Terraria: Journey's End

Twilight’s head dips down slowly as she thinks about the question posed to her by Shining Armor, “Not really…”

“Did you have that nightmare again?” He asks, climbing up the carpet-encased steel ladder and seating himself on the top bunk. “You can tell me, y’know. I’m here for you.”

“I know…” She glances toward Spike’s slumbering form before meeting her elder siblings’ eyes. “It’s just… It’s the Blood Moon again…”

Shining Armor breathes deeply, visions of mangled corpses passing through his mind.

“I get it, Twi. It’s scary as Tartarus to think about. But we’ve survived this long, right? And no zombies are gonna touch us in Camelot. It’s too well-defended,” he responds, placing a hoof on his younger sister's back in an act of comfort.

“It’s not me I’m worried about, Shiny… It’s everyone who doesn’t have a Pomp or a badass aunt to teach them things.”

Shining Armor chuckles at the mention of their aunt.

“Badass? More like crazy, I think. I mean, she’s planning on sending out half the fleet to the village towns, summit be damned.”

A heartful chuckle rumbles in Twilight’s throat. “Don’t let her catch you saying that.”

“Don’t let me catch the would-be knight saying what?” Asks the rumbling of a familiar kirin from the doorway as it slides open.

“Oh, horseapples-” Shining mutters.

A red-and-gold maned kirin wearing combat boots on her hind legs and a black bomber jacket steps into the room, causing Shining Armor to jump into ready position, snapping a stiff salute with his left hoof, before switching to his right frantically after realizing his mistake.

Twilight quickly rises up from the bed and offers her ‘aunt’ a salute, the commotion stirring Spike from his slumber.

“Wh-what’s with all the-” His words die in his throat, eyes shooting wide open as he notices the kirin. He instantly leaps up to full height on the bedding, mimicking Twilight’s gesture. “I’m wide awake and definitely wasn’t sleeping, ma’am!”

“Enough with that you three. You know how I feel about being saluted by my family,” The kirin says, rolling her eyes. “Shining, get a hang of using your right foreleg, we’re going to a formal summit with the Princess and I’ll be damned if you embarrass yourself in front of her.”

“Sorry Ma’am. I’ll practice it more in a bit,” he says, swallowing nervously.

A sudden burst of static interference interjects itself, Twilight’s ears rising to attention, her gaze shifting towards the nearby intercom hanging from the ceiling corner of their small living quarters.

‘Book Horse and B.B.B.F.F to the Bridge. I repeat, Book Horse and B.B.B.F.F to the Bridge. Thank you.’

The kirin looks up and nods gruffly.

“Well, looks like you have somewhere to be. We’re 15 Mikes out from the capital, so once you’re done with whatever your dad wants you to do, head to the mess hall and get something in you. Dismissed,” She says, walking into the meshed catwalk of the hallway, the metal door marked with A5 remaining open behind her.

Shining Armor seems to deflate, his foreleg falling limply to his side.

“Why does he have to call me that? It was fine when you did, Twi, but now everyone’s using that nickname…”

Twilight attempts to hide a giggle with her forehoof, turning away quickly and using her magic to lower the still-petrified Spike’s saluting form onto her back.

With a slightly-exaggerated sigh, Shining Armor grabs two crisp uniforms with patches on both shoulders. One appears to be an armada insignia, a dragon head and alicorn head respectively, while the other carries a black and white set of wings curved upwards with a flaming blue crown on top, each with different rank insignia in the middle

“Don’t forget the uniforms. Auntie’s gonna freak out if we’re not wearing them,” he says, tossing one to Twilight, before fumbling with his own, nearly dropping it.

“Need some help there, B.B.B.F.F?” The lavender mare questioned, having already put on her uniform to patted perfection and noticing her sibling’s struggle to equip his own.

“I-I got it-”

“You sure? Because it kind of looks like-”

“I know how to put on a uniform, Twily!”

“...Then why are the buttons mismatched?”

