X-COM: Friendship Unknown

Twilight Sparkle was worried. She hadn’t heard from Sunset Shimmer in over a month. Then again, the young woman’s job had been taking up most of her time. Twilight was probably just being extra anxious.

She sat on her balcony overlooking Ponyville. It had grown a little the past few years, but it kept the same homey charm it held the first time the young unicorn had felt when she’d first came here. Twilight sighed as she looked over to what had formerly been her school. Now run by Starlight Glimmer, creatures from all over the world came to learn the magic of friendship.

Looking at the school only made her think of Sunset again. Though it had been years ago, she still clearly remembered the ‘former’ unicorn. They still kept in contact, though schedules did tend to conflict, and Sunset’s work kept her busy. As busy as Princess work sometimes.

Twilight frowned. Sunset Shimmer had a … rather difficult life. Even thinking about it, made the Princess feel a tad sicker from worry. The young woman had been through so much…

She should probably check the journal again… just in case.

The Purple Alicorn Princess trotted from the balcony and into her personal study (A nice addition to her castle that separated her personal collection of books, from the castle library.). She’d moved the portal to Sunset’s world here, after much refinement of course. It could only be used in short bursts now, but that was better than waiting years for the portal to open on it’s own, or rely on Sunset’s journal to operate.

On the note of Sunset’s journal, the book was sitting right where she’d left it. On a small table in the corner, right next to her comfy reading chair. The alicorn trotted over to the chair and sat down, only taking a minute to actually get comfortable (She required her a pillow and her wings to be at just the right position), before lighting the lamp on the table. With a small light from her horn, Twilight levitated the journal into her lap and opened it.

There was nothing new. Just Sunset’s most recent message.

Twilight sighed and shook her head, then flipped back through the journal. She brushed a few mane hairs out of her eyes as a page caught her eye.

Hey Twilight,

So try not to freak out. (You don’t need to rush through the portal.) I just figured I’d let you know that something weird happened. I’m really not surprised since nothing has gone wrong in months, (Being out of High School still feels weird) but anyway.

You know the geode necklaces? The ones that basically turn us into superheroes? Well the girls and I kinda... absorbed them. We were fighting off the most recent person to get a hold of some ancient magical object tossed here, (Because Earth is a Star Swirl’s Magical Waste Dump.) and we all ponied up, like we do. Only the necklaces kinda just sank into our skin. We only really paid attention after the fight. The girls and I now don’t need the geodes to do our magic. It’s all on command. It’s cool, but a bit weird at the same time.

I haven’t seen any downsides yet. I’ll keep in touch, and I’ll let you know if I notice anything.

Twilight chuckled. It was always fun hearing about Sunset’s adventures as some kind of small town superhero.

She flipped a few pages, skimming the daily life updates. Then her eyes locked on something.

Twi,

It’s Sunset. Try not to worry, but there’s something really weird going on. People around town are disappearing. The police have no idea what’s going on. The girls and I are trying to track down what we can, but people are just there one day and gone the next. It feels like some scary wild goose chase. I’ll keep in touch as much as I can.

Twilight frowned. It was only the beginning… She flipped a page.

Twilight,

It’s RD here. Sunset’s been getting bad headaches for some reason. So has Sci-Twi, Rarity and Fluttershy. What’s worse, the disappearances are increasing. It’s like 3 to 4 people a week. We still have no idea what’s going on. I just wanted to give you a head’s up on the situation. Just in case of something bad, you might want to shut down your portal thing. Because, what if it’s aliens and they want to get to Equestria? Anyways, hope everyone over there is doing okay. One of us will keep you updated.

She flipped another page.

Twilight shut down the portal! I’ll tell you everything as soon as I can. Just shut down the portal!

That was all she got for over a week. She still felt the knot in her gut from reading that the first time. She had, at that point, already shut down the portal, eering on the side of caution. But Twilight could almost feel the panic in those hastily scrawled words. She flipped another page.

Twilight. First, I want to say that the girls and I are okay. Second, I’m confiding in you something that probably shouldn’t get out to the general public.

Aliens. Extraterrestrials. Are real.

I know you might not believe me, but hear me out.

So, the girls and I were snooping around one night. When this giant fireball just flew over town and crashed on the outskirts of town. We immediately went to investigate. When we got closer, we saw this ship. It had to be a ship. It was a fucking flying saucer. It looked like it’d been hit by something pretty nasty. There was a big gouge out of it.

