Sitting in his gravity chair within the darkened chamber, the Master Builder silently stared at the blue, rectangular holo-screen suspended in mid-air in front of him.

The image on the screen was the visual feed from an Aggressor Sentinel currently fighting the Flood.

The Sentinel is but one in a giant swarm of Sentinels that is attacking the Flood’s forces as they laid siege to another Forerunner city.

Several Flood Pure Forms poured into the city, spreading alongside the thousands of regular Combat Forms as Sentinels attempted to combat the Ranged and Tank Pure Forms, but to no avail.

While already spread far within the city, the countless variations in Flood forms overwhelmed the Sentinels;

Aggressor Sentinels, in spite of being specialized to combat – and ultimately destroy – Flood Combat Forms, were incapable of putting up a sufficient defense against the Jiralhanae Combat Forms.

Due to being larger and more dangerous than the smaller and weaker Combat Forms, the Jiralhanae Combat Forms drew the majority of the Aggressors’ fire, allowing their weaker cousins to push the Sentinels back with devastating volleys; thus, disabling countless Sentinels.

Unfortunately, the larger and more armored and armed Enforcer Sentinels were unable to assist the Aggressors as they were busy engaging airborne Flood Forms and Flood-corrupted aircraft...

If the Enforcers prioritized assisting the Aggressors on the ground, they were left exposed to the airborne Flood.

If the Enforcers prioritized the airborne Flood, the Aggressor line weakened significantly, yielding more of the city to the parasite…

******

Sitting motionlessly in his gravity chair, the Master Builder watched the live footage of the Aggressor and Enforcer Sentinels’ defensive lines get pushed back, yielding more ground to the Flood.

Raising his arm, he pressed his finger against a button on his gravity chair’s right armrest, raising a secure channel to Penitent Tangent.

Not a minute passed before he heard the Monitor’s voice.

‘’Master Builder,’’ the Monitor greeted its master.

‘’Monitor, call off your attack,’’ said the Master Builder, ‘’the city has already fallen.’’

‘’Pull your forces back to defend our position here.’’

‘’It is useless to engage the Flood on the battlefield. Our best hope now is to employ guerrilla warfare tactics and wear their forces down, then, possibly, we may be able to launch another assault.’’

‘’As you wish, Master Builder,’’ replied Penitent.

Removing his finger from the button and severing the communication, the Master Builder looked back at the screen in front of him, placing one hand atop of the other and holding them up to his chin as he resumed observing the Flood infestation of the city.

Looking at the other screens hovering around him, the first of many beads of sweat ran down along his temple.

While obscured by his mask, the Master Builder’s face was overcome with fear at the Flood’s return.

The parasite, once defeated has returned, and it is winning, -

…but it will not stop here.

Once it has defeated its enemies here, it will just take to the stars in order to infest and consume other worlds, and so on and on in an endless cycle until there is nothing.

It is one.

The only lifeform left in a galaxy overrun with walking dead, but then what…?

‘’The Flood will do what it always does; spread and consume, only to other galaxies…or even entire universes!’’ he thought aloud, the fear in his voice rising the longer he thought about the aftermath of a galactic-wide Flood infestation.

On the screen, he watched as what little remained of his Sentinel forces retreated, fleeing from the city as the Flood overran it, heading straight for the city’s central control room.

‘’”It begins with a single Flood spore, and ends with the infestation of an entire planet…but the wheel keeps turning, again and again,”’’ he said dejectedly as he hung his head, averting his gaze from the screens.

The Master Builder was momentarily consumed by his fear of the parasite, before he finally moved again.

Slowly raising his head, he looked back up towards the screen, furrowing his brows as he glared at the screen…

******

Meanwhile in the overrun city, the Flood horde swarmed through the overrun city.

Thousands of growling, roaring, bipedal and quadrupedal Combat Forms made their way through the city, fighting off what few Aggressor Sentinels remained on route to city control, punching deeper into the city.

Soon, the final door standing between the Flood and the city’s main control room opened, granting the parasite access to the most important place within the whole city.

They also assessed the city’s layout, locating its various containment facilities…

Growling ferally, several equine Combat Forms hobbled up towards one of many control consoles and touched it, accessing the city’s database, learning all that they could, before removing their hooves from it and returning to the other Combat forms.

The equine Combat Forms learned everything they could from the city’s central data core, before they, like the rest of the Flood force in the city, turned tail and vacated the city.

Returning the same way they came, now accompanied by Juggernaut, Spawner, and Infester, Tank, Ranged, Stalker Pure Forms, all of whom lumbered or scurried about alongside the regular Combat Forms.

Outside the city structure, the ground shook as numerous large tentacles erupted out of the ground, climbing high into the sky, before retreating down into the newly created tunnels to spread to the next city.

As the Flood horde disappeared down into the dark caves of their ever-growing hive, the sun on the surface vanished down into the horizon, taking with it the last vestiges of large-scale light.

Truly the day has passed, and the night begun…

******

A cold blew through the snowy mountains, passing over the Doctor, Twilight, Poe, and Holdo as they had made camp on a cliff.

Within the cliff was an open space where the group had parked their speeder, and where they could sleep without being bothered by the snow, even though there is a small layer covering the ground.

Under advisement from the Doctor, the group had not returned to the surface – even though they have the capability – in order to avoid the Flood forms scouring the area in search of them.

Staying in the snowy mountains is not a guarantee that they will not encounter the Flood, but it certainly does increase their chances of surviving, should the parasite find and attack them.

Now with a fire going the three survivors sat huddled around it, warming themselves from the cold.

But no matter how warm they may be, the icy chill of their horrible experiences here on this planet will be with them forever.

This, the worst and most disparaging of all detours ever taken…to the worst of all places.

If ever such a place as hell exists, we have arrived, Poe thought, scrunching his face as he stared obsessively into the campfire’s flames.

A mixture of fear and sadness on his face, though he did not want to let the others see him like this, especially Holdo.

Not now when they need to keep their spirits up, as difficult as that may be.

Give in to fear, and they are lost.

Sitting by the fire, Twilight turned her head right, looking back over her shoulder towards the Doctor as he stood by the cliffside, silently staring out into the night sky and listening as the wind howled all around him.

‘’He’s been quiet,’’ Twilight spoke out, drawing Holdo and Poe’s attention as they looked up from the fire towards the lavender unicorn.

Turning her head, Twilight stared directly into their faces.

‘’Ever since we escaped the Primordial’s betrayal and came here, he hasn’t said a word. He…has just been standing there staring out at the landscape,’’ she said, her tone giving away the concern in her voice.

Poe turned back towards the Doctor, briefly staring at the Time Lord before bringing his attention back to Twilight and Holdo, shooting her a blank but empathetic look.

‘’Look, Twilight, he has been through a lot, we have been through a lot,’’ said Poe.

‘’Maybe he just needs to rest, time to recover his strength.’’

Hearing Poe’s theory, Twilight turned her head back towards the Doctor, staring concernedly at the Time Lord.

‘’Then why hasn’t he come and joined us by the fire?’’ Twilight asked

‘’Surely, if he is exhausted and needs to recover from our run-in with the Flood – as I expect we will be meeting them again – then why is he not resting now?’’ she asked

‘’He knows the Flood better than any of us, and as such he probably knows know that we should take every opportunity to recuperate we can before setting out again,’’ said Twilight.

‘’No, this is something else. Something about the Primordial’s betrayal affected him, deeply.’’

Furrowing his brows, Poe grimaced confusedly as he softly jerked his head back.

‘’Why? The Primordial was just some alien lifeform, I’m certain that he would’ve seen a few from travelling the galaxy in that little blue box of his,’’ Poe asked as he replied.

Twilight turned back towards him, sharing a brief moment of silence as she stared at him.

‘’From what I understand, the Primordial was the last Precursor; a sort of god race, and the original mass-seeders of the galaxy. They literally created life in our galaxy,’’ Twilight explained, to which Poe and Holdo’s brows jumped, eyes widening from the shock of learning this.

Jerking their heads back towards the Doctor, Holdo and Poe shot him stunned looks.

‘’You’d have thought that he would’ve mentioned that at some point,’’ Poe remarked, before his and Holdo’s attention shifted back to Twilight as they heard her speak out again.

‘’Now whatever caused their extinction and left the Primordial as the final surviving Precursor, I believe that it was the Primordial’s betrayal of us to the Flood that broke him,’’ Twilight said.

‘’I remember seeing how happy and excited he was after we freed the Primordial from her prison, revealing to me and Rey that she was a Precursor,’’ she continued, hanging her head in shame at the thought that they released the being that attacked their group, hurting Rey more than any one of them.

Even now, Twilight can now hear Rey’s screams echo in her mind from the Primordial doing, whatever it was that it did to her.

Twilight’s eyes watered, and she hung her head, averting her gaze from Poe and Holdo, sniffling as she sobbed slightly, struggling to compose herself.

She wiped the running tears with her hoof and looked back towards them, but Poe and Holdo turned towards each other as they noted that Twilight’s sadness is still prevalent on her face.

