Author's Note

Logo?! What are you doing with my-

Publish.

…You didn't.

New allies or old enemies?

New friends or old enemies?

I'm walking down the familiar corridor to Celestia's study, the princesses and division captains walking alongside me.

~~So, where did you get the name for your staff?~~ I ask Spell blade.

"It's from a far away land. I heard that it is a name that is synonymous with wisdom. Plus I think it sounds cool. Osiris." Spell answers, striking a pose with his last word as he walks.

~~Yeah. I can give you that, it does sound cool.~~ I say before turning to the other captains. ~~Do all of you name your weapons?~~

"Yeah." Spitfire answers.

"Mhmm." Hammer guns in agreement.

"Yes." Night answers.

"I do as well." Luna answers, to the confusion of the other two princesses.

"What did he ask?" Celestia asks.

"If we all name our personal weapons. Do you?" Luna asks the royals.

"No. I see no reason to." Celestia answers.

"And I don't carry weapons." Cadence says.

~~Ok. So Spell's staff is Osiris, Shining's shield is Vanguard, what about you guys?~~ I ask the group.

"My weapons are Lighting and Thunder." Spitfire boasts.

"Flickstone." Hammer answers.

"Midnight crescent." Luna says.

"I call my whip Shadowthorn and my crossbow Piercing Shadow." Night replies with pride.
Wow, those names are cool. Hey wait.

~~Now that I think about it, where is Shining Armour?~~ I ask.

"Ah yes. Cadence, I do believe you said captain Shining would meet us at the study? Diego is curious about where he is." Luna asks for me.

"Yeah. He said he'd meet us there." Cadence replies.

~~Okay. Thanks Cadence.~~ I say.

"Thank you, Cadence." Luna says. We all walk in comfortable silence until we reach the door to the study. I open the door for everyone else, getting thanks from them as I look into the room, seeing Shining sitting at the table, hiding something behind his back.

~~Whatcha got there, Shining?~~ I ask as I close the door behind everyone.

"N-nothing." Shining stutters, to my confusion.
Shining never stutters.

~~Are you sure? Because it doesn't sound like nothing.~~ I say as I approach my seat.

"It's nothing. I promise." Shining tries to deny, but everyone can hear a slight crack to his voice.

"Shining, is there something you need to tell us?" Cadence gets up from her seat, walking up to her boyfriend.

"Agh. It's just… just an old knife my dad gave me." Shining replies in defeat, showing the silver blade from behind his back.

I freeze.

"Diego?" Shining asks, confused that I've suddenly stopped moving.

"Diego? Are you alright?" Luna asks, concerned.

"Yo Diego? Ya there?" Spitfire stands up and knocks on my shoulder.
That can't be.

"Diego? Is something wrong?" Celestia asks, looking between me and the silver and purple blade in Shining's hand.

"Diego?" Shining asks, slightly more loudly as he stands from his chair.
There's no way… right?
Shining walks closer to me, about to shake me but I grab him, yanking the blade out of his hand, to his shock.

"Diego?! What was that for?!" He yells in indignation. He tries to take the knife back but I just lift it up higher, examining it under the ceiling light.
It is. This is a Luxite blade. Used by the Blade of Marmora.

~~Where did you get this?~~ I suddenly ask Shining, turning to face him. He reaches for the blade and I let him take it.

"What was tha-" I interrupt Shining Armour.

~~Answer the question! Where did that blade come from?!~~ I shout, grabbing Shining by the shoulders, to his shock.

"My father gave it to me!" Shining yells in answer.

~~Where did~~ he ~~get it?!~~ I yell. Shining and everyone else just stare in confusion. ~~Answer me!~~ I shake him.

"I don-" A white Flier bursts into the room.

"Princess Celestia! There's another alien ship!" He yells.

"WHAT?!" The division captains and princesses yell.

"Where?!" Spitfire shouts.

"High in orbit, almost out of range but it was seen by telescope." White Trail answers.

"Again?! It hasn't even been two days!" Cadence shouts.

"Now is not the time to panic!" Shining yells, wiggling out of my grip. "Diego, you need to fly up there again and see what they want. Can you do that?" Shining asks me.

~~…I-I think so.~~ I answer slowly.

"Good. While you do that, I, Spell and the Stars will deploy a bubble shield around Fantasia. Make sure that we don't suffer anymore damage." Shining asserts himself, snapping me back to the present.

~~Right. I'll go now, you get that shield up.~~ I say, leaving the room to find a balcony. What no one noticed was that the blade in Shining's hand was glowing purple.

(In orbit)

"Helmsman, scans?" Cracheam inquires.

"The planet is populated, densely in many areas. There also seems to be some kind of natural energy field emanating from the planet itself, almost like that of a Balmera. Some of the inhabitants of the planet seem to be able to manipulate this field to use their own form of witchcraft. This may be the answer to how the sun and moon of the planet is in an orbit." The cyborg helmsman reports.