The saucer had plowed right through an old factory building. There were things wandering around it. These gray humanoids with massive black eyes. Ugh, just thinking about them makes my head throb.

We didn’t see it, but we heard some kind of plane or something fly overhead. We tried to stay in the cover of buildings and the occasional chunk of rubble. Rarity, Sci-Twi, and Fluttershy were complaining of headaches, I was having one too but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. One of us, not sure who, must have tripped or kicked something because the gray things, aliens, suddenly stared right at us.

Twi they were fast. Something that small shouldn’t be that fast.

We made a dash to get away, but it felt like they were on top of us. These bolts of green plasma (I’d seen plasma before btw) were flying over our heads.

I turned to look back and I met one’s eyes. My head suddenly felt like it was in some kind of vice. I screamed. Everything gets hazy from there.

The handwriting changed.

It’s Rarity, Sunny’s not doing so well after writing that. So, I’m taking over.

It all feels like a bit of a blur, but here’s what I can properly remember. Sunset screamed and grabbed her head. There was this weird lavender light that was connecting that horrid gray thing’s head to Sunset’s. It was like, despite the headache that Fluttershy and myself had, we all just snapped when Sunset went to her knees. I managed to throw out a shield in front of Sunset. Fluttershy grabbed her and dragged her back while Applejack threw a chunk of concrete. Sci-Twi seemed to be in some kind of shock, because she just helped Fluttershy drag Sunset. Applejack had missed with her concrete block by the way, but I believe she was aiming to stop whatever attack Sunset was under. Rainbow decided to charge at the one that was attacking Sunset. All she managed to do however, was knock it aside and race back to us before she got shot.

It was at this point that Sunset started glowing. Her screaming stopped as she started to glow a bright crimson. An aura of that crimson pulsed from her head. As it did a line of crimson shot down the gray things line and… Oh the thought makes me gag. The thing’s head exploded. Gave me nightmares for days.

Well right after the explosion, we heard gunshots. The second two were killed by something. I’m not sure, because I am told that I fainted.

The handwriting changed again.

RD again. I’m finishing up. It. Was. Awesome! These guys in black and yellow combat gear came in and cleared out the ship. There were actually more aliens and we just found a few stragglers.

We basically got voluntold to get in the VToL that had brought them. Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to say what the interrogation was like. (Don’t worry, it was an interview.)

Oh, and before anybody else gets to say it. Because of our magical bullshit (though they call it Psy for some reason) we’re all part of X-COM! (Also, don’t tell anybody I told you.)

Twilight chuckled at Rainbow’s enthusiasm as she flipped another page. There was about a week long gap between the last message and this one.

Twilight,

First let me say that Rainbow was not supposed to mention the existence of X-COM. It’s basically a multi-nation funded Black Ops army that combats aliens. Aliens that apparently have been trying to take over the world. I’ll get back to that.

We’re all fine. Turns out that Sci-Twi, Fluttershy, Rarity, and myself are all psychically sensitive. It might have something to do with magic, but I’d rather not bring up the by M word until I do a little research with Sci-Twi. So far as X-COM is concerned, we’re just unique and powerful psychics. They don’t really have an explanation for Applejack’s strength or Rainbow’s speed. And they aren’t even trying to analyse Pinkie. She already broke a few of their machines just from trying.

We’re all getting put into basic training. Fluttershy, Sci-Twi, and Pinkie are primarily going to be in reserve back at base. (No I can’t tell you where it’s located.)

I’m in a Psy-Ops program with Rarity. This is going side by side with the ‘normal’ basic training. Applejack and Rainbow are taking to it like a fish to water, to quote AJ. Both are pissed that our town got attacked. Hell, so am I.

We’re all handling the stress of things differently. Pinkie bakes in the commissary. Fluttershy seems to calm down just by helping people in the med bay. I’m pretty sure she’s going to be a support medic. AJ and Dash train, Sci-Twi gets sucked into science research projects with Doctor Vale, and Rarity helps work on the projects that include any kind of tactical gear. Turns out she has a knack for production and she gets along great with Doctor Shen. And me. I just message you. Well, that or check on the girls.

It’s weird. Turns out Empathy isn’t the only magic/psy thing I’m good at. I can levitate things like Sci-Twi. However Sci-Twi can lift bigger and heavier things than me already. I don’t see her going into combat.

I-

I kinda want to go into combat. I want to help the other squad mates. There’s a guy younger than us called Ace. His whole family got killed by something called a Chryssalid. He’s a good kid, but he’s hurting and wants to take out his anger on the aliens. I don’t really blame him.