Standing up and trotting around the campfire, Holdo approached and hugged Twilight, holding her in a comforting embrace as Twilight sobbed into her. Poe silently stared at the mares, empathic to Twilight of what she is going through, as he himself have lost loved ones, be they friend or family.

He averted his gaze, staring off towards some snow to avoid giving in to his emotions like Twilight has.

Mourning the dead can come later, but what is important now is for them to actually survive, so that they can mourn them.

Still standing motionless by the cliff, the Doctor turned his head and faintly looked back over his shoulder towards Twilight, Poe, and Holdo over by the campfire, tears prevalent on his face.

Tears that had frozen in the cold wind and shattered after he turned his head to look back over his shoulder.

While staring at Twilight and the others, he sniffled and stared at them a little while longer before turning back to look out towards the snowy landscape, feeling the cold wind on his face…and hearing the voice in his head.

‘’It is useless to resist, Time Lord. Surrender yourself to me, end your torment…and theirs.’’

The darker, but still familiar voice of the Primordial spoke to the Doctor.

Reaching out to him from within the Flood hive, but the Doctor remained silent – physically and in responding to the Primordial.

‘’You delay the inevitable,’’ she continued.

‘’We will find you and devour your party, but the Equestrians need not suffer needlessly. Join us and their suffering will be brief.’’

Still, the Doctor did not respond.

‘’Betrayal,’’ the Time Lord finally said, telepathically responding to the Precursor as he furrowed his brows and scowled sternly, ‘’I would not be helping them as you say, but instead betraying them to the worst parasite that ever existed. A parasite so horrific that taking one’s own life to avoid becoming another one of its Combat Forms or having their knowledge used for its own benefit an actually viable option,’’ he continued.

‘’Heck, there were even times when I-…I actually considered it; killing myself so that I wouldn’t have to endure it anymore, to see friends and loved ones fall to the Flood. I…I just wanted it to end,’’ the Doctor’s voice cracked as he struggled to remain composed, the memories of his time as a soldier fighting the parasite coming rushing back, overwhelming the Time Lord, causing his eyes to water.

Enough that he briefly fell silent, hanging his head as he brought a hoof to his chin and wiped several fresh from his cheek.

‘’I still don’t know why – or even how – I survived the war’s end, but I know that it was not just so I could betray everyone who fought the Flood to have died in vain…least of all myself, as the Time Lord I once was died long ago in the war!’’ he replied, raising his voice to triumphant levels against the Primordial.

‘’I once admired the Precursors, and I felt no greater sorrow than when I learned that you had become extinct. I still not know why, but what I do know is that this is not what the Precursors stood for. The Flood is death, and the Precursors valued life, afterall is that not what the Mantle of Responsibility states?’’ the Doctor asked the Primordial.

The Primordial fell silent for a short while, before she finally spoke out again.

‘’You wish to know what led our race to extinction? You want to know why I sided with the Flood? This…’’parasite’’ as you call it,’’ she asked…

The Doctor maintained his stern scowl, not letting it falter for a second, however, as the Primordial told him about the past, recollecting events from so long ago, his eyes widened, and his mouth hung slack, shocked and horrified by these revelations laid out by the Precursor.

He did not want to believe it.

‘’No,’’ he softly muttered to himself.

‘’No, this cannot be true, it cannot,’’ he telepathically protested.

‘’What you choose to believe in face of the truth is irrelevant,’’ the Primordial replied.

‘’Until our meeting, I await your decision,’’ she said, ending their telepathic conversation and leaving the Doctor stunned by what he had learned.

Nearly collapsing, he caught himself by extending his hoof and grabbing the stone wall, breathing heavily as he stood there processing everything he had heard and seen for himself.

Now there is nothing but the silence of the Primordial’s absence, and the howling winds.

Still staring out towards the cold landscape before him, the Time Lord, in spite of his attempts to shift his focus to other things, remained transfixed on what the Primordial had told him surrounding the Precursor’s extinction.

His eyes wide, jaw hanging slack, and sweat running down his temples, the Doctor processed what the Primordial had told him.

‘’Hey Doc, are you okay?’’

The Doctor suddenly gasped, quickly jerking his head as he looked back over his shoulder towards the group at hearing Poe call out to him, where he saw Twilight, Holdo, and Poe shooting him nervous looks.

‘’Doctor, are you alright?!’’ Twilight urgently asked as she stood up and hurriedly trotted up to the Time Lord, putting her hoof on his shoulder.

The Doctor jerked his head down towards her hoof, staring at it before looking back up into her face, looking into her eyes until he finally blinked his eyes, snapping him out of his trance.

Shaking his head, the Doctor looked back into Twilight’s eyes after recovering from his little ‘’moment’’.

‘’Y-yes, Twilight, I am fine.’’

The Doctor stuttered as he lied.

‘’I-I’m just a little bit shaken up about what happened with…with-‘’ he said, nodding his head before hanging his head and looking down towards the ground as he averted his eyes.

Losing his composure all of a sudden, the Doctor suddenly began sobbing.

In response, Twilight immediately embraced him in a friendly hug.

‘’Shssh, it’s okay. It’s okay,’’ she cooed, rubbing his back comfortingly, calming the distressed Time Lord down.

‘’We’re still here, Doctor. None of us are going anywhere,’’ she said.

‘’Thank you!’’ replied the Doctor, putting his hooves around Twilight as he hugged her back, holding her tight.

Twilight could not see it, but the Time Lord’s eyes watered, and two streams of tears flowed down his cheek.

I swear to myself, here and now, I will never tell Twilight or the others the truth origin or the Flood or the events behind the Precursor’s extinction. It would break them to discover the truth behind the Flood’s origin, the Doctor thought to himself.

The truth would shake them to their core, as it already has him.

At the same time that Twilight and the Doctor embraced each other several silhouettes moved through the darkness, flying past the four survivor’s small encampment, -

…only for the lead-silhouette to abruptly stop in mid-air, signaling to the other two accompanying it to stop as well.

Then, all silhouettes turned around, and shined their spotlights towards the cliffside that the four survivors were holed up at, catching the group’s attention as the lights shined on them!

Twilight, the Doctor, Poe, and Holdo all jerked their heads up towards the source of the light.

‘’We’ve been spotted!’’ Poe shouted.

‘’Take cover!’’ Holdo shouted.

Poe and Holdo quickly stood back up on their hooves, readying themselves for a fight, but could not make a move due to the bright light shining on them, in their faces and eyes.

‘’Twilight get behind me!’’ the Doctor shouted as he quickly stepped in front of Twilight to protect her, shield her from, whatever this thing was that had found them.

‘’No, Doc, I can hold them-!’’ Twilight shouted back at the Doctor, before grabbing him with her hooves about to pull him back away from the edge of the exposed cliffside, -

…only to freeze in her tracks all of a sudden as she noticed something.

Something that drew the Doctor’s attention, leading to him realizing what she had realized.

His eyes widened, and he froze motionless on the spot.

We are not being attacked.

The Time Lord thought as he slowly turned back around towards the hovering object, blankly staring at it, along with Twilight, Poe, and Holdo, who, while not openly attacking the objecting the light on them, prepare to defend themselves, the Doctor, and Twilight.

The situation is tense, with the object not responding or reacting to them, -

…until, finally, the object turned and flew away from the cliffside.

With the light no longer shining on them, Twilight quickly tried to catch a glimpse of the object before it flew into the snowy winds, joining two silhouettes as they flew off, but all she could make out was that the object was purple and dark-grey, whose main body looked to possess a bulbous middle-section, whose sides curved outwards to form forms.

Whatever it was, it disappeared like a phantom into the night, leaving Twilight and the Doctor baffled by what it had been as the night drew ever closer.

‘’Doctor,’’ Twilight said, turning her head to face the Time Lord, ‘’What was that?’’ she asked.

Averting his gaze, the Doctor silently stared out into the snowy wind.

Briefly withholding his response from Twilight, because it scared him.

‘’I don’t know,’’ he replied, not making eye-contact as he continued staring out towards the surrounding peaks, missing Twilight’s reaction to his response.

Soon, Twilight broke the silence by speaking out…

‘’W-what do you mean you don’t know?’’ Twilight asked stutteringly, which gave away the nervous tone in her voice.

‘’I thought Time Lords were supposed to knew everything?’’

At that, the Doctor abruptly, but slowly, turned his head back towards her.

He did not make a noise as he stared into her eyes, shooting her a slightly stern, dumbfounded glance.

‘’Don’t be ridiculous, Twilight,’’ he said.

‘’We may have been a powerful race, possessing TARDISes, capable of space and time travel. No race dared to oppose the Lords of Time, but that does not mean that there were not gaps even in our knowledge,’’ explained the Doctor.

Twilight nervously swallowed, before she looked out towards the same peaks, same as the Doctor.

‘’That is encouraging,’’ she said, earning her an odd glance from the Time Lord.

He did not comment, though as he figured that she is already going through a lot as it is, especially with his latest remark concerning the Time Lords not possessing all the knowledge in the universe.

The Doctor just closed his mouth and blankly stared back out towards the surrounding peaks, the Primordial’s words echoing in his head, tormenting him.

******

Later in the night, the wind continually howled, but it was not the reason the Doctor sat awake while the Equestrians slept comfortably – relatively speaking.

