Stardust

Chapters

The Crash
Discovery
Secrets and Lies
An Unexpected Meeting
No Reasons
Think
Questions
Training
Forgiveness
Dogfight
The Dream

The Crash

It had been a productive day for Zecora. She had gotten her house straightened up, her medicine ingredients rearranged and restocked, and she had just finished her weekly shopping. The ponies in town were still a little wary of her but that was alright, at least they didn’t hide like they used to. Tonight there was supposed to be a meteor shower and she could not think of a better night for one. The sky was clear and there was a slight breeze, but it wasn’t too chilly.

She was heading back to her home in the forest when she heard laughing from a nearby hill. She squinted at the crest and saw twilight and her friends having a picnic and preparing for the shower. She recognized the little pony, Applebloom, with them and smiled at the memories of her. She turned and started into the forest still smiling but it was a sad smile now for she had no pony to spend the night with. She had no friends who liked her enough to come to her adobe and watch the meteors with her.

It was not very long before she reached her hut. She immediately got to work cooking food and setting up a little area for her to watch the falling stars in comfort. She had always enjoyed the shows that Princess Luna put on. Ever since she had returned from her imprisonment on the moon, the nights had been more welcoming and more vibrant than before and she frequently put on shows like these so the ponies would learn to enjoy the night instead of hide from it.

It was not long before she could see the moon coming up and the stars coming out. The show would begin soon and her food was not finished cooking yet. She anxiously kept glancing out the windows to see if it was starting for she did not want to miss a single second of what was sure to be an excellent show.

Her food finished cooking and she grabbed it and galloped to her viewing platform on the roof of her hut. She arrived just in time too for the meteor shower had just begun. It was spectacular. Meteors were falling everywhere and the sky was alive with light and colors she could not have dreamed to have existed. She was so caught up in the show she forgot about her food that she had spent so much time cooking.

Finally after about an hour the show was over and she headed down to reheat her food for it had grown cold while she was immersed in the show. She lit the fire again and waited for her food to heat. She got up and walked to the windows to look into the starry night.

She saw a bright star that appeared to be moving and wondered what it was. She trotted back up to her viewing platform to investigate the moving star through her telescope. She saw nothing more than a bright circle that was moving across the sky. She took her eye away from the telescope and rubbed her head in thought. She had read about comets that orbited a certain area bit this looked like no comet she had ever seen.

She looked back to have another look when she found much to her surprise that the object had stopped and was now growing larger and larger every second. She panicked and stared at the object that was very large now.

“Wait!” she exclaimed “that thing isn’t getting larger, it’s coming right at me!” she galloped down to her door and burst through it panting. She then began to hurriedly look around for the potion that would deploy a brief barrier to defend her home. She kicked herself because she had reorganized her house and it seemed like more of a mess than before. She gave up and abandoned the search to run outside to check the meteors’ progress.

“Boom”

She heard (and felt) a loud explosion and saw the glow of a fire a little ways beyond her home. She galloped toward the crash site being snagged by all kinds of vines and roots in the process. She slowed her pace so she wouldn’t keep tripping but was still going at a good fast tempo.

She was nearing the crash site when she heard a noise. It was probably harmless but she slowed to a crawling speed anyway. She then thought why she hadn’t gotten to get help first. What was a zebra with no magic or potions going to do against a forest fire?

As she neared the flames she picked up the pace now curious as to what the meteor looked like. She had never seen a meteor and was sure the science pony Twilight Sparkle would want a sample. “Maybe if I brought the unicorn a sample” she thought “it would get Twilight to like me more and we could be friends and spend time together”.

With that thought in her mind she set off toward the meteor to get a sample. “I should get one for me as well” she thought aloud “it might have magical properties for making potions”. Surely there would be enough for her and Twilight.

The flames were very hot as they closed in around her but she still kept going despite the heat. When she reached the crash site she was sweating profusely because of the intense heat of the fire around her. She quickly clambered into the crater the crash had made and gasped at the immense size of both the crater and the meteor.

The crater was at least a mile in diameter and probably just as deep. She was on the low side and started toward the object. It took her a while and a few tumbles before she reached the meteor. With another gasp she looked at the immense size of it and started to circle the object.

The material was one that she did not recognize but she was sure that it was a metal of some sort. She began to beat on it trying to break a piece off but the surface was harder than the metals she was used to. She walked to what she saw was the narrow end and looked at it. The more she stared at it the more that she was sure there was small windows on the front. On the back there were little cone shaped objects attached to the main body.

“This isn’t an asteroid!” she exclaimed with horror “this is a…” she trailed off as a door opened on the side of the spaceship. A pony stepped out and asked.

“Please tell me where the hell I am.”

Discovery

Zecora jumped behind the craft hoping the mysterious pony had not seen her, but her hopes were quickly dispersed as the glow of magic lifted the ship and set it down behind the newcomer. “You know” said the pony sarcastically “I’m not blind”.

The voice sounded male to Zecora and she got a closer look at the mysterious pony.

He was very large and was clad in a suit of battle armor. She looked closer and discovered a horn and wings.

“But you’re a… a…”

“Alicorn?” the pony said in that mocking voice, once again dripping with sarcasm “yes we do exist you know”. The Alicorn moved closer and a light was emitted from his helmet to examine her closer. “You seem to be equine in origin and yet you have no wings or horn” he seemed to be talking to himself and she shifted uncomfortably “you have markings similar to mine yet not the same color”. He came very close now and she was stunned by his immense size.

He was at least 25 hands tall and would probably dwarf Celestia herself. She noticed a strange device attached to his flank that looked like a tube or a pipe with a curved end and a smaller tube on top. As he came within 20 feet of her she began to back away still unsure of the alien in front of her.

“Who are you?” she asked interrupting his mutterings about size and gender “where did you come from and why are you so tall?”

“OH!” he exclaimed “pardon my rudeness miss, I am General Moonlight of Utopia city on the planet Alicron” he spoke with extreme sharpness “and this is only my battle form let me reform to what I normally look like.” And with that he began to transform. His helmet transformed into a beautiful silvery mane, his heavy metal battle armor melted away into a white jumpsuit with blue lines running up and down his body and he shrank until he was no bigger that her.