And now I have to go. More training. I’ll try to keep in touch.

Twilight flipped a few more pages. There were the occasional messages for the other girls. Then.

Twi. I had my first mission. Oh, it’s RD btw. I just got back and I can still feel my heart pounding in my ears. Trying to calm down. And yes I’m okay, just got grazed.

So it was an escort mission. Basically, bring this guy to an extraction point. It was me, Ace, Sunset, a Sniper codnamed “Deadeye”, and an Assault codenamed “Scythe.” We meet the guy in Hong Kong goes by the name “Dragon.” Basically he has some info or gear or something. Also he shot a Sectoid in the face, and he’s supposed to be a civilian!

Extraction is basically just across this big yard or something. Yet a bunch of Sectoids and Thin Men show up! I was expecting a firefight, but it was actually more like a waiting game, seeing who would pop out from behind cover first.

Twilight. I killed one. I finished off one of the Sectoids that Sunset shot. To be honest, I kinda blindfired as it made a move towards Dragon. But I got the kill. It was both exciting and sickening at the same time. I’m trying to rationalize it that this thing would’ve killed me or one of the girls without a second thought. I’m just gonna keep telling myself that.

Oh right, I had a story I was telling. We get within like 20 feet of the extraction point and this giant bug thing just pops out of nowhere! Ace lost his shit. He fucking charged at the thing, shoulder tackled it like lineman, and shoved his rifle into it’s face. It didn’t have a head when he was done.

After that, Deadeye and Scythe cleared out the last couple Sectoids and we got Dragon to the VToL.

I might need a drink, or a talk with Fluttershy, or Sunset. Maybe all three.

Twilight grimaced at Dash’s message. She understood how bad things were over there. Sci-Twi and Fluttershy gave her more than enough detail on that. But… something about her friends needing to kill rubbed her the wrong way.

Twilight, it’s Applejack. This is gonna be quick. I just need to vent.

I know we’re doing what we have to. If we stood down, the damned aliens would kill us all or enslave us, or worse. I just don’t like having to kill them. How can somebody, even if they’re some kind of alien, learn if they’re dead? Killing them just rubs me the wrong way. I try to use the stun gun when I can, but I’d rather not have my face clawed off. I might have to talk to Sci-Twi and Shen and see if either of them have ideas about some kind of tranquilizer bullets.

I might not like killing them, but bringing them in alive to get experimented on, also rubs me the wrong way. Some of the higher ranks say I’ll get used to it, but I don’t want to get used to it. Is it too much to hope for peace in the future?

I kinda wish I could go back home to the farm. But I can’t just leave, everyone depends on everyone else.

If I need to, I’ll message you more.

Twilight smiled a little. It was great seeing that some of her friends didn’t just dive into being a soldier. She flipped a couple pages.

Hello Twilight, it’s Twilight,

We’ve made some breakthroughs! We finally have enough resources to construct two new labs! A Cybernetics Lab and a Genetics Lab!

The Cybernetics Lab allows people to go through a process to become a cybernetic soldier housed in a MEC (MEC stands for Mechanize Exoskeletal Exosuit). In layman’s terms they become a giant cyborg robot. The Genetics Lab allows us to use Meld to modify soldiers with alien DNA. Both are entirely safe and completely optional. That being said, Rainbow opted for gene therapy. She’ll be in the vat for a few days. I asked Applejack if she was interested in either of them, but she flatly replied with a no, then proceeded to pick up a drone and carry it into the Engineering Bay for repairs.

Pinkie’s really interested in a MEC, but the rest of us are trying to get her to think about it first. It’s basically a full-body conversion. We just don’t want her regretting it.

Twilight sighed as she flipped another page.

Hey Twilight! I have robot arms! Apparently I was out for a few days but now I have this awesome giant robot body! There’s this great pneumatic piston thing! It’s gonna do wonders to walls! Or aliens for that matter! I can’t wait to try it out.

Twilight face-hoofed.

Dear Twilight,

It’s Fluttershy. I can’t help worrying that Rainbow and Pinkie are changing a bit. Both of them went through modification and yet they act like nothing’s wrong. They even get excited for the next mission. And here I am, worrying if one day they won’t come back at all. I haven’t seen any combat. I don’t think I’d be able to shoot at anyone or anything. I hope I don’t have to.

Twilight frowned and sighed. She felt for the girl. Such a kind soul shouldn’t have been in that situation. She turned a page.