In spite of having taken refuge on a relatively safe cliffside, he sat keeping watch, ready to wake the others if he so much as spotted the Flood…even if the spotted Flood was across the gap that separated their individual mountains.

‘’You really are dedicated to protecting Twilight, Poe, and Holdo, aren’t you?’’ TARDIS asked in his earpiece.

He softly scoffed back, smiling, even as he continued staring out towards the other surrounding mountains.

‘’Is there something else I should be doing?’’ he asked her back.

‘’Sleep,’’ replied TARDIS.

‘’Recover your strength for tomorrow, you will need it,’’ she said.

He scoffed again, before hanging and shaking his head, though he still looked back up in order to maintain his watch of his surroundings.

‘’You know I can’t do that girl,’’ said the Doctor, striking a more serious tone.

‘’You’re no use to anyone exhausted…or dead, Doctor,’’ TARDIS replied, speaking in a mixture of concerned and equally serious tone.

‘’Neither are they,’’ he said.

‘’The Equestrians will need Twilight, Poe and Holdo if they are to survive this war.’’

‘’And what about you?’’ she asked.

‘’How do you help them by dying here?’’

‘’I am not going to die here,’’ said the Doctor in a slightly gruff voice.

‘’Could’ve fooled me,’’ said TARDIS, to which the Doctor shot her an odd glance.

The Doctor then sighed deeply as he turned back towards the mountain peaks.

He then sighed heavily as he hung his head.

‘’Rey is gone,’’ the Doctor said dejectedly.

‘’Murdered by the Primordial after it nearly sent us to our deaths within a Flood hive.’’

The Doctor thrust his hooves out beside him, briefly holding them there before slowly lowering them back down beside him and hanging his head.

‘’We are all that’s left; with no food, and no place to take shelter from either the storm of the Flood,’’ he continued.

TARDIS fell silent, not uttering a word for the next couple moments.

‘’I will rest when I’m dead,’’ said the Doctor, falling silent himself as he finally ended his conversation with TARDIS and resumed his watch.

His ever-present fear and paranoia about the parasite keeping him alert.

As the night wore on and the young Time Lord kept watch, however, he failed to take notice of several unseen figures converging on their cliffside encampment.

The figures silently climbed up along the mountainside towards the cliffside, going undetected by the TARDIS’ motion tracker due to interference from the continually blowing cold winds.

Unlike the Flood, these unseen figures did not make a single noise as they closed in on the cliff opening, waiting for their opportune moment to strike.

After five whole minutes, the unseen figures’ leader suddenly leapt in towards the cliff opening, kicked the Doctor, and knocking him down on the ground.

All while the Time Lord grunted as he was kicked.

The Doctor supported his upper body with his hooves as he sat back up.

Groaning and rubbing the back of his head, the Doctor immediately jerked his head back upwards as he heard a loud crackling of energy.

Looking up, however, his eyes widened as he froze in his tracks.

Standing over him was a tall, bipedal humanoid clad in red armor wielding a blue energy sword that curved inwards from the ends from a cylinder gripped tightly by its wielder’s four-digited hand.

The Doctor’s eyes widened, petrified by the sight before him.

‘’Doctor!’’

TARDIS exclaimed, but before the Time Lord can act the bipedal being held the tip of its energy sword up to his throat, ensuring he doesn’t try anything.

At the same time, Twilight’s ear twitched from hearing the energy sword crackling to life and her eyes shot open.

Looking back over her shoulder, her eyes widened as she sees the tall, imposing figure standing over the Doctor, holding its blade to his throat.

The figure was bipedal, but while most of its physical body was covered up by a black under suit and red armor she managed to make out a reptilian appearance; especially strong in that field was the creature’s face, though she noted the mandibles as irregular of any reptilian creature that she has ever seen.

Immediately without hesitation, the lavender mare quickly stood up on her hooves, but before she could run over to help the Doctor, she saw in her peripheral vision several other bipedal aliens jumping up onto the cliff from behind the edge.

Unlike the creature standing over the Doctor, their armor was blue, but still the same design.

The blue-armored aliens ignored what appears to be their leader and instead turned their attention towards Twilight towards the exhausted Poe and Holdo.

They drew their odd-looking energy weapons – that had a single handle in the center and two elongated parts of the weapon’s top and bottom – and pointed them at Twilight, which she furrowed her brows, and gritted her teeth at them as she assumed a battle-ready stance, her horn aglow as she prepared herself…

Without hesitation, the blue-armored aliens fired a volley of plasma from their weapons towards her, -

…but just before the volley of plasma bolts hit her, she suddenly raised a shield and protected herself.

Much to the blue-armored creature’s surprise as they have never seen anything survive a direct assault like that, especially without armor.

Additionally, her shield still appeared functional, even after their volley.

Taking advantage of their distraction, Twilight rapidly lowered her shield, but before the blue-armored aliens could fire on her again, she abruptly grabbed one of them in a telekinetic grip and threw the individual at the group, knocking them all down.

As the group recovered and stood back up, one of the blue-armored aliens rose to its feet, but when it went to fire another plasma bolt at her, Twilight performed a quick-draw a rapidly charged up a magical blast that she fired at the creature, hitting it, and pushing it back against the cave wall, knocking it unconscious.

Twilight’s attention snapped back to the other blue-armored aliens, watching them get back up on their feet, sure to attack her as well.

She charged up another spell, but before she could fire it a voice called out to her…

‘’Twilight!’’

It was the Doctor.

Twilight jerked her head back towards the Time Lord but gasped at the sight that greeted her.

That one of the aliens wearing the red armor held its left arm around the Doctor, holding the Time Lord tightly and preventing him from escaping, but worse than that, it held its energy sword up to the Doctor’s throat in a threatening manner.

‘’Surrender, foreigner, or I will cut his throat,’’ the red-armored alien said, moving its mandibles as it spoke in a deep but surprisingly regal tone of voice.

Not at all like Twilight had expected its voice would sound.

The red-armored creature stared directly at Twilight, and she at it…before looking towards the Doctor, wherein he shot her a pleading look.

Not to fight, but to surrender to these strange humanoids.

Twilight briefly closed her eyes and sighed, scowling as she stared back at the red-armored creature, -

…and then disabled her magic, showing the red-armored creature and its blue-armored compatriots that she is surrendering.

She sat down on the ground and hung her head, staring down in front of her.

The red-armored creature turned towards its comrades and growled as it nudged its head towards Twilight, gesturing for them to move forwards.

Initially suspicious of the unicorn, the blue-armored aliens slowly approached her, but once it dawned on them that she was done fighting they threw caution to the wind and surrounded her, wherein they cuffed both her and the Doctor.

‘’Those two too,’’ the red-armored creature ordered, pointing its finger at the sleeping Poe and Holdo, who, its blue-armored underlings walked up towards and shook awake.

Moaning as he stirred awake, Poe slowly opened his eyes, only to shot them wide-open as he saw the humanoid figure standing over him.

The starfighter commander quickly reached for his blaster, but before he could make any action the creature slammed its leg down on his arm, restraining him.

Poe, however, struggled to free himself, but stopped moving when the creature growled and pointed its plasma weapon at his head.

The stallion briefly stared down along the center of the weapon, before he noticed Twilight and the Doctor in his peripheral vision and slowly turned his head towards them.

‘’Twilight! Doc,’’ he exclaimed.

‘’What is going on?!’’

Twilight sighed heavily, hanging her head.

‘’We’re surrendering,’’ Twilight said dejectedly.

‘’These guys attacked the Doctor. The commotion woke me up, but while defending the Doctor and you guys from them, they got ahold of him, holding him hostage and forcing us to surrender,’’ she explained, to which Poe’s eyes widened.

Before one of the blue-armored aliens could wake Holdo, the commotion from Poe’s brief struggle awoke her, and she jolted awoke.

She hurriedly sat up-right, taking several of the aliens by surprise, yet they quickly, and only, pointed their plasma weapons at her head.

As a result, Holdo froze in place and slowly raised her hooves, signaling her surrender to the blue-armored aliens, who merely looked at each other yet kept their weapons trained on her.

‘’Major Drawn ’Vadum to Phantom, foreigners have been engaged and neutralized. Currently awaiting extraction.’’

The red-armored creature said as it contacted whatever this ‘’Phantom’’ is.

Must be whatever craft they used to get here, Twilight thought to herself as she sat beside the Doctor, Holdo, and Poe, staring out towards the cliff opening, watching the snow winds continued blowing past it.

The creature now identified as a ‘’major’’ walked up along the group, till it stopped in front of the Doctor, who it turned its body around to face.

‘’Speak, foreigner, who are you?’’ the major demanded, once again allowing the Doctor to hear that deep, but still sophisticated and – for lack of a better word – elite sounding voice.

He could not explain, it just sounded inherently superior.

Unlike anything he has ever heard, even amongst his own species.

The Time Lord stared blankly, but also intrigued, at the major, not saying a word for the next few moments before finally opening his mouth and answering the alien’s question.

