilight for an answer, but the librarian had none to share.

"Anyway, It said it's name was Nyon, and that it was from a race of creatures called The Protoss." He said that the ship that crashed and the blue rock belonged to them, and that they were coming here to get it back. He also told me to protect it."

"Protect it? From what?" Rainbow Dash asked the filly with her usual cockiness. "Whatever it is, I'll take 'em out in a flash!" Scoots glowed with joy that her mentor was sticking up for her, and quickly returned to her tale.

"Nyon told me to protect it from "Terran thieves." I didn't know what that meant, but then her showed me a vision. He showed the protoss guarding an artifact similar to the one back in the forest. They were just minding their own business, when these Terran guys showed up and killed them all!" She then began recounting how the Protoss fought bravely to defend the blue rock; and how the Terran aliens stole it anyway. She quickly wrapped up her descriptions, as she noticed that the gore was making Sweetie Belle nauseous. “And that’s what happened.” Scoots said as she wrapped up her story. “But where’s Zecora? Is she okay?” Scoots asked, mentally hitting herself for forgetting about her so quickly.

“Zecora is just fine. We told her to make sure that nopony else goes to the impact site, so she should still be standing guard near the entrance.” Twilight replied. “We have yet to decide on what to do with the artifact, but we are sure that—”. Nurse Redheart cut her off as she walked into the hospital room. She was a white pony with a red cross as her cute mark.

“Well now, Scootaloo.” The nurse said, looking down at her note board. “I have good news, and better news.” This instantly perked Scoots up, along with everypony else in the room. “The first good news is: you seem to be fine, no broken bones or bruises. You can go home today.” Everypony cheered in happiness for their little friend. Especially Rainbow Dash, who was doing loops in the air of the tiny hospital room.

“What’s the other good news?” Scootaloo asked, leaning forward in her cushy hospital bed. What could be better than being able to leave the hospital?

“The better news is: it looks like you earned your cutie mark!!” The nurse proclaimed joyously.

At the sound of those words, everypony froze. Rainbow crashed onto the floor, Spike fell off of Twilights back, and Applebloom and Sweeties jaws both almost hit the floor. Scottaloo, however, jumped off of the bed screaming with copious amounts of joy.

“WOOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!! I’ve done it! I finally earned my cutie mark! This is the greatest day EVER! OH! What does it look like? What does it look like?” As she spun around in a circle, trying to get a view of her flank, she stopped. And her mouth gaped in disbelief of the symbol that now took residence on her flank. Everypony (Except the nurse, who had seen it already) gasped in both shock and confusion.

“What in the hay is this thing?” Scootaloo asked angrily. She had hoped her cutie mark would be something awesome. Like a… um… well, she couldn’t think of anything cool, but this wasn’t it! It just looked like three commas swirling around each other! “This is the worst day ever.” Scoots sat back down on her haunches in the hospital bed, pouting and folding her forelegs across her chest. “What does this thing even mean?” Nopony had any idea what this symbol meant.

“That’s strange.” Twilight commented. Usually when a pony gets their cutie mark, they have a clear sense of what their special talent is! But, Scootaloo, the only thing you did is—” Sweetie quickly butted in.

“Maybe your special talent has something to do with that rock you touched at the crater! What do you think Twilight?” Sweetie asked with curiosity only seen from her when cutie marks where concerned.

“As I was about to say, it is a possibility.” Twilight confirmed. “But this is still a dangerous object. If just touching it caused Scootaloo here to faint, it could be dangerous to even go near it.” Twilight furrowed her brow in thought. “I know!” She finally exclaimed with gusto. “Why don’t we tell the princess about this? I’m sure she’ll know what to do!” It seemed like whenever anything happened in Ponyville, Twilight wanted to inform Celestia. Even though she was more than capable of handling this situation.

“That’s a great idea Twilight.” Spike added, pulling a quill and a scroll from Twilights saddlebag. “What should we say?” Twilight was about to respond when the Nurse cut her off again.

“I’m sorry, but visiting hours are over. Now give Scootaloo here some time to get ready, and she’ll be with you again shortly.” As everypony filed out of the room, it gave Scoots some more time to think of her cutie mark. Where had she seen this symbol before? It looked eerily familiar, yet at the same time it was like nothing they had seen before. Suddenly the memory came rushing back to her. This symbol was on members of the Tal’Darim’s clothing: as well as their strange flying ships. It must be their coat-of-arms.

What Nyon said was becoming more and more likely every minute. As Scoots exited the hospital, she made up her mind. She was going to go right back to that artifact, and make sure that nopony else touched it. But first she had to go to the orphanage and get her scooter. At the realization that she still had to go back there, her head drooped in sorrow. The orphanage wasn’t exactly the nicest place in Ponyville. And she usually did everything in her power to stay away from it. With an audible sigh, she started sneaking towards the building.

Inside the orphanage:

Twilight had gathered all of her friends, as well as Applebloom and Sweetie Bell to the orphanage to discuss what they were going to do about the artifact. They were waiting in the lobby for Scootaloo to get back from the hospital. Twilight had briefed all of them on what she intended to tell Celestia: as she didn’t send the letter yet.

“Twilight, darling I know you said this was urgent and everything, but do we honestly have be in this filthy orphanage?” Rarity disliked everything about the orphanage. It was dirty, it was in dire need of repairs: and worst of all, it seemed like the caretaker, Mrs. Powell didn’t even care about the children. She reminded Rarity of the orphanage caretaker from that play she saw in Canterlot. What was it called? Little orphan…. Somepony? Oh well, it didn’t matter. Rarity would have to come back here sometime and fix this entire building up!

“I understand your concern, Rarity. But we have to think about Scootaloo’s feelings above all else in this matter. It seems like the artifact chose her, so she should decide on what to do.” Twilight assured her friend. “And we all need to be here to help her with this decision.”

“I know what we can do!” Pinkie shouted excitedly. “We should throw her a party! She just got her cutie mark, right? That is a super-special event for ANYPONY!” Pinkie gasped. “And we can bake the cake to look like her cutie mark! And we can hold the party right here! It will be—” Mrs. Powell cut her off.

“NO. There will be no parties in this building.” She said with a scowl. Her glare was so sharp that it seemed to cut into Pinkies heart! “Its hard enough for me to keep of all these brats under control. And now you want to give them all a party?” She took a long drag from her cigarette. “Not on my watch. Now, if you keep talking about parties, I’m going to kick you out.” Pinkies eyes looked like they were about to burst with tears. How could somepony who runs a shelter for unfortunate fillies and colts be so cruel? Fluttershy put her hoof around her friend’s neck and gave her a reassuring hug. Mrs. Powell then slunk over to her desk and began sorting papers again. The group was about to start talking again when there was a sharp knock on the door.

“Oh, for Celestia’s sake!” Mrs. Powell grumbled with frustration as she made her way from behind her desk to the door. Who could possibly be here at this time of day? When she pulled open the door, standing there with a package by her hooves was none other than Ditzy Doo, the local mailmare.

“Um, is Mrs. Powell her? This is for her.” She paused for a moment, closing her eyes in frustration. “This is the orphanage right? The people at the last building I went to were kinda angry at me.” She asked with a worried expression on her face.

“I AM Mrs. Powell, you wall eyed FREAK!” She yelled, taking the package from Ditzy and slamming the door in her face. The ponies in the lobby just stared at her in utter shock with what they had just witnessed. For a split second, Rainbow thought she saw a smirk on Mrs. Powell’s face.

“How dare you!” Rainbow yelled, flying right up to Mrs. Powell’s face. Her own face was twisted with uncontrollable blind fury. Scootaloo never talked about her life at the orphanage much, and now Rainbow could see why. She couldn’t believe that somepony so heartless was in charge of looking after her little friend. “Nopony treats Derpy like that and gets away with it!” If it hadn’t been for Twilight holding her back with her magic, Rainbow probably would have killed the cruel earth pony right then and there.

“Oh, so you actually care about the mentally challenged little nobody?” She taunted Rainbow with a snarky laugh. “First you fill up my lobby with your annoying presence, then you talk about making these brats happy, and now, you’re telling me how to live my life? All of you, get out of my building before I call the police.” She pointed toward the door and gave a look of pure hatred to the group.

Twilight let go of Rainbow Dash, who then quickly flew outside to comfort her fellow Pegasus friend. Everypony else quickly followed suite. As they left the building of dread, they saw Ditzy sobbing on the plaza in front of the orphanage, with Rainbow stroking her mane and offering some words of encouragement. Defeated in their attempt to make Scootaloo a party, they all went their separate ways; Twilight went back to the library with Spike, Fluttershy and Pinkie went back to their respective homes. Applebloom and Sweetie, however, managed to get away from their older sisters under the premise that they were going to play together some more. They now sat on the steps of the orphanage, trying to figure out how they could help their friend.

“We cant just let Scootaloo come back to this place without anypony to comfort her!” Sweetie said, worried about her friends living conditions.

“Ah feel sorry for her too, Sweetie bell. But what are we gonna do about it?”

“Lets wait for her inside of her room. That way, when she gets back, we can talk to her about this whole artifact thing.” Sweetie suggested with a look of pure determination. The Cutie Mark Crusaders stuck together, no matter what. And this was the first time that Scootaloo needed help; they couldn’t just let her handle this on her own.

“Ah guess that could work, if we could sneak into her room without that evil Mrs. Powell seein us, then we could just wait for her to get back!” And so, having finished their plan, they went back to make sure that Ditzy Doo was all right. After Rainbow left, they waved goodbye to the mailmare and went behind the orphanage to start their first plan.

It took Scoots much longer to get to the orphanage than normal. (About 40 minutes actually) After all, she couldn’t afford to let anypony see her cutie mark. How could she possibly explain what this symbol meant? She couldn’t. There was absolutely no way to describe what her special talent was without bringing the artifact into the conversation. And since it was her destiny, the fewer ponies knew about it, the easier it would be to defend it. Unfortunately, as she was about to make the home stretch to the orphanage, Murphy’s Law kicked her (metaphorically) in the face. Murphy’s law dictates that if something CAN go wrong, it will. Often in the worst way possible too.

“Hi Scoots!” A grey Pegasus with a blonde mane called out from across the street. “Whatcha’ up to?” Her voice was so carefree it got annoying sometimes.

“Ditzy! What are you doing? Your gonna blow my cover!” Scoots called back to her from behind the box she was using to hide. Ditzy doo looked around the plaza in front of the orphanage, but there wasn’t a single pony around.

“What cover? There isn’t anypony here. Even I can see that.” Ditzy replied, puffing her chest out in pride of her observation. Her eyes were always looking in different directions. It was a condition she had ever since she was a filly. It interfered with her depth perception, but she still somehow managed to get a job as the mailmare. Because of her eyes, many ponies called her “derpy”. At first it was weird, but she grew used to the nickname. She even thought it was sort of clever! Scootaloo was one of the few ponies that still used her given name.

After Scoots realized that there really was nopony else around, she deemed it safe to get her scooter back. As she galloped to the Orphanage’s shed, she heard Ditzy gasp in shock. “Oh no.” Scoots cursed her self for being so careless, now she would have to explain her cutie mark to Ditzy! And she could never keep her mouth shut about things like this. As she grabbed her scooter, she turned back towards her wall-eyed neighbor.

“I just remembered!” Ditzy shouted. “I was supposed to pick up some muffins from Sugar Cube Corner! I hope they still have some left.” Her face was full of worry, but it quickly faded back to her normal happy smile. “See ya, Scoots!” With that, she took off to get her muffins.

“I’m glad that’s over with!” Scoots said with a sigh of relief. She then attached the small wagon to the back of her scooter. While she was rushing, she forgot to put on her helmet. She couldn’t be bothered by any more minor details such as safety protocol. Each minute she stalled here is one more chance that something could damage the artifact. “Now, its time to get that artifact back!” Scootaloo reared up on her scooter, and dashed off to the Everfree Forest.

Later, at the edge of the Everfree Forest:

Scootaloo had managed to get to the edge without anypony seeing her. She stopped for a rest behind a bush near the entrance. She knew that she wouldn’t have much time left to get the artifact and get out before it was dark. Zecora was still standing guard at the entrance. And she couldn’t let her know about her plan either. She would just send her back to Twilight! And then Twilight would tell the princesses, and then Scootaloo would never be able to protect the artifact! She had to think of a plan. As she was contemplating her next course of action, she heard Zecora talking aloud.

“It seems that soon, the sun will set. And I will no longer need to fret. Into this forest, nopony will tread. For in the dark, they would end up dead. I think it is now safe to say, that no more ponies will come this way.” As she turned around to leave, she detected Scootaloo’s presence and spoke to her. “Scootaloo, you must not fear, for the artifact which you hold dear.” At this Scootaloo froze and her eyes widened in fear. How did Zecora know she would come back there? How could she even see her from behind this bush?

“If into the forest you still wish to go, I will not bother saying no. Because your desire burns so bright, to stop you here would not be right. Just make sure, my little friend, that you do not meet a nasty end.” Zecora then trotted into the forest. Leaving a very determined Scootaloo alone with precious little time to get the artifact before nightfall.

Back at the orphanage:

Sweetie Bell and Applebloom managed to sneak into Scootaloo’s room in the orphanage. It wasn’t easy though; nothing ever is for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Their first attempt ended in failure when they tried to sneak in through the second story window by climbing the tree next to it: and the branch broke under their weight. The second attempt was using a disguise. Which failed when the expertly (poorly) made outfit got stuck on the door handle, and started to tear. After a long string of failures they finally made it in by having another orphan distract Mrs. Powell long enough for the two of them to make it to the third floor, and into Scootaloo’s room.

“Okay, Applebloom, we made it. Now what?” They two of them looked around the room, but it was incredibly bare. There was literally nothing in the small room but a bed that, compared to the rest of the orphanage, was in surprisingly good condition. Maybe Scoots washed the sheets regularly? Other than that, and one Daring doo book, 4 crayons, some paper, a small desk, one chair, a bedside lamp (which was the only source of light in the room) and enough cobwebs and dust bunnies to kill a vacuum cleaner; there was nothing to keep them occupied until Scootaloo returned.

“Wanna play Tic-tac-to?” Applebloom asked her young friend.

Inside the Everfree forest:

Scootaloo had been rushing through the undergrowth for almost thirty minutes now. Despite her being able to move faster on her scooter, lugging around the wagon through the bushes was not easy. And the only way to get to the impact site was through very dense shrubbery. As she was making a sharp turn on her scooter, the wagon caught a rock, and Scootaloo was sent flying head first into a tree. Her head was exploding with pain that coursed through her entire body. As she cried out in agony, the world turned white and hazy. As she held her head to stop the throbbing, she noticed how close she was to the impact site. She managed to shake off the pain in her skull for now. The artifact is too important to just sit around here crying to her self. With newfound determination, she got her scooter and wagon set up again, and sped off to the artifact.

When she arrived at the site, it was exactly the same as when they had left it. Although the ship was no longer on fire, the artifact was still lying on the bottom on the crater. Scootaloo was about to jump down the crater again when she realized something dreadful. She was going to have to bring the wagon down, and then haul the artifact back up! As she sighed with exasperation, she detached the wagon from the scooter, and a foolish thought crossed her mind, accompanied by an immature smile.

Perhaps the earlier trauma to the head she had received was impairing her thought process, but Scootaloo brought the wagon over to the edge of the crater’s slope and hopped in. The only thought that came across her mind before she preformed this daredevil act was….

“This is gonna be awesome.”

With that, she pushed the wagon towards the edge of the crater, and went careening down the slope at a speed that would have put Rainbow dash to shame. Scootaloo was hollering and having the time of her life. She loved the feel of the wind in her mane from going fast on her scooter because it was the closest thing to flying that the little filly could manage. But unfortunately, she soon realized a crucial error she made as the ship came closer and closer. “I can’t stop this thing.” Before her wagon crashed into the ship, Scootaloo jumped out of the wagon, using her little wings to try and decrease her momentum to avoid crashing into the ship.

But it wasn’t enough, as she tumbled head over heels to the bottom of the crater, she grazed a piece of shrapnel with her face, leaving a deep cut on her cheek. As she shrieked in pain, trying to apply pressure to the wound on her face, she saw her wagon. Despite the chance that it had crashed to the ship, or been broken beyond repair, it was just lying in the dirt, on its side, next to the artifact. Before she could breath a sigh of relief, she made sure to check the side of the ship. Sure enough, on the carriers hull was the same symbol on her flank. This truly was her destiny. As she gazed at the artifact, she could feel its sacred powers. Scootaloo knew that she was the only protection that this artifact had. “Don’t worry Nyon. I will never give up the artifact. I will guard it with my life.” She spoke to the artifact, and as she did, it began shining brightly. As if to say, “take me away from here”.

Still holding one hoof down on her cheek laceration, Scootaloo began slowly reaching for the artifact, hesitating at the thought of having another episode like before. But, as she touched it with her hoof, nothing happened. With another sigh of relief, she loaded the artifact into the wagon, and began the slow ascent to the top of the crater. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her head, and the blood trickling down her muzzle. As she slowly pushed the wagon to the top, she heard a thunderclap, long and booming across the forest.

“Oh please don’t tell me what I think it—” she was cut off by the sudden downpour of rain. Her spirit weakened by the rain, she still continued the upward climb. As she continued the climb at less than a snails pace, the dirt began to get muddy. The things that might happen if she slipped on the mud flooded her mind. She quickly erased those thoughts from her brain. There was no time to think about what COULD happen. She needed to bring the artifact to the safety of Ponyville, and a little mud, or a cut on her cheek would never be enough to stop her.

Though the mud was a hindrance, and her energy was slowly draining, she made it to the top. Panting with exhaustion, Scootaloo allowed herself a moments rest before she started the long trek back toward Ponyville. While resting, she attempted to formulate a plan. She needed to get to her room without Mrs. Powell seeing her. She thought about using the branch to climb through the second story window. But that though proved futile, as the branch could barely support her weight, let alone the weight of this artifact. After a minute of thinking in the rain, she saw a wicked bolt of lightning strike a tree in the distance; effectively reminding her that the forest was not the best place to be in a lightning storm outside. Connecting the wagon and her precious rock to her scooter, she rode back towards Ponyville. She hoped that this would be an easy trip, but unfortunately, the universe was not kind to her that day.

She drove through the undergrowth with all her might, desperate to ensure the artifacts safety. It was raining more fiercely than before. The large drops of water fell like boulders onto the dirt path, making it so swampy at some parts that her wagon got stuck in the mud. But this did not stop her, nothing would. The burning desire to protect this relic was so fierce that it almost made the rain steam off of Scootaloo’s body.

It seemed that the universe wanted to test Scootaloo’s endurance and willpower that night: because as she was making a sharp turn on the path, her wagon caught on a root that had been uncovered by the torrential rain. Causing Scootaloo to lose control, propelling her small body through the air. She did not crash into a tree this time, instead she was only flung into the center of the path. After rolling to a stop in the mud, she looked for the artifact, and saw it was still inside the wagon, and that her scooter had not broken. She exhaled a sigh of relief, noticing how close to the exit she was. But as she began to get up, she saw a bolt of lightning hit a tree right next to her.

Her heart thumped loudly in her chest, her mind was racing; adrenaline was coursing through her body. She heard the telltale snapping sounds of the tree falling down. Scootaloo rose to her hooves as quickly as she could, and tried to run out of the path of the tree. But before she could make it more than a few feet, Scootaloo found her self trapped underneath the tangled, splintered mess of branches. The tree imprisoned her, like a bear caught in a trap. Luckily, she was not crushed by the tree’s mighty trunk. But at that moment, she wished she had been. For when she turned her head to check her body for injuries, she saw a small sharp branch was pierced through her right wing.

She tried to stand up, but that only brought more pain. The branch inside her wing was no longer connected to the tree; it had broken off as the tree fell. Scootaloo needed to get out of this mess of sticks, to get back to the artifact. But she could barely move, let alone ride her scooter back to town. As she tried to push the broken branches and sticks out of her way to make a path, the branch stuck through her wing briefly snagged on one of the branches above her. Sending a wave of agony through her body so intense that Scootaloo lost her grip on her consciousness.

After she came to, Scootaloo simply lied there in the mud for some time. She was cold, wet, aching all over, and now in incomprehensible pain. She just lay there, at the forests edge, crying to herself. Thinking that all of her efforts and sacrifices were now for naught. For she was going to die here. Slowly the memory of Nyon came back to her. Should you succeed, you and your people shall be spared. But should you fail… Scootaloo slowly rose back to her hooves, even though the pain was unbearable. She had to protect the artifact at all costs. Even if it meant her life was the price. She pushed the remaining branches out of her way, and slowly crawled out from the cage of sticks and wood. Taking care not to touch her wing.

Having finally crawled out of her wooden torture chamber, she mustered up all of her strength and willpower. She knew that it was late, that there would be nopony awake at the orphanage. If she could just get to her final destination, she could rest in peace. She carefully loaded the artifact into the wagon for what seemed like the hundredth time today, and slowly drifted back toward the orphanage on her scooter.

Ponyville was as dark and miserable as the forest had been. At first Scootaloo thought that the rainstorm had been a random event of the Everfree forest, but this storm seemed to range across the entire valley all the way to Canterlot. Whether it be fate, or just luck, there was not a single pony around to see Scootaloo slowly ride her scooter to the orphanage. Not one pony to see her in such unbelievable pain.

When she finally arrived, she was almost in shock from the pain in her wing. But she kept going all the same. She limped her small body over to the shed, and deposited her scooter and the wagon. She took the artifact with her under her foreleg, and began to climb the steps to the dump she called home.

“The lights are off.” She said to herself weakly, her mind getting hazy from the steady blood loss through the wound in her wing and the cut in her cheek. “Maybe Mrs. Powell will be asleep this time. And I’ll be able to sneak this into my room, where nopony will find it.” As she opened the door and stepped inside, the orphanage remained dark. Nopony was awake. Even if they were, they couldn’t hear her walking heavily over the creaking floorboards. The hammering of the rain on the ramshackle roof and the cacophonous boom of the thunder droned out all sounds. She began the climb to the third floor. Scootaloo was so close to her goal, to the safety of her bed, that it gave her more strength then she could ever ask for.

“Darn it! That’s 35 games in a row!” Sweetie bell yelled, throwing her chalk on to the floor of the room. They had been playing some rather intense games of Tic-tac-to. And they had run out of paper to use, so they just drew on the floor. Clearly Applebloom was more skilled at the game. Then a competitive grin grew across her face. “Best of 71?” Before Applebloom could answer, the door slowly moved open, and there was Scootaloo. Shivering, bruised, panting with exhaustion, with a gash across her cheek and a branch impaled through her wing. And she held underneath her foreleg, the artifact from the crater. Scootaloo took one step forward, and collapsed on the ground. Her little body couldn’t handle the physical stress anymore, and she succumbed to the shock of blood-loss, drifting back once again to the darkness of her mind.

Chapter 4: At What Cost?

Chapter 4: At what cost?

A cacophonous boom echoed throughout the halls of the dark orphanage, and rain slammed against the ramshackle roof relentlessly. While this would normally bring uncertainty to the residents of the structure, the only two that were awake were far too busy to complain about a leaky roof.

Applebloom and Sweetie Bell simply stood inside the filthy orphanage room. Their eyes fixated on their dear friend Scootaloo, who had, despite the obvious physical strain on her small body; still managed to bring the small alien relic out from the Everfree Forest. If she were still conscious, her friends would have bombarded her with questions like; “why did you go back for that stupid rock? Why didn’t you ask us to help you? And, what happened to your wing?” The sight of Scootaloo’s feathered appendage almost made Sweetie Bell vomit. But she willed herself to be stronger than that. Right now, they were the only two ponies that could ever get her to a hospital in time.

Applebloom slowly walked over to her friend, her hooves dragging beneath her as if they had been placed in cement blocks. She reached out with her foreleg and cautiously poked her friends face, as if she would explode at the slightest touch. Scootaloo shook weakly and gave a soft moan, but she could not wake. She was trapped in the dark, never-ending void of her own mind. Before, she felt like the entire world rested on her shoulders. But now, she only felt the crushing weight of having let everypony down. Her friends, Nyon, herself. And for what? Some stupid rock?

“Sweetie Bell. We gotta get Scootaloo to the hospital again.” She turned to the other filly, who’s face was even paler than normal. Her eyes had grown as wide as dinner plates with fear, and her small frame was visibly trembling. Sweetie merely nodded at her friend. “Okay then, help me carry her down the stairs”. The two ponies slowly lifted their companion on to Applebloom’s back. With Sweetie mustering all of her magic to keep Scoots from falling off. The trio silently left the room, leaving the artifact behind.

They could barely see in front of themselves in the unlit orphanage. And the young ponies were forced to move slowly alongside the wall to find their way. After making a turn, Applebloom took one step forward, and almost fell down the entire stairwell. Luckily Sweetie caught her friend by the tail and pulled her back before that could happen. The orphanage was so run-down that the stairs were broken in some places, and sagging with age in others. They were a hazard in the bright of day, but when they could hardly see….

Sweetie told her friend to stand still. She released her grasp on Scootaloo so she could focus on a different spell. She grunted with effort, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth until her horn lit up with a spark: creating a ray of light to guide their path. With a level of caution that would have made Fluttershy proud, they managed to bring their friend down to the lobby of the hellhole she called home.

“Okay, Sweetie Bell. Now we just gotta get her to the hospital.” Applebloom wasn’t used to doing this much physical labor. Applejack told her she was too young to buck apples, and Big Macintosh wouldn’t let her do any work on the barn. So she was pushing her physical limits. Sweetie Bell was having trouble as well. She wasn’t used to concentrating on a spell for so long, and was quickly tiring out.