“There” he said smirking at her stunned expression “is that better?”

“Unidentified meteor has just made impact!” a pony said to the princesses. Earlier, Luna had noticed that there was a meteor she could not control heading for the planet and ran to her sister for advice. The sun princess ran with her to the security room where they had monitored the UFO.

There in the control room they watched as the ship made impact. “Captain” she said to a waiting soldier “take a team of pegasus to investigate the crash site, kill all hostiles. We will be accompanying you” the pegasus flew off to rouse his troops and the princesses left to ready their armor.” Little did they know they would not need it.

The alicorn general left with Zecora to go back to her hut. He carried an armored packsaddle and his strange device. She glanced at him sideways and once again thought how strange this pony was. He acted casually enough but she could tell he could react to an attack in a split second. His cutie mark (if he had one) was still obscured and the suit covered his body but his head, wings, and tail were visible.

His head was black with silver markings crossing his face. The mane was a simple affair and showed signs of not being washed (or trimmed) in a while and like the markings on his face it was a beautiful silver color. On his wings he wore armor on the leading edges that looked like it could slice her in half and she didn’t want to encourage him to do so. His tail was the same color as his mane but was also long and unkempt. She continued to glance at him the entire way to her house and tried to take in that she was with an alien pony.

They arrived at the hut not having spoken a word along the way. She pushed open the door and cringed as she saw the mess she had left when she ran to the ship crash site. “I am so sorry for the mess” she said ashamed “it is quite a wreck in here”.

“I've seen much worse than this” he said sadly “But that’s another story” he said brightening up suddenly “lets clean up this mess”. In a minute the bottles were off the floor and the shelves were arranged with each label facing the front of their designated ledge. Zecora watched enviously as his horn went to work at cleaning the floor with a nearby broom and wished again that she had been born a unicorn.

When he was done he looked around at his work proudly. Zecora was astonished at the alicorns’ thoroughness “my house hasn’t been this clean in years!” she said aloud.

“Really?” Moonlight said amused “then you need to hire an alicorn to clean your house every once in a while”

They both laughed and Zecora said “yeah he he I should get one of the princesses to do it every month” she fell on the floor laughing and rolling around on her back. When she saw that Moonlight had stopped laughing she cocked her head at him and asked him “what, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing is the matter, I am just making a mental note to learn about your government system later” he said with a thoughtful look on his face “you said princess so I would only assume that your government is based on a monarchy or a dictatorship”.

Zecora looked at him puzzled and thought about their government. “I don’t really know what it is but the princesses have control over the moon and the sun and they are the most powerful ponies in all of Equestria” she said getting up off the floor “now that I think about it, and I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before, but the princesses are alicorns just like you!”

Now this really seemed to agitate Moonlight and he began to pace the floor anxiously while muttering something that she could not understand. She looked out the window and saw the first rays of sunshine begin to rise.

The team of pegasi was nearing the crash site with the princesses in tow. They neared the huge crater and began to descend into it toward the center where ship rested. They landed and the team immediately was in defense mode circling around their rulers as they touched down.

“Captain, search the ship we can take care of ourselves” Celestia said impatiently. The captain nodded and the team immediately moved toward the ship and searched the outside of the spacecraft. They discovered the already open door quickly and five stormed aboard. They came back out after about fifteen minutes reporting that the vessel was empty

“Sir” the captain said quickly “we found some writing on the outside of the ship and it is in equestrian”. He led the two princesses around to the front where the inscription was. Celestia looked at what the writing said and fainted.

UCAF Stardust

Secrets and Lies

Celestia woke up with a start, she opened her eyes she could see a white ceiling above her and to her right she saw the dark blue shape that was her sister. “What happened to me Luna?” she asked groaning as she sat up “where am

I?”

“You are in the Ponyville Hospital and you tell me what happened, why did you faint back there, what about the name UCAF Stardust caused you to do that?” the worry and anger was clear in her voice.

Celestia looked at the wall and shuddered as Luna said the name again. “Luna” she began “I guess I was feeling light headed or…” she was cut off by Luna’s scream.

“God damn it Tia don’t give me that horseshit!” she screamed in anger “something about that name made you faint and I want to know about it!!” Celestia cringed away from Luna as she raged on “none of that, Luna you are too young, or, Luna you wouldn’t understand, I want the truth Tia and you are going to give it to me”. Luna sat down furiously in a chair and glared at her sister.

Celestia sat there for a moment stunned at her sisters’ sudden outburst. She sighed and looked at her bed sheets unsure of what to do. There was clearly no deterring her sister until the truth was spoken so she did the only thing she could and began her tale.

BOOM

The explosion from the kamikaze shook the entire ship and the bridge of the ship burst into a chaotic mess of alarms, shouting and frenzied damage assessment. Celestia cursed herself for not being more vigilant. For the past 1200 years a war between the Alicorns and the Drakkons had been raging. The enemy had mostly been taking over outer worlds and mining planets but never attacked Alicron itself.

Celestia was one of four generals that commanded the military, although it was more like one general with three assistants to help him. The Drakkon forces had been assaulting the Alicorn barricade for almost three weeks now and their numbers only seemed to be increasing.

“Sir!” a young recruit said dismayed “that last explosion has knocked out our engine and we are on a collision course with the planets surface”. He seemed to be on the verge of tears as he received updated through his headset as he relayed the information “decks 16 through 35 have been ripped open and deck 14 and 11 are barely contained”

Deck 14 was the deck her sister was on!! “I must leave,” she said urgently turning to gallop off “I have to save my sis- OOF” she was cut off mid sentence by colliding with a pony. She got up dazed and looked down to find her sister still lying there.

“Sister I am so sorry!” she exclaimed helping her sibling to her feet “are you all right?”

“Yes Celestia” Luna sighed, “We art fine.” Celestia smiled sadly at her sisters’ bad grammar. She had been trying to break her into talking like everypony else but that hadn't worked yet. Luna was still fairly young and had much to learn.

“Sir, we will not be able to save the ship in time” the same pony said, “We must abandon the vessel to spare what life is left” with that he turned and buried his face in his foreleg and began to sob into it.

