Vallorith

The two Ponies walked through the Corner Pass. Sweetie looked at the distant glacier going down from the mountains. The region was quite nice. She will have to visit it later. Now, she was going to help her friend.

They walked through the forest. They needed to be careful. Luckily, the trip continued with no incidents through most of the day.

In the evening, however, they had a visit.

An arrow flew just past Sweetie Belle. She quickly levitated her dagger and jumped behind the chart. Apple Bloom followed her.

From the side of the forest, a group of three Minotaurs and two Beetles came towards the Ponies.

The Minotaur bandit leader shouted something. He was holding a large warhammer. The bandits started to walk towards the cart.

Sweetie Belle wasn't going to let them rob Apple Bloom. She levitated her dagger forward, and got the Minotaur in the neck. The other bandits rushed towards the Ponies.

Apple Bloom got out of the cart and kicked one of the Beetles. She grabbed the warhammer the bandit leader has dropped. Sweetie Belle used her magic to throw one of Minotaurs away.

After a short skirmish, the bandits had to run, with one Minotaur and one Beetle lying dead.

"That was close," said Apple Bloom. She searched the fallen bandit for loot. She looked at the hammer. She stood at her back legs, and swung it. "Not designed for a Pony, but effective," she said, and attached it to her side.

Sweetie looked at her dagger. She was glad she knew how to use it. She still wasn’t sure if it was the thing she should be doing. She felt like she would have to use her dagger more if she was to travel through this island.

The two Ponies continued their journey.

Night fell, and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom set up a camp on a clearing. Following the bandit encounter, neither of them were willing to sleep. They looked at the stars.

"I think we need to quickly go to Sir Mantu. Traveling through the archipelago is more dangerous than I thought," said Apple Bloom.

"We kicked their flanks."

"I know, Sweetie, but…" Apple Bloom wanted to say. Suddenly, Sweetie Belle got up.

"Look at this!" Sweetie Belle pointed her hoof in the sky.

A purple star was shining brightly. It wasn't there before. It seemed to move. With great speed, it flew down, disappearing below the horizon. There was a bright magical flash in the south, and purple light illuminated the sky. The distant Tower seemed to glow purple. Sweetie Belle saw the star changing its course, as if it bounced back from the Tower. It was now flying towards the mountains. It hit a mountain in the distance. The impact was strong enough for the ground to shake, and the explosion was loud enough to almost hurt the Ponies.

"The heck was that!" Apple Bloom shouted. Sweetie Belle looked at the mountain where the star fell.

"We need to see what it was!" Sweetie Belle said.

"It's too dark to travel through the mountains."

"Didn't you see? A star fell down. We need to see it."

"Hmm, I always wondered what a star looked like up close. Let's go. But first, let's hide the cart."

The Ponies walked almost all night. It started to dawn. They started walking on the mountain where the star fell down.

"Wait, something is moving there," said Sweetie Belle.

The two mares hid and watched what was moving. They saw an Earth Pony walking towards the crash site. She was wearing a hood and a mercenary outfit.

"What should we do?" asked Sweetie Belle, and took out her dagger.

"How about we talk to her? Maybe she's friendly?" said Apple Bloom.

The two Ponies went out of their hiding. The third one saw them, and started running away.

"Hey, wait!" Sweetie shouted, and started chasing the Pony.

Following a short chase, Sweetie Belle managed to catch the Pony in her magic.

Sweetie Belle took off the mare’s hood. The mare had dark pink mane and an orange coat. She was quite tall and slender for an Earth Pony, and had purple eyes.

"Who are you and what do you want!" the mare shouted.

"Easy, we're not your enemies. We just wanted to see the place where the star fell," Apple Bloom said.

Sweetie Belle looked at the captured mare. Did she meet her before? She felt a deja vu. She needed to take a better look.

"Can you let me out?" the mare said. Sweetie released her from her magic.

"I'm Apple Bloom. This is my friend, Sweetie Belle. Who are you?"

"Scootaloo," the mare said. "The star is mine."

"How about we look at it together?" Apple Bloom suggested.

Sweetie Belle wasn't very trusting, but for some reason, this mare seemed like she was a good Pony.

"I agree," the Unicorn said.

"Fine. You better not try something funny," Scootaloo said.

The trio walked for a short while. Then, they reached the crash site.

There was rubble everywhere. It seemed part of the mountain slid down. In the pile of stones, one black sphere was standing out.