“Uuum, Applebloom?” Sweetie asked with no small amount of nervousness. “Which way is it to the hospital?” They two ponies just looked at each other. Neither of them knew the way to the hospital because they had only been there once! And even if they knew where it was, they couldn’t see anything in this cold, rainy night. Sweetie walked over to the doors of the building, and upon opening them was greeted to the furious screech of the wind and rain. She quickly shut the door. If they were going outside in that storm, they would have to think of something… Fast.

As if on cue, a sphere of bright energy erupted from the artifact. This orb of light whizzed down the stairwell and into the lobby of the orphanage, and stopped right in front of the main doors. They both let out a sharp shriek of surprise at the sudden appearance of the orb; but quickly silenced themselves. They couldn’t let anypony know that Scootaloo was hurt this bad, they would have to many questions, and the two fillies would have no answers. After a moment of silence, nopony else made a sound. So Sweetie and Applebloom allowed themselves a sigh of relief.

“What do ya suppose that thing is?” Applebloom whispered to her friend.

“Maybe we should ask it what it wants?” Sweetie replied with a shrug. Sweetie cancelled her illumination spell, and looked directly at the shimmering light, which surprisingly, did not strain her eyes in the slightest. “Umm, excuse me? Mr. light…ball? Um, what do you want?” The sphere simply floated in front of the door, giving of its soft, yet bright glow.

“UUUGH!” Applebloom grunted with the effort of keeping Scootaloo on her back. “This is pointless! This thing isn’t gonna get us to the hospital!” The moment the word hospital escaped her lips, the sphere of light spun rapidly in a circle, then passed through the wooden door of the orphanage and into the night. Only to reappear in front of the trio of filly’s moments later, whereby it started moving up and down in front of them.

“I think it wants us to follow it?” Sweetie said with just a hint of nervousness. Applebloom nodded with agreement. This orb was the only reliable source of light they had. And, although it screamed against every part of Applebloom’s common sense, they walked toward the object that they knew nothing about. Every step they made, the orb of light moved away from them, and into the night.

The young ponies moved as swiftly as they could through the harsh rain. The storm seemed to have a mind of its own, for the howling winds became so strong that the three fillies were almost lifted off the ground. But no matter how much it rained, or how powerful these winds were, they would never let that sphere out of their sights. This orb of light was their only hope in this desperate hour.

The sphere kept a distance between itself and the young ponies, encouraging them to keep their speed to a quick trot. But at the same time, it seemed to know their limitations, and never strayed so far that they would need to waste valuable energy keeping up with it. After what seemed like an eternity inside this nightmarish storm, the orb stopped moving in front of a large sign that read “Ponyville Hospital”. The girls caught up to the sphere, and when they turned their heads, there indeed, was the hospital. This tall, white structure was the only shred of hope left for the orange pegasus. But did they make it in time to save her?

“Uum, thanks mister light…thing.” Sweetie said to the glistening ball. The sphere of energy then suddenly vanished, leaving the three fillies alone at their destination. Without a moment to lose, they brought the dying Scootaloo through the hospital doors.

Nurse Redheart hated the night shift with a burning passion. It was never easy staying up so late, and even though the hospital had more than enough employees to remain open 24 hours a day, it was always her that got picked for night crew. She had to get a different job; lately the lack of sleep was giving her overly vivid nightmares. Just the other day she could have sworn she was walking down the hallway and found two stallions in matching striped shirts dead with stab wounds all over them! But then she woke up at the front desk screaming, and the doctor in charge told her to go home for the night.

Tonight was no different; she was simply sitting at the main desk, reading a bland and uninteresting magazine with an equally bland and uninteresting article on Photo Finish. Then she heard the doors open and she could hardly contain her excitement at the chance to actually INVOLVE herself in something.

“Hello, welcome to Ponyville Hospital, what can…. I…. sweet Celestia.” Her excitement quickly turned to sheer horror when she saw that the same filly that had just that day been released from the hospital was here on the verge of death. “Girls… what happened to her?” She asked before paging the emergency team over the intercom. Applebloom and Sweetie Bell just looked at her in desperation. They had gotten their friend to the hospital, but would she make it? Would all of their work be for nothing? As the emergency team put Scootaloo on the stretcher, the other two fillies found a couch in the lobby; and quickly fell asleep on top of it. Their bodies and minds had never experienced this much stress in such a short time; and the embrace of sleep soon enveloped them.

The next day

Time until the Raiders arrival:

4 days: 11 hours

Twilight had been unusually busy this day. Staying true to her routine, she had gotten out of bed, and went downstairs to see Spike cooking breakfast. Luckily that awful storm had finally passed, and the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and it was just looking to be a great day. After a healthy meal, she had taken a shower, and was about to start her day’s work, when she was greeted by a sharp knock on her door.

Both Rarity and Applejack had come over to her house that morning, asking where their respective little sisters where. Of course, Twilight had no idea, so she left Spike in charge of the library while they went to the orphanage, which is the last place anypony had seen the two fillies. It figures that Mrs. Powell wasn’t much help in the search, but they weren’t really begging for her help either. They decided to ask Scootaloo if she had seen them, but Mrs. Powell told them that Scootaloo had never come home last night. Confused by this news, the three mares formed a circle to discuss their next course of action.

“Why in Equestria would Scootaloo not be here when that dreadful storm was raging? This is her home after all.” Rarity asked her friends.

“Well, that doesn’t help us in the slightest.” Applejack gave a frustrated sigh. "Anypony with a lick 'a sense would know ta come home in that kinda weather."

“Maybe we can look in Scootaloo’s room for clues.” Twilight suggested.

“Twilight, darling, you should never rummage through another pony’s possessions.” Rarity gave a scornful look to her friend. “It’s unprofessional, un-ladylike, and just rude.”

“Rarity, now is not the time ta be thinkin’ like that!” Applejack and Rarity butted heads like this all the time. “Don’t ya care about your sister? Aint she a little more important than your little standards?” The Earth pony and Unicorn glared at each other harshly.

“GIRLS!” Twilight scolded the two for acting this way when there might be lives on the line. “Now, I say we check Scootaloo’s room. Maybe she left a note or something. Besides, this is our only lead right now, we should follow it to see where it goes.” The two defused their argument and apologized like they always did, with a friendly hug. With that, the three ponies nodded in agreement, and proceeded to the rickety stairs. Mrs. Powel didn’t even try to stop them; she was to busy smoking her cigarette to care.

When they reached the stairs, they noticed something was off. There were small red stains on the wood. Applejack bent down to give it a closer look, and confirmed. It was a trail of blood, leading up the stairs. The three ponies raced up the stairs as fast as their legs could carry them. When they reached the door, they saw a puddle of blood seeping under it. Applejack took the lead, and slowly pushed open the door. Inside the room there were doodles and tick-tack-to boards drawn all over the floors and walls. There was indeed a small puddle of blood near the door of the room. But most importantly, the answer to all of their questions sat before them. The alien artifact. It simply sat there, glowing faintly, almost invitingly.

“Twilight. Is this that thing Scootaloo was talking about?” Rarity asked, shivering with unease.

“This is definitely it all right.” Twilight said. “And I bet I know what happened to her. She most likely went back to the Everfree forest as soon as she got out of the hospital. To get this back.” Twilight eyed the rock curiously, trying to uncover its secrets.

“But hold on now Twi’.” Applejack interjected. “We told Zecora not to let ANYPONY inside the forest. That includes Scootaloo. How could that little kid have snuck past her?” Applejack always thought rationally, even in hard times like this. “And even if she did risk her life almost bleedin’ ta death over it, why aint she still here?”

“I don’t have an answer to that.” Twilight began pacing around the room, sighing in frustration. “We don’t know why Scootaloo isn’t here, we don’t know why there is blood everywhere, and we still don’t know the location of Sweetie Bell or Applebloom.” At the mention of the names of the two young ponies, the artifact once more began displaying its otherworldly powers. A misty, navy blue aura that looked surprisingly like the flowing mane of Princess Luna enveloped the rock; and strange, garbled sounds began coming from it.

“My word, I think I can hear… SWEETIE BELL!” Rarity shouted, pouncing closer to the artifact. “Tell me where my sister is NOW!” As she commanded the artifact in quite possibly the most un-ladylike growl the other two had ever heard, the sounds coming from the artifact became much more clear. The first voice they heard was Applebloom’s.

“Sweetie Bell, we gotta get Scootaloo to the hospital again.” The dark rock played back Applebloom’s voice perfectly. As the three mares looked at the artifact with wonder, it emitted some loud static, followed by Sweetie Bell’s voice.

“Uuum, Applebloom? Which way is it to the hospital?” Rarity quietly gasped. This could only mean one thing; that the two fillies had tried to bring Scootaloo to the hospital, by themselves, in that dreadful nighttime storm. And if they didn’t know where it was, they might have gotten lost! Or been abducted!

“Poor Sweetie Bell.” Rarity sobbed. “Of all the worst things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!” Rarity then flopped dramatically onto Scootaloo’s bed. Applejack was concerned for her sister as well, but Rarity’s theatrics were very repetitive, and she just rolled her eyes at the white unicorn’s hysterical crying.

“Alright girls, listen up!” Twilight immediately took control of the situation, forming a plan to help them get to the bottom of this. “I’m going to Zecora’s hut to ask if she saw Scootaloo last night. Meanwhile, you two go to Ponyville hospital. If this rock really did just play back a recording of what transpired in this building last night, that is where they’ll be. Oh, and take the artifact with you. Scootaloo is obviously overly attached to it. And keeping it away from her would only make her try something like this again. After you’re done, meet up with me at the library, and we will discuss our next course of action.” Rarity and Applejack nodded in agreement. Rarity immediately stopped sobbing, and lifted the artifact with her magic, placing it inside her saddlebag. The three then took off out of the orphanage and to their respective destinations.

Ponyville Hospital

Time until the Raiders arrival:

4 days 9 hours.

Rarity And Applejack arrived at their destination later than they thought they would. The artifact wasn’t exactly lightweight, and Applejack had to slow her own pace down so as not to invoke shrieks of despair from the marshmallow unicorn. When they entered the front doors, the lobby was rather busy. Doctors and nurses and janitors were going about their business. As they peered through the crowd they managed to spot two fillies sleeping soundly on a nearby couch. Seeing how utterly fatigued the two were, the nurse had given them each blankets and a pillow, and they were blissfully ignorant of how frightened and worried their older siblings had been.

“You two must be their sisters then?” A stallion with a brown coat and an hourglass cutie mark asked. He was wearing a white surgeons smock, which was suspiciously stained with small amounts of blood. “Don’t worry about those two, they will be just fine. Their orange friend, however.” He stopped, and a grave look fell upon his face. “She doesn’t look good.”

Rarity just gave the doctor a look of pure, unregistered terror. She even backed away several feet from the bloodstained, most likely insane doctor.

“Oh, the smock.” The doctor looked down, embarrassed by the lack of professionalism. “Sorry, but I just got back from doing surgery on the orange pegasus’ wing. And I haven’t had time to change yet. Now please, follow me.” Rarity was still unsure about this stallion, but she went along at Applejack’s urging; and they followed him to the bed were Scootaloo lay.

Scootaloo was once again lying on the white hospital bed, wrapped underneath the heavy cotton bed sheets. A mask had been placed over her bandage-covered face to assist her breathing. Long tubes connecting blood bags to her veins were making sure that she was getting enough of the vital substance. Her orange face looked pale, and withered. Her right wing was stretched out to her side, covered in a cast. She looked like the picture of death.

“We managed to stabilize her condition, but she lost a tremendous amount of blood, and has several broken ribs, some internal bleeding, and cranial trauma.” The doctor told them, looking up from his notepad. “She was lucky that we got the branch out of her wing before the wound got infected. Her wing will heal; none of her wing bones were broken, so that will be just fine. ” He gave a deep sigh.

“She is, however, in a coma, and I’m not sure how long it will take to wake her up. Do you two have any idea how this happened to her?” Rarity and Applejack shook their heads and looked down at the young pegasus. “Well, I have another patient to see, so I’ll leave you alone for now.” The doctor then disappeared behind the corner and down the hallway.

“Well, we came all this way, lets give her a little gift.” Rarity then opened her saddlebags and removed the artifact from within, placing it next to Scootaloo. The two mares took a step back from the bed. Rarity released a soft, concerned sigh. “How will we ever explain this to Rainbow Dash?” As the duo turned and left the room, they failed to notice the artifacts powers at work once more. The rock’s coloration grew darker, and a small, blue field enveloped the wounded Scootaloo. After a few seconds, this blue field vanished from sight, Scootaloo’s breathing became les ragged, and the artifact regained its regular complexion.

After Rarity and Applejack left Scootaloo, they went back down to the lobby to find their younger siblings still sound asleep on the couch. They tried to wake the snoozing foals, but they would not budge. So, Applejack carried her sister and Rarity carried hers, and the two began the walk towards the Library.

“I don’t think I have ever seen a pony injured like that before.” Rarity squeezed her eyes and shivered slightly at the memory of Scootaloo’s damaged form.

“Are ya sure it was a good idea ta leave that thing in the hospital? What if somepony takes it?” Applejack didn’t like the thought of Scootaloo trying to escape the hospital looking for it.

“I wouldn’t worry, darling. Twilight will think of something to do, and then everything will be—” She stopped herself when she noticed a familiar, rainbow blur in the sky above. Rainbow Dash saw her two friends standing there, and swooped down to say hi.

“Hi Rarity, Applejack. What’s up?” She asked, giving off her usual tomboyish smile. Her friends were glancing at each other nervously. Rarity was sweating bullets, and Applejack’s eyes were darting back and forth like a tennis ball. “Uuuum, guys? What’s the matter with you? And what’s up with Sweetie Bell and Applebloom? They look really tired.”

“Uh, NOTHING! Nothing at all happened to Scootaloo.” Rarity immediately put her hoof over her mouth, her face full of regret of what she had just said.

“I didn’t ask about Scootaloo. Why? Did something happen to her? She was completely fine when they let her out of the hospital.” Rainbow Dash was starting to get concerned with her friends. They were both terrible liars. And she could tell there was something they didn’t want her to know. “Applejack. What happened to Scootaloo?” Rainbow lowered her head and flared out her wings in anger. Applejack couldn’t bear to look at the cyan pegasus when she broke the bad news to her.

“RD… Scootaloo is in the hospital again, she was—” She never got to finish, as a multi-color blur almost broke the sound barrier in her haste to get to the hospital, and to her friend.

The Everfree forest:

Time until the Raiders arrival:

4 days, 7 hours.

When Twilight arrived at the edge of the Everfree Forest, she noticed that a rather large tree had fallen over in the middle of the path! She just figured that she would go around it, but then she saw something underneath the tangled mesh of branches. There were several orange feathers. They were covered in mud. These were without a doubt, Scootaloo’s. If she was almost crushed by this tree, and STILL managed to bring the artifact all the way back to the orphanage, she truly was ready to risk everything to protect it. Twilight expertly maneuvered around the fallen tree and dashed further into the forest.

No matter how many times Twilight had been to Zecora’s hut, she still seemed to get lost in the enormous forest. Nonetheless, she trotted through the dense undergrowth until the familiar house came into view. There was smoke coming out of one of the windows, and she could clearly hear Zecora chanting in her native tongue. Twilight trotted over to the door and knocked three times.

“Zecora? It’s Twilight Sparkle. We need to talk. Is that okay?” Zecora stopped her chanting and gave a quiet sigh of despair. She knew perfectly well why Twilight was here. She opened the door and motioned for Twilight to come in. She then shut the door behind them. She looked at the lavender mare with a gaze that said, “I’m sorry”.

“I know your question before you speak. And the answer is yes; I was too weak. She came back looking for that alien rock. And so, her path, I did not block. Into this forest, I watched her go. But what fate befell her, I do not know.”

“We found that rock in Scootaloo’s bedroom at the orphanage, but there was blood everywhere, and none of the other Cutie Mark Crusaders were there. When we were at our wits end, something amazing happened. The rock gained a mysterious aura, and it played back the events from that night for us. We heard Sweetie Bell and Applebloom say that they would take Scootaloo to the hospital, so I sent Rarity and Applejack to find them, while I talk to you. Are you sure you didn’t see anything happen to Scootaloo?” Zecora shook her head. “Well, we will keep in touch. Let me know immediately if anything else happens, okay?” With that, Twilight rushed back to her library, eager to learn about what her friends had found.

Ponyville Library:

Time until the Raiders arrival:

4 days, 3 hours

After Rarity and Applejack had dropped their sleeping sisters off at their respective homes, they finally made it back to the library; where Twilight and Spike were both impatiently waiting. Spike was eating some emeralds, and Twilight was pacing back and forth when the door opened.

“Finally! You two were taking so long I had almost sent my letter to Celestia without you!” Twilight took a deep breath and calmed herself. “You girls go first, what did you learn?” Twilight’s eyes were sparkling with excitement, and Spike had readied a quill and a scroll to take some notes. Rarity was the first to speak about their day.

“Well, first off, we did find Sweetie Bell and Applebloom at the hospital. It seems that the two had succeeded in their endeavor to bring Scootaloo to the hospital last night.” Rarity spoke her friend in a calm manner, as always. “Unfortunately, Scootaloo was suffering from several broken bones, internal bleeding, and the doctor told us that a branch had been impaled in her right wing.” Twilight visibly cringed when she heard that last part. She didn’t even have wings, and the thought hurt her.

“That’s not all the bad news, sugar cube. We kinda ran into Rainbow Dash on our way to drop off our sisters.” Applejack couldn’t bear the thought of Rainbow seeing the state Scoots was in. “She didn’t take the news so well and… She took off for the hospital herself… What should we do?”

Twilight tried to formulate a plan, but there were so many options here. Should they go to the hospital and comfort Rainbow Dash? Should Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie know about this? And who will look after that rock? Twilights face suddenly brightened.

“Do you girls still have that artifact?” Twilight inquired, her eyes shinning like stars.

“Uuum. No. We left it with Scootaloo in the hospital.” Rarity admitted, her face blushing a bright pink at admitting her rather not-very-smart move.

“Well, you said Rainbow Dash is there, so at least somepony is keeping an eye on it. Anyway, I think its time to send a letter to the Princesses. Spike, take a letter.” Spike quickly grabbed a new scroll, and dipped his quill in the inkwell. As Twilight spoke aloud, Spike wrote down every word.

Dear Princess Celestia:

Several days ago, three fillies named Sweetie Bell, Applebloom, and Scootaloo, along with the Zebra Zecora, went to investigate a “falling star” or “comet” that had crashed in the Everfree forest. Upon arriving at the crash site, they discovered it was not a comet at all! It was in actuality, an alien craft, never seen before in our history. Amongst the rubble they found a blue, triangular artifact of unknown purpose and abilities. Scootaloo became fascinated by this object and upon making contact with it, was placed in a trance-like state. Whilst in this state, she experienced visions of war, bloodshed and of a race of aliens called PROTOSS. They claimed to know about this rock, and they choose Scootaloo to be the protector of it until they arrive. The Protoss never specified when they were arriving, but I would ask that you help us keep it safe. Scootaloo is very strongly attached to this rock, so moving it out of Ponyville is not an option. Instead, I would ask that you send some royal guards here to help us defend it.

Awaiting your response: Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

Having finished the message, Spike rolled up the scroll, tied it with a ribbon, and let loose a jet of green flame, enveloping the scroll and taking it directly to Celestia herself.

“Okay, now that that is settled, lets head to the hospital. Rainbow Dash is probably taking this really hard. And we need to be there as good friends who can help her.” The three ponies and one baby dragon proceeded to gallop towards the hospital.

Meanwhile: at Ponyville Hospital

Rainbow Dash was still crying over the bedridden form of her little orange sidekick. Rainbow herself was used to getting hurt, and she was in the hospital all the time because of broken bones and bruises and such. But she could always handle it: she was tough, and everypony knew it. But Scootaloo wasn’t as strong as her. She was just a filly, and she somehow got even more severely injured than Rainbow had ever been in her life. Looking down at the filly’s broken form, the incident where she had to spend two days in the hospital with a fractured wing seemed infinitesimal.

Still trying to control her sobs, she spoke to the orange filly’s unconscious body. “Scootaloo? It’s me, Rainbow Dash. I know you can’t hear me but…. Why did you have to do this to yourself? Why didn’t you ask your friends or me to help you? Was this stupid blue rock really that important that you would risk your LIFE?” She almost screamed that last word, but it was drowned out by her own tears. “Why did this have to happen?” Rainbow once again buried her tear-stricken face in the hospital mattress.

*****

The inside of Scootaloo’s mind was once again black and empty. She had a feeling she would be seeing this dark, foreboding place many times before this ordeal with the artifact was over. She could hear Rainbow’s voice inside her head. She knew what her hero was asking. But her body was not ready to respond just yet. She needed more time to heal, but more importantly, she needed answers. What could this artifact do that was worth killing over? Why couldn’t somepony else have been chosen for this job? She called out into the depths of her mind.

“NYON! Where are you? Why am I so important? When are you going to get here?” Her voice echoed throughout the realm of her mind. Slowly fading until a familiar sensation was felt. The blackness suddenly shattered around her like glass. The shards then disappeared into the new white void. This was the same place she had spoken to Nyon the first time. Finally she would get some answers. Nyon’s hologram manifested before her: wearing the same flowing cape as he had earlier.

“Greetings, Scootaloo. Of what matters can I be of assistance?” His voice was just as regal and commanding as before, yet she felt sorrow in there as well. She wondered what could make the mighty Nyon depressed.

“You know what I want!” Scootaloo shrieked. “I want answers, what can this stupid artifact do that makes it so special?” She stamped her hoof down onto the pure white floor to emphasize her rage, but Nyon was not moved.

“The sacred relics were gifts to the Tal’Darim by the gods. The fullest extent of their power was never discovered. And they most likely never will be. They are truly a mystery, within an enigma, shrouded in doubt.” Nyon’s hologram folded its arms “What other questions may I answer for you?”

“Why was I chosen to be the guardian? Why can’t it be somepony else?” She asked while pointing a hoof at her chest.

“You were the first sentient being to make contact with the artifact. And do not worry: as this connection is only temporary. Once we arrive to retrieve the relic, I can remove the link between you and the artifact.”

“But what about my cutie mark? It says that my destiny is to protect the artifact, right? What would happen if I no longer have to do that? Would my cutie mark disappear?” She asked with despair. “I don’t want to be a blank flank again.” She sat down on her haunches, cringing at the tormenting memories of Diamond Tiara and her stupid friend. Nylon was visibly confused by the child’s questions.

“Your…. Cutie…Mark? We know little about your species, but once we arrive at your planet, I am sure my scientists can come up with a solution.” Nyon told the orange filly.

“That brings up my last question, when will you be here? How much longer do I have to guard this stupid thing?” Nyon’s hologram looked as if an immense weight was just placed on his shoulders. He drooped his head in sorrow, letting his arms fall down to his sides. But he quickly regained his composure.

“Our base on the planet Typhon experienced a natural disaster the likes of which are far to graphic for your mind to comprehend. This was several cycles after my fleets’ departure to your planet. We lost almost half of our planet side forces during this apocalypse. My fleet is waiting for the survivors of Typhon before we continue our journey to your planet. Now, That is all I have time for. I will contact you again when you will be of use.” With that, his hologram dissolved into the whiteness, and the dark void reformed like a jigsaw puzzle in its place. Leaving Scootaloo to drift amongst her memories and thoughts.

*****

Ponyville Hospital:

Time Until the Raiders Arrival:

3 days, 23 hours

Rainbow’s seemingly infinite well of tears finally dried up, and she sat on a chair next to Scootaloo’s bed. She would have flown away, but the weight of her sorrow was so great that her wings could no longer carry her. As she tried with all her might to regain enough composure to at least walk: the doctor returned to the room.

“Hey, what’s this thing?” The stallion asked nopony in particular. He ogled it curiously, the way a child stares at a piece of cake before devouring it. The relic seemed to place him in a trance. He then shook his head and came back to his senses. “More importantly, where did it come from? I might have to confiscate this…” Rainbow’s wings flared up and she quickly spun around towards the doctor’s face.

“I don’t know what this thing is, or where or why it got here. But if Twilight was right last time, then Scootaloo here almost DIED trying to make sure it was safe!” She pulled the doctor closer to her by the collar of his shirt, and glared at him so fiercely it could have set him on fire. “So if you even THINK about taking this rock away from her, I. will. Kill. YOU!” With that, she threw the poor doctor down to the floor. The brown stallion calmly rose to his hooves, dusted himself off professionally, and promptly left to continue his routine. He seemed to get the message. After he left, Rainbow said farewell to her friend one last time before leaving to the lobby.

Twilight and Co. arrived at the lobby just as RD was leaving. She didn’t even acknowledge her friends voices. They were only empty apologies that would never mean anything. She took off flying to her cloud house, thinking of how she could ever make it up to her little sidekick. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity and Spike: after exchanging a few knowing glances, moved up toward the artifact. They found Scootaloo and the blue relic just as they had left it.

“All right, now we just wait for Celestia’s reply.” Twilight said, sitting down on some chairs with her friends.

“Darling, it’s been hours since you sent that letter. If she was going to send it today, don’t you think she would have done so?” Rarity asked, concerned about how much time she have to be away from her sister.

“Don’t worry, Rarity. I am confident that she will send that letter soon.”