‘’Hello, my name is the Doctor,’’ he said, calmly introducing himself to the major, which frankly baffled a few of the other blue-armored aliens, who did not suspect such a calm response from someone that they had just attacked without warning.

‘’The lavender one is my companion, Twilight Sparkle, and the other two is Commander Poe Dameron, and the other Vice Admiral Amylin Holdo of the Equestrian Republic navy,’’ he explained, pointing his hoof towards each of the ponies in the order that he said their name.

The major softly grumbled as he looked from Twilight to Poe and then Holdo, briefly looking each of them over, before turning his attention back to the Doctor.

Without uttering a word, the major lowered his head and looked the Doctor over from head to hoof, briefly examining it before turning towards Twilight and the others, comparing their physiology to this Doctor’s.

‘’Your species is a strange one, foreigner, yet it is not unfamiliar to us,’’ said the major.

‘’You and your group will accompany us back to our base, where you will stand before the hierarch.’’

Poe and Holdo shared an uneasy look, but the Doctor just nodded comfortably back.

Again, the major merely grumbled gruffly.

He walked off to attend other matters, but still, inwardly, he struggled to understand how someone can be so calm and even respectful in a situation like this.

These…Equestrians are unlike anything he has ever experienced in all his years of serving the Covenant.

But there is something about that Doctor. Something…off, the major thought.

The major continued to dwell on these thoughts until he soon pushed them to the back of his mind when a light soon shined on him, his forces, and the Equestrians.

In spite of being blinded by the Phantom’s spotlight, the Doctor and Twilight’s eyes widened, and jaws dropped, hanging slack as the craft flew up from behind the edge of the cliff, -

…and revealed itself as the object that they had seen earlier!

The Phantom turned itself around and backed up to the cliff opening.

Its back door opened, at which point the major and his soldiers beckoned the Doctor, Twilight, Poe, and Holdo onboard.

They trotted up the ramp onboard the Phantom, stepping inside a space interior, but while Twilight and the Doctor spotted a door at the other end of the room – presumably where the pilot is – the major stopped them in their tracks by holding out his hand, grunting as he signaled for them to stop.

Both the four equines and the soldiers stopped moving, while the major itself turned around and approached the door.

It automatically opened for him, allowing him to proceed inside and down a slopping corridor, the door closing behind him, leaving the four equines and soldiers alone.

Outside, the Phantom ignited its engines and flew forward away from the cliffside into the blowing snow, disappearing from sight just as it had earlier.

The other two Phantoms that had previously accompanied the current Phantom had been instructed to return to base, so were nowhere to be seen.

*****

Time passed as the Phantom flew above the snow-clad peaks, all while the Doctor, Twilight, Poe, and Holdo sat aboard the Phantom flanked by alien soldiers, whose intentions they are unaware of.

‘’Doctor, are you alright?’’ TARDIS asked, finally speaking out again after such a long period of silence.

‘’Is Twilight and the others alright?’’ she followed up, yet the Doctor not visibly react, at least not at first.

‘’I’m fine,’’ he softly responded, getting his voice as low as possible so as to not draw attention from the surrounding soldiers, ‘’Twilight and the others are too,’’ he added.

‘’You’ve been absent,’’ he jokingly added.

‘’With good reason,’’ she replied, ‘’I didn’t know if your being caught talking to someone would’ve looked particularly good to these guys, so I decided to lay low and do a little investigating.’’

‘’I hacked into the Phantom’s communications network and discovered something rather interesting,’’ she said, ‘’Apparently, these guys are the survivors of a giant Flood attack on their city, which they were forced to flee from. Fortunately, a lot of the citizens and military personnel managed to escape and have now constructed a base of operations far into the mountains, safe from the Flood,’’ she explained.

At hearing this, the Doctor furrowed his brows intrigued.

‘’Interesting…’’ the Doctor whispered, ‘’So, there are other factions here on this planet outside of this Master Builder.’’

‘’It would make sense, as the Flood hive the Primordial sent you, its database mentioned that its occupant was a Master Builder,’’ said TARDIS.

‘’Alas, Doctor, for as much as I want to tell you that the Master Builder might still be alive, that facility that had become the Flood hive – that we visited – was also the last known location of the Master Builder. The teleporter’s log confirms as much.’’

The faintest spark of renewed hope that the Doctor had felt when Holdo and Poe first told him about this mysterious Master Builder extinguished as soon as TARDIS informed him that the infested hive was the Master Builder’s last known location, and seeing as he did not detect any other life signs during the mission to rescue Holdo from the Flood hive there is only one answer about what happened to him:

The Flood assimilated the Master Builder when it assaulted his facility.

Closing his eyes, the Doctor hung his head and sighed dejectedly.

‘’I’m sorry, Doctor,’’ she said into his earpiece, striking a sympathetic tone as she comforted him over the loss of a potential ally to combat the parasite.

‘’It’s okay,’’ he replied, opening his eyes again.

‘’While the Master Builder was our best bet at securing a powerful ally – to fight the Flood – this Covenant can still help us,’’ he said.

‘’They must help us, for even their survival may depend on it.’’

While he could not see it, the Doctor almost got the impression that TARDIS was nodding in agreement with him due to her lack of response.

Standing beside the Time Lord, Twilight stared blankly around the room but furrowed her brows as she thought she heard the Doctor talking softly to himself.

Turning her head left, she looked beside her towards him.

Seeing her in his peripheral vision, he turned his head right and looked directly at her, smiling back at the lavender mare.

‘’Is everything okay, Doctor?’’ Twilight asked.

‘’I thought I heard you talking to yourself.’’

He scoffed softly in a humorous tone.

‘’I’m fine, Twilight,’’ he said, flashing her a friend smile before turning back and looking out in front of him.

The Phantom’s black silhouette disappeared into the white winds as it flies off towards this ‘’base’’.

Onboard the Phantom, the Doctor, Twilight, and even the aliens themselves shared intrigued looks with each other.

Holdo and Poe, though merely stared at the aliens; Poe suspicious of their intentions, and Holdo planning for when things inevitably go south, ‘cause they always do.

They thought they could trust the Primordial…and it cost them dearly.

Trust these new aliens…and they may just lose everything.

Not just their lives, but also their war against the Alignment!

*****

After an hour of flying through the air towards the Covenant survivor’s settlement, passing through small canyons on route towards their destination, the weather gradually cleared the further away from the snow-covered mountains the ship flew.

Eventually, the Phantom swooped down into a canyon, but one that’s sides comprised of large mountains that acted as organic wall defenses; preventing anyone not using a ship to reach the other side, and instead forcing any would-be intruders to follow the monitored and guarded valley.

Scattered throughout the mountainsides of the canyon were carefully hidden positions, that carefully and specially trained Covenant troops monitored and guarded the valley from intruders; specially created to protect the settlement from any Flood forces, be they a mere patrol or an army.

From their secure emplacements on the mountainside, the Covenant forces scanned the Phantom, verifying if it is compromised.

It is not, and as such it is allowed to continue the rest of the way, at which point the Phantom ignites its engine’s boosters and shots forward, following the rest of the canyon before soon reaching the end; a vast open valley, whose surrounding mountains tower over the ones in the canyon.

Here, the mountains are way taller than the ones back in the canyon, they also curved inwards at the top, concealing the settlement within the valley.

Back inside the Phantom, the door to the cockpit opened and the major stepped back out.

‘’We have arrived,’’ he announced to the equines as he approached them, drawing their attention as the four of them looked up towards him.

The Doctor stared at him, but merely gave a silent nod.

As the Phantom descended through the air towards the ground, several nearby Covenant onlookers watched the ship come in for landing. They did not utter a word as it touched down, and then subsequently powered down.

The Phantom’s rear door opened to reveal the major standing in the doorway, who proceeded to walk down the ship’s ramp, revealing the Doctor standing behind him, who trotted after the infantry commander, followed thereafter by Twilight, then Holdo, Poe, and the rest of the major’s troops.

Without stopping to tell them to follow him, the major merely continued onwards, leading them away from the grounded Phantom past an increasingly growing crowd of onlookers.

While the arrival of the group’s Phantom had drawn a few quick glances, once it landed and its occupants disembarked from it, they now drew full-on looks and stares from the other Covenant members scattered throughout the settlement.

The Covenant, much like the four equines were, shot each other curious and intrigued looks, but the Doctor noted that a few of the Covenant members looked at them with confusion; a few even turned to their companions and seemed to ask them something, but the Time Lord merely furrowed his brows as he could not make out what they were saying/asking.

All he knew is that their arrival has drawn quite a bit of attention.

Twilight suspected the same as she, Holdo, and Poe could not resist staring back at the crowd, mostly due to the surprising amount of alien creatures here which shocked even Holdo and Poe.

Amongst the crowd of onlookers were other members of the major’s race, but there appears to be a size and height disparity between a few of them since a few of them are taller and bulkier than the other members of their race. Twilight stared confusedly at these particular aliens for a few additional moments.

Are they a different species or actually the same species? If so, then why do they look so different from each other…? Or, could they actually be a sub-species? Twilight thought.

Why is their armor so different? These taller alien’s armor doesn’t cover their arms, unlike – what I presume to be their – smaller cousin’s armor, which is much smaller, streamlined, and appears to cover more of the body, she noted.