Celestia looked at him sympathetically for a moment then ran to a nearby intercom mic and said “all units abandon ship repeat all units abandon ship we are going down repeat we are going down”. With that she turned grabbed her sister to keep her close and ran to the hanger deck.

She finally arrived in the hanger and ran to the nearest transport ship. Celestia waited for anypony to board but nopony had run to the hangers. She lifted off and got out of the ship through the hanger door, nothing could have prepared her for the hell that had unfolded while she was escaping.

The Drakkon forces had already destroyed a good portion of her segment and were dispatching fighters to take out the escape pods. She watched in horror as they began shooting all the pods that were coming from her ship. Pod after pod was destroyed right in front of her face. Feeling sick she covered her sisters eyes and hit the thrusters to full.

Soon she was away from the battle and into another part of the blockade that was not being attacked. Some of their ships were heading for the battle to help but most were staying put in case any other Drakkon ships decided to come their way.

She looked around and saw the main flagship of the Alicornian military, the UCAF Stardust. She cursed herself for going this way because her superior was sure to ask questions. She neared the ship looking to go past it to warp away from the surely doomed planet when a voice came into through the com.

“This is UCAF Stardust, identify yourself” the voice sounded stern and threatening “if you do not respond we will be forced to kill you.” Now THAT was enough to scare her into responding.

“This is General Celestia of fleet three” she responded. She was hoping that she could draw this conversation out long enough to give her time for her escape. “We need back up at our blockade.” She could hear talking in the background but could not make out what they were saying.

A new voice came on the com. “This is General Moonlight please explain why you are not with your fleet.” He sounded very angry but did not jump to conclusions until she had explained herself.

“Sir,” she said hesitantly “we need back up immediately. The Drakkon ships are tearing through our own.” She said this while preparing for her warp jump, she was almost clear!

“You know I can’t give them much assistance because they might be trying to lure us away so they can flank us” Moonlight told her “I will see if Starlight or Sunbolt have any ships to spare”. She was past the ship now and was about to make the jump. “Wait!!” he exclaimed “WHAT ARE Y-“ his voice was cut off as they made the warp into deep space.

Celestia looked at her sister as she finished her story. “We drifted through space for weeks until we found this planet. When we arrived the ponies here worshiped us, I wanted us to be happy and I…” she was tearing and snuffling as she said the last words “I wiped your memory and made you think that we were here the whole time”. With that Celestia burst into full-blown tears and buried her face into her bed sheets.

Luna looked at her sister stunned and hurt at her actions. Her sister abandoned her planet to escape instead of help? That didn’t sound like the Celestia that she knew. “I think I need to be alone for a while” Luna said almost monotone. She got up to leave and looked back at her sister who was staring pleadingly into her eyes.

“Please don’t hate me” she managed to squeak out before hiding her face into her sheets again.

“How could I hate my own sister” Luna said and walked back to her sibling to comfort her. She stayed with her sister until she had cried herself out and was sleeping soundly. Luna stood up and crept silently out of the room not wanting to disturb her sister.

She had just gotten out into the hallway when a lavender blur ran to her asking over and over if the princess was ok. She smiled as she recognized the blur as Twilight Sparkle. “She is fine Twilight” Luna said gently “she is sleeping now but you may be able to see her when she awakes”.

“I saw a team of pegasus carry her here and I ran here as fast as I could” the young unicorn was clearly distressed and Luna told her to go home.

“My sister is under some mental stress now, you may be able to see her in a few days time”. Twilight said goodbye and began to walk back home.

She didn’t raise her head the whole way, as she was naturally concerned about her mentors’ health. She looked at the sun now in the sky and wondered what mental stress she could be under. A few hours later the answer would come to her doorstep.

Moonlight had stopped pacing as he realized that not all alicorns have to come from his old world. And this was confirmed when he asked his new friend about it. Zecora had told him that they had been here as long as history had existed. “Zecora?” he asked, “do you have any history books here at your house?”

She looked up and said, “no I only have medicine books here but I know someone who has plenty of books”. She smiled and got up from her chair “she does live in a library after all”. They got their things gathered up and left the house. She noticed that he had left the device that was attached to his flank behind; he still wore his saddlebag and his jumpsuit.

“You might want to leave the clothes behind,” she said tentatively “ponies here don’t normally wear clothes”. She waited for his response and he merely chuckled at her suggestion.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “I have a plan to disguise myself”. With that his horn began to glow and his jumpsuit, saddlebag, wings and horn disappeared. She looked at him and saw a normal pony with the same colorations as before. His cutie mark, she noticed, was of an eclipse.

“You look like a normal pony now” she said in awe “I could never tell the difference between you and what you looked like before.” They exited the forest and he looked around with curiosity. Ahead of them was a road and they followed it until the town was in sight.

“This is a small town,” he said with contempt “my hometown was the size of a large starship”. He looked down the road and saw three little ponies approaching them. “I will let you do the talking,” he said, “you know more about the area than I do”.

As the group of three got closer he noticed that they were little fillies and smiled at their playful bickering.

“Ah told ya scoot” one said “ya shouldn’t have gone and tried to jump that hay bale, now ya got hay all in your mane”. The orange one named Scoot retaliated with excitement “I don’t care what you say, Rainbow Dash said that it was an AWESOME crash!!” A white one next to them both said “I think you both are crazy!!” and they all started laughing.

The yellow one looked up and saw the approaching ponies and called out “hiya there Zecora!!” and Zecora smiled.

“Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetiebell how are you?” she said trotting up to them, Moonlight stayed behind. “Why are you heading toward the Everfree forest?” she asked becoming sterner.

“We are crusading!!!” they all shouted in unison. Then the one named Scootaloo asked, “So Zecora, who’s your friend?”

“His name is Moonlight and you are not going into the Everfree alone” she said quickly.

The three fillies all groaned until the one called Sweetiebell said “why don’t we visit my sister, she might let us draw with her designer pencils!” then in unison they all shouted as loud as they could “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER ARTISTS, AWAY!!!!!”

Moonlight cringed at the volume of their voices and watched them race away.