Hey Twi, It’s RD again. You know having alien bits inside me should be worrying, but I feel amazing. My eyes are better. I can jump higher than Shake.

Oh! I almost forgot! A few of us got codenames! So I’m Lightning, probably due to my speed boost. Which is weird because it never used to tire me out, then again it used to come from a rock. AJ is Warden, Pinkie is Party-Popper, and Ace is Guillotine. Ace got the name probably because he has a thing for blowing aliens heads or arms off. Pinkie got her’s because her explosion magic stuff can work on her gear. Like when she used a grenade launcher, she would automatically also make a smoke screen. Or on her MEC grenade launcher, the explosions are bigger. Though Pinkie prefers to run up and punch things. I don’t blame her, I sprint into the faces of things that used to give me nightmares and blow them in half. AJ’s pretty simple. She can take a hit.

Seriously there was a point where we were putting a tracker on this train and AJ got pinned between a couple of Mutons who were punching her, and they didn’t do a thing. She just knocked them out with a couple punches. She’s pretty awesome, but she always seems cranky after coming back. No idea why.

Twilight rolled her eyes at the oblivious girl as she turned a page.

Dear Twilight,

Sorry it’s been so long. Things have been pretty crazy. I’ll fill you in when I can, but basically, we took down a massive alien ship and that made them retaliate by attacking our base while some of us were out. I wasn’t selected to deploy at the time so some base personnel, Sci-Twi, Rarity, Fluttershy, and I had to fend off all the aliens that were breaking in.

Some got in the med bay.

Twilight. I’ve never seen Fluttershy get that angry before.

She virtually one-man-armied through the base. Not only that, weird thing. They started deploying these weird snake people. Fluttershy did something. It had to have been psy-related because all the Chryssalids and snakes just collapsed for a moment, kinda like cutting a puppet’s strings, and the next moment they’re turning on their allies.

We learned something really valuable. This whole invasion thing. There’s some kind of higher ups. Some kind of incredibly powerful psychic beings are basically using these various aliens like disposable foot soldiers. And Fluttershy managed to free some of them.

Once the base was clear, Doctor Vale wanted all of them executed and studied. What surprised me was, the Commander said no. And I quote, “We’re already on the backfoot. We have been no matter what we do. If what Miss Shy has done is in any way a tactical advantage, we’re going to take advantage of it. And we can only do that if they’re alive to tell us what their plan was.”

Fluttershy now has almost a cult following of base personnel, and snakes, and she has like three pet Chryssalids following her around.

We still have a lot of clean up to do, so I’ll have to fill you in later, unless one of the other girls does.

Twilight shuddered. She’d seen Fluttershy when she got mad. It was a scary sight. Psychic Fluttershy would be so much worse. She flipped another page.

Twilight! It’s Pinkie! We found a girl in a truck!

So these aliens were on this dam and they were trying to transport something, only the something turned out to be a girl! So her name is Gabby and she has psychic powers. She threw a few Mutons off of the Dam, it was kinda great. I didn’t get to do much besides punch a Sectopod. She hasn’t fully got control of her powers yet, so she needs to go in the pod for like a week-ish. Also, it turns out that the aliens have some of her friends at some base so we're gonna go clear that out and save her friends. I’ll try not to blow up too much, I know you worry. TTYL!

Twilight had no idea how her friend could be so endearing and so terrifying at the same time. The messages had stopped for a while after that. Days. Then Months. Then years,

She’d almost given up hope. Her friends had been killed.

Then one day.

Twilight, it’s Sunset, we’re still alive. I found the journal in the ruins of the old base. Turns out my locker hadn’t been ransacked.

Twilight had instantly written back. What had happened.

It was supposed to be a suicide mission. Ace, AJ, Dash, Gabby, Deadeye, and a viper named Angel (A medic, trained under Fluttershy) went aboard the main ship. At least, it was big enough to be the main ship.

The fight… was hellish. I swore that we’d die more times than I could count but, call it fate, somebody managed to pull something off to save us by the skin of our teeth each time.

I guess you need a bit of an update too. So the aliens are led by these beings called Ethereals. They’re basically beings of psychic energy that need physical bodies to exist. Why they want Earth probably has something to do with getting more permanent bodies.

So we’re on a ship with multiple Ethereals as well as pretty much every single alien we’d fought up to that point, and the Prime Ethereal.