Twilight’s inquiry causes the stallion’s eyes to shoot wide open as he looks down to his chest. Sure enough, the buttons on his uniform were attached and slipped through every other slit, resulting in a mismatched mess.

A silent pause strangles the atmosphere around them.

“...Twily, I think I forgot how to put the uniform on somehow,” he choked out, his cheeks turning bright red with embarrassment.

Twilight shakes her head heartfully and proceeds forward. “And I’m the younger sibling, huh? Come here, you dork.”

After a bit of tugging and readjusting, the siblings grab their weapons from the rack near the door, and head out onto a steel catwalk mesh, slightly steaming pipes visible beyond the greenish railings, softly glowing with lights. Metal doors labeled with number-letter combinations, snugly tucked into the wall, can be seen every 15 feet. Soldiers can be seen chatting to one another, some sitting on railings while others blessed with wings flutter near the valves and sleek bars of the roof.

“What’chu got from the mess hall there, Jameson?” Asks a big-horned minotaur to a young-looking Terrarian leaning against the railing with a bowl in hand.

“Slop. Slop. And more slop,” replies Jameson, speaking out of the side of his mouth as he takes a bite.

“Shi-hihiiit, that stuff again, huh? Well, once you get past the taste, it does wonders for the body.”

“It’s kind of like medicine,” a third voice chimes in as a beige earth pony with a blue and pink mane punches her hoof against the minotaur’s shoulder. “If it doesn’t taste good, ‘means it’s good for you. What’s up, Stonebreaker? Still hanging out with that Gilda girl from C-10?”

“You’re mixing me up with my brother again, Bon-Bon. Stonecrusher is my name. And yes. We recently went out stone crushing. It was fun.”

As the trio’s voices fade off into the distance, a piston can be heard releasing steam right underneath an unlucky pegasus carrying several boxes of munitions. He coughs violently, the boxes nearly dropping out of his hooves until a bright-red dragon catches them, carefully setting them down as the pegasus recovers.

Machinery rumbles from below the catwalk, as the siblings ascend the metal stairs and follow a marking depicting a gear to the right from the top, entering a room where a busy Terrarian can be seen typing commands into a control panel, while other soldiers gather around communication devices and radars with faded labels marked R.E.K. City walls can be seen getting closer through the windows, as Spike finally unfreezes from his salute and shields his eyes from the light.

“Morning, Pomp!” Twilight greets as she and Shining Armor approach the panel. “How long until we- wait…” The mare’s words die in her throat as she takes notice of a duo of packed lunches resting on the panel’s surface.

“Seriously?” Shining questioned with a deadpan stare. “Packed lunches? We aren’t foals, you know…”

The Terrarian lifts his head as ocean blue eyes meet Shining’s own. “Gideon… bring up the footage from 32 minutes ago, A-5.”

“Bringing up footage from 32 minutes ago outside dormitory A-5, Pomp,” says a calm artificial voice, emanating from the control panel, a holographic image of a faintly female humanoid figure appearing next to it. She points a finger towards the large monitor atop the control panel, snapping as camera footage from just outside the sibling’s room appears. “Any further commands?”

Pomp’s eyes glide over to Shining Armor’s stunned state. “Nah. I think he gets it.”

Shining grinds his teeth a bit.

“You always do this…”

“It’s the power of dadhood. I’m always one step ahead of you, son. And speaking of ‘sun,’ Celestia messaged me not too long ago. Basically, boohoo -- ponies and terrarians aren’t getting along, blah, blah, blah.”

“Not really surprising considering she always overworks herself to fix that issue,” says the kirin from before, stepping on board the bridge. Instantly, a soldier snaps into a salute, as she calls out loudly.

“Admiral on deck! All at attention!”

Pomp’s head turns left to right as the ranks of soldiers immediately salute, sighing afterward. “Oh, yeah. She walks in and everyone’s at attention, I walk in, and I don’t get any recognition.” He places his hands on his hip, nodding. “I’m proud of you guys.”

“I’m sure they’re glad to hear you say that. At ease, this is a friendly checkup.”