“They are very nice fillies,” Zecora said laughing “but sometimes they have too much energy.” She continued down the road with Moonlight in tow as they entered town.

As they walked there were no ponies on the streets but he could see a few peering out of dark windows. He looked around curiously and looked to Zecora for answers.

“Don’t worry,” she laughed “they did this to me when I first got here.” they were walking toward a large tree. “Once they get used to you, I think that they will like you” she looked at him and smiled. He looked at her and smiled back.

They reached the door of the library, which was in a tree much to Moonlights’ surprise. Zecora gestured for him to wait and stepped forward to knock on the door.

“Just a minute!” a feminine voice called out from inside the building “Spike can you get the door?”

The door opened to reveal a purple and green reptilian creature. The little creature looked like a lizard of some sort, possibly a dragon.

“Oh hi Zecora” the little creature said, “Who is your friend?” Moonlight stepped forward and reached out a hoof for Spike to shake.

“Hello, my name is Moonlight and I am new here” he said while vigorously shaking Spikes’ hand “I have come here with my friend Zecora to learn about your history.” Zecora smiled and rolled her eyes at his formal language then thought, “well, there goes me doing all the talking”.

Spike detached his hand from the firm grip of Moonlight and opened the door wider to allow the two ponies inside the library. He closed the door behind them and told them to wait there while he went to get Twilight.

He came back several minutes later with a lavender unicorn in tow. The newcomer, who Moonlight assumed to be the one called Twilight, looked at him with interest. She stood there studying him (with much interest) for at least a minute until she finally came forward to greet them.

“Hello” Twilight said “how are you doing Zecora?” She spoke to Zecora but never took her eyes off of Moonlight. Before Zecora had a chance to answer she started to talk to him, asking lots of questions “hi, my mane is Twilight, I mean name is Twilight. How are you today? How long are you in town? What is your special talent? Your mane is beautiful! Ho-“she was abruptly stopped by a clawed hand covering her mouth.

“I think we should let him tell us his story in his own time Twilight.” She chuckled nervously and blushed as she realized that she had been a little overbearing.

“uh-he-he um sorry about that.” She said quietly. She made more unintelligible mumbles and walked back upstairs. Moonlight watched her go and looked to Spike for an explanation. He shrugged and told them where the history department was.

“If you want to check out a book just find me or Twilight and we will get it signed out for you” he said “we don’t want books missing without us knowing about it”. He waved goodbye and went back farther into the library.

They spent the rest of the day in the library. She was stunned at how fast he could read, he had finished at least three large history books since they got here, she was reading a Daring Do book when he closed his book and got up.

“Perhaps I should find a place to sleep here in town instead of being a burden to you Zecora” he said “Do you know of any places that I can stay in here in town?”

She looked up from her novel and said “there is the hotel but that is usually full.” She closed her book and got up “if there is no room there you may stay at my hut until there is an open spot.”

He did a deep bow and said (with extreme drama) “thank you fair Zecora, I am forever in your debt.” She rolled her eyes at him and led him outside. They walked in silence until they arrived at the hotel. He went inside to check the availability of their rooms. A few minutes later he came back out and told her that he was on the waiting list for rooms.

They walked back by the library on their way out of town, what they didn’t know was that there was a certain lavender librarian watching them leave.

Twilight sighed as she watched them leave town, it had been a productive day after all. She now had something that she could write to the princess! She walked back inside her library to get some parchment and a quill. Spike was downstairs but that was ok, she wanted to write this one herself.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I met a new pony today. He was the same size as me and he had the most beautiful silver mane. His name was Moonlight and he was the handsomest pony I have ever met. I am hoping that I can get to know him better and become his friend.

Your faithful student,

Twillight Sparkle

Ps. I think I am in LOVE!

An Unexpected Meeting

“Nnnnaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!” Moonlight screamed as he jolted upright. As he did so his head collided with Zecora’s, she had been standing over him trying to wake him.

“Ah” she said painfully “finally you have awoken”. She got up and brushed herself off “you were muttering and yelling in your sleep, you sounded so frightened and I tried to wake you”. She smiled at him and gave him a questioning look.

“I’m s-sorry Zecora” he said “I-I guess I was h-having n-nightmare”. He was shaking all over and his pupils were the size of pinpricks. “b-but I-I’m fine n-now really” he gave her a shaky smile and lay back down.

She looked at him for a little while longer and went back into her bedroom. Before she closed the door she heard a sniffle.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Ps. I Think I am in LOVE!

Celestia rolled up the scroll that had just been delivered to her by her sister.

“This was sent to you just this morning” the night princess said, “Twilight seemed eager to deliver it to you but the nurse wouldn’t let her in to deliver it personally”.

“What have hospitals come to these days eh?” Celestia responded “You pass out for a little bit and they throw you in here for a week and don’t let anybody visit you”. The two sisters laughed and Luna turned to go. She looked like she took the news just fine and had gotten over it very quickly.

Celestia watched her sister go and thought “I would like to meet this new friend of Twilight, after all I can leave the hospital today”. She smiled to herself and reread the letter. Twilight sure was growing up.

Moonlight and Zecora got ready and headed out back into town. They made the walk into town and again Moonlight cast his illusion spell. It still baffled Zecora how well he could disguise himself.

In no time they reached their target location, the library. Zecora reached up a hoof and knocked on the heavy door… there was no response.

She tentatively opened the door and walked inside. He followed her inside and was met with darkness, “hello?” he asked. He heard movement and the lights flashed on suddenly blinding him.

“SURPRISE!!!!” shouted five voices at the top of their lungs. He had just regained his sight when a pink pony with very bouncy hair began to assault him with sugar induced energy.

“HI my name is Pinkie Pie and I threw this party because twilight said that you were new here andIreallywanttobeyourfriendandhangoutallthetime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” The intense energy of her voice made him take a nervous step back.

“Um excuse me Pinkie but I think you are making him a little nervous” a yellow pegasus with a light pink mane and tail said quietly. He looked at her and she hid her face in her long mane.

“Hello sir, my name is Rarity and I heard that you are Twilights new friend” a white unicorn with a purple mane said, “and any friend of Twilight’s is a friend of mine”.