"Are you saying it's a planet of Druids down there?" The lieutenant asks.

"Possibly." The helmsman replies.

"Captain, detecting an increase of energy around one of the larger settlements. They appear to have activated some kind of barrier." Another helmsman reports.

"I'm also detecting another energy source… and it's coming towards us!" The third helmsman calls out.

"What?!" The lieutenant yells.

"On screen!" The captain orders. The screen zooms in on the planet, showing a white figure flying at them at immense speed. "What is that? A fighter?" The captain asks.

"No ma'am. It appears to be a mechanoid. The energy readings coming from it are off the charts!" The helmsman reports, her face shocked. "It's exceeding our sensors, the energy reading puts it at… BY ZARKON! THE READING IS MAXED OUT!! IT'S SHOWING A MILLION THAUMS!! AND I THINK IT'S RISING!!!"

"WHAT?!" Everyone on the bridge yells.

"HOW CAN A SIMPLE MECHANOID HAVE THAT MUCH ENERGY?!" The lieutenant shouts.

"Now is not the time to panic! Open communications, tell it that we are not a threat." The captain orders.

"To Death with that! Activate all weapons and signal the Surog. We're blasting that thing to spacedust!" The lieutenant yells.

"Belay that! If we can capture it, we can reprogram it. Now, open communications." The captain orders. The lieutenant starts typing at his console. "What are you doing? That's the weapons control!"

"FIRE!" The lieutenant yells, slamming his fist on a button on his console.

"NO!" The captain yells, tackling the lieutenant.

(Diego)

Multiple ports on top of the small ship open, revealing glowing cannons.

~~Oh no, smart lasers!~~ The weapons fire.

…Striking their own engines and weapons.

~~…Huh?~~

(On the bridge)

"What have you done?!" The lieutenant shouts.

"My duty." The captain says, pulling out a hidden energy pistol and pointing it at the lieutenant.

"What… you're a traitor! A spy!"

"I'm a revolutionary, against the tyranny of Zarkon and his mad empire." The captain says as the ship begins shaking.

"You… you're with those foolish rebels?! Which one? The Fire of Purification? Those blasted Blades of Marmora?!" The captain scowls at the lieutenant. "The Blades?! You're with… what are you doing?" The lieutenant asks as Cracheam types a command into her console.

"Activating the self-destruct." Cracheam replies.

"Wha-?!" The lieutenant is silenced by Cracheam shooting him in the chest.

"I've activated the escape pods." Cracheam announces, pressing a final button on her console, causing the ship to start blaring an alarm and the overhead lights to turn red. "You have two minutes." She says as she leaves the bridge.

(Diego, two minutes ago)

Why did they shoot themselves? Is there a malfunction in their weapons systems? I wonder as the ship just floats there.
Welp, if they're gonna shoot themselves in the foot, I'll give them a helping handful of energy blasts. I think, flying around the ship and shooting it with my hands at random. A minute later, I see lights inside the ship begin to flash red.

~~What's going on in there?~~ I say as escape pods begin to eject from the ship, flying away from the planet.

Incoming message. I hear in my head.

«Attention, mechanoid. Do you hear me?» A female voice plays in my right ear.

~~Yes. Can you hear me?~~ I ask hopefully.

«Attention, mechanoid. I repeat, do you hear me?» I hear again.
I'll take that as a no. How am I supposed to respond?

«Attention: Galra captain. Message: received. Query: Reason for ship self-destruction.» I hear in my other ear.

~~Hey! How come you get to talk to her but I don't!? Also, captain?~~ I ask, looking around before seeing a person wearing a helmet flying towards me with leg thrusters.

«I set the self-destruct because I couldn't have this ship landing on your planet. Unfortunately, that's the least of our problems. Also, we should probably move away before it explodes, we don't have much time.» The captain responds.

«Query: Elaborate previous sentence.» I hear in my left ear as I start flying away from the ship.

«There's another three ships on the way.»
Say what?

«Two more research ships and a battle-cruiser as escort.»

~~You have got to be kidding.~~

«They were sent here to find out what destroyed the last ship that came to this planet, which I'm guessing was you.»

«Response: Negative. Destruction of previous Galra ship was performed by union effort of User and Voltron.» The voice in my right ear says.

«User? Voltron? Explain.» The captain demands.

«Response: Negative. Query: Allegiance.» Voltron asks.

«Allegiance? Do you mean what side am I on?» The captain asks.

«Response: Affirmative.» Voltron says.

«I'm with the Blades of Marmora.» The captain answers as the ship goes up in flames.

«Command: Provide proof of allegiance.» Voltron orders.

«I'm Captain Cracheam of the fifth squadron of rebels. My mission is to bring down the tyrant Zarkon and restore peace and honour to the Galra.» Cracheam responds, her voice sincere and strong.

«Response: No misinformation detected. Assessment: Supervise but trust.» Voltron says.