Canterlot Castle:

Time until the raiders arrival:

3 days, 20 hours

The sun princess was more than grateful that she had no more meetings scheduled for this day. Twilight’s letter had to be put on the bottom of the priority list, as it arrived during an urgent meeting with the Diamond Dog ambassador.

Despite Celestia’s best attempts at hospitality, it seemed the ambassador just wanted to be the most uncouth creature to ever set foot in the castles grand halls that day: from scratching himself at the most inappropriate times, to making obscene comments of Equestrian cuisine standards. His poor mannerisms eventually led to him smacking the sun Goddess’ rear. And of course, Celestia had…. personally moved him to a new location, far away from any sort of resemblance of civilization. “At least his burn marks can keep him company.” Celestia thought to her self, giggling in a manner not befitting a princess.

And now, as her sun was setting, and Luna took control of the night, Celestia had some time to herself. The alicorn had retired to her bedchambers with some of her favorite tea, and Twilights scroll. The fireplace cackled with burning logs and cinders, casting large shadows across the royal bedroom. She lay down upon her soft, silk bed sheets, and opened the scroll with her magic. Her eyes narrowing in thought as she read the scroll.

“A falling star, that reminds me of…” She stopped, Luna and herself had destroyed a star recently, but this couldn’t have anything to do with that, right? “An alien craft?” Celestia moved away the scroll so that it would not interfere as her forehead made contact with her hoof. “Oh, Luna, what have you gotten us into now?” Celestia slowly dragged her hoof down her muzzle, and gazed over to her bedside clock. “Luna should be done with moon by now.” The royal alicorn rose from her bed, hopped off, and trotted off to have a “chat” with her sister.

As Celestia arrived at her sister’s balcony, she began rehearsing how she was going to lecture her sibling on the importance of making a good first impression with an alien species. Luna turned to face the older alicorn, smiling warmly.

“Goodnight, ‘Tia. What brings you up here?” She asked with all the innocence of a little schoolfoal. Celestia wasn’t having any of that tonight however, and she glared at her sister with the fury of…well, the sun. “Um, ‘Tia, is something the matter?”

“Luna, I am so close to sending you back to the moon for what you did, don’t make this any more difficult.” Luna quickly became frightened, her eyes darted back and forth, her face started sweating, her pulse increased. What had she done wrong?

“Luna, Remember a few nights ago, when we destroyed that star?” Luna nodded slowly. “Well, that wasn’t a star. It was an alien vessel capable of exiting a planets atmosphere and travelling through space.” Luna’s face became a mix of several conflicting emotions. First, she was horrified that she accidentally destroyed an alien vessel. Second, she was ecstatic that this vessel could travel through her beloved stars. And third, anxiety of what her sister was going to say next.

“Now, these aliens are on the way here to retrieve something that was inside this ship.” Luna was confused, what “something”? “This, artifact as Twilight referred to it, is currently under her watch in Ponyville, but she wants me to send the royal guard to protect it until these Protoss arrive to get the relic back.”

“Soooooo, how does this concern me?” Luna asked as innocently as possible. Celestia just smiled the way she always did before issuing punishment at somepony. And Luna’s face quickly changed from curiosity to fear.

“Because you are the direct cause of all these problems, you are going to stay in Ponyville and guard the artifact until the Protoss arrive. Then, you will formally apologize for destroying their ship, and promptly make it up to them in any way they see fit.” The way her sister had stressed that last part put unnecessary thoughts into Luna’s mind.

“Now, pack your things, because you are going to be in Ponyville in 3 days!” Celestia then turned around and trotted cheerfully back toward her room to write her reply to Twilight: Leaving her sister to sulk on the balcony alone.

“Tia never lets me have any fun.”

Ponyville Hospital:

Time until the Raiders arrival:

3 days: 19 hours

Spike began coughing fiercely, followed by a loud belch and a blast of green flame, revealing Celestia’s scroll. Everyponys face instantly perked up at this excitement. They had just been sitting here doing nothing because none of them expected to be there this long. Spike opened up the letter and read aloud its contents to the group.

My Faithful Student Twilight:

It would be my pleasure to send some spare royal guards to help you. However, I am sending my sister to guard it herself instead. She will be more than capable of doing this small task. However, I must ask that you keep this situation under-wraps. Luna will explain why when she arrives, which will be around noon, 3 days from now.

Yours: Princess Celestia.

“Well, that settles that then.” Twilight told the group. “I will take the artifact back to the Library until Luna arrives, or Scootaloo wakes up. Any objections?” The other ponies shook their heads. “Okay then, we should probably get some sleep. We have a few big days ahead of us, and we need to prepare for Luna’s arrival.” With that, Twilight grasped the blue rock with her magic, and the pones all bid farewell to Scootaloo. Tomorrow would start the preparations for Luna’s appearance.

It was going to be a long three days.

Chapter 5: At Long Last....

Authors Note: When you get to the scene with the song, it will start with ***, and end with ***. The important part is that the song and the scene end at the same time, so keep that in mind. Other than that, enjoy, and be sure to comment if you notice anything!

Chapter 5: At Long Last….

Ponyville Library:

Time until the Raiders arrival:

6 hours, 13 minutes:

Three days.

Three days until Luna arrived.

Three days until this whole ordeal with the artifact could be resolved.

Three days of nothing but waiting.

Those days passed over Ponyville just as any other day, moderately sunny skies, a pleasant breeze, and the sounds of the birds singing their beautiful symphonies. The shop owners sold their wares; Cherilee taught the students multiplication tables, Snowflake the super-buff pegasus went to the gym, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake baked treats for the town. For most of the residents of Ponyville, nothing had changed. For Twilight and her friends however, it was a painfully long time.

Twilight was waiting for Princess Luna’s chariot to arrive in the middle of the town square. Celestia had not specified that this would be the location of her appearance, but based on previous visits from the Royal sisters, it seemed appropriate. Looking at the position of the sun, the book smart unicorn could tell that Luna should be arriving soon, but that did little to stop her from growing increasingly impatient. Twilight had so many questions she wanted to ask Celestia, but the white Alicorn sent her another letter explaining that she had “important business” and would be unable to respond at all. Growing weary of standing, Twilight found an unoccupied bench and began reminiscing on her friend’s reactions to this whole ordeal as she rested.

Fluttershy, the timid pegasus was kept in the dark through most of these events. Not because her friends didn’t want her to know, but because there was simply no time to explain. When Twilight went to her cottage to explain what happened to Scootaloo and of the aliens coming to the planet, she didn’t take it so well. Perhaps she was too frightened of the idea that super-advanced aliens were coming to their planet, but the poor creature said she wouldn’t leave her house until this incident blew over.

Applejack had missed out on several days worth of work, and for her, the hard, backbreaking labor of apple bucking made the days drag on like they always did. Applebloom tried her hardest to stay in a cheerful mood. But her thoughts always drifted back to her friend in the hospital. The country filly knew that Scootaloo would never have wanted her friend to be this depressed over something like this. The three fillies had gotten into tough situations before, and Scootaloo would think of her injury as nothing more than another hurdle in the quest to obtain their cutie marks. The energetic pegasus would give her friends an encouraging speech, and the crusaders would be back on their hooves in no time at all. But things were different now.

This time there was no bruise, no tree sap, no love potion gone wrong; This time, the problem had spiraled so far out of control that it left Scoots unconscious in the hospital with a hole in her wing. Even if the pegasus had succeeded in getting her cutie mark, Applebloom had to ask her self; was she truly willing to go through an ordeal that deadly just to have an image on her flank? After very little thought on the subject, she spent the majority of these three days sulking in her room, unwilling to pursue her cutie mark with Sweetie Belle.

Pinkie Pie was overly excited at the prospect of meeting alien life. But when Twilight told her that the Princesses wanted to keep the situation secret, (Which meant no party) her mane lost a fraction of its cloud-like bounciness, and she spent the rest of the day drowning her sorrow in sugary snacks. The Cakes offered her support, but the pink mare simply locked herself in her room. She was fine and full of energy the next day, as the prospect of meeting intelligent life from another planet significantly out-weighed the slight disappointment of not being able to throw a party an extra day this week.

Rarity had gotten very far behind in her work as well. And she pulled 2 all-nighters trying to finish her outfits by the deadline. Being exhausted from her work, as well as the most recent events, she decided that the entire day would be spent sleeping. While she slept peacefully, Sweetie Belle was thinking about the aliens. She wondered what they looked like, if they could use magic and even if they had any music. Mostly, she pondered what a Protoss’ cutie mark would look like.

Zecora had ventured to Ponyville to examine Scootaloo for herself. When she arrived at the hospital, she offered RD some cryptic words of encouragement, and gave the purple maned filly her most sincere apology. The Zebra apologized for not being there to protect her, and for allowing the child to venture into the forest by herself. When Zecora left the hospital, her guilt of what she had let happen had not diminished in the slightest.

Rainbow Dash was taking this situation much harder than anypony. She opted to use all of her remaining vacation time to avoid leaving the hospital. However, her employers told her that she had used them all up this year, so she resorted to actually doing her job early to stay with her orange sidekick. She rarely slept, hardly ate any food, and when Twilight had last checked up on her, it almost seemed like her cyan fur and flashy mane had grown dull and grey. She told her athletic friend that things would work out for the better, but Rainbow didn’t buy it.

After what was an eternity of sifting through painful memories, Twilight heard somepony say something about Celestia’s carriage, and her head bolted up in surprise. She looked up to the sky along with the many ponies in the square, and flying right above them was without a doubt, Princess Celestia’s carriage, being pulled by two of Celestia’s guards. Twilight was confused, why was Luna not riding in her personal chariot? And where were her two lunar guards? As the well-recognized blue and gold craft descended to the town square, the many ponies around began bowing in shock and respect of the unexpected arrival of the solar princess.

But, when the door swung open and the Alicorn that stepped out of the carriage was the dark coated, starry maned Princess of the night instead of the benevolent, solar ruler they anticipated, the citizens became concerned. Luna turned around and gave the chariot flyers the signal to return to Canterlot. Her cloak suddenly dissolved into a swarm of bats as her wings flared out. (Which wasn’t very intimidating in the middle of the day) Luna folded her wings back, and turned her head over to the crowd of confused ponies. Some were murmuring to themselves about “Nightmare Moon”, others were confused that she was without her personal (and very frightening) guards. As the dark mare gazed over the crowd, she cleared her throat in preparation for her speech.

“CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! WE HAVE RETURNED TO THIS FAIR VILLAGE TO BESTOW UPON IT LEVELS OF FUN NEVER BEFORE SEEN BY PONYKIND!!” The crowd looked just as confused as before, many ponies had cringed in fear of the “Royal Canterlot Voice”, but several of them had leaned forward in anticipation of the “fun” their princess was about to give them. Luna began walking back and forth, her four diamond slippers making a dull clink as they touched the cobblestone of the town square.

“That is what I want to be able to say, unfortunately, I am here strictly on business, and as such will have no time for fun.” After saying this, Luna looked down at the street with sorrow. She truly did want to have some adventures here like she had during last years “Nightmare Night”. But Celestia told her that she was not allowed to have any fun during this trip. The large group of ponies were completely unprepared for the princess’ usage, or lack of, the “Royal We”. And they merely stood in place, staring at her. Luna noticed this and spoke to the crowd once more. “What? Does it make you uncomfortable that I can speak without using the Royal We? I can just as easily go back to yelling at you…” That snapped the crowd out of its trance, and the ponies shook their collective heads, clearly not wanting another verbal assault on that level. The princess stood up tall on her four legs, and dismissed the crowd.

The Princess of the night then began walking toward Twilight as the rest of the crowd quickly went back to their schedules and lives. The two smiled warmly at each other, before Luna embraced the librarian in a violently unexpected hug. “Oh, Twilight Sparkle, I have missed you so much! I wish I could have talked to you more at the royal wedding, but I was so busy and-” Luna stopped herself as she realized that she was gripping the purple unicorn too tightly, accidentally squeezing the air out of the poor mares lungs. She immediately released Twilight, who tried to forgive the Alicorn in between sharp intakes of precious oxygen.

After finally catching her breath, Twilight looked up at her faintly blushing matriarch. “Welcome to Ponyville Princess. Would you like to talk in the library? It would be more private.” Twilight then leaned closer to Luna and whispered, “Celestia told me she wanted to keep this artifact business secret.” At the mention of the artifact, Luna’s blush grew brighter, and she let loose a nervous cough. “Um? Princess? Are you all right? We can go to the hospital first if you need to.” Luna raised a hoof to silence her.

“That will not be necessary, Twilight Sparkle. Please, take us to the library, so we can discuss my sister’s plans for the artifact.” The pair then made their way to Twilight’s home, greeting the ponies who hadn’t witnessed the arrival of Luna earlier on the way. Most of the citizens took her appearance rather well, and Pipsqueak even gave Luna a card he had made in school. It was a simple piece of white stationary that said, “Luna is my favorite Princess”, accompanied by a crude crayon drawing of the winged unicorn. This earned the little colt a hug and thank-you from the dark Alicorn. After a short walk, they both arrived at the library. After the duo entered the massive tree, Twilight closed the door behind them to allow some privacy in their important discussions.

“Pardon me for asking princess, but, why didn’t you show up in your personal chariot? I was kind of shocked when you emerged from Celestia’s carriage.” Twilight asked as she went to the kitchen to prepare some tea. While she was making the tea, Luna said hello to Spike, who made his own introduction to the princess, and then scurried outside to the market to retrieve some groceries. When Twilight emerged with the hot teakettle and cups, she saw Luna sitting on one of the cushions on the floor, her face a mixture of unspeakable rage and torrential sadness. Luna looked toward the purple pony and sighed, releasing her pent up emotions, and regaining her stoic attitude.

“Celestia has confiscated my personal chariot as part of my punishment. She also has… additional punishments planned for me when this is over, and I have returned to Canterlot.” Luna shuddered at the thought of her older sister coming up with all sorts of pranks and torture methods. Despite her reputation as being a kind and benevolent ruler, the alabaster Alicorn was actually quite the deviant. Twilight looked confused.

“Punishment? What for? It must have been serious if she has even MORE planned for you.” She asked while pouring the tea with her magic, setting the kettle on a small tray next to the two. She sat down on another cushion across from Luna, and grasped her cup with her purple magical aura, bringing it to her lips as she awaited the Alicorn’s response.

“I destroyed an alien craft and killed thousands of aliens in the process.” Luna replied casually, taking a sip of her tea. She closed her eyes and put up a magical shield in front of her, so that the scalding liquid that jetted from Twilight’s mouth would not soil her Royal coat. Twilight’s magical hold on her teacup vanished, dropping it with a loud clink onto the floor. The lavender mare gazed at the pony that had admitted to such a serious crime like they committed it on a regular basis: her face one of horror and astonishment.

“WHAT? You mean that YOU are responsible for all of this?” Twilight held her head in her hooves, trying to make sense of this news. “This means that Scootaloo is in the hospital because of you!” Twilight stood up and began circling the princess, mumbling to her self how she would explain this to everypony. Luna remained seated, still sipping her tea. She had gone through the “bla, bla, you shouldn’t kill advanced alien life forms, BLA” rant from her sister, and Luna droned out the mutterings of the librarian, patiently waiting for her to come back to her senses. When Twilight slowed down her thought process enough to form coherent sentences, she turned back to the princess.

“What are we going to do, your highness? Those Protoss are going to be FURIOUS when they find out that you are the cause of all this.”

“That is true, Twilight Sparkle. And I have struggled for days to come up with a plan to deal with their inevitable rage. Unfortunately, only one plan seems feasible at the moment.” Luna peered at Twilight with regret of her own plan. Though shameful, it was the only way to make sure that no Equestrian lives are lost. Twilight picked up what Luna’s plan was, and stuttered out a reply.

“B-But P-Princess. You can’t mean… That we have to… Lie?”

“I wish it could be another way, Twilight Sparkle. But, if we do not feign ignorance on this matter; if we admit to the Protoss that I killed thousands of their kind; there is no telling how violent their reaction will be. And no defense against their onslaught.” Luna sighed once more, setting her now empty teacup beside her. “But that is a plan for later. Now then,” The princess rose to her full height. “Where is this artifact that I am to protect?” Twilight got up as well, motioning for Luna to follow her up the stairs to her room.

When they entered Twilights room, the artifact was resting on her bed. For safekeeping, Twilight had placed a protective spell over it, encasing the blue rock in a purple, shimmering shield. Twilight had outdone her self with her spell, but she knew that her brother, Shining Armor’s shields were far more efficient. Luna gazed at the rock for a good five minutes, not saying anything at all. Twilight turned her head to the Alicorn, then to the artifact, and back to Luna again. Twilight waved her hoof in front of Luna’s unblinking face.

“It is a strange fate,” The lunar princess whispered, her eyes transfixed on the blue relic. “That we should suffer so much fear and doubt, over so small a thing.” Luna shook her head fiercely, her senses swiftly returning to her. “I shall add my protection spell to yours, that should suffice as ample defense.” Luna lit her horn up with her dark blue magic, and the purple shield surrounding the artifact became deep blue, the same color as the night sky when the moon has not yet fully risen. “There, no force other than me can open this spell. It will be safe until they arrive.”

Satisfied with the status of the artifact, the two ponies walked back down to the library’s foyer, once again sitting on a soft cushion. Twilight looked over at her mentor's sister, having still more questions to ask.

“Princess, how will we know when the Protoss get here? They might have already arrived, and we wouldn’t even know it.”

“I have only one way to detect the presence of their ships. When I destroyed their other craft, it resembled a star in the night sky. So much so, that I indeed believed it to be one.” Luna now felt remorse for actions, though the results of her actions were completely unintentional, she still endangered the life of one of her subjects. “And so, when they appear again, they should be visible as a new star in the sky. We only need to watch the skies, and wait.”

“That’s sounds like as good a plan as any, but we still have another 6 hours or so before we can start looking. And what if they get here in the meantime?” Luna looked at Twilight with a grin of excitement.

“Twilight, look out that window over there.” Luna pointed her hoof towards the window, and Twilight could not believe what she was seeing. The sun was already setting! She glanced nervously at the clock; it read a time of 1:24. The sun shouldn’t be setting for another 6 hours! She quickly turned her attention to Luna.

“What is going on princess? Don’t tell me….” Twilight was silenced by the lunar Alicorn’s hoof.

“Celestia has come to this same conclusion, and so she is willing to shorten the length of the day temporarily, while we search. Considering how furious she is at me at the moment, I gladly accepted this kindness as if it were the last she would ever show me. Now, let’s set up your telescopes and star maps. We have a very long night ahead of us.” The Alicorn rose to her full height, and began walking up the stairs to the balcony. Twilight followed closely, bringing some candles, quills, parchment, and of course, her boundless curiosity.

Ponyville Hospital:

Time until the Raiders arrival:

5 hours: 20 minutes

Rainbow Dash sighed for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. She looked at the still recovering form of the orange filly. She could see the steady rise and fall of her chest, and hear the beep-beep of the machine that checked her heart rate. The doctors told her that she was recovering, but they were unsure of how long she would be in this coma. Rainbow wanted to cry, but her tears had long since dried up. She closed her eyes and looked back on the days when Scoots followed her around everywhere.

It was always the same; Rainbow would just be relaxing on a cloud, or practicing her moves for the Wonderbolts, or just hanging out with her friends. It never failed; Scootaloo would find her, hunt her down with a never-ending source of excitement, until Rainbow agreed to hang out with her. Scootaloo always tried her hardest to impress Rainbow and get noticed, and what did she do? Dash just ignored the filly, never giving her more than a moments thought.

She officially named herself Rainbows’ sidekick, which was unavoidable, as the orange filly rarely left her side. The cyan pegasus never really understood why she looked up to her so much. Sure, Rainbow was the fastest flyer in all of Equestria, but Scoots seemed to be too excited for just that. When she went through her “town hero” phase and had acquired a fan club, Scoots was always around. She would be first in line for Rainbow Dash souvenirs and trinkets, and she always plowed through the crowds to be in a picture with her hero.

RD just passed it off as blind adoration at the time, and never really acknowledged the filly’s feelings. She mentally kicked her self for being so dense, how could she have been so oblivious to Scootaloo’s actions? When Scoots finally had the courage to ask her hero to help her fly, she only accepted because she had nothing else to do that day. Rainbow visibly cringed at that memory. She never told the kid that, she just said, “Sure thing, squirt!” Squirt. The name ricocheted around Rainbow’s mind. That wasn’t a proper nickname for her friend, it was a half-assed title she came up with on a seconds notice and never bothered to change. Rainbow promised her self that she would never call Scoots by anything other than her full name again.

As Scoots began making steady progress with her flying, they started hanging out even more, with Rainbow’s willingness to do so increasing by the day. At least, it seemed that way because Dash actually acknowledged the existence of her sidekick. The two had some very fond moments, but their relationship never escalated from anything more than friends. Even at this point, Dash still took the young filly for granted, never truly thinking that Scoot’s feelings for her were more than the dreams of a school foal. Before, Rainbow had never looked back on her treatment of her number one fan. But now, with Scootaloo in this terrible condition, she had all the time in the world to think back and regret it all. If she could turn back the clock, she would treat the filly like a true pony, instead of a hindrance, an annoyance, and deadweight. Rainbow, in her dream-like state, was unaware when nurse Redheart entered the room to check on the filly. When she looked out of the window, she gasped in shock.

“Oh My! I didn’t realize it was so late!” She turned to the depressed blue mare. “I’m terribly sorry, but visiting hours were over a while ago, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. And please, Rainbow Dash, don’t worry about her. I told you before, she will be fine.” The kind nurses words did not reach Rainbows brain. Her compassion and understanding went unheard, the same way it had been these last few days.

As she gazed over the young pegasus, a flaming passion lit up in her soul. Rainbow swiftly leapt out of the chair, startling the nurse, and landing expertly on the floor in front of the window. She peered into the town, the sun was almost gone from the sky, but there was still time to prepare. If Scootaloo was unable to do her job, then Rainbow would do it for her. This artifact would never leave her sight; she would protect it with her life. Her heart was racing with determination. Without all the doubts and fears that weighed her down, Rainbow Dash opened up the hospital window, and leapt outside into the cold, dusk sky. Her outstretched wings caught onto an updraft, and she sailed across the sky, filled with energy she believed to be long lost. Making an agile turn, she flew above the rooftops, sailing past Sugar cube corner at breakneck speed, making her way to her cloud home.

When RD reached her cloud house, the first thing she did was check on her tortoise, Tank. Thanks to Twilights magic, the slow turtle was able to move on the top of the clouds. RD found the tortoise sleeping in his bed next to the window; the light from his specially made lamp casted a bright light on the slow-witted reptile. Rainbow said hi to the reptile, and he gave a slow smile. She walked up the steps into her room. Her poster of the Wonderbolts hung on the wall, filling her with the confidence to challenge the world. She gazed at it for a while, soaking in the image of her hero, Spitfire. She realized now that Scootaloo looked at her in the same way; and now it was time to return the favor.

She turned her attention to the small box near her bed. Inside was the reason she had come back here. The Element of Loyalty. After the fiasco of the Changeling invasion, Princess Celestia gave the order that each element bearer was to guard their own necklace: so that if danger strikes, they can’t lose them all at once. RD looked at the blue lightning bolt on her gold necklace. Surely, its power would be needed soon; she could feel it in her heart. She attached the chain to her neck, and quickly ran downstairs. Tank was actually asleep now (not surprising). She filled his bowls with food and water, respectively, and then sat down at her kitchen table, trying to think of a plan of defense.

Ponyville Library:

Time until the Raiders Arrival:

5 hours:

Twilight and Luna had at last set up the telescope on the library balcony. The wide platform was able to hold the two ponies, the massive telescope, and the papers and candles they brought with them. They finished just in time too: the sun had finally set, leaving the vast sky dark and eerily empty. Twilight shivered slightly from the cold of night.

“I’m kind of anxious, princess. I have never seen you raise the moon before.” Luna smiled, but Twilight couldn’t see it in the vast darkness.

“Prepare to be amazed, Twilight Sparkle, as I light the sky with the shimmering aura of a million stars.” ***

Luna closed her eyes, and a sphere of magic formed around her. Twilight stepped back out of shock, but soon regained her composure when Luna moved again. Raising her head, the sphere took her into the sky. The magic transport brought her closer and closer to the top of the library before stopping. When it opened, Luna extended her beautiful wings, using them to gently hover over the town as she prepared for the night. Luna concentrated the dark blue aura of her magic on her horn.

A bright ball of magic appeared on the tip of the princess’s horn. It shined as brightly as the sun for a moment, before suddenly shooting forth as a stream of magic went upwards into the heavens. As the stream faded, a single star appeared. Followed quickly by another, then two, then three more, until the entire sky was alight with her powerful magic. The stars shone brightly in the night sky, their light was Luna’s to command, and she made them dance before her self and her guest. Twilight’s mouth hung agape the entire time, her eyes trying desperately to take in as much of this once in a lifetime moment as possible.

Luna moved the stars this way and that way. Luna commanded, and they obeyed, loyal to her till the end of time. Her horn aglow as her magic moved the specks of light into the shape of a dragon, and a griffon. She moved them into a thin line, and from this she gathered the stars into the forms of a scorpion doing battle with an axe wielding earth pony. Having had enough action, she repositioned them into a bird singing in a tree. For the final act, she grabbed only the brightest stars, pushing all the others to the sides. Gathering the brightest stars in one spot, she slowly moved each one until it became the shape of Twilights Cutie mark. As Twilight gleefully clapped her hooves in approval, the dark Alicorn clustered every last star together with her magic, creating a massive spiral that churned out the randomly placed stars into constellations.