Questions and thoughts about these things continued stacking on top of each other as Twilight stared at these strange creatures, but her curiosity to observe the other alien races present at the crowd forced her to avert her gaze from one alien race to another…

One of the other alien races that drew Twilight’s attention was another bipedal race, but one that is significantly smaller than the first race. These smaller aliens, if the appearance of their arms is anything to go by, possess an exoskeleton. Their armor covered their torso, but what drew Twilight’s attention was the large triangular object on the back of their armor.

Assuming these guys let us live I am going to have to inquire about this second species – well, actually every one of these species – but in particular about whatever those things on this second’s species back is, because as of now this is currently just a hypothesis, but I think that those things on their back are actually tanks that allow them to breathe whatever it is they breathe, she thought.

Like with the first species, the second one/species seemed to have a variant on their species, with this sub-species’ armor looking a little different; the tank was rounder, the armor more resembled a harness, and instead of having their mouths covered by a respirator their helmets to have an inbuilt tube-like apparatus that fed them their ‘’air’’ through their nose.

Strange. Quite strange, but also very fascinating these creatures…, she trailed off, before she moved on to the next alien…

The third species was one that made Twilight almost recoil in shock at their appearance but remembered the need to be courteous, so she quickly assumed a blank stare, so as to not offend this third alien species more than she already has.

Unlike the previous two alien races, this third one looked to be incredibly feral, possessing incredibly feral features like an elongated maw with sharp teeth, and spiky feathers atop their heads. Like with the second species of alien, their armor appeared to be nothing more than a harness, but almost seeming to contrast with the second alien species, they wore armor on their legs.

The other two aliens looked to have reptilian features, but this one possessed more bird qualities, which Twilight interpreted as them being more of a hybrid between bird and reptile.

That does make sense, Twilight commented to herself after thinking it over, I certainly don’t have another explanation for their appearance outside of just them just appearing to be a combination of bird and reptile.

Once again, the lavender mare noted a similar looking being, wearing the same sort of armor and possessing a similar appearance, outside of their maws looking more traditionally reptilian instead of looking like a beak, as is the case with their smaller cousins.

This seems to be a trend with this faction; they are comprised of aliens that have sub-species in their race. Weird, Twilight remarked, continuing to look out towards the various aliens in the crowd.

After a couple minutes of undisturbed silence her brows jumped as a thought dawned on her.

A thought, that until now, has never dawned on her.

Are unicorns a sub-species of Alicorn? she asked, averting her gaze from the crowd of onlookers as she turned to look back in front of her, hanging her head as she trotted behind the Doctor.

No, wait, am I even asking the right questions? She interrupted her own train of thought, But then again, what are the right questions? Do Equestrians even have a ‘’main race’’? And if we do, what would that race even be? Unicorns? Pegasi? Earth Ponies?

Could…could the Alicorns be our species’ original race? she hesitantly asked, struggling to even comprehend the gravity of such a revelation.

Like, in spite of there only being two natural born Alicorns left, are they what remains of the original Equestrians?

She asked herself, posing a question greater than the she has been asking herself concerning the origin of the Flood, a threat worse than even Nightmare Moon was.

Where did the parasite come from?

Who or what created it?

Will it escape from this planet and threaten not only the galaxy but Equestria as well?

While contemplating these questions, Twilight felt a shadow fall upon her as she and the rest of their group neared their destination, beckoning her to arch her head back up to look in front of her.

Her eyes widened as she did, and her brows jumped stunned by the sight in front of her.

In front of them stood a tall, purple structure, whose main body was primarily oval but had an elongated rectangular section in the front.

Sprouting from atop the oval section of the structure was a single command tower, whose top was a smooth triangular shape. Running up along the side of the tower were bulbous, blue viewports.

Scattered all around the enormous structure were several pads, that connected to the main structure by translucent cables that powered each of the various pad-mounted structures.

Poe and Holdo were also taken aback by the large structure, but unlike Twilight they were able to snap out of their shocked awe and took note of several miniature structures surrounding the central one:

One of these structures was a large dome-shaped building, whose and sides were large arching doorways which the two equines noted had several vehicles parked inside it.

They even watched a few small vessels fly in and out of the hanger bay.

These vessels were small – much smaller than the Phantom – with a smooth, domed front, and two wings on the side.

Unsurprisingly, several Phantoms were also parked within the hanger, and some other craft that Holdo and Poe could not identify but suspected that they are not aircraft as they sported a large cannon at the top.

Probably tanks or some heavy artillery vehicle, Holdo pondered as she finally averted her gaze from the, presumed, hanger/vehicle storage back in front of her towards the main building itself.

Turning back in front of her as she and the rest of the group reached the central structure’s entrance, a tall doorway that towered over even the aliens.

The Doctor, meanwhile, ever since they disembarked from the Phantom had not uttered a single word.

His only visible reaction to anything was that his pupils looked up from the ground towards the giant doorway into the central structure.

Other than that, he still did not utter a word as they strode inside the citadel.

The major continuing to lead the way as they ventured deeper within the Covenant citadel.

Eventually, the group of equines and aliens reached an elevator, which the Doctor, Twilight, Holdo, Poe, the major, and the majority of his troops stepped onto.

The elevator lifted upwards, ferrying the Covenant forces and equines all throughout the tower, where it stopped upon reaching the top, where a large dome-shaped door opened up for them, revealing the Covenant command center within.

Inside the command center were numerous consoles scattered around the room, all sat around an elevated platform in the pattern or a horseshoe. Aligned along the edge of the platform were another set of consoles.

All of the consoles in the command center were being operated by members of the major’s species, much to no one’s surprise.

What truly surprised the equines, and most certainly caught their attention about the command center, was one particular shape atop the elevated platform that overlooked what the members of the major’s species were doing.

The shape looked to only have one leg, which somehow kept its large body standing without difficulty. The leg connected to an upside-down dome. Further up on the body was an odd silver enigmatic and titular formation.

To say the entire thing looked odd is an understatement.

Twilight even thought she heard the aliens speaking to the strange looking shape, almost like they were reporting to it.

What or whoever that thing is it must be important due to the presence of two other aliens – whose body shapes resembled those of the major’s race – wore crimson armor with intricate orange spikes and shoulder pauldrons. The helmets they wore, which covered their faces, has similar spikes on top.

Based on their appearance alone, these individuals are evidently the unidentified thing’s guards, indicating it is a living creature, especially if it is being guarded by pretty ceremonial-looking individuals.

Both of the guards grasped large tridents. Tridents that shared the same orange color as the guard’s spikes and pauldrons.

As the aliens strode into the room, the major abruptly held his hand out, silently motioning for the equines to stop in place.

They did – along with his own troops – so the major turned back and took several steps forward towards the platform before stopping in his tracks at the foot of its walkway.

‘’Noble Minister of Etiology, I have brought the foreigners that we discovered in the northern mountains,’’ the major announced to his leader.

The Prophet did not utter a word or make a sound, but the Doctor easily saw movement behind the silver formation.

The Prophet turned around and stared down towards the major, revealing a seated organic figure to the equines.

The object is not the Prophet, but instead the creature sitting inside – what appears to be – a gravity chair.

The Prophet himself wears a crimson ceremonial robe of sorts with long sleeves, and a metal shoulder plate of sorts that supported the silver crest he bore.

Physically, the Prophet looked quite frail, both of his hands sported four digits, his long supported his bulbous head, his skin was grey, and furry lobes of skin protruded from his chin resembling a beard, a fleshy beard. Atop his head, he wore an enigmatically shaped headdress with two points that curved towards his face.

Holdo furrowed a confused brow at how this seemingly fragile Prophet could carry such a literal heavy weight on his shoulders.

Meh, I guess that’s alien biology for ‘ya, she thought to herself, finally abandoning this train of thought.

From atop the elevated platform, the Prophet stared down at the major, silently watching him kneel before him.

‘’Noble Minister of Etiology, I have returned from my mission to scout the city,’’ the major said, keeping his head down as he greeted the Minister of Etiology in a highly respected tone, ‘’But unfortunately, Minister, I must report that the Flood presence is still just as strong as ever. It has not lessened in the slightest.’’ And unfortunately, Minister, I report that the Flood presence in the city has not lessened,’’ he added, seeing a drastic change in tone from respected to dejected.

‘’In fact, while a majority of the parasite’s forces stationed at the city seems to have been redistributed elsewhere, the Flood still have a significant presence in the city.’’

The Minster grumbled at this news, scrunching his face as he grimaced disappointedly at hearing this.

The Prophet’s gravity throne turned slightly away from the major, causing the Minister to look off in a different direction and not face his subordinate.

His grimace softened slightly as he brought a three-digited hand up and slowly stroked his fleshy beard.

‘’Hrmm, this is…unfortunate news, major,’’ grumbled the Minister as he looked down from the major towards the floor in contemplation of this news.

He hunched forward in his gravity throne slightly and held his hands together out in front of his head.

Holdo turned towards Poe, shooting him a curious stare in anticipation of what this ‘’Minister’’ will do about them, assuming the major actually does raise the subject to his leader.