The final room… still makes my brain ache. Dash got mind-controlled. AJ had to pin her down. Ace was just using a sword at this point because he’d ran out of ammo a couple rooms back. Angel was patching up Deadeye who was still taking shots despite his gut wound. I got locked in mental combat with two Ethereals while Gabby fought the Prime.

There was this orb. I honestly can’t remember what it was supposed to do. But Gabby. Gabby made some kind of portal and threw us out of the ship.

I hadn’t known her all that long, but she sacrificed herself to take the ship with her.

We couldn’t really celebrate.

See, not long after we “won” more ships arrived. Earth surrendered. The “extraterrestrials” weren’t here to kill us. No. They were here to “Enlighten” us. Enlighten, my ass.

As they “Enlightened” the world they took out X-COM’s bases. Commander was kidnapped. Shen was killed. Vale just disappeared.

X-COM was in tatters. Those of us still alive hunkered down as Advent rose to power.

We’ve effectively gone from being an army, to being a band of rebels. Pinkie’s MEC couldn’t be maintained, so we had to mothball it until we get supplies to fix it. Pinkie is something of a morale officer. Fluttershy is the onboard medic. Rarity helps Shen’s daughter, River, in Engineering. Sci-Twi is basically heading what’s left of the science division.

Those that are more combat oriented have adapted a bit. Ace is regularly using a sword. Both AJ and Dash switch between rifles and shotguns depending on range. I have a preference for an SMG when I’m not using my mind magic. It feels much more like hit and run tactics. Get in, screw something important over, get out.

I need some serious rest. I’m leaving the journal out if the girls want to add anything as time goes by. Like the good old days.

Twi sighed. She’d been overjoyed to hear that everyone was safe, for the most part. However losing pretty much everything, the world falling, friends dying. It had all been almost too much to take in at the time. She flipped a few more pages.

Twi, this is RD, you are not going to believe this. We found the commander! He was being kept in a weird alien tube in the middle of one of their cities, hooked up to like five computers. We had to cause a big distraction to be able to get at him, which Central did by blowing up a truck. We would have lost the new guys if it hadn’t been for me and AJ giving them appropriate directions. They sorta look up to us as more senior field agents. Though I suppose Central backing you helps a lot.

Anyways. Yeah, we found the commander and got him out of there. Central literally carried him out on his back as we made our way to the VToL. It was touch and go to get him awake and alive properly, they...did something, I don’t know what. Fluttershy would know more than me. But they pulled whatever it was out of him and now he’s walking around like five years ago was just yesterday. Sci-Twi is already analyzing the chip thing they pulled out of his skull, but it’ll be a couple of days before we can figure out why they wanted him so badly.

In the meantime, AJ and I are preparing for a mission. We’ve got a new base, but it needs more power to be up to the job of helping to free Earth from the grip of the aliens. Fortunately, not everyone believes Advent’s lies, and we’re not the only rebels. Someone out there found the power converter we need to get this thing up and running properly, and they plan to sabotage the train tracks the aliens want to use to take it away. When they run into the trap, we plan to be there to welcome them to Earth properly.

It had been great hearing from Rainbow Dash again. Even greater knowing that they weren’t giving up any time soon.

Twilight, this is Fluttershy. I have some good news. Well...good if you look at it like I do.

We found Vale. Or, her research base. What was left of it, anyways.

We’d been getting a signal out of the northern USA for a few days now. We couldn’t make heads or tails of it properly, but Sci-Twi ran it through some of the old encryption codes X-COM used to use, and it started to make some sort of sense. She then postulated that maybe it needed to use all the codes at once, and we managed to get something. Just a string of words, but it was all we needed to act.

Vale had made her own extraterrestrial research base, seperate from X-COM, while working at X-COM. The date embedded in the signal didn’t allow for anything else.

So, we sent a team in to figure out what she’d been up to. Considering what might have been there, I decided to accompany the team, just to keep everyone safe. And I mean everyone.

Sure enough, when we opened the main doors, there was a literal nest of vipers in there. When they saw the others, the vipers seemed ready to shoot, but the moment they caught sight of me, they...hesitated. Like they knew me.

Then I...I noticed that these ones never had a psychic signature attached to them.

Twilight, Vale had been breeding her own vipers.

I realized what this meant within a few moments, and told the others to lower their weapons. After a few tense moments of a stand-off, everyone disarmed. I explained to the vipers we were here to find Vale, and they explained she wasn’t here. Then they asked if we were here to take their treasure, their King, away.

After going through Vale’s research logs...oh, it’s...it’s almost too cruel.