~~Supervise? If you say so.~~ I say.

«Now the only problem is how I'm going to get down to the planet.» Cracheam says. «I'm on a time limit with my air and I don't think I can survive atmospheric entry.»

«Solution: Teleportation.» Voltron says.

«Teleportation? You can teleport?» Cracheam asks.

«Response: Affirmative.» Voltron says.
Engage.
Diego pulls out his Bayard, merging it with his wings.

«What are you doing?» Cracheam asks, before yelping as Diego grabs her around the waist. Facing Mystacor, Diego activates his super-wings, turning both himself and Cracheam into energy.

Re-materializing, Diego and Cracheam find themselves over the capital.
Disengage.

"Urrgh… we are not doing that again… ever." Cracheam groans, looking nauseous.

~~You and me both, you're heavy. Anyway, we better go find the princesses.~~ I say as I regain control, my wings changing back to normal. I fly the two of us to the castle, landing on the same balcony I left from. Opening the doors, I turn back to Cracheam. ~~This way.~~ I say, motioning for her to follow me.

Thankfully, we are able to get to the throne room with mishap. Unfortunately there's no one inside.
The princesses must be outside helping, they should be back-

*POP!*

…Right now.

"Diego, I see you dest… who is that?" Celestia asks as she and the other princesses teleport into the throne room.

~~Ah, princess. This is… ah. This is going to be awkward.~~ I say, looking between the Galra captain and the princesses of the land.

"Why do you say that, Diego? Who is she?" Luna asks.

~~Uuum… this is captain Cracheam…a rebel Galra.~~ I say hesitantly. Luna's eyes widen tremendously.

"What?" She asks seriously.

"Luna? What is it? What did he say?" Celestia asks.

"Who are you talking to?" Cracheam asks. "And if you wish to know who I am, my name is captain Cracheam, of the Blade of Marmora."

"The Blade of Marmora? What is that? And why does your voice sound familiar?" Celestia asks Cracheam.
Familiar?

"The Blade of Marmora is a galran resistance movement, against the Galra empire." Cracheam says, making the princesses gasp. "And the reason my voice sounds familiar is because we've met before, Lightbulb." Cracheam says, smiling.
Lightbulb?

"Lightbulb?" All three princesses ask.

"The only person who's ever called me Lightbulb is… Cracked Sky?!" Celestia exclaims. "B-b-but you-you-you died! Night Light said so! And since when are you a Galra?!?!"

"Since always. When I first crashed on this planet, I had some technology with me that let me change my appearance." Cracheam smiles, before frowning. "How is Night Light, by the way?" She asks, now concerned.
Who?

"He's fine. He met a beautiful woman and remarried. He still talks about you though, in every letter he sends me." Celestia responds.

~~Okay, whoa whoa whoa!~~ I say, waving my arms in front of me. ~~What is going on?!~~

"Yes, I'd like to know as well. What is going on?" Luna asks.

"Oh right. Cracked, or do you prefer… what was it? Cracheam?" Celestia asks Cracheam. She shakes her head. "Okay, Cracked, this is my sister Luna. Luna, this is Cracked Sky, a close friend I met about twenty years ago." Celestia explains.

"Twenty three years. Also, since when do you have a sister?" Cracked asks.

"That is a long story. Anyway, Luna. This is Cracked Sky, a friend that I thought had died in an accident but apparently not. We used to talk a lot." Celestia says to Luna before turning to face Cracked. "I do have to ask though. If you didn't die, what happened? And why are you with Diego?" Celestia asks.

"I rejoined the fight against the Galra. I knew that I had to rejoin the resistance so, when the ship I crashed in was repaired, I… left. I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye but I… didn't know how to say it. But now, we have bigger problems. The reason I'm on Mystacor again is because of this thing." Cracked says, pointing at me.

~~Hey, I'm not a thing.~~ I say.

"He has a name." Luna says, offended.

"It does? I'm sorry. I mean no disrespect. Anyway, the reason I'm here is because of the ship that was destroyed when it came out here. I'm assuming it- I mean, you did it?" Cracked asks me. I nod.

"Is that bad?" Cadence asks.

"Yes. The Galra don't like their ships getting destroyed so they sent more. I was the captain of one of the research ships sent. Unfortunately, there's still two more research ships and a battle-cruiser escorting them coming here, and they'll be here in less than an hour." Cracked explains.

"WHAT?!" All of us shout.

~~You didn't say they were that close!~~ I shout.

"Less than an hour?! W-we need time to prepare!" Celestia yells.

"You can't prepare for them. Unless Arcadia has advanced by centuries, you don't stand a chance. But he does." Cracked says, pointing at me again. "At least, I hope so. I don't know exactly how powerful you are, but let's hope you're powerful enough to destroy two armed research ships and a heavily fortified battle-cruiser. Because if you aren't, Mystacor is history." Cracked declares.