Her first choice was her favorite, Centaurus. Orion came next, followed by Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. She made the two bears play with each other before sending them off to create Lacerta. She continued in this fashion until the stars were all in their proper place. Twilight began checking the star maps for anything out of the ordinary, but Luna snapped the book shut with her magic. When the bookish mare looked up in confusion, Luna pointed out that there was one last piece to play.

“It is not time to begin working, we still have the grand finale to unveil.” Luna said softly, as if to speak in a higher voice would blow the stars out. She smiled at Twilight for a moment, before lighting her horn up again. Her horn thrumming with power once more, her eyes became pure white as she added the final piece to the sky.

The moon, at the peak of its cycle, slowly rose into the sky, adding its brilliance to the night. The full moon sparkled regally before Luna, the glory of its smooth surface was understood by few, and appreciated by even fewer. But she knew that Twilight cared, and that she always would. The white rock hung in the sky, waiting for Luna’s call. When she spoke to it, it gladly submitted to her will, and rose higher into the night. The glistening rock far outshone even the brightest stars in the sky. The night princess gazed upon her stellar masterpiece, the stars and moon together creating a far more beautiful scene than any painting. Satisfied, she let go of the moon, leaving it floating in its highest seat, until it needed to be moved again.

Luna’s wings carried her back down to where Twilight sat; the young mares’ entire body shook in awe of the display before her. Luna gave the unicorn a gentle nudge, and she snapped back to reality. Luna looked over at the book of star maps, and surrounded it with the glow of her magic, levitating it towards her. Twilight took out some scrolls and a quill. She waited patiently for Luna to start. The night Princess looked toward the eager unicorn and smiled wider than ever before. “I hope you are ready Twilight, for this is were the fun begins.” Luna said; her face filed to the brim with excitement. Who cares if Celestia said Luna couldn’t have any fun? She was not here to stop her, and Luna was going to make the most of it. They both knew that this was a daunting task, but perhaps they could make a game of it? That would surely make things easier. As Luna peered through the telescope to take the first look, Twilight readied a scroll and quill. In order to find the protoss ship, they would need to check every last star in the sky…

As the two watched the sky, taking notes and recording the position of the constellations, time itself seemed to stand still. Seconds turned into minutes; one minute became ten; ten became an hour; and those hours dragged on for centuries. As prepared as they had been, there were so many stars to count, and only two of them. Luna had given them the confidence they needed for this task, but their physical limits would prove to be problematic. Somewhere along the way, Twilight had dozed off, leaving Luna alone to tend to this monumental duty. She tried with all her might to search for any outstanding stars, but her willpower had gone down with Twilight. Defeated, Luna walked over to the lavender mare, her head resting in an open star map; a quill lay on the balcony beside her. Luna got down on her haunches next to the young mare, and draped a wing across her body; the same way Celestia did when the two were fillies.

Luna looked back on those simpler times with fondness, and despite her teasing; she knew that Celestia did as well. Twilight made a mumbling sound, but did not wake. This did not bother Luna very much, and she sat on the balcony, watching the stars. The sleeping body of the unicorn felt warm against the chill of the night air. Princess Luna looked over the notes they had taken over those painfully long hours. Not one irregularity to be found amongst the entire sky. Luna sighed in frustration and weariness. So far this trial had been a waste of time, a failure. But she had no other way of knowing when the Protoss would arrive, so they would simply have to try this experiment again tomorrow night.

She sighed and looked up at her masterpiece once more. The moon continued to shine with all its majesty. Celestia had given her more than enough time to search the sky for the aliens, but the citizens were surely confused about this sudden loss of sunlight. Knowing her citizens, if the sun did not return soon, they would panic. Although it pained her greatly to do so, Luna decided to end the night early as well.

Luna called out to the moon, and it gladly accepted her command to come down from his seat in the sky. As the moon began its arc to the edge of the night, she lit up her horn, calling all the stars to group into one spot. The orbs of light fused together into a single ball of light. It then slowly descended from the heavens, and was absorbed into the Alicorn’s horn. Luna looked down at the peaceful form of Twilight’s sleeping body. The purple pony’s chest slowly rose and fell in time with her breaths, and Luna wondered how often the Librarian fell asleep with her head in a book. The beautiful moon and constellations were Luna’s pride and joy, and she was able to share her happiness with Twilight. The fact that at least one other pony shared her love of the night filled the Alicorn’s heart with such joy that she was completely oblivious as a new star streaked across the sky. ***

1 hour later, on the Hyperion’s Bridge:

As usual, the bridge was bustling with activity. Matt had ordered the ship to orbit the planet several times to get some scans of the planets surface; and the crew was going over the findings. They would need all sorts of information, from the geography to the atmosphere to the wildlife. As Matt was over looking the data they acquired, Jim Raynor walked in. He placed his hands down on the edge of the star map and looked up at his friend.

“Alright Matt, let’s get down to business. Is there anything we should know about this planet before we go down there? It looks very Earth-like, actually.” Jim asked in his calm, calculating demeanor.

“Well sir, there is some bad news, there aren’t many mineral deposits on this planet. And those that do exist are deep underground.” Matt said, bringing up an image on the hologram screen. It showed a massive, barren field with a few sparse trees. There were a few holes in the ground, but they were completely vertical. “We could go down there to harvest those minerals, but our conventional methods would make it difficult.” Matt said. Jim looked concerned.

“Well, that definitely puts a lock on our plans doesn’t it? What about Vespene gas?” Jim asked, hoping for some good news.

“That’s the other problem, sir, there isn’t ANY Vespene gas on the planet at all.” Jim’s eyes widened briefly in shock. The Raiders needed that special gas for anything more advanced than marine armor. Without it, they couldn’t stand a chance against an attack from any of their opponents. Especially the Protoss.

“Well, dammit. How the hell are we supposed to secure the artifact without an offensive force?” Jim started rubbing his temples in frustration.

“Well, sir, that’s the good news.” Matt said, bringing up another image on the hologram. This one showed what appeared to be a town of wooden shacks in the middle of a valley, the sun shining on them and the inhabitants who were slowly going about their lives. “The artifact is in the possession of this planets native life. Fortunately for us, they do not appear to be very technologically advanced.” Matt said, pointing out the rather low-tech appearance of this village. More importantly, the natives appeared to be walking around.

“Matt, are those ponies?” He asked with a look of disbelief. “Multi colored…. ponies?” He closed his eyes and brought his hand up to his forehead, slowly dragging it down his face as he sighed loudly.

“Yes sir, they are definitely equine in nature. But they have established a community, and appear to have some level of technology. I don’t think it would be fair to judge them on appearance. Besides,” He added with a smirk. “At least its not the Zerg.”

“Well, they appear to be peaceful. Maybe we can negotiate them into giving that artifact to us. I’d rather not storm in there and just blow everything up with a Siege tank. Seems we do that a lot lately.” Jim said, his demeanor much more serious now.

“Don’t forget sir, the carrier was attacked from this planets orbit. Whatever it was, it might still be here.” Matt brought up the image of the fallen carrier. Jim was completely shocked by the state of it.

“Good god, Matt. This thing wasn’t attacked; it was destroyed! I hate to think that one of these… ponies was able to destroy such a powerful Protoss weapon. If worse comes to worse, I hope we can fight ‘em off.” Jim shook his head sharply, remembering what he was talking about. “Who am I kidding? They’re PONIES. We have this under control.” He waved his hand, dismissing the thought. Okay Matt, prep my ship, I’m goin down there to see if I can’t bargain with ‘em.”

“Alright sir, I’ll get your drop ship ready, is there anything you want before you go?” Jim thought for a moment before answering.

“Yeah, get Stettman and Tychus over to the hanger. They’re goin down with me.” Jim smiled before leaving to suit-up in his specially designed marine armor.

Later, in the hanger:

Tychus, Stettman, and Jim himself were all set and ready to go down to this planet. Stettman had equipped himself with Terran infantry armor; Tychus was still stuck inside his marine armor, and Jim was suited up inside his own, black colored gear. They weren’t sure if the natives were friendly, so Tychus brought his massive chain gun, and Jim had his favorite Commando Rifle. Right now, they were just waiting for the ships pilot to finish prepping the ship. Jim noticed Tychus looking slightly uncomfortable, so he walked over to him, to ask what was wrong.

“Getting cold feet, Tychus?” He asked with a sarcastic smile. “I know those creatures Matt showed me on the projector didn’t exactly look normal, but that’s no reason to get anxious.”

“Brother, ah faced the Zerg and the Protoss. Whatever’s down there aint nothing compared ta them. This is gonna be a piece of cake.” Tychus replied confidently. Jim turned around to see Tosh walk in through the hallway; he was flipping around his knife, and he had a grim look on his face.

“Well look who it is. What are you doin here Tosh?” Jim asked with genuine curiosity as to why the dark skinned man was suited for battle.

“I can feel it brotha. There be something down there. A force beyond our comprehension, somethin’ so powerful that the heavens themselves bow to its will. If you goin down there, ya might not make it back alive.” Tychus looked at Jim cautiously, before Jim spoke up.

“How could you know something like that, Tosh? What can you tell me about this planet, or the creatures on it?” Tosh twirled his knife closed, and placed it in his holster.

“I don't. I just feel it be true.” He then walked into the cargo hold of the drop ship. Stettman followed him inside soon after, leaving Tychus and Jim alone.

“There’s something… wrong with that man, Jimmy. He keeps mutterin’ to himself and fiddling with those damn… Dolls of his, why do we bring him along?” Jim gave a short laugh.

“Well, I need someone to balance out your sophistication and good manners.” Jim gave his friend a casual snicker and walked aboard, with Tychus following. With all four men inside, the drop ship lifted off and flew out of the hanger, and down to the planet below.

On Equestria:

Rainbow Dash had fallen asleep at her table. Despite her efforts to remain focused, the lack of sleep she was having finally caught up to her, and she was now snoring softly with her forelegs acting as a makeshift pillow for her cyan head. She dreamed of how much fun she and Scoots would have once she got better. She imagined the two of them flying through the sky, the wind in their manes, without a care in the world. Just as the two had stopped to catch their breath on a marshmallow cloud, her dream was torn apart by a deafening roar the likes of which she had never heard before.

She awoke with a jolt and ran outside her house just in time to see a black, sleek craft. It was long, with fire spewing out of four cylinders on its sides that propelled it forward. It had two front wings that were angled down sharply to be aerodynamic, but the most striking thing Rainbow found about it, was the white markings on the ship. If she didn’t know any better, she would say they were skulls! But of what creature? They looked different from anything she had seen before.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She ran back inside and looped her element around her neck, feeling its power surge through her body. Rainbow hurried back outside her house, stretched out her blue wings, and rocketed after the craft. She chased after the flying ship for a minute before realizing that based on its current course; it was headed for Town Square. She immediately changed course and headed for Twilight's library.

When Rainbow crashed through the wooden doors unexpectedly, Twilight jumped out of her seat in shock, and Luna gave the pegasus a disapproving glance before moving her attention back to the notes from last night. The two mares were having a light breakfast while trying to decide what they could do to make the next nights search more efficient. But Rainbow jumped in front of her purple friend before she could get back to her work.

“Twilight! Noise! Ship! Skulls! Aliens!” Rainbow then collapsed onto the floor, out of breath. Twilight and Luna both looked at each other in shock. The Protoss were here already? They had no time to prepare!

“Rainbow Dash, are you sure that the Protoss are here already? And why did you bring your element with you?” Twilight asked with worry. Luna was now standing up, getting ready to retrieve the artifact from upstairs. Dash finally caught her breath and rose to her hooves, and shook her head.

“I don’t think its them, Twilight. This ship was way smaller than the one that crashed in the forest. And it wasn’t gold either. It was…Black.” Rainbow said, sticking her tongue out and making a repulsed face at the thought of the color. “Why black, anyway? Why not orange, or blue, or red, or anything besides that hideous…” She realized that the lunar princess standing not 4 feet away was glaring fiercely at her. “I…Mean… What an awesome… color choice.” The athletic mare gave a nervous laugh. “Cause, black is the toughest color around, right?” Rainbow looked toward Twilight for support, but her friend was too busy thinking about this black ship.

“If these aren’t the Protoss, we should keep the artifact secret from them. We should still meet them, though, and see what they want.” Twilight gave a high-pitched squeal at the thought of meeting aliens. She quickly caught herself. “Anyway, Rainbow, where were they going?”

“I saw them heading toward Town Square. If we go fast enough, we can make it before anything bad happens, that’s why I brought my necklace.” She added, touching the lightning bolt that fell over her chest with a hoof. “We might have to fight these new guys off, and we would need all of our strength for that.” Rainbow growled that last sentence, her sudden aggressiveness stunning Twilight, but she kept her composure.

“Okay then, Rainbow, go meet these new aliens when they land, make sure that nothing bad happens. Luna and I will be there as soon as I get my tiara.” The bookish mare turned, but Rainbow had already flown away, leaving Twilight and Luna behind.

On board the Special Ops Drop Ship:

“We’re here, commander.” The pilot said, alerting the passengers inside. “You want to leave through the gravity tube?” The drop ship was equipped with a high-speed gravity tube, which allowed troops to be deployed directly onto the ground from mid-flight. Jim and the rest of them stood up, readying their weapons, and in Stettman’s case, his research tablet.

“No, I think it would make a better impression on these natives if we landed directly on the ground. Bad enough for them that aliens are comin’. Even worse if they just fall right out of the sky.” After giving the order, the drop ship began descending into the middle of the cobblestone plaza.

The crowd of ponies that were around to see or hear this strange craft had formed a massive crowd in the middle of town. When they noticed it was coming closer to the ground, they backed away, forming a circle more than wide enough for the ship to land. As the ship touched the ground, the four turbines died down, along with their thunderous roar. A ramp on the bottom of the craft opened up, and a walking black Suite of armor stomped heavily down and onto the stone of the street, each step causing a small quake. This monster, standing tall on two legs, towered over the crowd menacingly. It had a skull emblazoned on his helmet, and in his claws he carried an object of unknown purpose. Some ponies were muttering that it was a weapon, and that this thing was the grim reaper. The armored thing gazed over the scared stiff ponies before uttering the most unexpected phrase they though an alien would say.

“Howdy.”

Chapter 6: Introductions and Hostility

Chapter 6: Introductions and hostility.

Jim briefly wondered if he had taken the right approach to greeting these aliens. Maybe they didn’t speak English? They weren’t reacting at all, just staring at him like he was some sort of monster. Jim relaxed his shoulders and chuckled to himself. Of course he looked like a monster to them. Well, no matter how badly things go here, it can’t possibly be worse than the first contact between Terrans and the Protoss. The shining fleet just warped into Terran space one day and completely incinerated the surface of the planet Chau Sara. Relations between the two races had never been good since then. Raynor looked over the massive crowd of terrified equines for another minute before speaking again.

“Can any of you understand me?” He asked out to the crowd. They collectively nodded their heads. Jim took that as a step forward, and turned back to the drop ship. “Alright boys, get down here.” In turn, Stettman, Tychus and Tosh walked down the ramp and stood behind their commander. Jim switched his hold on his rifle, pointing it at the ground and pointing his free hand at his team.

“Don’t worry, these are my friends. We don’t mean any harm. We actually need your help with something.” This made the equines turn and mumble amongst themselves. These fearsome aliens needed their help? What for? As they muttered to themselves, Stettman walked over to Jim, his face a mix of confusion and surprise.

“Uh, sir? These ponies are vibrant and colorful, as you said, but... They are a lot bigger up close than you made it out to believe.” He was right, from just the scans he had been shown; Raynor expected the ponies to be about four feet tall, max. But now that they were face-to-face, it turned out they were averaging out to be five feet tall, which greatly surprised the raiders. Except for Tychus that is; he was moving his chain gun around and glaring at the ponies from behind the gold visor on his helmet.

“Damn, Jimmy. Sure are some ugly suckers down here.” Jim snorted in frustration before turning back to Tychus, pointing a metal plated finger at his men.

“Alright, here is how this is going to work. Stettman, don’t touch anything, and Tychus, don’t shoot anything, got it?” Raynor observed the nods of his team before turning his attention back to the crowd. “As I said, we need your help with something, and the sooner it gets done, the sooner we will leave. Sound fair?” The crowd exchanged more glances, but nodded once more. “Okay then, who is in charge here?”

“That would be me, I suppose.” The mob parted to let a middle-aged mare with a tan coat and grey mane walk over to the imposing aliens. Mayor Mare stood in front of the black creature that towered menacingly above her, her knees shaking in fear. She swallowed her fear with a loud gulp, and continued. “I am mayor of this town, Mayor Mare. May I ask for your name, stranger?” For a pony, Jim had to admire this mare’s impressive courage. Raynor pushed a button on his helmet, and the gold visor lifted, showing the pony his face.

“Name’s James Raynor, but you can call me Jim. That big fella behind me in the blue is Tychus,” Tychus waved at the mayor as decently as he could manage. “The shorter boy with the glasses is Stettman,” Stettman kept glancing from his tablet to the crowd, typing things now and then. “And the quiet guy over there is Tosh. I wouldn’t mess with him if I were you.” The specter was gazing in to the distance, as if he was focusing intently on something only he could see. “And that about makes out my team, Raynor’s Raiders.” Mayor Mare acknowledged each alien before turning back to Raynor.

“Well, now that introductions are out of the way, what may we help you with?” Straight and to the point, Jim appreciated that.

“Now, ya see, we came here looking for something. It’s a-”

“WAAAAAIT!!!” Everyone in the square looked around to find the source of the outburst when a rainbow blur crashed into Stettman, knocking down the poor Terran and scaring him out of his mind. Rainbow Dash jumped off of his stomach and flew in front of the crowd, wracking her mind for what to say next.

Okay, I just gotta stall them until Twilight and the princess get here. That shouldn’t be hard right? But, who are these guys anyway?

“Who are you guys? And what are you doing here?” She asked with an abnormally gruff attitude. The creature in black armor sighed rather loudly and moved his free hand to cover his face for a moment.

“I’m going to be repeating myself a lot today, I can already tell. All right,” he said, looking back down at the not-so-little pony. “We are a race of beings called Terrans. We have colonized a few dozen worlds, but we originally came from the planet Earth. We also have technology that, as far as I can tell, far surpasses yours. My name is James Raynor. Leader of Raynor’s Raiders, and pleased to meet you.” Jim finished with a pleasant tone. He truly wanted to make a good impression on these lesser beings. God knows the Protoss would not show such kindness. Rainbow Dash turned around and walked toward the mayor, whispering into her ear.

“I know he seems nice now, but don’t you think we are being too trusting too soon? What if they are just wanted criminals or something? That tall blue one looks like he’s killed dozens without a second thought.” She said pointing to Tychus who had pulled back his golden visor and was casually smoking a cigar. As she spoke, the Mayor gasped loudly and backed away from the prismatic pony. She pointed an appalled hoof at her, readying herself to scold Rainbow for her choice of words.

“Rainbow Dash! We have not even known these creatures for a full hour and you accuse them of murder? Shame on you!” She huffed and turned back to Jim. “I apologize on her behalf, she is not usually this apprehensive.”

“No ma’am, that’s all right. First encounters with extraterrestrial beings are easy to mess up, and it’s no surprise that this little pony would be nervous.” As he mentioned the cyan pegasus, Stettman, having gotten back onto his feet, spoke out nervously to the mare.

“Excuse me, Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah, that’s my name, what do you want?”

“I was just curious about your um, well, your wings.” Rainbow looked dumbfounded, had they never seen a pegasus before? She mentally face-hoofed, of course they hadn’t. She extended her wings, the things that gave her life meaning, and gave them a few strong flaps. Perfect, I can explain some basics until Twilight and the princess arrive. This is perfect!

“Well, there are three types of ponies in Equestria. First, there are Earth ponies.” She pointed at the wingless mayor beside her. “They are really, really naturally strong, and they are the only kind of pony that can successfully grow food and stuff. Then there are-” Stettman cut her off after typing a lot of notes into his data tablet.

“Why are Earth ponies the only ones that can grow food?”

“I don’t know; it just works like that! Anyway, there are also unicorns that-” The geeky professor once again cut off Rainbow’s speech, eliciting an annoyed grunt from her.

“Unicorns are mythical creatures. Just like pegasai, or so I thought until you kinda crashed into me. Can I see a unicorn please?” He asked, pushing his glasses back into place. Rainbow rolled her eyes and shrugged, and then flew a few feet into the air, hovering and scanning over the crowd.

“Hmmmm, AHA!” She shouted, pointing a hoof at a pony below her. “Lyra, get up over here!” The crowd parted and a mint green pony with a light green mane with a white stripe walked up to the Terrans. As her name suggested, there was an image of a lyre on her flanks. Stettman would have to ask about that soon. She showed an expected amount of nervousness, but showed few signs of terror that the others did. Upon seeing the spiral bone protruding from her skull, Jim whistled and Stettman began furiously typing notes.

“Well I’ll be damned.” Tychus said quietly. The Terran scientist prepared to continue the barrage of questions, this time directed at the unicorn that was exactly on eye-level with the scientist.

“What can unicorns like yourself use your horn for?” He asked with child-like giddiness.

“Well, we can all preform basic spells, like telekinesis, and other unicorns vary in ability based on their cutie mark.”

“What is a cutie mark?” The nerd was intrigued by this term and its apparently important impact on the lives of individual ponies. Tychus on the other hand, gagged on the thought of even saying that phrase with dignity.

“Ah caint take much more of this planet, partner. This place just aint natural, it’s like a little girl’s paradise and a living hell for me! Please tell me Ah’m just drunk and this is all a dream so Ah can wake up already!”

Jim rolled his eyes at his friend and chuckled to himself. While Lyra began explaining to the Terrans (only Stettman and Jim were paying attention), Tosh started feeling faint. The dark skinned man had sensed an extremely powerful psionic scream on this planet when they first arrived in orbit. Now that he was on the surface, he could feel its power pushing against his mind. It was emanating from quite a distance away, but even from here, he thought it would be wise to be on guard.

Tosh was looking over the crowd when the psionic scream startlingly intensified a hundred-fold, sending a bolt of agony through his skull. It pulsed inside his mind, behind his eyes, making them feel like they pop out of their sockets. His knees buckled and he fell to the ground, dropping his rifle and crying out in pain. Everyone in the plaza turned at the sound of his scream, and the crowd soon lost themselves in blind panic.

Jim immediately ran towards his ally, who was writhing in pain and gritting his teeth, his face a twisted mask of agony. Jim grabbed his hand and helped him to his feet, the ponies shouting amongst themselves in panic. “Tosh, what’s going on? Are you hurt?” Tosh leaned heavily against Jim’s armor, and finally opened his eyes.

“Bad mojo on the way, brotha.” Before Jim could even stutter a response, the Raider’s adjutant broadcasted an alert to the group, filling their communicators with its familiar metallic voice.

“Alert, Class Twelve Psionic Wave form detected.”

“WHAT?” Jim and his men became horrified, there was only one creature in the universe with that much power, and she controlled the Zerg swarm. If Kerrigan had arrived here, this planet was doomed. Jim turned back to his men, Tosh managed to get back on to his own feet, Stettman was cowering in fear, and Tychus was surprisingly calm. The ex-criminal almost seemed happy that she was here.

“Looks like we finally get ta show that bitch whose boss, right Jimmy?”

“I don’t think so Tychus, we gotta get out of here right-what the?” Jim turned his attention skyward to the bright noon sun. All the ponies in the crowd, including Rainbow Dash, gazed upward at the sight in the sky. Pitch-black thunderheads were covering the horizon at an alarming rate, blotting out the sun, and casting the plaza in darkness. The Terrans were as confused as they were terrified, what new tricks did Kerrigan have up her sleeve this time? As the cloud cover grew thicker and lightning flashed above them, Jim called Matt Horner through the communicator.

“Matt, what’s the status where you are? How many Zerg are there, a few hundred thousand?” Matt checked the radars on the Hyperion with no small amount of confusion. After scanning the immediate area around the planet, he called Jim back.

“Um, sir, there are zero incoming attack waves. There isn’t even an overlord around for light-years. Are you alright down there?” That news did NOT lighten Jim’s mood. If Kerrigan wasn’t here, then what in God’s name could hold enough power for the adjutant to label it as a class twelve? As if answering his thoughts, the clouds began swirling together like a hurricane. The center of the cloud mass began descending toward the plaza, sending howling gales of wind across the street. Lightning flashed across the sun-blotted sky as the cloud cylinder finally touched the ground. It remained there only shortly, and when it rose two new creatures were standing tall in front of the Raiders.

The first was another unicorn, with lavender fur and a well-groomed purple mane with a pink stripe. On the unicorn’s head was a strange, golden tiara with a purple crystal on its peak. The crystal in question was bearing a striking resemblance to the pony’s cutie mark. The other had this aura of power that radiated off her being and humbled the entire crowd with her presence alone.

This unicorn was much taller than the others by at least a foot, with lean, slender muscles and a coat of fur that was midnight blue. Its mane was mesmerizing to gaze upon, for it flowed freely as if it were caught in a hidden breeze and literally shone with the light of the stars. It stood tall in front of the Terrans and extended its wi-WINGS? This winged unicorn looked imposing, and Jim had a hunch that it was powerful beyond compare. Jim was about to make another introduction, but a bolt of lightning hurtled through the sky and the pony spoke first, striking a pose with one fore hoof stretched outwards and rising on her hind legs.

