Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equis

Castle of Friendship, Laboratory

Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Magic, blinked her eyes open and pulled herself upwards and out of her chair, giving off a tired sigh. On her right, surrounded by various tools and magical instruments, was a blue orb inscribed with strange glyphs, and markings done in silver.

Ever since Twilight and her friends had triumphed over the demon Lord Tirek and reimprisoned him in Tartarus, all Equestria had been busy rebuilding after his rampage. For Twilight herself, she was still sad over the loss of her old home.

The Golden Oaks library had housed her, Spike, and Owlicious for nearly two years, and she had lost many of her keepsakes from that time in the fire that had consumed it. Some were remade or replaced, but others could not be saved.

As a result, after her coronation, Twilight and her friends had retreated to Ponyville and begun the effort of cataloging all of her belongings that had survived, and those that hadn't. It was quite the undertaking, and even with a different Element Bearer helping each day for about five days straight, it only now neared completion.

But Twilight had also spent that free time on other tasks, most importantly the nightly counseling sessions with Princess Luna that had been going on for a week now. Luna had taken up the task of helping Twilight get accustomed to her new status and authority, and since she was so busy during the day, what better time than the night to do it?

Princess Luna, Twilight had to admit, was quite creative with magic. Every night, Twilight and Luna would enter into a dream realm that assumed a perfect simulation of the Canterlot Day Court chambers, and Twilight would oversee simulated courtiers and resolve their issues. Luna had based these illusions on her own experiences before and after her banishment, and some of Celestia's in the interim.

Twilight had just finished one of those sessions, and since they were quite magically exhaustive for them both, she often retired after each one.

This time was different, as Luna had given her the orb that now lay on her workbench to study beforehand, three days ago. Twilight had asked what it was when she first saw it, and Luna had to breathe deeply before answering, as Twilight caught on it wasn't Equestrian in origin.

Luna then told Twilight a story, the details of which still haunted Luna, even now. Three years and two months before Luna's banishment, the two Sisters had secretly encountered and hosted a group of beings from the stars. However, the entire affair was kept so secret, all non-alicorns who were subject to it had their memories altered afterward.

These beings were described as so powerful, their species so advanced, Luna said it was feasible they could've ended all life on their planet...all without the slightest use of magic. The first meeting was so tense, any mistake at all could've been catastrophic.

Twilight had balked at that part and of the races' lack of magic, and Luna had replied that they simply didn't utilize it, as their technology could do things their magic simply could not.

However, it was the presence of magic as a whole in their world that saved them in the end. One of the beings and his spouse, in particular, were fascinated by the Equestrians’ use of it, and advised their fellows to take a different approach regarding negotiations.

This being held high authority within the delegation, enough that Princess Luna said whenever he was present, the other members of the race bowed not entirely out of respect, but fear.

Luna also said she later learned there was an ulterior motive to their interest in the use of magic, regarding something called "the Flood", but that was made clear much later, she added.

This great being, called the Didact, and his wife, the Librarian, studied the planet Equestria and all that inhabited or occured on it for nearly three years with great diligence and curiosity. But one day, the two disappeared, leaving the orb and a message from the Librarian in their wake.

The message said that their kind was now in danger of extinction, and the two had to leave in order to preserve their race from a danger even their kind could not win against, called the Flood. It was added that the two or their kind would most likely never return.

However, the message also stated that another race, called "Reclaimers", would one day inherit the full scale of this race's glory and power, and that should they come, whenever that would be, the Equestrians would be wise to join their cause and become allies.

And with that, Luna said, the orb was kept in a section of the archives only the Princesses could access, and now that Twilight was an alicorn, she, like Cadance before her, could learn of it.

But this time, Twilight was given the task of contacting the Reclaimers through the orb, if it was possible at all. She had labored and experimented through the day and into the night to no avail.

As she looked at the orb now, she breathed out, and touched it with her hoof, before heading out of the room to her bedchamber. However, had she stayed longer, the silver markings began to glow, and with a hum of energy, an ethereal blue wave of power pulsed from the orb.

