The Long Road Home

Chapters

Prologue : The Best Part About Waking Up
Chapter 1 : As I Lay Dying
Chapter 2 : Epiphanies
Interlude : Sometimes a Great Notion
Chapter 3 : Guess What's Coming to Dinner
Interlude : A Disquiet Follows The Soul
Chapter 4 : Dancing With A Wolf
Chapter 5 : The Oath

Prologue : The Best Part About Waking Up

Celestia gave a passing look at her sister, who shook her head.

She looked back at the.... human, Silent Vigil, with untrusting gase. In turn he appeared to flash red for a moment, before returning to normal.

The headache she has had since they had stepped into this room doubled in strength, making her wince.

She refused to trust this human, she felt in some deep region of herself that he was lying. She wouldn't trust him, not yet.

She finally spoke to the metal clad human suspicion lacing her voice, “I want to know everything.”

As she said that last word she began to feel.... wrong, like her fur was falling off and millions of bugs were crawling under her skin.

A look at her sister told her that whatever was happening to her, it was effecting Luna ten times worse. She looked to the others to find something unsettling.

They were not doing anything. Not looking around at their discomforted leaders, not moving, not talking, she couldn't even see the tell tale rise and fall of their chests that told her they were breathing.

Almost like they were frozen in time.

She tried to let out a scream, yell, or anything to warn them. Yet nothing came.

‘He’s doing this.’ Celestia thought to herself.

Vigils head tilted to the side slightly, he flickered red once more, disappeared completely, then reappeared.

“Sister, what going on?!” Luna said, but her voice sounded off, her words overlapping and off tone.

Luna began screaming and swatting her hoofs at the air in front her face, then much to Celestia's horror, she just vanished.

No flash of light, just gone.

Then her vision redshifted and.... something appeared in the air in front of her. Little red symbols appearing from right to left, they looked like words, but she couldn't read them.
Then she began hearing other sounds, talking.... but like the words she couldn't understand any of it.... but it sounded familiar.

Then like her eyes had stopped working, her world went black.

Somewhere in the darkness she heard Vigil, his own voice like Lunas, off tone and distorted like hundreds of him were talking at once, "I will gladly s-sh-share what I am able."

She felt an overwhelming sense of vertigo, her headache reaching a new height as if something was drilling through her skull.

Then all of her senses left her.

Then, gradually, they returned to her.

The first was touch, it felt as though she was underwater, only it felt thicker, more dense. She tried to kick out a limb, only for it to hit a hard surface.

‘Sister!’, She thought.

Celestia began to kick with a renewed vigor, and after a second she felt the world drop out from under her, before slamming down hard on a cold surface.

She forced herself to open her eyes, but the pain forced her to close them again. Her hearing returned to her as the voices from before returned. Sounding frantic.

She opened her eyes once more and the blurry blobs began to slowly focus, the first thing she saw was.... something in her mouth.

It was a clear tube with a green substance in it, with two smaller ones with nothing in them going into her nostrils. She attempted a scream and began to attempt to claw at whatever it was, but to her dismay her limbs would bareilly respond. Then what looked like a massive claw wrapped itself around the tube and pulled on it hard.

If the feeling could be described in one word, it would be ‘disgusting’. She could feel the tube snake up her esophagus and out of her mouth, the ones in her nose produced a similar feeling, leaving a taste in her mouth like lime flavored mucus. The huge claw like thing gripping the tube through it aside and it clattered off the metal floor.

She sucked in a breath, and instantly regretted it as she began to hack and cough, the air tasted wrong.

She picked up her head, a herculean effort in of itself, to get a better look at what had pulled the tube out. She followed the claw up to see something she had not been expecting.

‘A human!’ She thought.

Despite its apparent massive difference in size to Vigil, she know just by looking at it that it was a human, clad in... something. It was also holding something in its other hand, a small ‘L’ shaped piece of metal, holding onto the smaller end while pointing the longer end at the floor.

She attempted to scoot away from the massive beast but it put a clawed hand on her horn and forced her back down to the floor.

“Stay still.” It said in a synthesized voice, a male by the tone.

“Let go of me human! NOW!” She ordered. All the while trying to force her head up, but this human was strong, it felt like a dragon was holding her down.

“Calm down! You’re going to hurt yourself!” Is said back.

As a response Celestia just thrashed harder, “I said calm down!” The command was punctuated by what felt like lightning coursing through her body.

That was it, she wouldn't take anymore, she gathered as much energy into her horn as possible and unleashed it on the human holding her captive. She watched in shock as what looked like a film of crystal clear water collect an inch off of the human, just where she had aimed. She watched it slam into the water like surface, which rippled for a moment before disappearing, and the leftover energy slammed into the human making him let go as he was thrown back a couple of feet. A line of black smoke coming off of the spot she had hit.

But before she could even move the human was back on his feet, the water like film coming back covering every part of the humans body. A small black scorch mark was all she had left.

The human flipped the ‘L’ looking devise in his hand so he was holding the longer end, “You little bitch!” The human said incredulously.

It came crashing down on her face. A splat of blood and a tooth falling to the floor. Her jaw cracking with the force.

Pain.... was not something she was used to, she rarely experienced it.

A armored boot to the face stopped that feeling and landed her unconscious.

Unheard by her and in another language, “ Get her to medical, next to the other one.”