“GREETINGS, TRAVELERS FROM AFAR!” The blast of sound from the winged unicorn caught all the Terrans off-guard, and had Jim not been wearing heavy armor, he would surely have been tossed like a ragdoll.

“We have noticed your presence among our citizens, and thought it proper to introduce ourselves formally! We are the younger of the Alicorn sisters, co-ruler of Equestria, goddess of war and mistress of the night!”

“But you can call me Luna.” She planted all four hooves gently back on the ground. The royal pony’s face bore a genuine smile towards the stunned silent Terrans. All of them, even Tychus, were blinking in bewilderment regarding the Alicorn. Jim felt his rifle slowly slip out of grip and fall with a clatter on to the ground, but he made no move to retrieve it. Twilight on the other hand, was sitting on her rump, staring at her princess in disbelief. She shakily stood and walked to her, desperate to salvage any good relations that remained after the attack of the “Royal Canterlot Voice”.

“Princess! I thought I told you to be cautious with these creatures! We don’t know how volatile they are, or what they’re capable of!” Luna shook her head and whispered back to the panicking librarian.

“Twilight Sparkle. It is necessary above all else to showcase a display of might when acquainting oneself with diplomats from another nation.”

“That may have been proper etiquette a thousand years ago! And these creatures are not even from this planet!” Twilight scolded. Luna craned her neck to look at the unicorn at her side and gave her a casual grin. The night princess then folded back up her wings and took a step closer to Jim, taking into account the fact that he was still taller than her.

“Of what matters can I assist you with?” Jim sighed with exasperation; there were so many questions he wanted to ask these creatures. He was certain Stettman wanted to ask some more questions as well, but that would have to wait. Before responding to the Alicorn, he called his adjutant.

“Adjutant, is this pony that Psionic you mentioned before?”

“Affirmative, commander. Target Equine bio-form displays formidable psionic energies, recommend extreme caution.” With that, the computer voice was cut off, and Jim reached down and picked his rifle back up before returning his attention to the Alicorn in front of him.

“Okay, I’m gonna make this real quick, before another one of you comes along and interrupts me. I hate to be blunt but we are in a bit of a hurry. We are Terrans, my name is Jim Raynor. We are looking for a protoss artifact about this big, with blue, weird markings on it, radiates a sort of….energy. We know you have it, so if you could just give it over, we can be on our way.” Judging by the way that Rainbow Dash, Luna and Twilight all had the same expression of a fish out of water, jaws hanging open, eyes widened to slits; Jim knew he hit the bull’s-eye. The three ponies formed a huddle to share their unbelieving terror at this turn of events.

“They already know! How is that even possible?”

“We will have to ask about that later, but what do we do now? We can’t just give it to them…”

“Yeah! We should just kick their galactic flanks and keep the artifact for ourselves!” Dash said a little too loudly, though Tychus rolled his eyes at the remark.

“All right, my little ponies. This is a dangerous game we are playing. So Rainbow, let Twilight and I do the talking, alright?” Rainbow huffed and stewed in her anger, but agreed nonetheless. The mistress of the night, having regained her composure, turned to the crowd of onlookers.

“My subjects! It is unfortunate to say, but I am going to ask all of you to return to your homes at once. This matter is now beyond us, and we must discuss with the Terrans in private.” When the crowd remained mostly still, Luna slammed her hoof down on the cobblestone plaza, accompanied by a wicked thunderclap that sent the crowd scurrying for the safety of their homes. All that remained in the quite town were Luna, Twilight, RD, Jim, Stettman, Tychus, and the Terran’s black airship.

“It is useless to keep up a charade when the enemy sees through it clear as starlight. Very well then, James Raynor, you are correct; we are in possession of the artifact. However, we are not at liberty to simply hoof it over to you.”

“And why is that? I want to keep this as peaceful as possible. So if you can explain, I’m sure we can come to an agreement.” The dark Alicorn closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, contemplating whether this would be a good idea or not.

“As you wish, James Raynor, I shall show you our reasons for safeguarding the protoss relic. Rainbow Dash!” At hearing her name being called, the pegasus ran in front of her princess and saluted.

“What is it, your majesty?”

“Go and alert the remaining Harmony bearers and gather them at the library. Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight snapped to attention as well, awaiting the diarch’s orders. “You will escort the Terrans to the library as well. James, please step forward.” Jim hesitated at first, but turned to his men one last time.

“My orders still stand. Tychus don’t shoot anything. In fact, put the gun back on the drop ship. Stettman, you can get a few samples, just don’t blow the place up.” The scientist replied with a yes, sir, but Tychus growled at the thought of having to relinquish his firearm. Eventually he caved in and entered the ship, appearing again moments later, significantly weaponless. Lastly, Jim ordered the ship pilot to return to the Hyperion. With a thunderous roar, the vessel took off into the sky, vanishing from view seconds later.

“Alright, your majesty, what do you have in mind?” As he said this, Luna’s horn began glowing with the blue aura of her magic. She held her head high, and in a flash of light, disappeared along with the Terran commander. After the princess vanished, the thunderhead above dissipated, letting the sun’s light shine through. Tychus and Stettman were still trying to comprehend what just happened. The commander and that pony just…vanished. Twilight and RD looked at each other and nodded, with Rainbow taking off to find the other bearers. Twilight turned back to the startled aliens. She hoped that this would go smoothly. Taking a deep breath, she ran the method of a proper introduction through her head. Step 1: introduce yourself first with a warm undertone.

“Um, my name is Twilight Sparkle; it’s a pleasure to meet y-” Twilight suddenly found her neck in the vice-like metallic grip of the blue giant. He moved the lavender unicorn right up to his face. Tychus was snorting in rage like a bull, his scar covered face sending chills down her spine as he glared at her. He held the pony above the ground effortlessly despite its size, her legs flailing around in a desperate bid to touch the ground.

“What did that little freak princess a’ yours just do ta Jimmy? So help me if Ah find out he’s dead Ah will burn this whole damn planet to the ground!” He gave the unicorn a firm shake, knocking off her tiara in the process. Stettman was trying his best to calm Tychus down, but, what can a geek do against a stone cold killer?

“J-just………a…*Cough*.....teleport-*ack*…spell. He’s…..fine.” Tychus glared at the struggling pony for a few precious seconds, before dropping her unceremoniously on the ground. The unicorn fell onto her side, gasping and wheezing pathetically. Her lungs were on fire and her throat throbbed in pain. Stettman ran over and knelt beside her, checking her vitals and her pulse. He also took this opportunity to get a sample of her coat and mane. Twilight took a mental note that these Terrans were capable of showing a wide range of emotion, from burning anger to heartfelt compassion. She also made a note not to upset Tychus again; he obviously cares greatly for the well-being of his comrade.

Stettman helped Twilight back onto her hooves. As she shakily held her ground, she gingerly touched a hoof to her neck, pulling back immediately when she felt a bruise. Her neck was starting to swell. It should not be noticeable from a distance, but if they find out that Tychus did this to her, there would without doubt be a conflict. She reached out with her magic and placed the golden tiara back on her head, clearing her throat (painfully) before continuing.

“I apologize on behalf of my princess. She can be…erratic at times. Now then, if you two would please follow me, the library is this way.” She pointed a hoof in the direction of her home.

“Two? There are three of us. Me, Tychus and To-” Stettman paused as he turned behind him. Tosh had vanished without a trace. “When did he leave? Oh! It must have been when the crowd dispersed! I should tell the commander tha- oh right….He isn’t here.” The scientist blushed sheepishly.

“It’s a good thing that psycho disappeared. He aint’ nothin’ but a whack job. Now you,” He pointed at Twilight, who shrank back in apprehensive fear. “Git goin’ to that library or I’ll kick ya there.” Twilight knew that there was force behind those words, and beckoned for the two to follow her through town.

******

The wind violently whipped Rainbow Dash’s face as she rocketed across the sky. The sun’s light reflected off of her prismatic mane and tail, leaving a spectral contour in the wake of her flight. There was more than determination powering her wings today; forcing them to work like they never had before. Now there was uncertainty as well, a fear of what those Terrans might be capable of.

Princess Luna wanted the Elements of Harmony to be gathered, but it was beyond Dash’s knowledge why. Perhaps she wanted them to know what Equestria is capable of as well? The familiar shape of Sweet Apple Acres appeared over the horizon, and Dash lowered her altitude, touching down in front of Applejack’s house. Before she even knocked on the door, Applejack opened it herself, noticing quickly that her friend was distraught.

“What’s eatin’ ya, sugarcube? Yer lookin’ a might pale there.” Dash shook her head to clear it of doubt, and looked her friend right in eye with grim determination.

“Applejack, we are in trouble. Remember those Terran guys that Scoots told us about? Well they’re here now, and they want the artifact." The farm pony backed away in shock.

“Well we can’t have that now; Scootaloo done nearly killed herself getting that back and nopony but Scootaloo is giving it away!

“That’s what I thought too, but Princess Luna is here, and she has other plans.”

“The princess is taking charge of this herself?” Applejack gasped in shock. She then tilted her hat up a bit. “This is serious then, what do you think she’s gonna do?”

“I’m not sure yet, but the Princess wanted me to get the rest of the Elements of Harmony and bring them to the library.” Dash pointed at the emblem she wore around her neck, and Applejack nodded her head with acknowledgement.

“Say no more Dash, Ah’m on my way. Go and get the rest of the gang, and I’ll be there likity-split.” With that, Rainbow took off to get Rarity back in Ponyville. I might have to explain it differently to her, or she might take this the wrong way. I have my suspicions, but that does not mean I can’t play calm for now.

*******

The world around the prismatic pony became hazy as tears formed at the edges of her eyes from the air hitting her face. Her velocity slowed, however, when she arrived at Rarity’s boutique. Not bothering to wait for her friend, Rainbow simply barged in through the second story window. Her entry resulted with her slamming face first into the wall, knocking over a stack of fabrics and sewing materials that fell on top of her, scaring the life out of Sweetie Belle in the process.

“Rainbow Dash! What’s gotten into you! It took me forever to organize that for Rarity!” Not a second after the sentence leave her lips did Rarity charge in through the door with a horrified look on her face, her sewing glasses askew and her luscious mane a wrinkled mess. She turned her head toward her sister, who stared blankly back.

“What happened here, Sweetie? Did you say Rainbow-” The disheveled form of the blue pegasus rose from the mess of fabrics, eliciting a gasp from the marshmallow unicorn.

“Rainbow Dash, what happened to you?” She opened her mouth to express her concern but found a blue hoof held over her lips.

“Listen Rarity, I don’t have much time. The Terran thieves from Scootaloo’s vision just showed up and they want the artifact! Princess Luna wants all the Harmony bearers to get to the library right away! Got it?” Rarity nodded mutely, but she had far too many questions to simply let Rainbow leave. The moment her mouth was freed, she barked out the most important question on her mind.

“Why would those Terrans even want the artifact in the first place?” Dash shrugged and sighed, turning to leap back out the window.

“I have no Idea, that’s probably what Luna wants to find out. Now get your element and get Pinkie Pie to the library for me. I have to get Fluttershy, and I can’t be rushing all around Ponyville right now.” A prismatic contour zoomed out of the boutique and across the sky, leaving two alabaster unicorns behind it. Rarity turned to get the element of Generosity when she saw a pink and purple tail vanish behind the door. With an aggravated huff, she charged her horn and teleported downstairs, startling her sister who was about to leave the building.

“And just where do you think you are going, young filly?” She asked coldly as Sweetie Belle stood her ground admirably against the harsh glare of a protective sister.

“I was going to tell Applebloom! She needs to know that Scootaloo is in danger! We stick together through thick and thin, that’s what crusaders do!” She stood as tall as her filly legs would allow, puffing her chest out in pride of her bold statement.

“Absolutely NOT!” Rarity scolded, creating tears in the face of the tiny crusader. “I will not allow you to venture about when there are dangerous, possibly deadly creatures at our doorstep! I am sorry, dear sister, but you must stay here and be patient.” She walked past her sobbing sister and clasped the necklace around her neck before trotting back to the door. After opening it, she called back to her younger sibling. “You know I am only doing this for your safety dear: that is all I ever wish for.” Sweetie looked out through tear-filled eyes as the door closed shut, leaving her alone with her tears.

******

Fluttershy, please don’t make this any more difficult than this needs to be. Rainbow finally made it to the cottage of her cowardly friend. She knew that the yellow pegasus was terrified of everything, and she just knew that these aliens were going to horrify her to no end. But despite that, the princess was counting on her to get the elements, and no matter how much Fluttershy might fight it, that meant that Kindness was needed. She knocked gently on the door and called out to her.

“Fluttershy! I need to talk to you!” She pressed her ear against the door and waited for a sound. When she heard hoof steps coming closer, she backed away and waited for the door to open. Sure enough, there was the canary yellow mare, holding her pet rabbit and sporting a serene smile. RD sighed inwardly, she was going to regret this, but it had to be done.

“Fluttershy, there is an emergency. And I need your help to keep it under control.” Fluttershy dropped both her smile and Angel, who fell flat on his rump and squeaked in anger before hopping back to the couch.

“Oh my, what kind of emergency?” She asked in her barely audible voice.

“Remember Scootaloo? She was in the hospital because she touched the alien artifact thing? I know you weren’t there for most of this, but it is important.” Fluttershy knew where this was going, and she didn’t want any part of it.

“Twilight told me about the aliens and that they are coming….here to get their rock back. And well, um, THEY CAN HAVE IT BACK!!” She shouted violently, sending RD tumbling down the hill in front of the cottage. Fluttershy flew down to her dizzy friend and stood over her to voice her thoughts like an assertive mare.

“I don’t care about some dumb rock! I don’t want to see an alien, or talk to one, or make friends with one! I just want to be left alone. So until they get their rock and go home, I am staying right here! If that’s okay…” She then flew back to her cottage and slammed the door shut. Rainbow heard the sliding and locking of what seemed like a dozen locks on her door. Man! Fluttershy is acting stranger than usual. I suppose the thought of aliens is kinda scary, and I agree with her. These Terrans are not messing around, and neither should we. Rainbow steadied herself and ran back up to the door.

“I don’t have time for this, Fluttershy! The princess is counting on us! We need to be ready for anything, so all of the element bearers need to be prepared. That includes you!” Inside the house, Fluttershy paced back and forth nervously, glancing from the safety of her bed to the harsh world that waited behind her wooden door.

“Well…If the princess really needs me…I should go.” Her pet rabbit looked back at her and nodded, showing his support of the idea. Fluttershy was starting to stand up for herself more; and this was the perfect chance to put those abilities to the test.

“ONE!”

“TWO!” Rainbow Dash lowered her head and flared her wings, spreading her legs apart and getting ready to pounce.

“THREE! THAT’S IT!” Just before she made her move, Fluttershy opened the door and slowly inched her way out. Rainbow instantly noticed this, and tripped over her own hooves in surprise, landing flat on her face in the process. Fluttershy gasped and helped her friend back to her hooves, the two looking endearingly in each other’s eyes for a second before Dash tore her vision back to town.

“Okay, Flutters, I need you to be strong, okay? These new aliens want to take the artifact away from us. I don’t exactly have a plan, but I’ll be damned before I let them get a hold of it. Scootaloo went through far too much for me to give it up just like that.” RD extended her wings and gave them a few swift beats before completely taking off, with her cowardly friend following soon after.

******

A white earth pony stood beside the crippled orange filly. Her condition had improved overall, but she would not wake from her comma. Nurse Red Heart had been checking on the poor kid’s condition every day, on orders from Rainbow. She didn’t really have to follow them, but it was the least she could do to ease the cyan mare’s worries. She checked her breathing one last time before looking down to her clipboard. She scribbled a few notes on the patient, her coat was looking healthier, and her wing was almost done healing. There was still some scar tissue remaining, and she couldn’t use it much until the feathers grew back, but in time, it would be fine.

As she scribbled, she heard a loud clap, as if a firecracker had gone off. When she looked back up, in place of empty space on the opposite side of the bed, there stood her majesty, Princess Luna, and a terrifying creature from the depths of hell itself. She couldn’t even get out a whimper before she fainted and landed on the floor with a thud. Jim hastily looked at the room he now stood in. First he was in an open plaza, now he was in what looked like an infirmary ward.

“What the hell did you just do?” He asked the only other conscious being in the room.

“I used my magic to teleport us to this location- a hospital. Don’t worry about the nurse pony, she will be fine. In fact,” She lowered her horn to the white pony’s head and channeled some magic through it. As the magic flowed from her horn, Redheart’s breathing slowed and her muscles loosened. “She is happily enjoying herself with a hot cup of tea in her home.” The Terran shifted around uneasily in the room. It looked similarly to the way Terran hospitals are designed, even to the sterile white paint on the walls. It was…..disturbing.

“What do mean by enjoying herself, she just fainted!”

“Being the guardian of the night means I have the power to pry into the dreams of my citizens, and protect them from nightmares. I was merely assisting the nurse in relaxing her mind after she lost consciousness.” Luna responded without looking at the Terran. Jim didn’t want to think too much about a pony with the ability to see your dreams. It was just unnatural. Jim noticed that Luna holding her horn over the pony lying in the hospital bed, trying the same spell as before. After a few seconds, her aura petered out, and she sighed in defeat.

“In a coma, however, one cannot dream. So I am unable to comfort her.” Jim looked over to the comatose pony beside them. Her small chest was shaking with each breath, and she appeared rather sickly. He wondered briefly what had happened to her.

“This pony is called Scootaloo.” Thank god Tychus didn’t hear that or he would have had a conniption at how cutesy of a name that is. “She was with a small cadre of ponies who wished to search the forest for a comet that fell earlier in the week. But it was no mere rock. It was the Protoss vessel that they found. At the site, this pony happened upon the artifact that you seek.” Jim’s ears perked at this and his attention to the story increased.

“When the filly made contact with the device, she was sent into a trace. It was then that she met a member of the Protoss race. He called himself Nyon, of the Tal’Darim. He communicated with the filly through the artifacts and told Scootaloo to protect them until they arrive. Specifically, she was to protect it from Terran thieves.” Jim rolled his eyes. It figured that the Tal’Darim would get their influence on these creatures first.

But what would be the plan now? Do they still attempt diplomacy, and retrieve the artifact without violence? Or do they storm the hapless equines and take it by force? After some contemplation, James opted for the peaceful approach. Before he could speak up, Luna asked him another imposing question.

“It is clear that the Protoss have a grudge against you and your kind. May I ask why this is, James Raynor? You do not seem like the type to spur violence in others.” Jim mentally tensed; this would be a difficult question to answer truthfully, especially if he wanted the ponies to think about it his way.

“I would be more comfortable answering that question with the rest of my team, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all, Jim.” At this, Luna’s horn shone brightly, and the duo teleported once more.

*******

Dark…

I’m surrounded by darkness…

Nothing but dark…

Wait…

I hear…

Voices…

Two voices…

They seem so…

Familiar…

Luna…

Princess Luna…

She is worried…

About me…

The other…

I have heard it…

Somewhere…

Can’t remember…

Think...

Think…

Think harder…

Ja…

No…

James…

It can’t be…

James Raynor…

Not him…

Thief…

Not here…

Not now….

Artifact…

I can’t do anything…

Protect Artifact…

Not like this…

Got to wake up...

Got to find the light…

Find the light…

Find the exit…

Can’t find the exit…

Light…

Can’t find the exit…

Brighter…

Can’t find the exit…

I found it…

********

The trip to the library took longer than originally thought; the one alien called “Stettman” kept asking about the different buildings and about certain aspects of Equestrian technology. His questions intrigued Twilight, and she was more than happy to answer them. It did her spirit good to know that there were creatures of other races that shared her thirst for knowledge. Still, she kept a good distance from the blue armored one; she had no way of knowing when he would lash out again.

It had not occurred to her before, but now that she had some time to think, she had to wonder. How did these creatures know that they had the artifact at all? She suspected that the Protoss; who owned the device, would know how to locate it, but these Terrans? How did they get such information? She couldn’t dwell on it for long, for the Library appeared just up ahead.

“There it is, just like I said.” She pointed a hoof at the massive tree. Stettman gasped in wonder, the entire tree was outfitted to look like a home. There was even a balcony that rested on the higher branches. As they reached the entrance, Twilight quickly noticed a problem. Once Tychus came to the same realization, he cursed under his breath.

There was no way that the hulking Terran would fit through the door. Stettman could walk through with no problem, seeing as he was only slightly taller than the Unicorn. But Tychus was at least a foot too tall for the door frame. Twilight turned to the two of them and stuttered nervously.

“Um, I have an idea, if you don’t mind.” Tychus didn’t seem interested at all, but once again, the scientist had her full attention.

“What is your idea, Miss Sparkle?”

“I can use my magic to teleport us inside. Just like what my princess did earlier.”

“There aint no such thing as magic, you little fur ball. You just got some psionic power is all; nothing that amazing.” Tychus scoffed and waved his hand at the notion of magic. Twilight was about to huff in annoyance but decided against it. Don’t forget, he is a ticking time bomb. Instead, she asked that they brace themselves for the spell. The two Terrans did as they were asked, and she lit up her horn and enveloped the three of them in a shimmering purple energy. The three of them then vanished in a flash of light.

When the two Terrans and magical unicorn opened their eyes, they were taken aback slightly by the scene inside the library. The trunk had been hollowed out and furnished into a proper residence, but there was this sort of ambiance that blended nature and simplistic comforts perfectly as well. When they looked at the circular walls of the unicorn’s home, there were indeed rows upon rows of books and scrolls and other works of literature lining the walls of the carved out tree, but the whole place was so organized and well-kept that it made even the most ancient tomes seem brand new! The scientist stared at the expertly carved wood for such a time that he failed to notice the presence of the other equines that stood around them.

Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Spike and Rarity all stood near each other in shocked silence. They had just been talking about Luna’s plans for negotiations, but they were all muted when Twilight unexpectedly teleported in. Pinkie gasped in wonder at the alien’s appearance, Applejack wondered how heavy that blue armor was, and how strong the creature inside must be to move around in it, and Rarity could not shake this foreboding sense of horror that these creatures brought with them. Fluttershy rushed behind the safety of her blue pegasus friend, and RD ran her hoof through her mane, reassuring her that despite their appearance, they meant no harm. (She hoped) Twilight looked back at them without any sense of surprise. Princess Luna told RD to retrieve the harmony bearers, and that’s clearly what she did.

“Well, I hope that Rainbow filled you three in on all the details, as few of them there may be.” The trio nodded, and Pinkie bounded happily over to the Terrans, eliciting a desperate plea from Rarity and Fluttershy. It was met with deaf ears, however, as Pinkie trotted over to Stettman and unleashed her unyielding happiness on the unsuspecting nerd.

“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie and I just want to be the first to say welcome to Equestria except Twitwi and the princess already did that or at least I hope they did because if they didn’t that would be rude and if they were rude to a guest then you would be sad so I would have to throw you a party and that reminds me I wanted to have a party for the aliens ‘cause Rarity told me about aliens and I said if they are new here then they need a party but she told me that now wasn’t the best time for a party and that made me sorta sad but then I decided to just have a party later and that’s why I made THIS!!!” She then held up a white index card to the Terran with pink crayon writing that said, “I.O.U one party.” Stettman scratched the back of his head with one hand and smiled nervously.

“Uh, thanks.” He then took the card and stuffed it in his pocket. Tychus looked at the ponies with disgust.

“This is all Ah need. More pony freaks to ask stupid questions. If Ah had this done my way we could’ve had the damn artifact and be long gone by now. But Jimmy had to be all diplomatic with you little runts so Ah have to play nice. But mark my words.” He strode over to the pink one and knelt on one knee in front of her so they were looking eye to eye. Pinkie smiled straight at the grizzled war veteran like he was a little puppy, but Tychus’ grimace did not fade. “Don’t provoke me. Got it?”

“Okie Dokie Loki!” She saluted and bounced away from the Terran seconds before he could throttle her. Rarity turned to Applejack and whispered to her.

“Well, that fellow doesn’t seem very polite.”

“Ya think?” RD and Applejack said simultaneously.

“All I’m saying is that if we have to negotiate with him, things may not go smoothly.” Twilight moved closer to her friends while Pinkie chatted on about how much she loved to have fun and Tychus tried to drone out her ramblings.

“I agree; we need to take this slowly. All we need to do is stay put until the Princess returns with their commander. Then we can settle this.”

“All right, if you say so, sugarcube.” AJ tilted her hat to the side and looked over at the taller alien, who was standing in a corner as far from Pinkie as he could get. “Ah sorta thought he was the leader of the two. Just how many are there?”

“Well there are these two, Stettman and Tychus,” She pointed to each to clarify. “Another that had armor similar to the blue one, but his was black. That one was the commander. Luna took him away to talk about something, but they should be back any time now. Then there was one other with much darker skin than the rest. He disappeared before we set off for the library though, so I have no idea where he is.”

They continued to talk about their suspicions about the Terrans in private. If they listened to what Scootaloo said about them, then they should have been cold-blooded murderers. But judging by the actions they previously exhibited (minus Tychus) they seemed to be very reasonable and intellectual creatures. All conversation was cut short, however, by the sudden arrival of Luna and Jim Raynor. They teleported directly to the center of the room; causing the Terrans to jump to one side, and all the ponies to the other side. Luna folded her wings and slowly marched to the side of the Equines while Jim moved back to his men. He looked Tychus in the eyes and spoke in an authoritative voice.