Twilight, the Etherals had been systematically exterminating every male viper that they found, just to keep their soldiers in line, both mentally and as a form of population control.

It took a lot of coaxing, mostly by pointing out that if we could find them, then the Ethereals certainly could as well, and...well.

One of the rooms on board the base is now, as the new recruits call it, a ‘snake pit’. Mostly watched over by the viper king, but their most well-trained females are eager to help the others see that there is worth in rebelling.

As Central says, “Anything that takes an advantage away from Advent is something I’m willing to use. I’m not eager about having had to install heated floors in a whole deck, but if it keeps Vale’s legacy alive, and keeps us safe, then I’ll sign the check and gripe later.”

That had also been good to read. The concept of slavery had been abolished in Equestria centuries ago. Such a vile practice shouldn’t exist anywhere. Having liberated vipers must have been a major boon to the resistance at the time.

Twilight, this is Twilight. I wish I could be talking to you about more...cheerful news. But I managed to decode the chip that had been lodged in the Commander’s brain.

Twilight, the reason nothing we did ever really worked until we found him, was because he was the keystone in a psionic network, linking every Advent officer back to him. They were running every combat situation they encountered back through him, in real time, and the things he would do to react to the sorts of trouble we were causing, the aliens used against us.

Fortunately, ever since we pulled him out of that tube, their intelligence has decayed over time. But…

Have you ever had that sort of situation? Where one of your friends feels guilty about something they think they did, that they consider their fault, but wasn’t?

I ask, because the Commander has been...mopey. Ever since I told him that news, he seems to sit around the office and do nothing. I tried to give him some leads to follow, but...nothing. He just sits and stares at the side-by-sides I showed him, the simulations I pulled. I feel like it’s my fault he feels this way, and he thinks he failed us by not being perfect.

Twilight understood that all too well. She’d learned all too quickly that everything couldn’t be perfect, no matter how much she planned. Throughout her life it felt like that lesson had been virtually beaten into her.

The time she’d lost her mind when she didn’t get a letter to Princess Celestia on time. Another time when she focused too much on what it meant to be a Princess.

So she said as much. She recounted the lessons she’d learned over the years and told Sci-Twi to show them to the Commander.

She turned another page.

Twilight, it’s Sunset.

I don’t know what you said, but the Commander is back to his old self. More so even. He’s reinvigorated and ready to kick Advent ass. I can’t thank you enough. I’ll update when I can, but we have a world to save.

Also, Sci-Twi might need some advice. She wants to figure out the connection between Psionics and “Thaumaturgy.”

That brought a smile to Twilight’s lips. Then she turned the page again.

Twi, this is AJ, we’ve finally gotten a lead on the Etheral’s plans. It’s...well, it explains a bit of what’s going on. We got two big breakthroughs on the same day.

First, we managed to sort of hack into the Psi-net that keeps all the Advent officers linked. Did that one myself, stuck a psychic lance in an officer’s head for long enough for Sci-Twi to get a connection. And it got a reaction, alright. Some sorta...strange, computer glitch came to life. Critter came at us once we did that. Sci-Twi called it the Codex, the guardian of the Psi-net. Took a lot of bullets to put down. She could teleport all over the place, clone herself, and make our weapons malfunction whenever she pleased. Dash delivered a kick upside the damn thing’s head once we got it down to one of itself and the thing collapsed, leaving behind a metal brain looking thing. Sci-Twi’s analyzing it now, we might need a new facility just for that. You just know the vipers will complain about the noise if we stick it anywhere near them, and I can’t blame them. There’s a reason crew quarters are on the far side of the ship, as compared to the science bay. You only need one midnight explosion to value the far bunk.

The second thing that happened was, we raided one of Advent’s black sites the same day Sci-Twi made sense of all the data. Right in the middle of the damn raid, actually. I was getting in a sumo match with one of the Mutons, one of the recruits was enjoying abusing his mindshield to slice a Sectoid in half, and the other one was sniping any Advent officer that thought to drop in. Then Dash took the last guy up to the door, the one who had one of them little drone things, and they opened the door to the bottom of the facility.

Twi, what we found there…

…

They’ve been kidnapping humans, because, after Sectoids, we’re the next most psychically sensitive. But they’ve been manipulating the Sectoids so much, they can’t handle much more. Hell, most of ‘em are born in a tube.

Us, though? We’re fresh. Ripe for harvest. Which is what they’ve been doing.