It waved and moved in the air for several moments, before disappearing in a flash. The glow on the markings faded, and the orb went silent once more.

=====
Merrison Station Shipyard, Planet Earth

UNSC Infinity, Bridge

The UNSC Infinity, flagship of the Navy and for nineteen months, the last bastion of human power in the Milky Way, was quiet as it lay in drydock. After a climactic battle above Installation 00, or the Ark, which involved the activation of a Halo Ring, the Guardians and the Domain AIs, with Pax Cortana included, were destroyed. The exact details were still heavily classified to the civilian population, but it was often heard that the Master Chief, Sierra-117, personally activated the Halo Ring and ended the uprising, alongside Blue Team.

Now, most of the Infinity’s crew was planetside on Earth or on Merrison Station, celebrating their victory with a lively party. Even Commander Sarah Palmer was present for it, along with many of the Spartans.

As a result, the only one on the bridge tonight was Thomas Lasky. After the uprising, he had accepted a promotion from Captain to Rear Admiral, a rank which allowed him to retain command and captaincy of the Infinity.

As he sat across from the holotable, holding a glass of scotch, a voice made him turn his head to the pedestal nearby.

“Good evening, Admiral.”

Roland, the Infinity’s shipboard AI, appeared with a salute. Lasky gave a nod of recognition, and spoke with a weary tone.

“Evening, Roland.” He replied. “What’s our status?”

“Well, all ship systems are back to full operational capacity.” the AI replied. “Weapons and engines are 100 percent, otherwise there’s not much else to report.”

“Good to hear.”

For a few moments, there was silence, until Lasky noticed Roland perk up and flinch suddenly, saying “Oh, oh. That’s new.”

“What is it?” Lasky asked.

“We’ve got an inbound signal.” Roland replied, waving his hand to make several holographic readouts appear on the command table. “It’s Forerunner, but also…not Forerunner. The glyphs that comprise the message encoded on the signal aren’t in a language known to the UNSC.”

Lasky raised his eyebrows as he came over and looked over the display, his feeling of surprise soon giving way to an intense focus on the matter at hand.

“Any idea who’s sending it?” He asked.

“No idea so far.” Roland replied, the AI’s holographic brow furrowing as he continued to work. “There are some included Slipspace coordinates, similar to how we used the Guardians’ emitted noise to locate the Genesis Installation, but the data is heavily altered. This might take some time, Admiral.”

“Take whatever time you need.” Lasky replied, draining the last of his scotch glass. “I’m going to inform Fleetcom of our recent development. Keep up the good work, Roland.”

“Aye, sir.”

As Lasky departed, heading straight for his personal quarters, Roland’s hologram disappeared from the pedestal.

====

“And you’re certain this signal is Forerunner in origin?” Serin Osman asked. Lasky had just finished alerting her of the sudden development, and the current head of the Office of Naval Intelligence showed a small amount of exceedingly rare surprise on her face.

“Not entirely.” Lasky replied. “Roland is translating the signal as we speak, though how long that may take is still unknown.”

Osman nodded and leaned forward intently, thinking hard.

“I see.” She nodded after a few moments. “This may be a development that is worthy of the UNSC’s time. Ever since the Created Uprising, the Navy has been spread thin, recovering all the ships, materials, and personnel possible. We can barely spare a Stealth Prowler, let alone the Infinity.”

“However, once we know the context of the signal, we’ll proceed from there.” Osman replied. “Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Lasky replied. Osman ended the connection, and Lasky sat back down in his office chair with a sigh. Serin Osman always seemed to intimidate whoever she spoke with, and Lasky was no exception to that rule.

“With good reason, seeing as she’s the CINCONI.” Lasky thought with a smirk, before turning to the window. As he watched the Earth through the glass, he gave off a huff of exhaustion before deciding to retire, and see what the morning would bring.

Author's Note

Our journey into the howling dark begins once again…enjoy!