“Well now, did ya behave yourself while I was gone, Tychus? I wouldn’t want to have to send you to the brig without any swill.” He said with a slight grin.

“More or less, Jimmy. Ah don’t think Ah can stand it here much longer though. First chance Ah get, Ah’m having me a tall, stiff drink.” The commander shook his head and turned to Stettman, who had been asking the baby dragon about the average lifespan of his species. “Stettman, there will be plenty of time to get samples later first things first, and- where the hell is Tosh?” He looked all around, but the Specter was nowhere in sight. Twilight spoke up to the black armored alien.

“The one you call Tosh vanished before we made our way to the library. So I don’t have any idea where he could be.” Jim grunted in annoyance before trying to call him with the communicator.

“Tosh? Tosh do you read me? TOSH!! Come in Dammit!” After a few seconds of silence, he turned the transmitter off and turned back to the group. “I’ll worry about him later. For now, let’s get down to business. We need that artifact; we need it more than the protoss do, that’s for sure. And I will do everything in my power to settle this peacefully so please, just give it up.” The equines turned at each other and exchanged glances that all read the same expression. No. Then, Luna stepped forward and lit up her horn with a spark of magic.

“Very well then, James Raynor.” The ponies all gasped in shock as the artifact, still protected by her impenetrable magic, appeared before them all, and came to rest on the ground.

Chapter 7: Mutual understanding

Every creature that stood within the walls of the tree-turned-library was at such a loss for words that the silence hung in the air like fog. The Terrans, who had appeared only moments ago, asked for an artifact that was never theirs to take. And to everyone’s amazement, Luna complied with their wishes. The Protoss artifact lay before the Terrans, no longer surrounded by Luna’s shield. The Equestrians were too shocked to react, but James raised his eyebrow in suspicion of the Princess’ actions.

“Hell that was easy,” Tychus chuckled, but Raynor held his guard.

“Yeah, a bit too easy,” Jim said in a low voice. “What aren’t you telling us? What sort of game are you playing here?”

Luna maintained her stoic tone and poker face when she replied. “The Tal’Darim have chosen Scootaloo to protect their artifact until they arrive themselves to retrieve it. They made it very clear to her that it was not to fall into the hooves of any creature other than them. Unfortunately, Scootaloo is comatose at the moment, so as of now I am in charge of its protection.”

Luna’s gaze hardened and her voice became stern.

“Nyon of the Tal’Darim has given you many titles; thief, fiend, bloodthirsty killer, and defiler among others,” she continued. “This creature has spread his beliefs among my citizens, and I will trust the word of my subjects when they say you are a band of marauding criminals. However, based on your actions now, you do not seem to be prone to violence after all.” Her stare lessened once more, and the atmosphere of the library relaxed.

“The cloud of suspicion Nyon shrouded you with is not as absolute as initially thought. If you wish to remain civil, I would ask that you cooperate in lifting the veil of doubt from my eyes. You could start by explaining your relationship with the protoss.”

Jim took a deep breath and furrowed his brow. “That’s a long story, but I’ll give you the short version. Let’s just say that first contact between us and the protoss wasn’t exactly the most ideal introduction. They literally showed up out of nowhere and destroyed one of our colonized planets.” Luna soundlessly wondered how large their population must be to require several planets to house them all.

Rarity blurted out in disgust. “Those BRUTES! Why would they do something like that? How COULD they do something like that? Destroying an entire planet? It’s unthinkable!” Rainbow Dash felt the golden pedestal she placed the protoss on shake with this revelation. They destroyed a whole planet?! They must’ve had their reasons right? Scootaloo pledged her loyalty to the Tal’Darim, and Rainbow put her loyalty with Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash felt her self-assuredness fading; she was always on the side of justice, surely she still was?

Jim shook his head. “Turns out they weren’t trying to kill us, they were trying to save us. We didn’t realize it at the time, but the protoss had discovered that this particular planet; Chau Sara, had been infested by the Zerg under our noses.” Jim winced as though the very sound of the word physically hurt him.

“Listen to what I say next very, very carefully,” he commanded, pointing a metal finger at the ponies. “No matter how unsavory your image of us may be, you never want to meet the Zerg swarm face-to-face. They have only one desire; to kill anything and everything in the universe, and assimilate anything useful to them. They killed BILLIONS of Terrans, and they almost drove the Protoss to the brink of extinction.” Most of the ponies in the room felt their blood run cold from that last remark. Billions of Terrans were killed? There weren’t even a billion ponies on the planet! Luna’s poker face shattered and her bottom jaw hung loose like a swing. Pushing another species that close to annihilation was unthinkable; how could they justify that?

“The protoss tried to protect the rest of our race from the Zerg by burning the whole damn planet to the ground, killing the Zerg along with thousands of Terrans. Of course, we retaliated by attacking them, and ever since it’s been a three-way war with us, Protoss and Zerg.”

Applejack tilted her hat and gave Jim a confused stare. “Now hold on there. You were just talkin’ about how evil these Zerg are and how much you and the Protoss hate ‘em. So why in tarnation are you killing each other when y’all could be going up against the bigger threat?”

Jim took an immediate liking to this pony. She was reasonable, straightforward, and honest. “I did. Several times, actually. When the Zerg discovered the protoss home world of Aiur, they tried to wipe ‘em out of existence. I helped them out, and even though they lost Aiur, they managed to move what was left of their population to another planet. And when the Zerg came back again earlier this year, I helped them out again. Turns out they’re real big on loyalty.”

Twilight spoke up to Jim next. “So, it would seem that your personal relationship with the protoss is much more stable than the one between your species’ government and the protoss. Why is this? Surely, the kindness you showed the protoss would be the first step in creating peace between your people? Shouldn’t your governments’ officials be discussing peace?” She wondered why these aliens were so hesitant to simply make peace, especially if Raynor had saved them from total destruction.

“Things would be progressing much faster than that, but the Terran Dominion has more pressing matters to deal with,” Jim said with a slight grin. Luna arched an eyebrow, keeping her composure but still wary of what could be more important than the Protoss.

“And what would that be, James Raynor?”

“Me.” The equines jumped in surprise and were left flabbergasted by the Terran’s statement. Rainbow felt her confidence come surging back; this was her chance to prove that the Terrans could not be trusted. She flew in front of Luna and pointed an accusing hoof at the humans.

“SEE?! I KNEW they were up to no good! What kind of monster goes around rebelling against the system? A despicable one; THAT’S who! The king becomes king by knowing what is best for his ponies, not cheating! Have some respect for authority y-MMMmmph!!” Rainbow Dash felt her lips sealed together with a powerful spell. She looked up and saw Luna’s scowl of disappointment. The way she loomed over her made Rainbow’s blood run cold. Luna lifted the silent pegasus with her magic and placed her back behind her without moving a muscle.

“James; please calm yourself.” Luna’s quiet voice echoed through the commander’s ears. He came back to reality and blinked several times in dazed confusion. He looked down and saw that he was pointing the barrel of his rifle where the blue pony was standing, with his finger on the trigger. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and lowered his weapon again.

Luna resumed speaking in her collected, regal voice. “Forgive her, please. My sister and I have ruled fairly for over a thousand years. To many, we are the only princesses they have ever known. We try our best to judge fairly and maintain the peace; and as you could see by Miss Rainbow’s outburst, we have gained the unyielding respect of our citizens. Again, please forgive her brash behavior.” Luna lowered her head briefly into a graceful bow.

Raynor dismissed the gesture with a wave of his hand. “I understand where she was coming from. There was once a time when I followed someone blindly, but that was a long time ago.” His expression soured and a barely noticeable frown formed on his lips.

Twilight noticed this and stepped up. “What happened, Mister Raynor?” she asked with hesitation. She wasn’t sure if she even wanted to know the cause of his sorrow, but this information would no doubt be useful.

“A while ago, one of the three Terran governments –and the one I grew up in— was the Confederacy. They tried to bring all the Terran colonies together under one name. When some of the colonies refused, the Confederates used force. They were corrupt and greedy in just about every way you could imagine; stealing money, property, killing those who opposed their reign, you get the picture. But that changed on Korhal, a planet that the Confederacy nuked to Hell. A man there by the name of Arcturus Mengsk got sick of the Confederacy and tried to start up a rebellion. By that time just about everyone was sick of the Confederacy, me included.

“When the same thing on Chau Sara was about to happen to Mar Sara, Arcturus pulled me n’ my boys outta there, and he and I picked up a ton of followers; including ghost assassin Sarah Kerrigan. With her psionic powers, my battle skills and Mengsk’s leadership the three of us went to great lengths to bring the Confederacy down. And when the time came to strike the Confederate home planet of Tarsonis, Mengsk crossed the line.” Jim clenched his metal hand into a fist and snarled in fury, startling the other ponies. “He used a psi emitter; a device that attracts the Zerg; to call the swarm down on the planet.” At this point, the equines, Luna included, felt their hearts pounding in their chests. They all went cold with anticipation and could only guess what Jim meant when he said that.

“The protoss arrived to help destroy the Zerg; but rather than wipe the entire planet clean, they decided to bring down their forces and save as many Terran lives as they could. Mengsk ordered us to attack the protoss so the Zerg could destroy the rest of the Confederates. When the protoss pulled back, Mengsk ordered us to retreat and leave the survivors to die in the invasion. Kerrigan called him out on it, and he left her to die. I left to get her back, but it was too late.” Stettman and Tychus both looked depressed to see their leader speak of these terrible events.

“Mengsk went back and spread the story of how he bravely fought against the Zerg but was forced to retreat. I wasn’t able to tell the public the truth about his crimes. He used the media; propaganda, to make me the most wanted criminal in the sector, while he crowned himself the glorious emperor of the new Dominion. That was four years ago, but now I’m tired of waiting for justice to work itself out. As he told the Mar Sara Magistrate, my old pal, all those years ago, it’s time to take a stand.”

Fluttershy’s eyes rolled back into her head and she fell to the ground in a heap. Stettman and Twilight went to make sure she was okay. Rarity fought back an overwhelming wave of nausea, holding her hoof over her mouth and teetering on her legs.

Luna cleared her throat, though it took several attempts. The horror that Jim suggested was disturbingly similar to the crimes she committed as Nightmare Moon. “So that is your reason for rebelling against your leader?” Her voice brought the equestrians back to reality, though they still quaked in fear. She turned her head back to Rainbow Dash. The pegasus was pale, the shock from the story seemingly drained her mane and coat of their vibrant colors. She shivered involuntarily, even though Pinkie Pie was holding her close and draping her legs around her, sharing their warmth. Luna released the spell holding her jaw shut. Rainbow coughed a few times and practiced opening her mouth again.

“Well, Rainbow Dash, are you thinking a little differently of my little rebellion? Or do I need to bring up more of Mengsk’s atrocities?” Jim asked with a hint of spite. “Now I’m not angry at you; you didn’t understand the politics of the Terran sector. And how could you?” He shrugged. “But no one should be ignorant enough to be blindly loyal to the person who claims to be above you.”

Applejack rose up and stood tall in front of Rainbow Dash, tilting up her hat to look at the tall alien. “Now don’t think that just because y’all are bigger than her means ya get ta tell us what’s right n’ wrong! The princesses are the best rulers we’ve ever had! And no word outta your mouth is gonna change that,” she boldly proclaimed. Jim nodded and turned back to Luna. She tapped a diamond horseshoe on the floor, the crystalline ding bringing everyone’s attention back to the real discussion.

“As noble as your quest for justice may be, I fail to see how that justifies raiding protoss camps and stealing the artifacts.”

“I was getting to that. See, after Mengsk created his Dominion I’ve been doing this revolution on the run, and managing an army on the lam ain’t cheap.” His thoughts briefly drifted to Swann, the chief engineer. You brought back money this time right? he had asked, knowing how short on funds they were recently.

“Fortunately, Tychus here found us a good source of income. A Terran research group called the Moebius Foundation. They want to learn as much about the protoss and their past as possible. But as I said earlier, relations are strained, and good research material is hard to come by. They’re willing to pay through the nose for those artifacts, and I’m happy to get them.”

Rainbow became angry again at the Terran’s words and her body flushed with color as she got back on her own hooves.

“You mean you went and stole those artifacts and killed who knows how many protoss for WAR FUNDS!?” She shrieked from across the room, the blue fur on her face burning a fiery red. This time Luna did not intervene with her magic. Pinkie and Twilight helped her calm down, and Fluttershy finally came to. She stumbled on her shaking legs, but soon steadied herself; everyone focused their attention on Luna as she prepared her judgment.

“As well-meaning as your cause may be; I cannot condone the wanton murder of the protoss. I’m afraid the artifact must be returned to the Tal’Darim.” Closing her eyes, Luna reactivated her magic shield and prepared to teleport the artifact to safety, but Jim interrupted her concentration.

“Hold on now; you didn’t let me finish.” Luna opened one eye and arched her brow as if to say, “Really?” She kept her magic surrounding the artifact but allowed Raynor to continue.

“Those Tal’Darim aren’t like other protoss. When I first encountered them I thought I could settle things without conflict. After all, I helped save their entire race from extinction; you think they’d be willing to part with a few small relics in return.” Rainbow slacked her shoulders and sighed quietly. Her opinion of the glorious Tal’Darim was steadily getting tarnished by the Terran’s good word. That deal did seem reasonable, even if ties between their cultures were tenuous.

“But they just up and attacked us without warning. They weren’t acting like protoss who just wanted Terrans to leave them be, oh no; they were out for blood. We thought something might have been messing with their heads, later we found out what. There was a very rare gas that we needed on this jungle planet Bel’shir, and those Tal’Darim had it. After we made off with some, we analyzed it, and it turns out that being exposed to this stuff for too long makes people aggressive and violent. Well, these Tal’Darim were practically bathing in the stuff; using it like a drug to become closer to their ‘Gods’. It clouds their minds from reason and now they only care about upholding their primitive religions.”

Luna bit her lower lip as she processed this new information. With hesitation, she released her magical grip; though her shield remained. “I have one more question left, James Raynor. You claimed that a group of scientists want to study this artifact; do you know why?” Jim thought about the question before turning over to Tychus, who shrugged.

“I don’t know what those eggheads want the damn thing for, all I know’s that they pay good money for it,” He replied gruffly. Luna tapped her hoof on her chin.

“Do you know who is in charge of this organization?”

“Yup. Goes by the name of Doctor Emil Narud. Nice guy, though his accent’s pretty thick.”

“Is there a way I could speak with this Dr. Narud?” Jim’s eyes widened briefly, this could be the hook-line-sinker to get the ponies on his side.

“You could use my communicator, but you’d have to board my ship first. You all are more than welcome to, if you want to see the greatest marvels of Terran ingenuity,” He finished with a playful grin.

Stettman walked over and whispered to him while the ponies discussed their next move. “Sir, the adjutant said that the tall pony is a class 12 psionic! Are you sure you want to let it on the Hyperion?”

Tychus chipped in to the conversation as well. “Ah hate to agree with the kid, but he’s got a point. You sure you want that freak o’ nature walkin’ around inside the ship? Ya only got one of ‘em.” Jim rolled his eyes.

“You two worry too much. Have you listened to her just now? She doesn’t want any trouble, so I’ll let her talk to Dr. Narud. And that will be the end of it. Got it?” The other two had no objections.

At this time, Twilight was asking Luna the same questions. “Princess, are you sure you want to go through with this? We still don’t know much about them, it could be a trap.”

“Ah agree princess. No disrespect to yer judgment, but this seems a mite too dangerous.” Applejack nodded toward Twilight.

“I think it’s a GREAT idea! I’ve never seen the inside of a ship before, this could be fun!” Pinkie bounced excitedly.

“I…I…I don’t….Scoots said they were evil but…they seem so….friendly.” Rainbow flattened her ears against her head and looked solemnly at Twilight for guidance. Twilight didn't make eye contact, and Dash stared silently at her friend’s purple fur.

“I must agree with Applejack, this is far too dangerous, even if we all accompany you,” Rarity added with a flip of her mane.

“Um, well, they look scary, but. Mister Raynor didn’t seem like the type to do something like that. It seems safe enough….Can I stay here though?” Fluttershy squeaked.

“If we decide to talk to this Dr. Narud, we should contact princess Celestia. This intergalactic conflict now concerns us, and she needs to be aware of the state of affairs,” Twilight noted.

Luna bit her lip nervously. “It will not be simple to contact her. She is currently in a war council with the Imperial Three. Their business is kept secret from the general public, as it concerns plans and strategies for avoiding and dealing with international conflict. She gave me this knowledge before I left, but she did not tell me what they would be discussing.” She turned to Twilight, whose eyes had widened as she realized why Celestia told her that she could not respond to any of her letters.

“This must be serious; the Imperial Three only meet when the only remaining option is open war! What could be so important that she wouldn’t tell even you about it?”

“James said we needed to enter his ship to communicate with this Dr. Narud.” Luna pointed a hoof at Twilight. “You saw their ship with your own eyes. It was not that large was it? I would not dare interrupt Celestia’s meeting to inform her of my entrance into such a small vessel. We can inform her of the events tonight, after the Imperial Three have adjourned.” The harmony bearers collectively nodded in agreement.

Luna stood tall and faced Jim once more. “Very well, James Raynor; we shall board your vessel and communicate with your Doctor Narud. Afterwards I shall make my decision. In the meantime the artifact shall remain here. Is that acceptable?”

Jim pondered for the briefest moment before nodding as well. “You got it princess. Just take us outside and I’ll call down the ship. Boys, get ready to leave this rock.”

“’Bout time; this damn cutesy girly pony stuff is wearing my patience thin,” Tychus chuckled. “Ah just gotta punch something, let off some steam, ya know?”

“Or strangle somepony,” A quiet voice whispered. The room went dead quiet as everyone turned to Rainbow Dash; the fur on her face was marred slightly by tears, but her eyes burned with fury.

Jim looked curiously at Tychus, who wasn’t budging. “What’s she talking about, Tychus? You didn’t do anything stupid did you?” He glared harshly at his old friend, though any effect it had was minimal. Stettman however, was quaking in his boots and sweating bullets.

“Ah swear, Jimmy, Ah don’t know what that flying freak’s talkin’ about.”

“THEN WHAT HAPPENED TO TWILIGHT?!” Rainbow Dash shrieked, pointing her hoof at the librarian’s neck. Twilight froze in fear as everyone stared at her. Applejack trotted over to her friend and gently placed a hoof on her fur. She pulled back immediately when Twilight cringed in pain. Rarity gasped.

“Twilight! What in Equestria happened to your neck? It’s more swollen than Big Mac’s belly after dinner! Who did this to ya?” Applejack demanded. All of Twilight’s other friends barraged her with questions concerning her health. Luna stood over them all, looking at the Terrans with an arched brow, though she also wondered how she had not sensed this. The weight of all of her friends asking if she was okay became unbearable and she cleared her throat with a painful cough.

“When Rainbow left Town Square to find the rest of you, Luna instructed me to lead Tychus and Stettman to the library. After she teleported mister Raynor somewhere, I tried to introduce myself but Tychus grabbed me and….” She motioned to her throat with her hoof. Jim snarled and faced Tychus with contempt.

“I should have known you would do something like this. Damn it, Tychus!” The blue armored Terran tried to hide his fear with a calm reply. The Equestrians looked like they were about to kill him, and Luna was glaring daggers at the Terrans.

“Now, Jimmy, Ah was just concerned with your whereabouts is all. After that pony just went an’ teleported Ah thought she might have killed ya or something. So Ah did a little…..interrogation.”

“So you tried to strangle her? Damn it Tychus, I ought to-TYCHUS!” He was interrupted as a stream of midnight blue magic whizzed past and struck Tychus directly in his head. His eyes rolled back and his upper body went limp, leaving his metal legs to support him. Jim whipped his rifle out and aimed straight for Luna’s unfazed face. Every pony and human held their breath at the scene.

“All right now that draws the line. I thought we could do this peacefully but now that you went and killed my friend I have no choice but to use force,” He said without a hint of hesitation.

Luna once again amazed her subject with her bravery when she stared the Terran down and said, “Killed? I have not killed anypony.”

“Yes you did! Just now, you used your damn psionic energy and-”

“ZZZZZZZZZZ”

Jim slowly turned around and found to his disbelief that Tychus was not dead, but sleeping. His snores practically shook the library with each breath. But as Stettman checked, he was definitely alive. Jim gave the night Alicorn a look that said, “Seriously?”

“You…..Put him to sleep?” Luna ignored the stunned ponies at her sides and responded boldly.

“The pony he attacked is the personal student of my elder sister Celestia; Alicorn of the sun. Any attempt on her life is subject to punishment under Equestrian law. However, since this Terran is not even from this planet, he cannot be blamed for not understanding our laws. Still, he attacked Twilight Sparkle, and for this crime he must be punished. But let us save one crisis for later, shall we?

“I will contact Dr. Narud and the negotiation for the artifact will occur. Tychus explained the reason behind his actions; he was worried about his friend. I’m sure any of my little ponies here would do the same if one of their friends just disappeared without warning.” She looked sympathetically at Rainbow. “It would not be just if I blamed you for an incident you had no control over, James.”

Jim was still rattled, but he regained his composure. “Fine then. I’ll deal with Tychus later. Teleport us outside and I’ll call down the Hyperion.” Luna smiled and raised her horn high, surrounding every creature with her magic. After a brief second, the light emanating from her horn intensified, and they found themselves back in town square. Jim made sure that Tychus wouldn’t fall over, and activated his transmitter.

“Matt, bring down the Hyperion.”

“Sure thing, sir; ETA one minute.”

Jim turned off the communicator and turned around to see Luna approaching him. The dark Alicorn ruffled her wings and met Jim’s eyes with a rather unprofessional look of barely contained laughter.

“I figured that we should discuss Tychus’....." Luna's body convulsed with suppressed giggles. "-punishment while we wait.”

Jim thought to ask if she needed to see a doctor, but decided against it. “Don’t you worry princess. I’ll have the big guy dealt with personally.”

“Actually I have a better idea; one that will hopefully prevent this sort of incident from occurring in the future.” Luna leaned closer to him and Jim knelt down to hear Luna’s whispers.

“…..”

“…..” Luna backed away, giggling like a foal.

“Pretty devious Luna, I like it. Old Tychus’ll be tamer than a neutered puppy after this. Go right ahead.” He snickered at the thought of this practical joke. He would never have expected these peaceful ponies to be capable of such relentless pranks. Luna cast the spell on the sleeping Terran and the two walked back to the group. Twilight spoke up to get Raynor’s attention.

“Now that I think about it, isn’t it a bit odd to give such a grandiose name like Hyperion to such a small ship?” she asked, referring to the drop ship the Terran’s arrived in.

Jim arched an eyebrow. “That wasn’t the Hyperion.”

Twilight was about to protest, but she lost her voice as the square suddenly became shrouded in darkness. The ponies, Luna included, turned their heads to the sky and practically felt their jaws hit the cobblestone road.

“Spike, take a letter.”

Chapter 8: The Council of Celestia

Celestia shifted her gaze across the dimly lit room. The curtains had been drawn, blocking out the sun’s rays and replacing its warmth with cool darkness. The door was locked and a spell had been cast to make it undetectable to the naked eye. Nopony made a sound.

The only source of light in the chamber was an ornamental chandelier that hung from high above. The chandelier was decorated with ten extravagant candles whose flames flickered and shimmered, distorting the shadows of those who sat at the table beneath across the walls and floor.

The tabletop was pristine and bore not a single scratch or blemish; though when Celestia entered the room there was a considerable amount of dust covering it. The center of the large table displayed a scale model of Equestria and the nations surrounding it. Apart from the round table and the four chairs surrounding it, the chamber was devoid of any furnishing or decorations. The princess never found a reason to extravagantly decorate a chamber with such a long and blood-stained history.

The princess was seated in a glorious throne crafted from gold and silver with the solar Alicorn’s cutie mark blazoned on the tip. Her throne was positioned at the northernmost edge of the table, and at each cardinal direction was seated a member of Equestria’s most decorated and distinguished soldiers: The Imperial Three. Each had been in countless battles, fought on the front lines, perfected the art of combat and devised the most brilliant formations and strategies ever conceived. Each general was seated in a chair expertly crafted of their defining gemstone; obsidian, fluorspar, and sunstone.

Equestria’s army was split into three divisions: The Earth pony brigade, the Pegasus air force, and the Unicorn regiment. Each side was led by one of the Imperial Three. They had recently contacted Celestia with urgent news, and she had no choice but to host a war council. Here they all sat, waiting for the princess to formally begin the meeting.

Celestia turned to her right. Sitting there was Obsidian of the Imperial Three; Earth pony general Hoofstrong. His fur was peach pink and he had shaved off all but the tip of his blonde mane, which he had shaped into a single, golden curl. On his flank was an image of a rock with a huge fracture running down the middle; showcasing his ability to break things. General Hoofstrong was without a doubt the largest stallion in Equestria; his colossal legs brought him just shy of the tip of Celestia’s horn.

More impressive than his height was his legendary strength. His bulging muscles rippled with power, showing the dedication he placed on staying in top physical condition. Despite his rather imposing and weighty body; he was faster than most pegasai when in combat.

His speed caught many opponents completely off-guard, leaving them at his mercy; which he was notable for having none of. He dealt swift, bone-crushing blows to his unsuspecting foes. His overwhelming power was so great that the commoners said he could kick through dragon scales. There was little reason to doubt this.