"The star is black?" Apple Bloom asked. The three Ponies walked towards the fallen star. There were pieces of black metal lying around. Sweetie Belle levitated one of the pieces. It looked nothing like she even saw before.

The star itself was a black sphere. It was dented and broken in a few places. It was quite small, maybe three meters in diameter.

"Let's try to get it out of the rocks," Apple Bloom said. The three Ponies started throwing the rocks away. While they were digging the metal sphere out, Apple Bloom screamed.

"What happened?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"There's a Pony inside!" said Apple Bloom.

Sweetie and Scootaloo looked at the hole in the sphere. Indeed, a Pony covered in metal armor was lying inside. The Pony wasn't moving.

"Let's try to get her out," Scootaloo said.

Sweetie Belle illuminated the inside of the star with her horn. There were lots of buttons and screens, she did not know what they could do. The Pony inside seemed to be missing a leg. There was also a broken wing lying on the floor, and something that resembled a horn. Sweetie looked at the battered and dent armor of the passenger. Who could even travel inside a star?

They eventually managed to get the armored Pony out of the star. The armor was pitch black, same as the star. The face was covered in a strange mask.

"That's a Pegasus. Very strange one. Have you seen one like this?"

"No, I've never seen a Pegasus!" said Scootaloo, loudly. Apple Bloom looked at the mare with some suspicion.

Sweetie Belle decided to carefully levitate the armored Pony's helmet off. She was unable to. It seemed fused to her face.

Then suddenly, the armored Pony opened her eyes. They were glowing purple, same as her wing. The Pony started to look around. The three other Ponies jumped away, their weapons ready.

"Where am I?" the armored Pony said. She lifted her left hoof. The screen started shining. "Distance to target, error. Current time, error. Medical status, error. Something must have gone wrong." The armored Pony attempted to touch the screen with her right hoof, then she noticed she was missing a leg.

"What the!" she said, and got on her hooves. She started looking at her body. She looked at the stump of her leg. Sweetie noticed some wires hanging out of it. There was no blood. Was that Pony made out of metal?

"Did… I… How… What?" the armored Pony tried to say, clearly shocked by the damage. The three other Ponies looked at her.

"We should run," Apple Bloom said.

"No, let's help her," Sweetie answered.

She stepped a bit closer to the armored Pony, and greeted her.

"Hello. Who are you?"

The armored Pony looked at Sweetie Belle.

"No no no, it must have been a nightmare. This is my dream, isn't it?" the armored Pony asked the Unicorn.

"No, this is not a dream."

"How did I become a robot?" the armored Pony asked.

"A what?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Okay Omega, you need to calm down," the robot Pony told herself.

The three Ponies looked at each other.

"Is she alright?" asked Scootaloo

"I'm not sure," said Sweetie Belle.

The Unicorn touched the robot with her hoof. The robot looked at her.

"What is this place?" the robot asked.

"We are in the Vallorith Archipelago."

"Vallorith? Never heard of it."

"What's your name?"

"Omega Night, chief navigator at UCSS Bea."

"Where are you from?"

"New Firefly. Near Cyclodia, on Refugee around the First Star of the Union. That's where I lived since fillyhood."

"And you were inside a star because…" Apple Bloom asked.

"That's a spaceship and time machine I designed myself. I tried to get to another universe. Not sure if I succeeded."

Sweetie didn’t understand what the robot was saying. Did she fall from another world?

"Are you a Pegasus?" asked Scootaloo.

"No, I'm a Thestral. Or I was one, I guess," the robot attempted to move, but fell down on the rocks. "Don't worry, I don't feel pain anymore."

Sweetie Belle looked at Omega's foreleg. "Doesn't it hurt you?"

"Not at all. It’s just… weird. I have some tools in the spaceship. Maybe I will be able to get it back to work… if I am really a robot now."

Sweetie Belle found the toolbox and levitated it. After some guidance from Omega, Sweetie managed to reattach the mechanical leg. She also removed the mechanical wing, after it became clear it was useless. Sweetie noticed Scootaloo looked at this wing with fear, even if she tried to not show this. Eventually, Omega stood up and managed to walk without any problem.

"Thank you. What are we going to do now?"

"We?" asked Scootaloo.

"Yes. The travel didn't end up as I was planning, and I need to get used to… this," she pointed at her mechanical body.

"Well, we were traveling to Sir Mantu. You may join us," said Apple Bloom

"Sure, why not?"

"How about you?" Sweetie Belle asked Scootaloo.

"I'm in."