“I guess you are sort of awesome” another pegasus said from above “I mean you got a cool thing goin’ with the black and silver, although it isn’t as awesome as me”. She ran a hoof through her prismatic mane and gave it a toss.

“Rainbow!” an orange pony shouted at the pegasus “that’s no way to be treatin’ our new friend”. She turned to him “hi, I’m Applejack”.

“We really didn’t get to meet formally” Twilight said “my name is Twilight Sparkle and this is your official welcome to Ponyville party!”

All of this happened in less than a minute and Moonlight was left quite confused from all the voices talking to him at once.

“So let me get this straight” he said “you six are throwing me a welcome to Ponyville party before I have even moved in?”

The six friends looked at each other and simultaneously said “eyup!” then burst into laughter. Moonlight eyed them curiously and moved to go into the history section of the library.

Almost immediately after he turned to go he was grabbed, pushed into the middle of the room and pelted with pillows.

“If you want ter read” the one called Applejack said with challenge in her voice “yer gonna have to beat us!” and with that proclamation he was again beaned with pillows from all but one mare.

“Challenge accepted!” he exclaimed and grabbed one of the pillows next to him. Zecora, who had been watching all of this develop from the safety of the doorway walked between them.

“Once you are hit you are done and through” she said dramatically “the best of luck to all of you” and with that she jumped back allowing the pillows to fly once more.

Moonlight grabbed another pillow and held them both in front of him as a shield. The five pelted him with massive amounts of pillows and he began to wonder how many they had. But before long their supply ran out and it was his turn to throw.

He hit both Rarity and Pinkie with the two he was holding, they jumped out of the battlefield to go stand with Zecora and cheer on the rest of their team. They were joined by Fluttershy on the sidelines as she quit of her own accord.

Moonlight threw two more and grabbed one as a shield as the two he had just thrown came back at him. He grabbed two more with his TK and charged at the remaining three.

They charged toward the mound of pillows he had just left and both Applejack and Rainbow Dash were hit by the ones he held with his TK. The only two left were Moonlight and Twilight.

Twilight proceeded to grab all the pillows in the giant mound with her magic and turned to face Moonlight.

“Let’s dance!” she said challengingly and threw every pillow she had at him all at once. They landed on where he was with a huge thump but he wasn’t there anymore. At the last second he had teleported right behind her.

She turned around just to come face to face or rather pillow with Moonlight. He smiled and gave her a wink.

“I win” and with that the pillow was smashed in her face and he turned toward the history section once again.

But alas he, again, was grabbed and tossed into the air repeatedly by all but Fluttershy. He sighed and thought “will I ever get a chance to read?”

A knock on the door was the only thing that stopped their joyous tossing. He was set down and Twilight went to answer the door.

He slinked off to the history section and pulled out a book. Before he could open it he heard Twilight exclaim “Princess Celestia! Please come in!”

He frowned, “Celestia”, that name brought bad memories.

“Twilight, girls, so lovely to see you again!”

“That voice! No it can’t be”

“Follow me Princess!”

He looked through the archway as they came into the history section and into the eyes of his former general.

The book went flying out of his hooves, his disguise shattered, and he pulled out a small tubular object from his saddle pack that he still had on and pointed it at Celestia, all within a second.

“Just give me one reason” he said quietly “why I shouldn’t kill you right now”.

No Reasons

“ONE GOD DAMN REASON” Moonlight screamed at her. She looked at him, still surprised at her former general’s appearance, and shook her head.

“I-I” she stuttered in bewilderment. She had been expecting to meet a nice young pony that was shy and liked to read but not, this. It had been so long since that day.

“You… the pod… Stardust…” she stammered awkwardly gaining her speech back.

“You haven’t answered my question” he said quietly. She hung her head.

“I-I have none” she said, defeated “I have none”. Moonlight looked down at her, then up to the stunned mares.

“How can you do it” he said, still pointing the weapon, “How can you live with yourself knowing that you abandoned your own planet”. She looked up at him with big eyes and then hung her head again.

“Sunbolt, Starlight, all those soldiers and civilians” he looked out the window, his tone becoming softer “all those people and you just left them for dead”. She looked up at him with sad eyes and sat down.

“What happened there?” she asked “What about Sunbolt and St…”

“THEY’RE DEAD CELESITA” screamed Moonlight, interrupting her “THEY GAVE THEIR LIVES DEFENDING THEIR PLANET” he closed his eyes in fury “something that was obviously not important to you”. He walked toward the entrance, pushing the six aside.

He opened the door and looked back one last time “you make me sick” he said disgustedly and slammed the door behind him.

The six friends looked at Celestia with mixed emotions. She looked back and found it impossible to talk. Quietly, with their stares burning into the back of her head, she left the library.

*Authors Note*

kind of a short chapter but the rest didn't seem to fit with this part so enjoy!

Think

“So he is an alien who came here to live?”

It had been about ten minutes before anyone dared to say anything. Twilight was the first to break the silence.

“It looks like it sugarcube” said Applejack quietly “the Princess is too seein’ that they know each other”.

“At least he didn’t lie to us” said Rainbow, they all looked at her “I mean we never directly asked him ‘hey are you an alien?’”

Twilight got up and started to walk up into her bedroom, “I need some time to think” she whispered.

“Come on ya’ll” Applejack said and led everybody out. Spike who had been quietly observing the proceedings looked at the door then silently walked up the stairs to where Twilight had disappeared.

*Authors Note*

I really need to write longer chapters

Questions

Moonlight ran out of Ponyville and into the forest. He was running toward the crater his ship had left.

“Moonlight?” a voice in the distance called, spurring him on faster. He ran like a mad horse now, not caring if the bushes or the vines caught him, if he fell he got back up.

He could see the crater through the trees in the distance. “Moonlight!?” the voice called again, closer now.

He arrived at the crater to find, not his spaceship, but Princess Luna. She charged at him and tackled him into the

bushes.

“Shhhhhh!” she said urgently “wait for her to leave”. He heard a thud in the crater and heard Celestia call his name once more before taking off again.

Once the sound of her wing beats faded away she shoved him onto his feet. “I need answers” she said “and you’re going to give them to me”.