But by far the most notable feature of this muscular stallion was his GLORIOUS mustache. A magnificent, golden stretch of hair rested on his upper lip, captivating the hearts off any mare fortunate enough to be in his handsome presence. He always kept it well-groomed, using a secret technique that had been passed down the Hoofstrong family line for generations. Celestia magically reached for Hoofstrong’s report and offered a warm smile. He returned her gaze with a silent nod.

Celestia then took notice of Sunstone general sitting opposite her across the table. The young unicorn’s coat was dull orange which drew most attention given to him toward his fiery red mane. It waved back and forth whenever his head turned, giving him the appearance of the rising sun. In fact, his cutie mark was a sun rising up over a mountain. Radiant Dawn squirmed nervously in his chair, biting his lip and sweating profusely. An almost undetectable grin appeared on Celestia’s face. Even when he was in the Royal Guard, he never could keep his bearing.

“Sunstone, you are no longer a Royal guard stallion; there is no reason to sit at attention like this.” Celestia’s soft voice floated into his ears, bringing him back to the meeting.

“Huh?” He cleared the grogginess out of his head with a good shake. “Oh! I’m sorry, princess. I’m just a little nervous. This is my first council as general after all.” His eyes wandered to the floor as his voice trailed off.

A calm voice interrupted Radiant’s brooding. “Such anxiety is to be expected out of a fresh recruit. However, you are a general now; you must be brave. We are her majesty’s most trusted servants, and we cannot afford to hesitate when the time comes for us to act.” Radiant looked up at the source of the kind voice. Fluorspar of the Imperial Three gave him a motherly smile that could put Celestia herself to shame.

“I know, Silverwind. It’s just… When I sit in this chair, surrounded by three of the most powerful ponies in Equestria, I feel …insignificant.” He looked solemnly at his own hooves. “I…I don’t have the strength of general Hoofstrong or your keen intellect. My magic can’t blast through mountains or warp time and space.” His sigh echoed across the quiet room. “I have only been Sunstone for a month, and already the responsibilities are crushing me like a bug.”

Silverwind fluttered her wings before replying. “Even the greatest warriors start their journey as a recruit. Hoofstrong and I are no exception.”

Radiant Dawn’s voice rose slightly. “But you two are practically legends!” He turned to General Hoofstrong, who was stroking his mustache. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard my friends in the Royal guard tell the tale of how you took down a Minotaur chief in a hoof-wrestle!” Hoofstrong placed his hooves on the table but did not respond. Radiant jabbed a hoof at Silverwind next.

“And you! You single-hoofedly took charge of Equestria’s soldiers during a massive Diamond dog ambush! Without losing a single soldier no less! If that is not a sign of a great leader, I don’t know what is!” Radiant suddenly realized he had been shouting and sat back down, muttering apologies to his fellow generals.

Silverwind gave a light-hearted chuckle, causing Radiant to raise an eyebrow. “It’s funny how much a victory can be blown out of proportion.” She shook her head. “It was not such a grand victory. My camp was attacked by a rouge pack of bandits, this much is true. But the rest is nothing more than hyperbole.”

Radiant cocked his head. “What do you mean by that?”

Silverwind continued to smile as she responded. “First of all, there was no massive ambush.” She made air-quotes with her hooves. “There were at most, thirty bandits attacking my well-fortified camp of perhaps 80 soldiers. They may have had the element of surprise to be sure, but their tactics were sloppy, and their warriors untrained. It was quite simple to formulate a plan to drive them off.”

Radiant’s mouth gaped as though the grey pegasus had smacked him across the face with the blunt side of a sword. “Is this true? That there was no great Diamond dog ambush? But the story of your victory made its way across Canterlot so quickly. Every unicorn in the Royal guard was talking about it for weeks!”

“Then it’s no surprise that it was altered so. I may be the highest ranking pegasus in Equestria; but that does not make me a goddess.” She chuckled softly. “Ha-ha. And I’m sure that story you mentioned about Hoofstrong over there was subjected to just as much embellishment. Isn’t that right?” Hoofstrong shook his head.

“Actually that story is entirely true.”

“WHAT?!” The other two shouted in unison. “But even with your massive stature, a Minotaur chief would be twice your height!” Radiant shouted in disbelief. Hoofstrong nodded in confirmation.

“Indeed he was. It was a hard-won battle, but in the end, I emerged victorious. Normally I would delve into the specifics of the tale in a grandiose manner, but I think we have wasted enough time talking about the past. Isn’t that right, Celestia?” The group turned their attention to the Alicorn, whose patience had clearly been running thin over the course of their discussion.

Celestia huffed as she addressed her generals. “Correct, Obsidian. I have not summoned you three here so you could reminisce about past victories. We do not have time for idle chit-chat; the entire nation is in peril.” She stood up and motioned for the rest to do so as well.

“This is not the time to keep secrets from the public,” Celestia said, “As of right now; Equestria is at war. We shall analyze the situation and arrange our troops accordingly. There are dark times ahead for us all, and I need you three to be beacons of hope that our soldiers will follow. You may be seated.” The room remained silent as the generals took back their seats.

Celestia sighed inwardly. She had hoped that she would not have to bring the three together again. Equestria always had a standing army. They had their glorious victories and crushing defeats throughout the years, and there were always three generals to control the forces; but gathering all three together was an act she had not committed since the war against Nightmare Moon. Celestia turned to General Silverwind first.

“Fluorspar; relay your information to the council.”

“Yes, my princess.” She bowed respectfully before turning to the board. She placed a large griffon down to represent the king and several around him as his army. “The kingdom of Bern has laid siege to and completely destroyed our defenses at fort Cornwell.” She used the griffon model to knock over the fort on the borders of Equestria and Bern. “The griffon army now flies west through our borders unhindered. The distance from Cornwell to the nearest settlement is a 4-day travel by hoof; but at the griffon’s current flight path they will begin attacking villages within two days. We MUST drive out the griffons before they slaughter our countrymen.”

Hoofstrong nodded and folded his front hooves on the table, resting his chin atop them. “Bern’s military is immense; the largest on the continent. Driving them out once they are set on the warpath will not be a simple task.” His gaze narrowed across the area of the model depicting Bern. It was a large territory that spanned several mountain ranges and spread outward to the eastern sea. The griffons were a strong military-driven race, and were almost always having territorial disputes with the other mountain based nations; the dragon nation Arcadia and the United Minotaur Tribes. The very thought of attacking Arcadia was deemed suicide by most kingdoms, but Bern was not a lesser kingdom.

“This does not make any sense; we have been allies with Bern for quite some time. Why would they suddenly invade?” Hoofstrong asked the princess. She closed her eyes in thought before turning back to Silverwind.

“Fluorspar, have you received any word on King Desmond’s behavior of late?” Celestia asked.

Fluorspar nodded. “According to our ambassador to Bern, King Desmond has been acting erratically for a while now. There appears to be some internal conflict with Bern’s royal family; but the specifics are unclear.” Celestia nodded once more before returning her attention to the board. Fluorspar continued, “The griffons are known for pillaging villages and killing livestock during wartime. A prolonged war with Bern would guarantee civilian fatalities in the thousands. We must stop this invasion.”

Celestia studied the board very carefully, scanning over the Griffon’s attack route. “You have formulated a plan already, I assume?” she said.

Silverwind nodded professionally. “Yes, my princess. Bern’s forces will pour out of the mountain pass and spread outward like wildfire into the heart of Equestria. We need to take our forces and create a perimeter around their advancements. If we can prevent the griffon army from moving further into Equestria, we can push them back and trap them at Bloodbeak pass.”

“And you are certain we could withstand a direct, frontal assault of such magnitude?” Celestia used her magic to demonstrate her point using the figurines on the map. “The griffons are relentless and brutal; they will not be defeated in one battle. If the word savage had been condensed into one beast, it would be a griffon soldier.”

General Hoofstrong coughed abruptly, drawing all eyes to him.

“I’m afraid we cannot afford to send our armies out that far, east; instead we should send our forces north, to the Crystal Empire. They need our aide in fending off an invasion.”

Radiant Dawn stared blankly at the muscular stallion in disbelief. “If we do not move out all of our soldiers to halt the griffons they will rampage along the countryside! The griffons will not show mercy to the farmers and children. We need to defend our own territory!” He slammed his hooves on the table. “Besides, the Empire has its own army, why would we need to separate our forces when we desperately need them here?”

“I’m afraid the Empire’s strength alone cannot stop this threat,” Hoofstrong said calmly.

Radiant Dawn blinked in confusion. Celestia’s eyes narrowed and her glare intensified. “What are you talking about?” She asked.

The Obsidian general took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and sighed. He was not looking forward to saying this.

“We have located the main Changeling hive cluster.”

Not a sound was made for several moments as the council members processed this news. The changelings had not made a move since the failed attack on Canterlot, how had the hive been discovered? Celestia spoke calmly to the hulking pony.

“How did you obtain this information?” She asked as memories of the Changeling assault on Canterlot resurfaced.

“I was contacted a few days ago by a messenger from the Crystal Empire,” Hoofstrong replied, looking at the city in question on the map. “He brought a message straight from Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor. They had discovered a rather large changeling scouting party. He claims that there were at least 20 feasting on the love permeating the very air of the Empire. Before they could be apprehended however, they fled. The prince ordered a pegasus tracking squad to pursue them. They followed the trail across Equestria for two weeks, always heading west until they arrived at the edge of the Miracle Sea. The changelings flew across the ocean and out of sight.”

Radiant Dawn tilted his head in confusion. “The Miracle Sea? But there isn’t anything out there except the…!” His lips formed a small O as the realization dawned on him along with Celestia.

“The Dread Isle.” The princess concluded.

“But that’s impossible! The Dread Isle is surrounded on all sides by nothing but endless stretches of water! No creature can possibly fly that distance!” Silverwind blurted out.

Hoofstrong shook his head. “Ordinarily that would be true; however, these changelings were overflowing with the love they had stolen from the Empire. It would have been a simple task to fly to the island from the beach. Regardless, we must prepare for an attack from the changelings.”

“But that proves nothing! That could have been a distraction for all we know! Did this messenger see the Changeling hive himself?” Radiant Dawn crassly interrupted.

“Well, no, but-”

“But nothing! We need to focus on the griffons now. The changelings can wait.” Hoofstrong and Radiant Dawn exchanged narrowed glares.

“Sunstone, you were here in Canterlot when the changelings invaded, correct?” Hoofstrong asked through his moustache. Radiant slowly nodded. “Perhaps you can tell me how many enemy changelings were killed in that assault?” Radiant dawn opened his mouth to reply, but to his horror, the answer was...

“Zero. There were no reported fatalities on either side.” Silverwind confirmed.

“Exactly my point. The changelings were a huge threat then, and since their defeat their numbers have only increased by the thousands!” Hoofstrong’s eyes glowered over the other two generals. “They must be stopped before their hunger for love consumes the world! Their next move will undoubtedly be to drain the Empire of all its love and use that power to enslave the world. We cannot risk being caught off guard by the swarm now. We must launch our naval ships and sail to the Dread Isle as soon as possible.”

“We can’t just leave the villagers to fall to the griffons! We need to worry about one crisis at a time and Bern is already INSIDE OUR BORDERS!” Silverwind shouted. Radiant stood up from his chair and pointed a hoof at the stone-faced general.

“It’s not just Bern, either! The Diamond Dog tribes are also attacking.” Celestia almost lost her composure again at that last remark. The last encounter with the Diamond dogs was when she…Burnt the Diamond Dog ambassador to a crisp. They must be trying to exact revenge for the Alicorn’s treatment of their kin. Celestia sucked in air through her teeth; yet another time she let her anger get the better of her. She grimaced and bit her lip nervously as the bickering between her generals intensified.

“The Diamond Dogs have declared war on us? This is horrendous! We cannot possibly fight a war on THREE fronts! We do not have nearly enough soldiers!” Silverwind tried to calculate some plan, but there were simply not enough resources for such a large war.

Hoofstrong rose angrily from his chair and towered over the other generals. “To drive off the Griffons using your tactics we would need every last soldier in Equestria. We cannot spread our forces so thinly that we leave ourselves open to an attack from behind!”

“Then what do you suggest we do?!” Silverwind retorted hysterically, her inability to formulate a plan shattering her calm demeanor.

“I say we launch a preemptive strike against the changelings! By the time they hit us or the Crystal Empire, it will be too late. The sooner we destroy those monsters, the better!”

“And what about the griffons?!” Silverwind asked, raising herself from her chair as well. “You may be right in the fact that if we try to defend on all fronts, we would be over extending our resources. However, we should focus on the threat that is present here and now, not an unconfirmed, potential threat!”

“The Diamond Dogs are trying to capitalize on the confusion caused by Bern’s invasion,” Radiant Dawn interjected. “They are pillaging and raiding villages at will! The changelings have not made their move yet, so we defend our farmland!”

“Bern must be punished!”

“We must protect the villagers!”

“Death to the changelings!”

“SILENCE! ALL OF YOU!” Celestia’s bellowing shout echoed across the large room, snapping the generals out of their rage. She cleared her throat and spoke in a barely audible whisper. “I will NOT stand to see my kingdom ravaged by war. As Princess of Equestria, I will do anything in my power to put an end to this.”

“But princess, no matter how brave your words may be, we still do not have enough soldiers to fight against this many simultaneous attackers.” Silverwind pointed out.

Celestia brought one hoof to her temple and applied some soft pressure. “There might be a way after all; to have an army large enough for this task.”

“What are you suggesting princess? Where might we find an army large enough to fight three enemies at once?” Radiant asked.

“There is an army that history has long since forgotten.” Celestia explained, looking at the mountains that separated Bern from Arcadia. “Their numbers rival the Changelings and their brutality can match even the griffons. Only Luna and I are aware of the army’s existence, and of us, only I know its hidden location. Though I wish I did not have to do so; this situation is dire indeed, and we have no other choice. I will be forced to re awaken the-” A burst of green flame warped in front of the Alicorn’s face, cutting off her announcement. A scroll sealed with Twilight Sparkle’s insignia materialized from the fire and was swiftly grabbed by Celestia’s golden magic. She stared at the letter with a slight amount of curiosity.

“I told Twilight not to send me any letters today. What could she possibly have to say that is worth interrupting this council?” She opened the seal and unraveled the scroll with her magic. Her eyes scanned over the message several times.

Princess Celestia:

I have urgent news concerning the protoss artifact. A new group of aliens called Terrans have arrived and are asking that we give the artifact to them. They claim that they are gathering them for a group of researchers for study. They have managed to persuade your sister, Princess Luna into negotiating with the leader of research, Dr. Narud. These Terrans are not the evil monsters the protoss lead us to believe, but they are powerful. The leader of the Terrans has invited us aboard his starship called the Hyperion. Luna told me of your meeting with The Imperial Three, so I understand how busy you must be right now; but I needed to tell you this because these negotiations may change our stance with the protoss, and I am unsure how they would react to us giving their enemy the artifact.

Twilight Sparkle.

“Hmmm.” Celestia re-read the letter over again and spoke aloud, ignoring the Imperial Three completely. “This is not good. We can’t just give the artifact to these Terrans no matter how peaceful they seem to be. It is our fault the protoss lost it in the first place; we need to make sure that they get it back.” Her thoughts wandered back to the overwhelmingly bleak scenario that her kingdom faced.

“However…” She turned her head to the war map, looking specifically at the Dread Island. “Perhaps I can use this to my advantage.” She sized up the griffon and Equestrian armies using the wooden models. “If they do not wish to bring harm upon us, perhaps they could be persuaded to bring harm on our enemies.” She brought her gold-covered hoof down on the model griffon, crushing it like a twig. Grinning, she grabbed a quill and a fresh scroll and began writing up a reply. Her three generals looked at each other in confusion. Hoofstrong spoke up first.

“Excuse me, Princess,” he said, “who or what are the Terrans and protoss? What are you talking about?”

Celestia continued writing and replied without lifting her head from her scroll. “I am almost completely in the dark on this situation myself, so there is not much I can say.” She finished the message with a dot and whisked it away using her magic. She turned back to Hoofstrong to resume speaking.

“At first I wanted to keep this situation with the aliens a secret, but regarding these most recent developments this is no longer possible.”

“So you withheld this information from us?” Hoofstrong motioned towards himself.

“Yes. This was a delicate situation to begin with, and I could not risk word of this getting out to anypony.”

“Princess, what happened that you are so afraid of your subjects knowing?” Radiant asked. The solar Alicorn took a deep breath and held it for almost a minute before releasing.

Her generals listened intently as she described how Luna had unwittingly forced Equestria to take a side in conflict between two alien races. Celestia told them everything that she knew for sure; that Luna had destroyed an alien vessel, those same aliens are now on their way to get it back, and that a second race of aliens has suddenly appeared, also asking for the artifact.

The meeting continued in silence for a moment as she let the news sink in. This was a tough tale to digest in one sitting, especially since Celestia herself did not completely understand the situation. Silverwind broke the silence with a cough.

“I…see.” Silverwind reached a hoof behind her metallic-grey mane and rubbed her neck. “You will surely not back down from your promise to the protoss?” She asked hopefully.

Celestia looked at her empathetically. “I truly wish I could.” Her thoughts drifted toward Bern’s formidable military. “But we are running out of time, and we need an army NOW.”

“So you would use this artifact as a bargaining chip to persuade the Terrans to act in our favor?” Hoofstrong interjected as he stroked his moustache in thought. “An army of highly advanced aliens would be more than sufficient to deal with both Bern and the changelings.”

“B-but you MUST reconsider! We know next to nothing about these Terrans! It could all be an elaborate trap!” Silverwind sputtered in disbelief. “Even if the Terrans turn out to be nothing more than researchers, what would the protoss do when they discover we have traded away the very thing you promised to protect?!”

“I promised them nothing.” Even Hoofstrong flinched in shock from the princess’ icy voice.

“But, princess…” The pegasus found herself at a loss for words, and sank weakly into her chair.

“Silverwind, I personally picked you to fill the role of Fluorspar because of your decision making abilities and tactical prowess. But no matter how sound your reasoning may be, or how warped my perception of reality might get, my word is final. I will do what is best for my kingdom, and all its inhabitants. If that means taking a risk and endangering my own well-being, I will gladly accept.” Nopony dared speak up again until another scroll appeared in front of the princess.

“What does this one say?” Radiant Dawn asked. Celestia opened this scroll and looked shocked when she read its contents. The only words on the entire scroll were, “If you would like to see their power, look outside.” She showed the scroll to her generals and they all shrugged.

“Well, better not waste any more time then.” Silverwind weakly suggested. Celestia began walking over to the curtains blocking off the balcony, with The Imperial Three right behind her. She grasped the curtains with her magic and in one swift motion, pulled them apart, giving the group a clear view of Ponyville….and the massive metal Battle cruiser in the sky above.

Even from this far away, they could clearly make out the hammerhead shape of the ship’s front and the long neck connecting it to the main body. The ship was absolutely monstrous in size; Celestia had no doubts that it was larger than Canterlot Castle. The Hyperion hovered in the sky over Ponyville, most likely amazing the civilians the same way it was amazing her. It was unlike anything Celestia had seen in her eternal lifetime. Now if she could persuade them to fight against the Changelings.

Hoofstrong stepped forward and stared at the might vessel in awe. “That flying ship in monstrous! I doubt any creature on this planet could withstand an assault from that!”

“Indeed, there is little chance that I would survive a battle against such weaponry.” Celestia agreed. She turned and walked beside Silverwind, looking her directly in the eye. She could tell that the general was fighting back the urge to say something, though to her credit, the pegasus was doing a decent job of hiding her emotions.

“I understand that you care for my safety, as you very well should,” Silverwind’s eyes softened under Celestia’s piercing gaze, “but you must realize what the presence of their ship means in the first place.” The princess pointed back toward the sky. “With such a vessel at their command, they could effortlessly have raided our planet for the artifact, taken it, and left before we even knew what hit us. And they still have yet to fire a single shot. If that is not proof enough of the Terran’s resolve to remain diplomatic, I don’t know what is.”

Celestia turned, taking a few steps from the generals and gazing up at the massive ship. The lights across its hull shined like the sun, captivated the princess. When she finished staring at the Battle cruiser in amazement, she turned back around, her eyes filled with resolve.

“Let it be known throughout all of Equestria: we are at war with Bern and the Diamond Dog Tribes. All villages near the border are to seek refuge in the inner cities until the war is over. The three of you will personally lead the military to stop Bern’s invasion and defend the civilians. We will need every last Earth pony, pegasi and unicorn to stop the griffon’s power.” She paused, lifting one of her forelegs and spreading her wings. “In the meantime I have an alliance to secure. Good luck to all of you, and never falter.” They saluted her, and the sun goddess leaped off the balcony, catching the air underneath her wings and speeding off to Ponyville.

Chapter 1: Stargazing(revised edition)

Chapter One: Stargazing

The world was still. The wind did not blow, the birds did not sing, the villagers made no noise; all was quiet. The silence hung so heavily that one could hear a pin drop from a mile away, or in this case, the depressed sighs of an Alicorn. Very few ponies actually knew how much thought and effort their lunar princess put into crafting the picture of stars that was the night. The starry maned pony paced angrily back and forth on the tallest balcony of Canterlot Castle. She was deeply engrossed in her thoughts of her stellar masterpiece: its beauty unmatched in grace across the world, yet it was still outshone by her sister.

The dark Alicorn had grown tired of hearing her sister praised by all while she lurked mournfully in the shadows. She deserved more affection from her subjects, and Celestia knew this. What infuriated Luna the most was how little her sister did to help. The white princess told her that she was a big girl now, and she needed to solve her own problems, but no matter how much Luna tried to make the night shine, her subjects simply were not nocturnal creatures at heart, and no amount of magic could change that. She looked up and realized that she had spent so much time ranting to herself that the night was almost over.

“Oh well.” Luna exhaled heavily, a small cloud bursting from her muzzle into the cold air, before dissolving away. Her midnight blue mane flowed behind her, shining with the stars that she cared so much for. “It’s a shame, I get so wrapped up in my royal duties, that I rarely have time to enjoy my own creations.” Luna sat back down on the balcony of Canterlot castle. She brought a hoof to her chin as she pondered what could be done to add some brilliance to the sky.

“Hmmm,” A devious grin slowly stretched across her face. The dark blue aura of her magic emanated from Luna’s horn as she pushed the stars in the sky outward into a big circle. From this she arranged them one by one into the shapes of letters, pausing between each syllable.

“Cel- Es- Ti- A- Has- A- Fat- Plo- What?” Luna grabbed at one of the last stars needed to complete her… message to her sister, but it wouldn’t budge. She glared angrily at the sky. “You will learn your place, you little speck! Now obey me or suffer my wrath!” She closed her eyes in concentration, using as much power as she could muster, but the result was the same. Luna quickly became furious. She had always had a short temper and was trying to control it more (at her older sister’s command, actually), but she would never tolerate insubordination from her OWN creation! Her magic intensified, trying to get the stubborn star to move, but it seemed to have a life of its own!

“All right, fine. I tried being reasonable, but if you are going to be like that, then you shall cease to exist.” She knew that the star couldn’t hear her, but she needed a way to vent her rage, and screaming was her best bet. Luna changed her spell to a more powerful one. If she couldn’t get it to move, she would simply eradicate it, and make a new one in its place.

“I haven’t done this in a while.” Luna remarked, pinning down her target. Luna concentrated all of her might into her horn, preparing herself for the tricky spell. Stars, being so far away, were difficult targets to hit. Nevertheless, she thrust her horn upward, and shot forth a beam of pure destructive energy into the night sky, and watched in fury as the light moved out of the way.

“Oh NOW you decide to move. How dare you dare mock your princess!” With a snort of rage, she swiftly charged up the spell and fired again. Same result.

“Dammit.” The dark Alicorn stamped her hoof in rage several times, leaving a wide fracture in the marble floor of the balcony. “I don’t WANT to get Celestia to help me.” She tried blasting the star once more just to be safe, but again, the star moved out of its path. Luna turned around and stomped angrily off to her sister’s room.

****

Canterlot Castle, Celestia’s bedroom

Princess Celestia was deeply asleep in her queen-sized bed, having a pleasant dream about the times before she was the princess of her kingdom. It was just herself and her little sister Luna and all the time in the world. They would play all day and night; challenge each other to flying contests or challenges of magical strength. Celestia, being the eldest usually won these little contests, and even though they had their quarrels, they both enjoyed each other’s company. It seemed like nothing could ruin this dream.

CRASH!

Celestia awoke with a jolt, wondering what caused that alarming sound.

“Wh-who’s there?” Celestia asked out nervously. Prepared for anything, who could this individual be? A burglar? Or perhaps he was an assassin? Should she summon her guards? Celestia’s racing mind was halted by a loud, booming voice.

“Sister, we require your aid in a matter of extreme urgency!” Luna shouted in the “Royal Canterlot Voice” She often forgot that such loud volume was not needed anymore, and used it frequently when she became upset (which, unfortunately, was very often). In her state of frustration, she had used more force than necessary to open the door; which was now lying in the castle courtyard somewhere.

“Oh, it’s just you, Luna. Don’t startle me like that!” Celestia then took a tired glance at her bedside clock. It showed a time of 5:00 am. “And what is so important that you would just barge right in here an hour before dawn?” Celestia was obviously upset. Her mane, which usually flowed majestically at her side, was a big clump of pink, blue and green. Her eyes had sickly colored bags of skin hanging beneath them, and her magnificent, white wings looked severely unkempt.