They’re trying to build themselves bodies they don’t have to hold together through sheer thought. By melting humans down and putting them back together again.

They manage that, their little, ‘Avatar’ project? The full might of an Ethereal not focused on holding itself in our world, unbound for the first time in ages?

Game over.

That’s what we’re stopping. That’s why we fight. It coulda been Apple Bloom, or her friends, or my family, in there. And I’d rather die first, than see any of that happen to anyone else.

Twilight felt a little shiver run down her spine. She could almost hear AJ saying that and it made her heart swell with pride. AJ had found something to fight for. With a smile and a nod, she turned the page.

Twi! Twi twi twi! I can write to you again! I have my huge metal robot body back and it. Is. AWESOME!

The others went on some huge mission to a decommissioned robot facility, and it was really super deep and moving about how our head engineer found a piece of her father’s legacy left behind for her to recover. We have an AI teammate, it’s pretty sweet, not gonna lie about that one.

But!

Because there were other robots there, Central and Commander put together their brains with Sci-Twi and they made a MEC bay and ohmygosh! My old chassis is baaaack in service!

Well, I say back in service. It needed...a good tune up. Okay, a major tune up.

Fortunately we managed to bust up quite a few alien robots! So we have parts to spare! It’s just about as good as it used to be, which means I can punch through walls now! It feels awesome to be back on the front lines again!

I mean...I understand why I couldn’t help. Parts aren’t cheap. I didn’t even mind being the morale officer while we couldn’t get them.

But it doesn’t sit right with me that all my friends are helping to fight off these big mean alien invaders and I’m stuck in the kitchen!

So I’m gonna...help, the scientists we’ve recruited and that Sci-Twi is in charge of. Maybe...suggest a few lines of research.

I’ve always wanted to stick a plasma cannon on this rig.

Twilight shuddered at the thought of a giant robotic Pinkie Pie equipped with cannons and quickly turned to the next entry.

Twilight, this is Sunset, we’ve managed to decode the data that we recovered from the Codex brain and the Psi-net. We’ve got part of a location where the Etherals are building their Avatar. Every black site we shut down shuts them back, but it doesn’t stop them. But every one we raid puts us closer to finding them. This is the last active black site that we know about, Commander has been really gung-ho about connecting the world through radio relays. Rebel radio is quite popular, if you know what frequency to tune into.

I write because, well, I may not get more than a hurried chance in the future. And also to ask if you know what the main issues with going underwater about a mile or more might be. Because so far, the closest thing we have to an approximate location for the Avatar site are in the middle of the ocean off of flipping Australia.

So yeah. Help would be appreciated. Either in how you might do it, so we know what not to shoot when we get there so that we all don’t drown, or if something like atmosphere sickness might be an issue.

Twilight had recommended diving suits and decompression chambers. Perhaps a boat to contain them if necessary. Beyond that, she couldn’t be much help.

There had been a delay between that entry and the next one, but when the alicorn flipped the page a few times…

Okay, Twi, we...yeah. We’re safe. Safe enough, anyways. We stopped the Ethereals.

Turns out, there was a way to find them. Sci-Twi built some sort of...psionic gateway, and Commander...he took control of one of the uninhabited avatars that we...stole, from one of the blacksites. The same sort of thing the Codex used to get at us. He linked himself to it and accompanied us on the mission from afar.

It wasn’t enough that we killed their perfect avatar that they’d finally made. Yes, they did make one. But Commander engaged it in a psychic wrestling match and held most of its power at bay, meaning we could shoot it. That’s the funny thing about inhabiting a body made of humans: they tend to die when shot at.

But no, that wasn’t good enough for the Commander. While we were distracting the Ethereal by shooting it a lot, we also had a rookie who was trained to do two things and two things only along for the ride. Run, and plant explosives.

We wanted to drown the facility when we were done with it, so they could never do this again. And seeing as how most of the Ethereals were sleeping in special tubes in the base, waiting for their turn with a body...we’re, pretty sure we’ve ended the threat of the Ethereals for...ever. Hopefully.

Commander made sure we all made it back to the gateway, and went through it, before he triggered the detonator he’d carried on his stolen body’s person. The whole thing filled with seawater in seconds. And while I do feel bad about some of the soldiers that were brainwashed into serving there, and there were a lot of them that got thrown at us...that’s, not the issue.

See, without the Ethereals controlling them, the rest of their soldiers sort of ‘woke up’. They were let off the chain for the first time in ages, in many cases, the first time in their lives. Some of them were still an issue. You don’t argue with a Muton when he says he wants to go through your house, you open the door before he makes a new one.