He nodded yes and she motioned for him to follow her. They began to walk into the forest again when she said “sorry about earlier but we had to get out of sight fast”.

“I-I understand” he said shakily “I will answer your questions as long as you can give me my ship”. She looked at him suspiciously and continued on.

“Here” she said, stopping. They had arrived in a clearing with a stone circle in the middle. “We can get to Canterlot much faster using this”. She stepped onto the circle and motioned for him to do the same.

Her horn lit up and they were teleported to her room in the castle. She immediately started pacing once they had arrived.

“I have so many questions” she said, sounding very confused “Where did I come from? What happened that I don’t remember? Why would my sister hide this from me? What…?”

She was silenced by a black and silver hoof being pressed against her lips. She looked at him and he smiled at her.

“One at a time please” he said jokingly.

“Who am I?” she asked “besides who I am here”. He sighed and sat down; she looked at him with pleading eyes.

“Honestly” he began “I don’t know all of your history, I didn’t even know you until your sister joined the military. He handed her a worn sheet of paper from his saddle pack.

Name: Celestia

Family: Sister “Luna”

Military History: None

Origin: Unknown

Rank: Private

Previous Occupations: None

Notes:

Seems to be a hard worker, always eager to please.

Very powerful alicorn (perhaps one to be watched).

Her sister is a “Conductor”.

“All I know about your past is on that sheet” Moonlight said, as Luna read the paper. She looked up at him and pointed to a word on the sheet.

“Conductor” she asked “what does that mean?” Moonlight sighed and closed his eyes.

“A ‘Conductor’ is an alicorn who can manipulate the Void; it makes them poses great power as long as they can control it”. He looked at her and frowned, “I didn’t answer your question did I?”

“Not directly” she said “what is the ‘Void’?”

“The Void makes up all things, the trees, the birds, even you and me are a part of the Void”. He looked at her to make sure she was understood him, she seemed to be “the Void is more than an inert thing, it lives breathes and feeds, just like we do”.

She looked at him, fascinated. “So… what does it eat?” she asked “you said it feeds, right?”

“An excellent question!” he said “the Void makes us and puts us here through the magic of love, when we die our body is reunited with it”. He began to rifle around in his bag and she was surprised that he actually climbed into it.

“Come in please Luna, and I will show you what the Void is”. She looked into the bag and saw only blackness. She shrugged and dove headfirst into the saddlebag.

*Authors Note*

This chapter felt really rushed

sorry

Training

“Moonlight!?” Luna called. She seemed to be floating in a dark place with no gravity. She tried again “Moonlight!!?”

“Over here!” said a voice from the dark “hang on I have to find the light switch”. She waited a few seconds listening to him muttering and was suddenly blinded by a bright light, she abruptly closed her eyes.

“Oops!” he said “I forgot to give you these”. She felt him grab her head and put something around her eyes.

“There” he said “now open them”.

She did so and was greeted with a spectacular sight. All around her were different items, suspended in air. She looked and saw the same thing in every direction, endless space with objects everywhere.

“Put this on as well, your wings don’t exactly work here”. She looked toward the source of the voice and found the weirdest looking clothing article floating toward her.

“Like this” he said and she looked at him. He had on a metal helmet that covered his whole head. His jumpsuit was glowing a faint blue color; she saw that the garment in her hand was similar to the material of his jumpsuit.

She put it on like he demonstrated and found that it was a jumpsuit. She tried to run but found she still couldn’t, “how do you work this thing?” she asked.

“Imagine yourself moving and you will” and with that he started flying around apparently looking for something.

She closed her eyes and imagined herself flying forward; she opened them slowly and found that she was moving.

Excitedly she began to go faster and faster, far surpassing her normal flying speed, weaving left and right to avoid objects. She let out a whoop of delight when she felt something move under her.

“Having fun now are we?” Moonlight said in a sarcastic, challenging tone. He was flying upside down beneath her moving in and out of obstacles with ease. She frowned at him and continued on, speeding up as she did so.

No matter how fast she flew he always seemed a step ahead of her. Her face became a contorted look of determination.

“aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand stop here Luna” he said, coming to a complete stop next to a door. She zoomed past him fazed by his sudden stop and tried to slow herself down. She looked forward to find herself crashing into another door.

“Wrong door Princess!” Moonlight shouted at her. She grumbled and slowly floated herself to where he levitated by the door. He smirked to himself and opened the door “after you my liege” he said, overacting the statement.

She scowled at him and went through the door, as soon as she was through she found that her suit stopped working and crashed to the floor.

“be sure that you have both hooves firmly placed on the floor before entering” he said in the same joking tone. She muttered something, punched him in the foreleg, and got up.

She looked around the room and found that it was circular with a high celling. In the center was a glowing blue tile.

“Welcome to the training room” he said “here is where I entertain myself whenever I am bored” she looked at him

and found that he had taken his helmet and suit off, she did the same. “This place was built by me to simulate fighting simulations” he walked to the blue tile and stood on it. “Ray, activate training room main base”.

“Certainly sir” said a voice as the room was engulfed in blue light “What location would you like to simulate today?”

“Ship bridge, Stardust” Moonlight responded quickly “we have a visitor today and we don’t want to disappoint her”

“Of course not sir, Stardust bridge coming right up for you!” and with that the room grew darker and the bridge of

Moonlight’s old flagship materialized around them. Luna sat and watched with awe as everything clicked into place around her.

“Well here it is” he said “my pride and joy, or rather, what used to be my pride and joy”. He walked over to the viewing platform and looked out one of the many small windows. “Ray, can you pull up a Drakkon attack squad near the door please? AI deactivated”.

“You know I can sir” the computer replied cheerily. Luna turned toward where the door used to be to find 5 large lizard-like creatures.

“These Luna” Moonlight said, suddenly standing next to her “are the bastards that destroyed Alicron, our home planet”.

She looked at him and looked back to them “I can see why they won” she said “those sharp talons could rip a pony open in no time”. He looked at her with a devilish glint in his eye.

“you haven’t seen anything yet” he said mischievously. “Ray can you pull up my armor please? I would like to do a little demonstration for our friend here”.