“SISTER! THIS IS A MATTER OF- um, I mean. There is something I need your help with, ‘Tia.” Luna quickly remembered how early it was, and that the royal Canterlot voice could be heard all the way in Manehatten. Her rage faded into shock as she gazed at the wreckage she had caused. The force of her impact on the door had caused it to break violently off its hinges and fly out the bedside window. There were parchment and quills littering the floor, and one of Celestia’s favorite tiaras was crushed under the weight of a massive textbook. Luna was lucky that her sister was still half-asleep. If she noticed all of this carnage, she would… It’s best to not make her sister angry right now. Luna hung her head in shame of the scene she caused.

“You see, there’s this stubborn star and I need your help destroying it so I can make a new one.” Luna admitted sheepishly. This isn’t going to end well. Luna thought to herself. When Celestia got angry, all you could do is pray that she wasn’t angry with you.

“Luna, I’m sure that whatever problem you’re having, you can solve it by your self. You are a grown mare, its time you started acting like one. Now let me get some more sleep.” The princess’s head promptly fell back into the softness of her silk pillows. Celestia was still very tired, and definitely not in the mood to deal with her sister’s antics.

Unfortunately, the dark Alicorn had other plans. Luna, even if she was co-ruler of Equestria, was still the little sister. And she was annoyingly determined to play the part. She would always bother Celestia with the most trivial of matters. From the time that she wanted some ice cream and wouldn’t shut up until Celestia caved in and bought her the accursed treat, to the time where she got so jealous of her sisters fame and respect that she tried to plummet the world into a permanent night which...

Celestia’s train of thought came to a screeching halt, waking her up completely. That incident ended when Celestia banished Luna to the moon for a thousand years. ‘That’ll teach her to throw another tantrum,’ Celestia thought angrily to herself. Sure, maybe Celestia had gotten a little carried away with the whole “banishment” thing. But Luna was so full of herself at the time. Getting a cheap makeover and a stupid nickname. “Nightmare Moon”, Oh, please! A foal could come up with a more original name!

And now, here she was, making a mess of her room and making her relive painful memories. Breaking down her favorite door! That precious door had been made especially for her, carved out of the finest oak tree and embedded with a swirling, magnificent gold leaf pattern. And Luna had just reduced it to splinters! And she had the NERVE to ask for her help!

“Luna, it isn’t even 5:10 and I’m already at my patience’s end. Now get out of my room, before I call the Royal Guard.” Celestia snapped.

“Come on, ‘Tia, pleeeeeeeeease?” Either Luna was unaware of Celestia’s fury, or she didn’t care. She had a back-up plan. It was a sure-fire way to get her older sister to do her bidding. In all the years they had been sisters this had NEVER failed.

“I’ll make you a chocolate caaaake.” Luna stretched out the sound, waving the thought of the delicious, moist, strawberry topped delicacy in front of her older sibling’s face. Even though it burned Celestia up inside, there was no denying that cake is her one true weakness. The alabaster princess was already walking out of her room before Luna so much as blinked.

“Make sure to put sugar in the icing this time.” Celestia said begrudgingly, remembering the last time her sister tried her hoof in baking. They both then made their way back to Luna’s Balcony, with Luna cheering all the way.

Earlier, in orbit above the Planet Equestria

A single, solitary spacecraft was awaiting the signal from its commander. The ship had sleek, flowing, gold arches that bounded along the sides of the massive, oval shaped hull. This wasn’t just any ship; it was a protoss carrier. The most powerful aerial weapon the Protoss had. While slow, this metal beast more than makes up for it with its massive strength, and its legions of interceptors: Small mechanical drones that swarm the carrier’s target, and bombard it with energy strikes until only ash remains. However, this particular carrier had a valuable treasure on board it. It was an ancient relic of unknown power. This artifact was a gift from the Xel’Naga.

The main bridge of the carrier was eerily silent. None of the members of the crew dared speak up now, their commander was in a heated discussion with his superior. The ship’s commander stood in the central walkway of the bridge, and was looking up at a hologram screen. The Protoss in command of the carrier was a tall, muscular creature with grey skin, two hands with two fingers and two thumbs, one on each side of the hand. The most defining trait, however, was the creatures’ head. It had two pure white, luminous eyes, and no mouth. The Protoss species consisted entirely of advanced psionics. They had no need of a mouth to communicate, as they could talk telepathically. Even without a mouth to convey its emotions, the Carrier’s commander had a look of pure terror on its face.

“Executor, that is simply not possible. How could the Terrans have bested our forces on the planet Xil? The Artifact temple was personally protected by our mightiest troops. How could they have failed?” The Commander had every right to believe that the artifact was safe. The Protoss members on board this carrier and at the other end of the communicator were not any ordinary protoss. These were religious, over-zealous members of a powerful sect called the Tal’Darim. They were not the friendliest Protoss in the sector, to say the least. Most Protoss did not think fondly of Terrans; But these Tal’Darim would kill anything that so much as looked at them, Terran or not. There was a long, unsettling silence between the two commanders. The one on the screen simply hung his head in grief of his fallen comrades.

“The situation is far from well, my brother. The Terrans were more methodical than we ever expected. They arrived with a machine that fired the SUN itself at our relic’s temple. There was no defense against this monstrosity." The Commander on board the carrier fell down into his chair, visibly shocked by this terrible news.

“But what of the immortal guardians? What of the mighty colossi? Surely, they could have bested these inferior Terrans?” Even as he said this, he knew from the look of pure horror on his superiors face: that these Terrans were no longer a force to be underestimated.

“These wretched defilers have now three of the artifacts. If the base here on Typhon fails; then your artifact will be our last hope.” The commander said with no small amount of fear in his voice. The Tal’Darim were still unsure of how exactly the Terrans kept finding the artifacts. But they could no longer take any risks. “Where is your current location?” The Tal’Darim commander asked.

“I am beyond the reach of all those who would seek the artifact. Do not worry, it is safe here.” The being on the carrier replied confidently. The ship was now light-years away from Terran space, there was no way they could track the energy radiation from this far away.

“Very well, I believe it is time to change our tactics. No matter where we hide, those Terrans will find us. We must devise a different plan.” As the two aliens continued exchanging ideas, the ship began experiencing some minor turbulence. The High Executor seemed concerned.

“Is everything alright?” He asked. The Carrier’s crew checked their monitors and computer systems; nothing was out of the ordinary.

“We are fine, there are no Terran or Zerg around for light-years, it was simply a malfunctio-what?” The Carrier’s commander lost his balance for moment as the ship was violently struck with something. The commander asked his crew to scan again, no hostile vessels to be detected. His eyes widened with fear as he checked the carrier’s plasma shields. They were almost completely drained!

“Executor! We are in peril!” The Executor seemed far too lost in thought to notice the other being. The commander once again violently shook as another blast of energy collided with the ship. It tore through the shields remaining energy and did major damage to the ship’s hull. One more hit like that, and they would be finished. “Brother, I need reinforcements! I’m under attack!” The commander’s voice was full of terror and uncertainty as to what could possibly be attacking him. “How soon can the fleet arrive?” the commander asked nervously. The executor finally responded to his panicking subordinate.

“I have my fleet ready to travel towards your location.” The Protoss on the screen confirmed. “However, because of your extreme distance from our current location, it will take about 20 cycles to reach you, even at warp drive.” The commander’s voice now seemed uncertain. If it was going to be that long, was it even worth sending them at all?

Below, on the surface of Equestria

“Oh, So I have a fat plot, then? Hmm?” She turned to her little sister who was starring slack-jawed at her own clumsiness. How did forget to take them out of that alignment? Luna’s eye twitched erratically and she released a nervous laugh. Celestia fumed with anger as she looked up at the scene Luna had caused with the stars. She raised a hoof and violently bashed the back of her sister’s head, causing the younger Alicorn to wince in pain.

“Well, um, that is, I.” Celestia glared at her with the strength of a raging fire, and her sibling audibly gulped. “Look, we can settle this like grown mares, can’t we? Why don’t we just finish this up, and then we can forget that this ever happened?” Luna was shaking in fear as she spoke.

“Okay, Luna.” Celestia said, her voice dripping in venom. “But you are in for a world class punishment afterwards, you understand me?” Luna nodded feebly and whimpered slightly in terror. Celestia looked back up at the sky. “Now, what star are you talking about?” Luna rose to her full height and used her magic to push away all the stars except for the rebellious one.

“That’s the star, ‘Tia. Now, hold it still so I can try blasting it again.” Celestia looked confused.

“You mean you used your destruction spell more than once on the same star? You must need more practice if you are that weak, little sister.” The older Alicorn had a very smug grin on her face.

“Just hold it still so I can blast it.” Luna retorted harshly. “You pretentious overconfident mule.” Celestia didn’t notice that last comment, and Luna was thankful. Both Alicorns readied their magic, Celestia’s holding the star still, and Luna preparing once again to destroy it. She poured all of her strength into this spell; hoping it would finally get the job done.

Back onboard the Carrier

“If I must wait 20 cycles, then so be it. It is a small price to pay to ensure the artifact’s safety.” Suddenly the vibrations came back, more severe than before. The ship wasn’t taking on any damage though, so they weren’t under attack. The Admiral ordered the ship to enter warp drive and move to a more secure location. But the ship was no longer responding.

“What is this madness? Computer, what is happening?” The commander was starting to panic. What could be holding the ship still while it was in warp drive? The Executor spoke up once again.

“Does the planet you are orbiting have any sapient life?” He asked with seemingly no regard for his troops, or their cargo.

“Yes, Executor, this planet does posses sapient life, but that is irrelevant! We might die here!” The Executor’s gaze did not falter; he was deep in thought.

“JUST DO AS I SAY!” The crew was taken aback by the Executor’s aggression. “I have a plan to destroy those Terrans AND retrieve the artifact. I need you to send some Observers down to this planet, and send their transmissions to my ship.” The crew began pushing buttons and making adjustments psychically. The three cloaked, robotic spies were launched from the ship, and began their way to the planet’s surface.

“It is done, Executor, the observers are-” The commander was cut off as the final attack collided with the ship’s hull. When the beam of energy finally struck, it did more than just massive damage. The ship was split in two straight down the middle, killing most of the crew instantly. The beam penetrated the ship’s warp drive generator, and the ensuing chain reaction created a massive explosion, sending shrapnel and debris hurtling towards the planet. The artifact’s container was sent plummeting toward the planet like a comet streaking across the sky.

On Equestria’s surface

“There, are you happy now?” Celestia asked, slightly annoyed. Luna was too busy gazing lovingly at the explosion that her magic had created. It looked like a giant firework, bright and luminous against the black sky. It truly was a sight to behold.

“Well, when you’re done stargazing, remember that you still have a cake to bake me.” Celestia chirped. “And one hell of a pranking after that.” She added with a snarl.

This managed to snap Luna back to her senses. “Oh fine.” Luna gave up on her stargazing and went to the castle kitchen. She loved baking, but was not terribly fond of what would happen afterwards. If she had stayed a few more moments, she would have noticed the remnants of the ships hull, along with the artifact, crash into the Everfree Forrest.

Meanwhile, at Ponyville Park

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were both lying in the soft grass of the park, panting harshly to catch their breath. After spending most of the night trying to improve the filly's flight skills, they were exhausted beyond belief. They rested for a bit, having called off the training as the moon started to set. The two of them watched the beautiful stars twinkling in the sky, without a care in the world. RD turned her head to the orange pegasus, who was starting to nod off from sleep deprivation.

"Hey, Scoots. Why do you always want to practice during the night? I have to get up early for my job, and you really should be at home in this hour." As she said this, Scootaloo cringed slightly, though RD didn't seem to notice.

"No reason, I just like the night better is all." That was a half-truth. The real reason was that she didn't want anypony else see her fail. Being the only pegasus in Ponyville that couldn’t fly was not something to be proud of; and the fewer that saw her crash, the better. And she didn't exactly call the orphanage "home".

"All right then." RD said, getting back to her hooves. She held a hoof towards her little friend, and helped her up as well. The two of them smiled warmly at each other for a moment, before Rainbow moved her forehoof playfully through the filly's mane. "Okay then Scoots, I’m gonna be busy tomorrow, but the day after, I'm free. But! We're gonna have to practice in the morning, alright?" Scoots looked at her hero with unreserved levels of determination.

"Sure thing, Rainbow Dash!" The filly then gave a mock salute, followed by a cheerful laugh. She looked at the sky once more; the moon was starting to set. "Okay, I should probably get back home." As she said this, her head drooped in sorrow. RD didn't seem to notice.

"Alright then squirt, just make sure you don't get lost or something." Rainbow then stood up, extended her wings, and took off in a midair U-turn toward her cloud house, leaving Scootaloo staring in awe. As the orange filly wandered through the darkness of Ponyville to her "home", she looked up at the night stars for last time, and saw the most spectacular thing in her life.

A bright stream of light flowed up into the sky, and upon touching a star, it exploded violently, sending forth a shower of sparks and brightness one would only find from a firework. After the initial blast had receded, she noticed an object falling across the stars, and into the Everfree forest. Her thoughts of Rainbow Dash vanished instantly, her only thought was to get her friends and tell them about this comet. Maybe they could get their cutie marks in comet finding! But that would have to wait, for now, the orange filly needed sleep.

Two days later, and about 50,000-lightyears away from Equestria:

A monstrous flying fortress was aimlessly drifting in space: a powerful, Behemoth-class Terran Battle cruiser. It was armed with powerful laser batteries, near impenetrable Battle cruiser class Neosteel plating. And most importantly, it was equipped with the all-powerful, all-consuming Yamato Cannon. The Yamato canon fires a huge blast of super-heated plasma at its target. Consuming a good deal of the ships energy, but completely destroying its target. This ship was the Hyperion, Flagship, (as well as the ONLY ship) of the Terran rebel group “Raynor’s Raiders” led by Jim Raynor himself.

Jim Raynor’s state of mind could not easily be compressed into a single emotion. It was a complex mixture of anguish, shock, determination, and righteous fury. On one of the Raider’s more recent missions, they had found an old adjutant that belonged to the previous Terran government, the “Confederacy.” Adjutants are mechanical, human-looking robots designed for the collection and organization of data, among other things. They had found the corrupt government, the “Dominion” digging all over the ruined planet Tarsonis, and decided to investigate. When the Raiders found it however, it was heavily encrypted, which only increased Jim’s suspicion of why the Dominion wanted it so badly.

Now that they finally managed to decrypt it, thanks to a rather untrustworthy mercenary known as Colonel Orland, Jim had discovered why exactly the Dominion wanted it. It contained an intercepted transmission from the Dominion leader, Arcturus Mengsk, revealing that he was the one who caused the destruction of Tarsonis by luring the Zerg swarm with the Psi Emitter. Even now, Jim couldn’t stop thinking of Mengsk’s bloodthirsty rant. I will not be stopped. Not by you or the Confederates or the Protoss or ANYONE. I will rule this sector, or see it burn to ashes around me. Jim was in the ship’s cantina at the moment, trying to drown his sorrows in some alcohol.

Seeing that his friend was looking down, Tychus Findlay stomped over to him to see what was wrong. He was one of Jim’s oldest friends. They got into a lot of trouble together over the years, which abruptly ended when Tychus took the heat for both of them, and went to prison, supposedly for life sentence.

However, Tychus managed to get out of prison with the help of the “Moebius Foundation”. They were a group of researchers and archeologists studying various protoss artifacts and lore. Recently, they agreed to bust Tychus out of jail if he would help them get the artifacts. There was a catch though. Tychus had to remain trapped inside his Terran marine armor until his debts to Moebius were paid off. At least, that’s the story Tychus was selling. Jim knew that Tychus was hiding something, but decided not to pursue the subject.

“Damn, Jimmy. What’s got you so depressed?” Tychus asked in that gravelly, southern accent of his. Jim looked up from his bottle with a deadpan stare.

“It’s that adjutant. It holds the key to taking down Mengsk once and for all. Now me and Matt just got to find a way to use it against him.” Jim turned his gaze down to his bourbon and took a large gulp of it. “It brought back some bad memories too.”

“Ah gotta know. Just what was it went down with you and Mengsk? Seems you two were tight once.” Tychus asked while getting himself something to drink.

“I used to think Mengsk would be a force for good. We fought alongside each other against the Confederacy. Right up until Tarsonis. That’s when he crossed the line, using the Zerg to murder the entire planet. He left Kerrigan behind to die because she called him out on it.” Jim hastily downed another shot. “And now she’s been twisted into that monster.” He said in a sorrowful tone.

“Damn. You sure know how ta pick your friends Jimmy.” Jim gave Tychus a glare that said, “Shut up”.

“Anyway, do you have any more info from those Moebius boys? Haven’t heard from ‘em since we saved their research from the Zerg attack on Tyrador.” A while ago, the Raiders destroyed the Moebius team’s data cores so the Zerg wouldn’t get them. Those data cores provided coordinates to the remaining Xel’Naga artifacts. It seemed that everybody wanted those alien rocks, and the Terrans were determined not to let the Queen of Blades have them.

“Actually I do. They called me up today, said it was important. They got us our artifact alright, its gonna be easy money this time.” Tychus replied, giving friend a light pat on the shoulder. Although, considering he was wearing his marine infantry armor, it still hurt slightly.

Terran marine armor isn’t exactly lightweight either. It was a full-body suit of heavily reinforced armor that protected the man inside from almost everything. It was capable of providing life-support, some nuclear/biological/chemical protection, and simply wearing it makes one about a foot taller, depending on the model. Tychus’ was the CMC-300, one of the larger of the standard issue suits. The suit also increases the wearers arm length, and the suit's helmet contains infra-red scanning. The suit, while extremely efficient in combat, is rather cumbersome to move around in outside of battle, and Tychus was determined to get out of the suit as soon as possible, and could only do so until he had paid off his “debts,” as he called them.

“Alright then, Tychus. You go back to the bridge and upload the data to the star map. I have to go to the lab and make sure Stettman doesn’t blow up the ship with this new breakthrough or something.” Stettman was your typical nerd: Intelligent, clumsy, skinny, and he had a habit of making things explode without provocation. But, his previous research breakthroughs had helped the raiders immensely in combat.

Later, in the Hyperion’s Lab

The lab was much quieter than the cantina, the decrypted adjutant was hooked up to the wall on the right side, and on the left side were two very important stasis tanks. One contained a protoss crystal, which seemed to grow more and more by the day. There was also a…black hole? On top of it, performing some action that Stettman was still trying to figure out. The other tank contained a Zerg sample. Looking at the twisting, undulating cocoon was slightly unnerving for the seasoned Terran war veteran.

In the center of the lab the three Xel’Naga artifacts were floating around in a containment field. Stettman was looking up and down from his research tablet, to the protoss crystal, and back to the tablet. He was standing there in his white lab coat and brown pants typing away rapidly while absent-mindedly humming to himself. Jim asked the man from across the lab.

“So, what’s this newest breakthrough, Stettman?” Jim asked. Without looking away from his work, he called back.

“Sir, you should check out the research console. There are some exciting developments there.” With his curiosity peaked, Jim turned on the waist-high console and peered at the screen. The protoss side of the research stream yielded a very fascinating upgrade. It showed a demonstration of what this technological advancement could accomplish. A Vespene gas refinery was warping the gas from the geyser straight to the command center without any SCV’s to carry the canisters. This instantly got Jim’s interest. Normally Vespene geysers needed to be managed at all times, but these automated refineries would relieve much of the stress of the battlefield.

After clicking “yes” to confirm his wish to continue researching that particular tech, he turned around and left to check up on his old pal Rory Swann in the armory.

In the Armory:

The air was filled the smell of oil and the sound of whirring gears. Usually, whenever the Raiders complete a mission, a new piece of tech gets added to the armory hanger. Currently there was a Medivac, some spider mines, two of Tosh’s Specters, a Marauder, and a Firebat. Jim turned to see Swann standing next to one of his beloved Siege tanks. Swann noticed his pal standing around and gave his robotic claw a clang as he walked over.

“Hey cowboy, I got a fantastic schematic that you just gotta see.” The muscular, but still rather portly man walked over to the tech console and selected the siege tanks and the screen. Swann was always coming up with upgrades that never disappointed.

“Alright Swann, what’cha got for me?” Jim asked with unparalleled curiosity. Swann pushed a few icons on the screen, and the demonstration of the upgrade titled “Maelstrom Round” was put in plain sight. Two siege tanks were bombarding armored protoss units to dust with far more efficiency than ever. An armored protoss walker could normally withstand two or three shells from a tank, but this new round was blowing them up in one shot! Of course, the marker that estimated the upgrade’s cost was over one hundred thousand credits; but Jim was too impressed to care. His eyes widened in surprise and he closed his lips tightly to produce a high whistle.

“Swann, you just about out-done yourself this time.” He gave his friend a hearty pat on the back. “Those protoss can have their heavy armor and plasma shields all to themselves. It don’t really matter anymore. With this monster, we’ll tear ‘em a new one.” The two shared a quick laugh before getting back to business.

“Alright then, cowboy. I’ll change the schematics to fit this upgrade. It should be done in a few days.” Swann replied confidently. This was going to be unbelievably helpful in the rest of the Raiders campaign. Jim turned back to the armory Tech console to see what other upgrades he could afford. That maelstrom round had been costly, sure. But he still had enough for a minor upgrade.

Jim pushed a few icons until the mechanical units were displayed on screen. There was a Siege tank, a “Goliath” combat walker, and a “Hellion” scouting vehicle. But Jim turned his attention to the Vulture bikes. They were fast, skirmish units primarily used to deploy spider mines on the field. A nostalgic grin grew across Raynor’s face as he remembered the good old days of riding his bike without a care in the world, while Swann’s face sported a mischievous snicker.

“Man, those goofy mercenaries are still using Vulture bikes. Can you believe it? Damn things are deathtraps, even when you DON’T got people shootin’ at ya.” Jim looked at his friend with disbelief. Swann loved all things mechanical, what’s wrong with Vultures?

“Now Swann, my old Vulture saved my skin more times than I care to remember. I ain’t gonna let you trash talk a classic piece of engineering like that.” Swann looked as if he was waiting for his friend to say that, judging by his massive smirk.

“A classic, huh? Yeah, I guess you could call them that.” Jim thought he was done before he spoke up again. “Of course most folks like a bike that don’t EXPLODE on ‘em when the propeller seals freeze up. Or when the fuel cells start leaking radioactive waste!” The mustachioed man had an extremely smug grin; he knew he won this round. “But hey, who cares if it’s a classic, right?”

“No one likes a smartass, Swann.” Leaving his friend to chuckle to himself, James left to return to the bridge. It was time to see what Tychus thought was so important.

Later, on the Hyperion’s bridge

Jim found the bridge as busy as usual. There were crewmembers hustling back and forth with their duties, trying to maintain all the goings-on on the ship and other minor affairs. What Jim noticed immediately, was that Tychus and Matt were glaring at each other so harshly it seemed like they would actually burst into flames. None of the crewmembers seemed concerned though, so it must not have escalated into a verbal confrontation yet.

“So Matt, what’s our current status?” Jim asked with half interest. Although Matt Horner was one of Jim’s closest friends, as well as one of his oldest allies, Matt tended to be a tad too serious. He always had a plan though, and Jim respected him for that.

“Well sir, Tosh has confirmed his permanent stay with us. And he gave us the data to train additional specters.” Matt stated. Tosh was a tricky one. He was an African man with pure white eyes, long dreadlocks, and a raspy Jamaican accent. He was also part of an experiment called “Project Shadow blade”. The corrupted Terran Government called the “Dominion”, were artificially enhancing his already high natural psychic abilities in an attempt to create an even more powerful psionic soldier, along with many other men of his status, calling them “Specters” because of their defining cloaking technology. Jim had helped him out earlier in exchange for funds, but had recently busted open an entire prison planet to secure their partnership.

Both Jim and Tosh and one common goal: to see Emperor Arcturus Mengsk of the Terran Dominion dethroned and revealed for the traitor he is. In fact, the Hyperion was Mengsk’s old flagship. Jim and Matt “borrowed” it when they parted ways with Arcturus.

“Well, I’m sure he’ll be very helpful to us. What about you, Tychus?” Jim asked. “What did your Moebius boys pick up this time?” The hulking blue suit of armor gladly turned away from Matt to his friend.

“Well, Jimmy; Moebius had been tracking the communications between two Protoss ships for 3 days. One near Typhon, and the other was last seen around here.” Tychus stated as he pointed at the general location of the ship on the star map. “The ship was apparently carrying another artifact. Before the communications broke up, the ship mentioned something about bein’ attacked by a laser of sorts. Moebius has confirmed that the ship AND the artifact have crashed onto the planet.”

“Well hold on now, Tychus. This planet is so far out of protoss space, why doesn’t the team just pick it up themselves?” Jim was slightly curious as to why they would need the Raiders for such an easy job.

“Because, Jimmy, the Executor on Typhon said he was sending reinforcements in 24-cycles time. That’s about 20 days time for us. Even with this huge window of opportunity, after the incident on Tyrador, Moebius doesn’t have troops to spare, and they don’t like taking risks.” Tychus had told Jim all the information he had.

“Well Matt what’s your take on it?” Jim asked.

“Sir, given the distance between us and that planet, it will take us a little less than a week to reach it. We know that the protoss reinforcements won’t be there for another thirteen days once we arrive. We should go to this planet, grab the artifact and leave with the artifact before anything else can happen.” Matt smiled; this was going to be a much-needed break from the pulse-pounding missions the crew had been through of late.

“Alright Matt, set our course. I’m going to get some shut-eye.” With that, Raynor turned towards the door, and left for his personal bedroom.