Still kneeling before the Minister, the major is silent as he leaves his leader with its thoughts, -

‘’Minister, there is another matter that needs to be discussed.’’

…before he finally speaks out.

The Minister held his posture but furrowed his brows before his gravity throne slowly spun back around towards the major.

He shot the major an intrigued glance as well as raised his brow.

‘’What ‘’other’’ matter, major?’’ the Minister asked in an inquisitive tone, adding, ‘’There is no matter greater than the Flood threat, especially after they took our once great city’’ as he raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist.

‘’Minister, there is another matter,’’ replied the major.

‘’One that requires your uttermost attention,’’ said the major as he stood back up on his feet and looked back over his shoulder towards the group behind him.

He gestured with his arm for his troops to bring the equines over towards him.

The Minister looked from the major towards the four equines, only for his eyes to widen at seeing these four-legged creatures, silently watching them as they trotted up towards the major.

Like the Doctor, Poe, and Holdo, Twilight stared back up towards this ‘’Minister of Etiology’’, struggling to look away from this completely alien…alien.

‘’Stop,’’ the major grunted at them, and so they stopped.

‘’Form a row,’’ he then instructed, pointing beside him.

Without hesitation, Twilight and the others complied as they trotted up beside him, forming a row of four as he had said.

With all of them looking up towards the Minister, the major turned back up towards the Minister himself.

‘’Minister, this is that other matter of which I spoke,’’ the major said to the Minister.

‘’As I returned from my scouting mission, I wound up encountering these four wanders in the mountains…north of the city.’’

The Minister abruptly furrowed his brows, and jerked his head back towards the major, shooting him a shocked glance.

‘’The city?!’’ the Minister asked in a surprised tone.

‘’Yes Minister,’’ the major replied.

The Minister’s brows jumped, and he slowly turned back towards the four equines, staring at them intrigued.

Holding his intrigued expression, the Minister proceeded down the walkway towards the bottom of its elevated platform, all the while unable to look away from the four-legged creatures that have somehow managed to survive in the northern mountains, even as the parasite continues to spread across the planet, though fortunately unaware of the Minister and his forces’ presence deep in the mountains.

Reaching the bottom of the walkway, the Minister slowly approached the equines.

‘’I would urge caution, Minister,’’ the major spoke out, lightly extending his hand towards the Prophet.

‘’These creatures may appear defenseless, but they are quite formidable beings,’’ he said, adding ‘’especially the horned one, she appears to be the leader of the group.’’

The Minister hovered up towards the equines, facing the nearest of the four-legged creatures.

Without uttering a word, the Minister looked Poe up and down as he examined him.

Poe blankly stared at the Prophet, trying his best to not antagonize their captor’s leader, even as he and the others were being paraded around like some animal found in the wild.

‘’Fascinating creatures,’’ the Prophet remarked.

‘’One would hardly think them a threat, -’’ the Minister said, causing anger to well up within Poe.

The starfighter commander grimaced at the Prophet, regardless of whether it offended him.

‘’…but that is perhaps why they have survived for this long against the Flood out there on their own,’’ the Minister followed up his earlier comment.

The Minister’s intrigued expression though, abruptly changed into a dejected frown as he rotated his gravity throne away from Poe back to face the major.

‘’Still, based on the infected members of their race that we encountered; they are just as susceptible to infection as the rest of us. That is perhaps why they were hiding in the mountains when you found them, major; they knew that the Flood struggle in the cold,’’ the Minister said to the major dejectedly.

The Minister hung his head and raised his hand to rub the back of his head, further emphasizing his disappointment to which the major nodded affirmatively before he turned from the major towards Twilight.

‘’While weak, the infected members of your race accelerated the parasite’s infestation of our city, allowing them to swarm, and claim it for themselves,’’ the major explained to Twilight, who listened intently to what the alien told her, nodding in understanding.

‘’While I appreciative being told this information, I am not really the leader of our little group,’’ Twilight replied.

Both the major and the Minister furrowed their brows in confusion, to which the Minister turned his gravity throne back to face the equines, staring directly towards Twilight.

‘’You...are not your group’s leader?’’ the Prophet asked puzzlingly.

Twilight nodded in confirmation.

‘’But if you are not your group’s leader, then who is?’’ the major interjected.

‘’Actually, that would be me,’’ Holdo spoke out, taking several steps forward, -

…but as she did, the major and the other aliens in the room – aside from the Prophet – immediately drew their plasma rifles and aimed them at her!

At hearing his guards train their weapons on Holdo, the Minister’s gravity throne spun to face her.

He stared her a blank, fearless glance before rising his right hand to signal to his guards to lower their weapons, which they did as they subsequently lowered their plasma rifles.

Holdo though turned her head and looked at the various aliens before finally returning her attention to the Minister once she felt safe enough to speak.

‘’Greetings, I am Admiral Holdo of the New Equestrian Republic Navy,’’ Holdo introduced herself as she bowed her head respectfully before the Prophet, ‘’Currently acting representative of the Equestrian government – and race,’’ she elaborated.

The Minister blank stare shifted into a friendly smile.

‘’Greetings Admiral Holdo, I am the Minister of Etiology, currently acting hierarch of the Covenant,’’ the Minister introduced himself with a courteous bow as he held his right hand up to his chest.

‘’It is a pleasure to meet someone that has endured for so long against the parasite,’’ said the Prophet, adding, ‘’One is not able to say this lightly where the Flood is concerned.

Holdo scoffed softly in response.

‘’This is true,’’ replied Holdo.

‘’I have lost many to this wretched Flood, hundreds, perhaps thousands or even more,’’ she said as she hung her head slightly, her voice heavy with sadness.

Sympathy for those consumed by the Flood when their ship was shot down and crashed on the surface of this planet.

They few survived, though their numbers have been dwindling the longer they have stayed here.

‘’My only wish now is to survive this ordeal and escape this hell, never to set hoof here again,’’ she sternly said as she arched her head back up towards the Prophet, shooting him a vengeful and determined glare.

The Prophet’s brows jumped as he realized that she is serious.

Dead serious.

‘’It pleases me to hear that, Admiral, for we too aspire to leave this formerly beautiful place,’’ said the Minister, holding his blank stare but speaking in a slightly livelier voice.

Holdo smirked confidently back at the Minister, nodding her head as she heard this.

‘’Then, if our goals are aligned, why not join our two forces together to combat the Flood and escape this planet together?’’ she asked, to which the Minister tilted his head slightly and furrowed his brows at her.

‘’You…propose an alliance between my Covenant forces and your group?’’ the Minister asked.

Holdo nodded back at the Prophet.

‘’Yes, I am,’’ she said.

‘’Hmm,’’ the Minister softly grumbled in response.

‘’Regardless, the question must still be posed that; other than your – remarkable – ability to survive the Flood, what can you and your group offer us?’’ he asked, raising a skeptical brow as he sat back in his gravity throne in anticipation.

‘’What advantage can you Equestrians offer us that our machines cannot?’’

Without missing a beat, Holdo’s eyes widened, and her jaw dropped, hanging slack as she gawked petrified towards the Prophet, her mind a blank as she could not think of anything in the slightest.

This ‘’Covenant’’ appears to have lived on this planet all their life, even retaining a city, albeit one that has been lost to the Flood, but the point still stands that they have lived here – and presumably fought the parasite – a long time.

Hopefully long enough to become proficient in fighting the Flood, -

…so, indeed, what can they, five mere equines, offer the Covenant?

‘’Knowledge,’’ a male voice abruptly spoke out.

The Minister, Holdo, Twilight, Poe, and the major and the guards’ attention all snapped towards the speaker.

It was the Doctor.

The Prophet raised an unimpressed brow as he stared towards the male equine, shooting him a similar glance.

‘’And who are you if I may ask?’’ the Minister asked, gesturing towards the Doctor with his hand.

The Doctor closed his eyes as he respectfully bowed his head before the Minister.

‘’Greetings esteemed Minister of Etiology, I am the Doctor,’’ he introduced himself with another bow.

‘’Doctor, what are you doing?!’’ Holdo asked hysterically through gritted teeth.

The Doctor turned towards her, furrowing his brows as he shot her a confused glance.

‘’I’m talking to the Minister,’’ he said.

Holdo groaned annoyedly at his response and rolled her eyes.

‘’Yes, I can see that, but why are you talking to the Minister?’’ she asked, the frustration in her voice mounting.

The Doctor silently stared back at her, his confusion turning into that of determination.

‘’Because I don’t have a choice,’’ he said, before he turned back towards the Minister, then trotted forward towards him with an unflinching aura of determination about of him, -

…even as the Minister’s guards drew and aimed their weapons at him.

The Minister though, merely sat unflinching in his gravity throne as he watched the Doctor slowly trot towards him without an ounce of fear.

In response to this lack of intimidation by his guards, the Minister raised his hand and – once again – signaled for his guards to lower their weapons, which they then did, obeying their Prophet without question.

The Minister smirked as the Doctor approached him, following the equine with his eyes until he eventually stopped in front of his gravity chair and locked eyes with the Prophet.