“Ooh! Going to have a little fun ey?” the computer said peevishly “here you go sir!” Four metal boots appeared on the ground next to Moonlight.

Luna looked at them “they are a bit large for you” she said “have you shrunk?” She laughed to herself at her insult.

“you could say that” he responded. His body was enveloped by a white light and his form began to change. His legs got longer, his wings larger, his hooves wider until he stood about twice his size. He then proceeded to put his hooves in the boots.

“Ray, put on heavy skirmish armor please” he told the computer.

“yes sir! Would you like some cannons with that?” It sounded like the computer was taking an order at a restaurant.

“No Ray, just the knives” Moonlight said to the air. Ray gave a huff and began the task of fitting armor on Moonlight.

Luna watched, with extreme fascination, as robotic arms came down from the ceiling and up from the floor and began to attach plates of armor onto Moonlight.

After a few minutes they retracted and left an iron pony standing where Moonlight used to be. Luna cautiously moved forward to examine the armor. It was far superior to anything that equestrian had and looked like a spear or an arrow would bounce right off of it.

The armor gave a hiss and she jumped back, startled. Moonlight stepped off of the plates holding his boots and began to walk around.

“looks like everything is in order in here” a metallic voice said from the suit. He stopped and flaps opened all over his armor, he began mumbling something about airbrakes.

When he was done with all of his armor checks he went to stand by Luna. She got the full effect of his height this way; he stood a good 12 hands above her.

“Luna, I want you to go stand over there by the wall behind me ok?” she nodded and went to the indicated location. “Ray, I want plasma all around that area ok? No gaps”.

“My thoughts exactly sir” and with that a box of plasma shields enveloped Luna, startling her. Moonlight took one last check to make sure everything was in order.

“Ray, activate AI” he turned himself toward the 5 Drakkon warriors “let’s have some fun”

Forgiveness

It was over in a matter of seconds. As soon as the Drakkon started to move toward him he made several motions with his front legs. Then, almost simultaneously, they fell to the floor, dead. Luna sat there stunned at the speed and precision of Moonlight’s knife-work.

He turned and said something to her but she couldn’t understand him as her fascination turned to horror. ‘How could he kill them like that?’ she thought ‘they did nothing to provoke him’. She stood there until Moonlight snapped her out of it by shaking her.

“Hello?” he asked cynically “anyone home in there?” She looked into his eyes and shook her head.

“I’m sorry” she stammered “it’s just that… you… and…” she trailed off and he nodded, understanding.

“Ray, deactivate all systems please” Moonlight said to the computer system “quickly”. Moonlight led Luna into the center of the room and soon it was just a room again.

“The void surrounds us” he said, now fulfilling his promise “it is impossible to describe with words, but we are the void”. She looked up at him and nodded, seeming to understand.

“I-I n-need your h-help” she stuttered “W-we a-are two”. Her voice was changing and her body was growing larger and darker. “h-how do I-I live with another?” she asked desperately. Then all of a sudden the change stopped and she fainted, laying there was no longer Luna, but Nightmare Moon.

Celestia had returned to the castle distressed, she began wandering the halls aimlessly thinking about the events that had just occurred. Her long forgotten planet had come back to haunt her, there was now an angry alicorn general storming through Equestria; her student may not even trust her anymore.

She began muttering to herself while pacing the halls of Canterlot Castle, her voice growing louder and louder until it was a shout. Several guards came in and she quickly dismissed them, assuring them that she was fine.

‘Luna!’ she thought ‘I must see Luna’ and with that she set off for Luna’s Room.

“Now breathe” Moonlight told Luna (NM) “to master it you must master yourself”. She began taking deep breaths and relaxing with each one.

“Now to truly be at peace, you must resolve your anger” Moonlight said “what are you angry at?” Luna (NM) took one more breath and said in both voices “Celestia”.

“Are you?” Moonlight asked “are you truly angry at your own sister, or are you blaming her for something deeper within you?” Luna (NM) opened her eyes and said in only Luna’s voice this time.

“No I am not angry with her” she shuddered “I am angry at myself”. Then she gave a huge shudder and in Nightmare Moon’s voice she said “No, I am angry at her for locking me up for 1000 years, HER OWN SISTER!”

“No, we forced her to do it”

“She could have left us alone”

“We would have harmed ponies had she not locked us up”

“1000 years is NO EXCUSE!”

“No it isn’t but I respect her decision, we can’t undo what has been done”

“BUT SHE LO…”

“ENOUGH!” Luna’s voice finally shouted “You have been within me, plotting, and screaming about my sister”. She jumped up and reared on her hind legs “NOW YOU MUST LEAVE!!” and with that she smashed her hooves on the ground and transformed into Luna again.

She looked at Moonlight panting and said “thanks for the help”. He laughed and said “Your highness, you did all the work”. With that Luna looked at the floor and sighed a happy sigh.

She changed into her darker form and was overcome with joy, there was no more Nightmare haunting her. Moonlight gave her another jumpsuit and they headed back for the exit to the maze of random stuff.

Celestia stood at the door of her sister’s room waiting for her to respond to her knocking. She tried again and the door pulled open. She walked into the room expecting to find Luna, but instead she found Nightmare Moon lying on her sister’s bed reading a comic book.

“Hi sis” Luna said in a cheery voice “I need to tell you some great news!” her mood faded when she saw the look on Celestia’s face. “Nononononononono it’s not what it looks like, I’m Luna not Nightmare Moon, really!” and she stood up to prove it.

But as soon as she had all four hooves on the floor her sister tackled her and pinned her to the floor. “What have you done with my sister you monster” she spat “I should have killed you when I had the chance”.

“No sis listen!” Luna cried out “it really is me, Luna!” she struggled against her sister but couldn’t shove her off. “Please you have to believe me” she half screamed “I got rid of the Nightmare”.

“You can’t fool me Nightmare Moon, I know a rat when I… OOF” she was cut off by a body being flung against her, throwing her to the wall. She looked up stunned to find Moonlight in his battle mode standing over Luna.