The soldiers immediately drop their salutes and begin work on their various devices again.

“This is Nighthawk Alpha-1. Control, do you read?” A hippogriff says into their comms, adjusting the knob at the top for a better signal.

“Nighthawk Alpha-1, we read you loud and clear. Over.”

“Control, requesting landing pads Zulu 4, 5, and 6. All clear for entry? Over.”

“Copy that, Nighthawk Alpha-1, Zulu 4, 5, and 6 are open for descent. Over.”

The hippogriff’s words fade into the hubbub of the deck as Firestorm taps a hoof on one of the many pieces of electronic equipment.

“Still impressed at how quickly you managed to repair these old things. I really need to figure out how you do it sometime,” She says, observing with a practiced eye as it lights up with a green dot, one of their reverse-engineered drones having returned to its deployment pod.

Pomp shrugs, “A bit of elbow grease and a shit-ton of luck. Emphasis on the luck part.”

“Think you can get those prototype mines into testing before the next Moon?”

“Have a little faith in the tech nerds and I, would ya?”

“You know how groundbreaking those would be for the villages we can’t go boots on the ground for. It’s pretty important right now,” Firestorm responds, her brow furrowing at the thought of leaving the villages mostly defenseless again.

“Relax,” Pomp assures with a gesture. “Think of this as only being Half-Time. We’ll get it cracked soon enough.”

“If you say so. Landing pads are open, let’s begin the descent. Gideon, you know what to do.”

“Understood. Engaging landing gears. Reverse Propulsion active.”

“In that case, I’d better get my gear together.” Pomp turns away, hands resting in the pockets of his red jacket as he makes his way over to a locker to fetch a spare radio.

Twilight observes Pomp’s departure, her ears slowly folding against her head as a somber look possesses her features.

“Let him be, Twilight. At least we get to meet Mom again, that’s good news, right?” Spike says, patting her on the head in an attempt to distract her. The ship shifts as it begins lowering towards a large landing pad, alongside the two smaller ships flanking it.

“Of course it is… It’s just…” She tilts her head to meet the baby dragons’ gaze. “He could be so much more, you know? Why does he have to be so…secretive, all the time… Like he’s hiding something even from us…”

“Just the way he is, I’d wager,” the kirin says, finishing her work on the console as she smooths her bomber jacket down. “I wouldn’t question him too much. Let sleeping timberwolves lie, as it were.”

“Besides,” Spike injects himself with a raised claw, “If it was something super important, he’d tell us. I mean, we’re family. Families never hide anything from each other, right?”

“...I wish I had your outlook on life, Spike,” Shining sighs, hooking his weapon into its sheath.

“I’m just saying. We know that he tends to keep things as a means to protect us, not to exclude us. I mean, you don’t go out of your way to tell everyone how much you suck at putting on your uniform, right?”

The stallion groans, covering his face with a hoof.

“Please. Don’t mention that. It’s embarrassing enough already. I don’t need Celestia knowing it too.”

“Anyway,” Twilight interjects after rolling her eyes. “We should get ready to depart. Mo- er, Celestia, is probably waiting for us.”

“T-Minus five seconds until landing. Please stand clear of any machinery and all external doors. Thank you for flying Gideon Airlines,” crackles the announcement through the P.A. system.

“Your peanuts suck!” Pomp yells in the middle of securing his gear.

“If your name is Pomp, please stand as close to any external doors as possible.”

“Oh, go suck on a positive battery!”

The Admiral chuckles, pushing herself off the console and turning, her head tilting back towards the bridge as she walks towards the opening external doors.

“Pomp, Shining, Twilight. You’re with me. The rest of you, keep an eye on the ship. General Shadow is in charge until I return.”

A dark-purple unicorn mare nods in affirmation, her shattered horn being covered by what seems to be a holographic prosthesis.

“Alright, that’s enough sightseeing -- we only saw Camelot for the nine-thousandth time. To your stations; I want this ship in tip-top shape for the Admiral when she returns. I want to be able to eat off the floor when it’s all said and done, capiche?!”