‘’Minister of Etiology, if you provide me and my friends shelter from the Flood then I, the Doctor, will offer you my services…’’ he said, adding, ‘’as the last Time Lord.’’

Hearing this, the Minster’s eyes widened, and jaw dropped, hanging slack as several Covenant aliens collectively gasped, their eyes widening like the Ministers.

Turning towards the alien standing beside them, several of the Covenant aliens exchanged stunned and shocked glances with each other.

Even the aliens operating the controls of the machinery stopped what they were doing and turned around towards the individual claiming to be a member of the long thought extinct of Time Lords.

Silence hung over the room as the Minister and the other aliens under it stared at the Doctor.

‘’A…Time Lord?!’’ the Minister asked, nearly stuttering as he still processed this news.

‘’Yes…’’ replied the Doctor as he nodded back.

‘’The last Time Lord,’’ he added.

Without hesitating one second the Minister immediately bowed his head respectfully before the Doctor.

Just as the aliens in the room watched their leader bow before the last Time Lord, they too bowed, averting their gaze from the Doctor as they hung their heads in respect.

Twilight, Poe, and Holdo all turned their heads, looking around the room at all the Covenant aliens as they bowed before the Doctor, -

…like he was truly their lord.

While Poe and Holdo shared a confused look with each other, Twilight turned towards the Doctor, staring at him as he still stood in front of the Minister.

‘’Doctor, what is going on?’’ she asked.

The Doctor reacted to hearing his friend’s voice by slowly turning his head and looking towards her, maintaining his stern look, though it softened slightly as he stared back at her.

‘’Yeah, Doc, what is going on?’’ Holdo interjected, asking as she shot the Time Lord a stern and intrigued frown.

Several of the Covenant aliens raised their heads, looking back up towards Holdo as they heard the tone she struck as she addressed the Doctor.

Many of the aliens furrowed their brows and scowled at her lack of respect.

‘’Yeah,’’ Poe spoke out as he trotted up beside Holdo, shooting the Doctor a similar stern frown.

‘’Why is the Minister and everyone following him bowing you?’’ Poe asked, emphasizing his point as he extended and pointed his hoof towards the Doctor.

‘’Because he is the last messenger of our gods,’’ the Minister spoke out.

The Doctor, Twilight, Holdo, and Poe all turned towards the Prophet, staring at him as they watched him sit back up in his gravity throne.

Twilight furrowed her brows confusedly, but also intrigued by what the Prophet said.

The Doctor? A messenger of…gods? She thought.

Her mouth slightly agape, and brows furrowed confusedly, Holdo stared back at the Doctor.

‘’What is he talking about?’’ Holdo asked, raising a skeptical brow at the Time Lord.

‘’Gods? Messengers?’’ she said, lightly shaking her head.

‘’Who are you, Doctor?’’ she asked, frowning at him in a manner that conveys both the confusion and betrayal she currently feels.

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, only to hang his head dejectedly, averting his eyes from Holdo, Poe, and most importantly Twilight, who is still very much processing all of this.

Holdo slowly shook her head at the Time Lord, shooting him a disgusted glance as her thoughts went to the deepest recesses of her mind for information.

Information that she internally gasped at as she realized something, something that has only once crossed her mind throughout her journey with this ‘’Doctor’’.

A revelation most terrible.

‘’You are all the same, aren’t you?’’ Holdo asked.

‘’Always pretending to be one of us…and yet always hiding in plain sight,’’ she began, ‘’never revealing your true self until your cover is blown!’’ she spat back at the Doctor, furrowing her brows angrily, and gritting her teeth as she glared at him.

She angrily stomped her hoof against the floor, -

…however, this action – on top of the angry tone in her voice – caught the Minister and other Covenant aliens’ attention, who quickly rose to their feet as they detected aggression from Holdo.

‘’Stay your tongue, Admiral!’’ the Minister snapped back at Holdo, slamming his right fist against the gravity chair’s armrest, adding ‘’You will show respect when in the presence of a Time Lord!’’

‘’The messengers of our gods!’’ he added.

The various Covenant aliens don’t immediately draw their weapons but readies them in the case that the situation escalates: This Equestrian is clearly threatening the Time Lord known simply as the Doctor, and as such will be treated as a potential threat.

Poe and Twilight noticed the Covenant aliens’ defensive stances, but unlike Twilight, Poe quickly jerked his head around towards the many aliens and stared at them, all of whom looks like they’re about to attack, -

…and if they do, there is virtually nothing he and Holdo can do to protect themselves from the aliens’ fire.

The Minister gritted his teeth and scowled at the ponies as they dared to disrespect the Time Lord, as a silence filled the room to create a tense moment between the two parties.

Soon, that silence is broken by the Minister speaking out.

‘’Now, this is what is going to happen, Equestrians,’’ he said, which drew Twilight, Poe, and Holdo’s attention towards him.

‘’You are all going to surrender your weapons, at which point you will be arrested and imprisoned for threatening our holy messenger, -’’ he added, as he sternly pointed his index finger at Poe and the mares, ‘’…or resist, and die!’’

While Twilight gasped aloud in shock of the Minister’s lack of hesitation to using such drastic measures – even if his reasons are understandable – Poe and Holdo merely glared back at him, -

…yet the stallion’s glare softened as he stared at the Minister dumbfounded.

In spite of his abrupt anger towards the Doctor after discovering that he is not a pony, and even kept that fact hidden from him and the others when discovered aboard their cruiser, especially as they were fleeing from the Alignment at the time, Poe’s anger finally died down and his head cleared.

Without uttering a word, he lowered his blaster pistol and hung his head to look towards it.

Stunned that his impulsiveness almost got not only himself but also Holdo and Twilight killed by the Covenant, Poe realized that now, more than ever, he cannot always fight by getting into the cockpit of a Headhunter and blasting whoever he perceives his enemy, or in this case threatening just because they are discovered to be an alien.

Admittedly, the starfighter commander is puzzled why the Doctor even tried to keep that secret.

Outside of merely being an alien that looks like a pony, the revelation that he is not from Equestria did not really raise any red flags about the Doctor’s character.

The Doctor has not only helped them survive during their terrifying ordeal with the parasite, the Flood, -

…but the ultimate test about the Doctor’s loyalties is about to happen, now, at this very moment.

Regardless of what Poe may have accidentally started, the Covenant will surely hail the Doctor as a sacred icon now that they know what he is, and the question is just what the Doctor is going to do with his new status.

Mouth slack, and wide eyes, Poe craned his head and glanced back up at the Doctor and the Covenant aliens ahead of him.

‘’I-I’m sorry.’’

Poe apologized to the Minister, much to Holdo’s shock, as her head jerked towards the commander with a shocked glance.

He raised his other hoof to indicate to the Covenant aliens and the Minister that he is not going to make any sudden movements, to which they furrowed their brows as they glared at him.

Then, Poe slowly lowered his blaster pistol and placed it on the floor and backed away from it.

‘’What are you doing, commander?!’’

Holdo sternly hissed at the stallion.

His head hung, Poe silently turned his head and looked back over his shoulder at his superior officer with a sad, dumbstruck frown.

‘’Saving our lives,’’ Poe softly answered.

He sat down on the floor and raised both hooves into the air to indicate to the Elites and other Covenant aliens that he surrenders himself over to them.

As Twilight watched the commander lay down his blaster and surrender himself to the Minister and his Covenant forces, the unicorn softly gasped as it dawned on her why Poe, the first one to draw his blaster at the first sight of danger, now lowered his defenses and surrendered to the Covenant.

If we die here, then who will protect Equestria?

A simple question answered another question.

Twilight’s eyes widened, and her jaw hung slack as the energy she previously charged into a spell to defend herself and the others from the Minister and his Covenant faded away.

She too raised her hooves to signal her surrender to the Covenant aliens.

Out of the corner of his eye, the Doctor noticed Twilight lowering her guard and smiled comfortingly at her.

Twilight noticed that he smiled at her and flashed him a momentary smile, though swiftly re-adopted her blank stare.

The Minister grinned as he witnessed Poe and Twilight lay down their arms and indicate that they surrendered.

Good, good.

Thought the Minister as he rubbed his three-digited hands together.

He maintained his smirk as his eyes snapped from Poe and Twilight towards Holdo, the last Equestrian that has yet to surrender.

‘’Well, well, Vice Admiral Holdo, it seems as if your friends have come to their senses, -‘’ said the Minister as his gravity chair glides over towards the Doctor, placing himself between the last Time Lord and the Equestrian.

At the same time, a few of the other Covenant aliens aimed their weapons directly at Holdo in case she tried to pull something against either the Minister or the Time Lord.

The Last Time Lord.

‘’…so the question remains; are you a fool?’’ asked the Minister, as he tilted his head slightly.

The Minister’s smirk vanished as he and Holdo locked eyes, which filled Twilight, Poe, and the Covenant aliens with nervous tension as their respective leaders stared at each other.

One leader glared, while the other leader stared intensely at the other – leader – in anticipation of their next move.

The silent, nervous tension built, all the while the various Covenant – particularly the Elites – struggled about whether they should wait for Holdo act first or step in before she has a chance to do anything.