A new society has to be put in place. One to deal with human and extraterrestrial relations. Because they can’t go home on their own. All that sort of technology belonged to the Ethereals. Maybe, maybe, if we research it enough, we can make a starship one day, and help species like the Vipers, the Sectoids, and the Mutons find their old home worlds. But there’s a lot of tech to research first.

So. My question.

How the fuck does Celestia manage it?!

Twilight chuckled. Her reply had been, If I get a clear answer, I’ll let you know.

Over the coming months they kept regular communications. Governments had to be reestablished. Peoples had to be resettled. Her friends had to find jobs outside of X-COM, at least the military side of X-COM. X-COM itself, now that the threat had ended, had turned more to the side of helping Earth’s permanent guests find fulfilling lives in society. What once were the hunters, were now the helping hand to bridge the gap between humanity and their neighbors from the stars.

Both Sunset and Applejack had shot up the ranks. Sunset had helped extraterrestrials get situated in new homes, whereas AJ fought for extraterrestrial rights. Fluttershy had thanked X-COM for everything they’d done, then moved on to a nursing job at a hospital, specifically helping those who might be psychically sensitive. Sci-Twi basically dug herself a hole and devoted almost all of her time to the study of Elerium. She had contacts within multiple government space agencies. Pinkie now rarely used her MEC, however she did reverse-engineer certain weaponry into little more than non-lethal light shows. Said shows were put on for various orphanages around the world. Rarity on the other hoof, had fused an old passion with a new passion, inventing clothes that weren’t just stylish, but practical as well. Her latest idea was a dress that could deflect a plasma bolt. Rainbow Dash used her advanced physique to become pretty much the world’s best athlete. And when she wasn’t on the court, she helped teach children the “joys of futbol.”

Eventually Twilight’s and Sunset’s messages went to once a month.

The reason Twilight was worried was, it had been over a month…. By twelve hours.

As Twilight looked at the last message she’d received, she sighed. Sunset was probably just-

The book vibrated in her lap.

Twilight jumped, causing the chair to topple over, taking her with it. The journal skidded across the floor.

Twilight groaned as she got up. She brushed herself off with a hoof, levitated the chair and righted it before setting it back down. Her wings flapped a little in irritation as she levitated the book over and opened it.

Twilight! It’s Sunny! How are you doing?

Twilight rolled her eyes as she retrieved a pen from the table and replied. “I’m doing just fine. Also, you’re late.”

A wizard is never late, Twilight Sparkle, nor are they early. They arrive precisely when they mean to.

Twilight blinked. What?

Sorry. Got a hold of some pre-war movies. Anyway, I have a question for you.

Twilight shook her head and giggled. Well what is it?

Would you be interested in helping with some interspecies relations?

Twilight blushed as her eyes widened. The mare’s wings shot out straight. She scowled at the journal page. I am not going to have sex with an alien!

There was almost a full minute with no response.

Sorry for the wait. Was dying of laughter.

No. That’s not what I mean. (Also where is your head and how long has it been since you’ve gotten some dick?) Anyway, no what I was referring to was, would you be interested in helping with things like interspecies reproduction, hormone adjustment stims for hyper-aggressive Mutons, psy-dampeners for Sectoids, things like that. Sci-Twi is just as bad as Vale was now that she’s focused on her project, doesn’t return any calls unless you have something to do with Elerium.

Twilight blushed again, this time in embarrassment. I would love to. I can schedule some time.

Great! Because there’s a few people I’m looking into. Think of them as a bit of an urban interspecies test case. See, there’s this landlord, and he’s causing all sorts of problems for his tenants. Now, normally this wouldn’t really be my area. However, about half of his tenants are extraterrestrials. And this guy owns multiple properties. So, we really couldn’t do anything until now.

Twilight’s interest was piqued. What changed?

Well, there’s this guy who lives with a Viper. Seems he’s been keeping receipts for every little thing this landlord’s been doing. Or, doing wrong, if we’re being realistic. Seems he’s actually putting the viper in danger due to negligence.

Twilight nodded along. Okay. But what does this have to do with me?

Well, I’m pretty sure the pair are a couple, or at least are very, very close. And we can’t exactly rely entirely on the one Viper King, because you know, inbreeding. So Twilight, wanna sequence some DNA to see if we can get a viper population boom going?

Twilight grinned at the page. I’d love to.