“Goddamnit LISTEN TO YOURSELF CELESTIA” He shouted at her, clearly angry “She finally got rid of the one thing haunting her and was ready to celebrate with you, and you CALL HER A LIAR?!!?” He stepped toward her fuming. “WHAT KIND OF TERRIBLE SISTER ARE YOU HUH?” he was nose to nose with her “guess you’re as good at being a sister as you are protecting a planet” with that he walked outside onto the balcony and sat down.

Celestia looked at Luna, ashamed for not seeing past the body of her enemy and she began “Luna… I… I…” she fumbled for words but Luna cut her off with a forgiving nod. Luna stood up and walked over to Celestia; she gave her big sister a hug and said “I forgive you for everything”.

Moonlight walked back in and said “looks like the hug time will have to wait, a Drakkon cruiser just entered high orbit”.

Dogfight

Moonlight and the two sisters rushed onto the balcony of the castle. The three looked to the sky, their eyes greeted by a huge looming shape. Moonlight reached into his bag and pulled out a small metallic earpiece. He put it in and gave the sisters each one of their own.

"These will keep us in constant contact" he said "if anything goes wrong, it's gonna go wrong fast". He reached into his pack once more and pulled out a pair of old goggles. He put them on and looked at the two princesses.

"I'm going to fly up there and try to negotiate, if anything goes wrong or they start attacking we will have to retaliate." He pushed on the sides of his saddle pack and thrusters appeared from their depths.

"I would suggest that you call out the guards to protect the city" he advised "I'll try to do my best but they have a tendency to be a little aggressive". He fired his rockets and blasted away from the balcony, quickly becoming a speck against the looming hull of the battleship.

"Ray, get me on line with the two princesses please" He yelled into the air. A voice came through his earpiece and responded, "one moment please, sir". A few second later the voices of Luna and Celestia came through the speakers.

"How's it coming you two?" He yelled over the sound of his thrusters. Their voices stopped and Luna replied, "we've given the order to the royal guard to defend the city" her sister continued "the rest of our cities are on high alert and organizing a defense force".

He was about to respond when a loud beeping noise followed by Ray shouting something interrupted him. "Sir! The cruiser has launched fighters and they are heading your way". Moonlight cursed under his breath and reached into his pack.

He produced a high caliber pistol, loaded it, and yelled through the microphone. "It looks like peace isn't an option" he shouted "they just launched three fighters from their starship". He looked back toward the castle, "I would highly suggest that you get those guards moving double time". He pushed a small button on the earpiece that disconnected him from their comms.

He looked back toward the oncoming fighters and once again yelled over his thrusters. "Ray! Get the stinger missiles up and ready please!" He reached into his pack and produced two spare clips for his pistol. He pocketed them and waited for the missiles to emerge from the depths of his endless bag.

After a few seconds the missiles shot out on long appendages that clicked into place next to his thrusters. An armband came out as well and adjusted itself onto his fetlock. He clicked one of the buttons on the band and a laser began to emanate from a crystal on the front by his hoof.

He aimed the laser so that a bright green dot came to rest on the hull of one of the oncoming fighters. He calmly waited as the fighters quickly closed the increasingly small gap between them and then when they were almost on top of him, he pressed the big red button.

The two missiles shot away from their launchers and zeroed in on the marked fighter. The close proximity between the two forces coupled with the speed of the rockets meant that dodging was pretty much out of the question. The rockets hit the hull of the fighter and detonated. The explosion from the rockets caused the highly volatile fuel that the fighter used to ignite and create an even bigger explosion.

Moonlight shielded his face as he was propelled through a wall of fire and shrapnel. He came out the other side and fired several shots at the back of the fighters. A bullet hit the thruster of one and it spiraled toward the ground. He watched it only for a second and his attention was returned to the last remaining fighter.

"Ray can you please reload the missiles?" He asked his robotic assistant. The launching arms retracted and resurfaced with new missiles. He thanked Ray and began to point the laser at the fighter that was coming around. When he had aimed the dot he pressed the big red button again and the missiles whizzed off to their target.

They landed on the mark and destroyed the last of the fighters. Moonlight didn't have time to celebrate, due to the loud beeping noise alerting him of more threats. He turned in the air and saw a troop transport heading toward the nearest town.

Ponyville.

The Dream

It was always the same dream, always running.

“Run you lazy bastards RUN!!!” Moonlight screamed at the rag-tag group behind him. The Drakkon kill team was still hot on their tail. Starlight came in last firing her plasma rifle into the enemy forces “we’re all here” she hollered at him over the din “let’s get the hell out of here!”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself” he hollered back as he began to fire his own rifle into their pursuers. They were a persistent bunch and were high in numbers. “Hurry and get to the deflector shield before they close the gap on us” he ordered.

She nodded and began to run toward the glowing shield several hundred yards behind them, he followed soon after her.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Here the dream seemed to slowed down

Running toward the shield he caught up to Starlight, the sound of the kill team was close behind them.

“When we reach the shield we will have to hold the buckers off long enough for everyone to get through” he said to her “then we have to wait for them to close the curtain”. He smiled grimly and increased his pace. They had just arrived at the shield when the first spear hit the ground next to them.

“Shit!!!!” Moonlight exclaimed as he began to return fire. The opening in the shield was closing and they still had a good ways to go. “Come on, forget about them and just bucking RUN!!!” he screeched.

They reached the shield wall but the gap still had not closed fully allowing enemy fire to get through. Both alicorns dove behind where the shield wall would protect them from the incoming spears being fired out of the handheld launchers that each Drakkon carried.

“CloseitcloseitcloseitCLOSEIT!!!” Starlight screamed to no pony in particular. The kill team had just arrived at the wall and one began through the small gap still remaining.

The shield closed and both alicorns fired at the Drakkon. When the guns stopped all that remained was a severed husk that was charred in places from where the plasma had hit it.

Both of the alicorn generals slumped against one another and released a huge sigh. They stayed like that listening to the enemy kill team screaming abuse.

Finally after what seemed like eternity they got up and began to walk away from the edge of the wall. They looked at each other shared a small kiss and turned toward the only remaining alicorn stronghold on the planet.

Moonlight saw something out of the corner of his eye and turned around just in time to see a Drakkon spear pierce Starlight's heart.