Before anyone, Covenant or even Holdo herself, can act, though, Poe, who, watching from the sidelines, shot his superior officer a concerned glance.

Although a little uncertain, due to his suspicion being based on a number of factors, the commander suspects that he already knows the outcome of Holdo and the Covenant’s stand-off, and thus decides, right then and there, to help his friend avoid certain death.

‘’Holdo, please put your weapon down and surrender.’’

Poe spoke out to the admiral, only for Holdo to angrily grunt as she jerks her head towards him.

Holdo frowned at Poe as they stared at each other.

‘’Commander Dameron, you want me to do what?!’’

Inquired the mare in a raised, almost shouting tone of voice.

Poe sternly furrowed his brows as he looked at the admiral.

‘’You heard me,’’ he said, determinedly.

‘’Put. Your. Weapon. Down,’’ he added, as he stretched out and emphasized every word.

Surprised by this sudden change, especially from someone as brash as quick to action as Poe Dameron, Holdo jerked her head back in stunned confusion.

Her confusion turned into a stern frown as she scowled back at the commander.

‘’Why should I?’’ Holdo angrily asked, just before she jerked her head back towards the Doctor and continued to aim her blaster pistol at his chest.

‘’He is a Time Lord, whatever that is,’’ she continued while she narrowed her eyes and glared towards the Doctor, then added, ‘’For all we know, he meant to lead us here, knowing that this…Covenant would find us, bring us here to their base, and then he would come forward as a Time Lord to save himself.’’

At hearing this, the Doctor averts his gave and hangs his head in shame, which Twilight furrowed her brows as she picked up on.

‘’I don’t care what the Doctor did, or why he did it.’’

Poe speaks out to Holdo, yet she keeps her back to him this time, even as he continued, adding, ‘’If you fire your blaster then everyone in this room are going to kill you’’

Holdo just scoffed at the commander.

‘’What do you know, commander?’’ she asked, adding, ‘’You just sit in a fighter craft and blow up the enemy.’’

Poe hangs his head and looks down towards the floor as he nods back at her.

‘’Yes, but I have a new mission that supersedes that basic objective,’’ he said.

‘’Oh yeah, and what is-?’’

‘’Survive.’’

Without even letting his sneering commander finish her sentence, due to the invalidity of her argument, Poe effortlessly interrupted his superior officer with a better reason for why they need to stop fighting.

‘’Have you forgotten that we lost everything?’’ he asked in a soft tone, yet both Twilight, the Doctor, and even Holdo picked up on the sadness in his voice.

‘’Our fleet, our-‘’

‘’…Home!’’

Holdo interrupted Poe as her eyes widened, and jaw dropped, accompanied by a loud and genuinely shocked gasp as she realized something.

She, Poe, and the fleet orbiting this planet are – possibly – the only survivors after the Pentastar Alignment created the cataclysmic event that destroyed their home and split their once great Republic into tiny groups of fledgling survivors.

The formerly enraged admiral slowly averted her gaze and looked down towards the floor as the impact of what she was about to do dawned on her. Similarly, she lowered her blaster pistol all the way until the barrel pointed down at the floor.

With her head still hung, Holdo turned herself around and craned her head up to face Poe.

Tears ran down her cheeks as she locked eyes with her starfighter commander at the thought she almost got herself needlessly killed, when there are more important matters than getting back

‘’I-I’m sorrry.’’

She sniffled, and her voice overtaken with sadness and regret.

Poe, though, just smiled warmly at her, relieved that she chose to not go down the path of stupidity but that of survival.

‘’Its okay, its okay,’’ he said comfortingly as he extended his hooves and embraced Holdo, just as she embraced him back.

Both mare and stallion closed their eyes as they hugged.

‘’Don’t worry about us, Admiral,’’ said Poe, adding, ‘’We will see the fleet again, and when we do, we are going to take it and scour the galaxy for survivors…and then we are going to finish what the Alignment started and restore the Republic.’’

Holdo’s frown steadily shifted from a frown into a smile as she listened to the inspiring words of, well, a mere commander.

A survivor, who, while ready to stand and fight for the sake of their race, is prepared to lay down their weapons and just wait.

Wait…and survive.

Both then opened their eyes, and softly smiled back at each other.

They then turned around and looked back towards the Minister and the Doctor.

Holdo’s smile dropped slightly as she frowned apologetically at the Doctor and inserted her blaster pistol back into the holster on her belt.

‘’I’m sorry.’’

She spoke out to the Time Lord, only for the Doctor to merely smile back at her.

‘’You have nothing to apologize for, Admiral,’’ he replied, adding, ‘’Anger consumes us all in our darkest hours, but you did not allow it to consume you.’’

Holdo, though, frowned dejectedly and hung her head.

‘’No, Doctor,’’ replied the mare.

‘’I allowed my hatred about your refusal to tell us anything about who or even what you are to consume me, and it nearly got myself, you, possibly Poe and Twilight too, killed over nothing,’’ she elaborated.

‘’That may be, but even when you had a clean shot you did not take it,’’ responded the Time Lord encouragingly, adding, ‘’You hesitated.’’

Holdo craned her head back up towards him and furrowed her brows in befuddlement.

‘’Surely you do not believe that you are incapable of mercy?’’ the Time Lord asked her.

‘’But I-‘’

‘’…are fully capable of knowing when to pull the trigger, and when not to.’’

The Doctor interrupted her.

Holdo, Poe, and Twilight’s eyes widened in response to the Doctor’s abrupt interruption.

Now, the Doctor frowned as he hung his head and averted his gaze from Holdo and the other Equestrians in shame.

‘’Enough blood has been spilled because of hate, and the wars that sparked it,’’ said the Doctor in a soft voice, but also emotional and sad tone as a single tear ran down his cheek.

The testament of a dark past that has shaped the Doctor’s future as the last Time Lord.

Invisible to Covenant and Equestrian, but always hidden in plain sight, -

…yet, Twilight easily picked up on it.

Spending time with Applejack and Rarity has taught her a thing or two about reading others.

The ensuing silence lasted a few moments before a voice abruptly ended it.

‘’Seize them!’’

Before Twilight, Poe, or Holdo could react, all three of them were immediately grabbed and restrained by Elites, who locked their arms around their throats in a chokehold.

Taken aback, the Doctor’s eyes widened, and jaw dropped, hanging slack as he gawked at the horrific sight before him.

He rapidly jerked his head towards the Minister, who grinned as his faithful underlings restrained the ponies, especially Holdo.

Once the ponies are restrained, the Minister’s gravity chair glides across the floor towards the three ponies, where he then stops in front and turns around to face them.

Ponies and Elites alike – once they have a secure grip on their prisoners – look towards the Minister.

‘’While it pleases me to see that you Equestrians are capable of reason, still, with the power vested in me as Minister of Etiology, I place you all under arrest for threatening our god’s great messenger,’’ the Minister proclaimed to Twilight, Holdo, and Poe as he raised his arms and held them out towards the ponies.

‘’I have spoken,’’ he finished before he lowered his arms down to his chair’s armrest and turned away from them back towards the Doctor, who gawked angrily at the Prophet.

‘’What do you think you are doing, Minister?’’

The Doctor angrily asked as he trotted up towards the Minister, all the while he pointed his right hoof at the three Equestrians currently being led away by the Elites.

‘’They are my friends!’’ he shouted.

The Minister’s gravity chair stopped just beside the Doctor, and the alien turned his head towards the pony.

‘’That is why I have not executed them, my Lord Time,’’ replied the Prophet.

‘’It is clear to me how much they mean to you, so for the time I will only have them imprisoned…in spite of that Admiral’s attempted assassination.’’

The Prophet added while he pointed his index finger at the Doctor.

‘’Until such time that your safety can be assured, they will not be permitted to come near you, my Lord Time,’’ he explained to the Time Lord.

The Doctor’s anger dissipated, and his rage morphed into a blank stare.

At least they are safe…for now.

Thought the Doctor to himself as he stared back at the Prophet, only for said Prophet to interrupt his thoughts…

‘’But no need to worry about them…’’ the Minister spoke out, adding, ‘’there are greater issues at hand that requires our attention.

The Minister adjusted his hand – that he moments ago used to point at the Doctor – into a fist.

‘’The future of the Covenant may depend on it, especially in light of your arrival.’’

I might as well play along with the Minister, because for as much as I don’t want to admit it; he is right that there are other things at stake, not just my friends, thought the Doctor before he extended his hoof out in front of him.

‘’By all means then, Minister, lead on.’’.

‘’At once, my Lord Time.’’

Without hesitation, the Minister bowed his head in respect to the Doctor before he and the Time Lord turned around and headed towards the ramp that leads up to the observation platform that the Minister had been on when the Doctor and Equestrians arrived.

‘’Ever since our great city fell to the parasite, we have been strictly monitoring their movements across the planet,’’ said the Minister as he and the Doctor ascended along the ramp.

‘’Good,’’ replied the Time Lord, adding, ‘’When the time comes that they will come for us, we must be ready long before then if we are to even have a chance of surviving.’’

‘’Yes, my Lord,’’ agreed the Prophet as he and the Doctor reached the top of the platform.

Author's Note

The first upload of 2020.