A chorus of muttering affirmatives passes through the soldiers as an Abyssinian groans about having to be on bathroom duty again, before begrudgingly going up a set of stairs.

As the massive ship lands, the sleek black sides of it slide smoothly out of place, lowering a gangway down to the surface of the landing pad. The two smaller ships land on either side, their sails bearing the winged insignia of the Rebellion slowly withdrawing upwards. An alabaster-white alicorn stands expectantly on the larger landing pad, alongside a unicorn bearing a cutie mark featuring a yellow and red sun.

“Are you ready to meet your sibling student, Sunset?” Celestia asked of her fellow sun-themed equine.

“Twilight Sparkle, right?” Sunset questioned. “From what you told me about her… Did- is she really like me?”

“In more ways than you realize, my little Sunspot. Let’s just say that you’re not the only one who’s suffered greatly from the Blood Moon.” Celestia rests a wing on Sunset’s withers. “Come. Let us meet an old -- albeit foul-mouthed -- friend of mine.”

“Is that the distinct sound of adoration I hear?!” Pomp’s voice boomed from nearby, arms outstretched. “Celestia! C’mere, you pelvis-shattering goddess!”

“There he goes again, big ass this, massive cheeks that. Celestia, been a while, hasn’t it?” The kirin says, marching down the gangway with Twilight and Shining at her flanks.

“Hey! I like big butts and I cannot lie.”

“Shush you, the adults are talking,” Comes the response.

“Pretty sure I got you two hundred years beat…”

“Fooled me, I thought you were a horny teenager.”

“Testosterone, babe.” A pause takes hold. “Don’t punch me.”

“...No promises.”

“Firestorm.” Celestia finally greets with a nod. “And I don’t mind Pomp being… well, Pomp. Otherwise, I’d think something is wrong with him.”

“Better you than me,” Firestorm shrugs, coming to a stop in front of Celestia and looking up at her mane critically. “Your mane’s a mess again. You really need to stop staying awake at night, worrying about things.”

Celestia chuckles. “When the weight of several billion lives rests on one’s shoulders, you can’t afford to make even the slightest mistake. You should understand that, being the head of the Rebellion.”

“Heh. Well, it’s not billions for me, but I get what you’re saying. Still, at least I sleep at night. You should too.”

“Valid point. But you sleep when Pomp TELLS you to sleep, my dear.”

“...Eh, that’s fair. Sunspot, not gonna say hi to your auntie?” Firestorm asks, turning her head towards the smaller mare beside Celestia.

“O-oh, uh, sorry about that, auntie. It’s just, we really need to get going. Like, now.”

“Wait what, I thought we were early?” Asks Shining Armor, rapidly smoothing his uniform.

“Oh, we are,” Twilight assured. “But we still need to check in, make sure our ships are properly fueled, and Pomp and Firestorm need to meet with The Princess.”

“Right, right,” He sighs.

“Speaking of fuel, Sunspot, why don’t you join the kiddos in making sure that happens? It’ll probably be a little while before the Council gets together,” the Admiral suggests.

“No problem.” Sunset answered, stepping forward and extending a forehoof to Twilight. “Hello, Twilight. Mom’s told me all about you.”

Twilight’s hoof paused at that. “M-mom…?”

“Of course.” Sunset grinned. “After all…” A brow raises to display playful yet mischievous intentions. “I AM the favorite.”

Twilight’s eye twitches, as she fights back the urge to grind her teeth. “I-is th-that a f-fact… Hehehe…”

Shining Armor looks side to side, coughing awkwardly before grabbing Spike off Twilight’s back and walking quickly into the hangar bay ahead.

“Spike, word of advice: when Twili looks like that, run and don’t stop running.”

The lavender mare was on the verge of breaking like a backed-up dam, only for Sunset to let out a hearty chuckle. “Relax, would ya? I’m just busting your teats. Come on,” she beckoned while turning away, “I’ll help you guys get settled in.”