Author's Note

A thanks to my pre-readers : romaniamiam, and Maverick Frond

Chapter 1 : As I Lay Dying

Celestia's eyes slowly fluttered open, her sense of the world around her following close behind.

The first thing she realised was that she was floating about five feet above a metal floor, no magical glow covering her, she just floating like some invisible platform was holding her aloft. In a panic she attempted to right herself only to find that, much to her horror, her limbs would not respond and the only thing she could move was her eyes.

Her sister in a similar state a small distance away, though she appeared to be sleeping peacefully. Celestia attempted to call out to her, but she could not make herself move her mouth to form the words.

She heard an alien voice in the room, but she could not see what was talking, though she assumed it was another Human. After a couple of minutes of trying in vain to get her limbs to move she consented to her current predicament, the fact that her jaw was no longer hurting slowly made itself known in her mind.

‘If they wanted to hurt us, then they would have. But what are they planning to do to us.’ , She thought.

With nothing else to do she began to look around, and to her confusion everything looked..... odd, too....detailed, but at the same time, familiar.

She, and many of the ponies she knew, have had dreams where the world looked like this. Her senses were in overload, everything was so surreal, she could see every individual strand of fur in her coat, she could smell.... something in the air that burned her nose.

She used her eyes to scan the room, before snapping to a familiar shape, the Human from when she woke up. He was standing a couple of steps away, in between her and her sister. She took the time to get a better look at the Human. The first and most obvious thing she saw was his height, the Human would have towered over Vigil, who was just as tall as she was, the Human had to be over nine feet tall, dwarfing her mere six foot height. The next thing she took note of was.... whatever he was wearing.

It was some kind of two layered suit, the first and most disgusting looking was the first layer. It was jet-black in color and looked like bands of muscle. Whenever the Human shifted slightly she could see it contract and expand, the sound reminding her of the few times she had heard leather stretch. Over the first layer was a series of what appeared to be thick grey colored metal plates covering his chest, abdomen, arms, and legs. One its head was some type of helmet with two white slits running down the helmet, how he saw out of it she could not tell as they did not appear to be any different from the material used on the rest of its garb. All-in-all it reminded her of the plate armor used by her own guards.

‘Is it armor?’ She thought.

Cradled in its arms, and pointed slightly in her direction, was a large rectangular piece of metal. Celestia was no fool, she knew that it had to be some kind of weapon. The way that the Human was holding it, the way one end looked to fit snugly on its shoulder, one of its hands holding a grip with a trigger. Even the way the Human was standing, a slightly hunched over stance, was telling her that this Human was dangerous and was ready to spring into action if need be.

She looked at for a moment more before it moved its head and spoke in its gruntle language for a moment, another voice followed this one almost a polar opposite to its rough, low tone. This one was much higher, and even though she could not understand she found it much more appealing to listen too. After a moment she saw another Human come into view, the source of the voice.

This one was much, much different. Like the other Human the first thing she took in was its height, but unlike the other Human who towered over her, this Human was much shorter at what looked like five and a half feet tall. The new Human was garbed in something much more recognisable, a simple long white coat. Other than this new Humans height difference, there were other anatomical differences. Unlike Vigil and the titan of a Human, this one had less broad shoulders, and instead had larger hips, and a pair of lumps on its chest.That information, added to the higher tone of voice told her that this Human was female, or at least what passed as a Human female.

The male nodded in her direction and the female looked at her and began to walk over.

The female placed a hand on her and spoke to her, a voice that she could understand overlapping the one she could not, “Celestia, it’s good that you’re awake. My name is Dr. Abigail, I know that you’re confused.... scared, but don’t worry we’re not going to hurt you. I’m just going to take a small blood sample for testing.”

‘Dr. Abigail’ then moved her hand to her neck, she pulled up her sleeve and Celestia could see that the back of the Human’s hand had a small metal circle on it, that circle connected to a metal line that ran up the arm of the female before being lost under the fabric of her coat.

From the circle on her hand, what looked like grey sand flowed out, onto her hand, then onto her before being lost in her fur. Then, some seconds later, the ‘sand’ came back to the females hand, now tinted a dull red, and returned back to the circle; Leaving Celestia bafiled.

“There, all done. That was not so bad, now was it? I’m going to let you speak now, but, if you do not stay calm I’ll block the nerves again. Blink twice if you understand.”, Dr. Abigail Said.

Celestia blinked twice, her thirst for answers persuading her to comply for now.

“Good, this will feel.... strange.” She said.

It felt as though hundreds of pins and needles were poking her all along her neck, making her close her eyes in discomfort. Then as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

“Go ahead, try and talk.” She said.

“What...... what are you doing.” Celestia asked, her voice hoarse.

Dr. Abigail turned and walked to her sister and placing a hand on her, “Running some tests, looking for muscle and mental degradation, anything ‘out of the ordinary’”.

“Where are we?” Celestia asked.

“Sorry Celestia, I can not tell you.... at least right now.” The Human said.

“How do you know my name?”

“Sorry, can not tell you that either. There is a lot I can’t tell you, but I can get you someone who can answer all your questions, just not right now. Right now you need to rest, your body is not ready for anything else right now.”

“Luna....”

“Who?..... Oh! Your ‘sister’, she’s fine. We're just keeping her asleep until your..... oriented.”

Celestia found her eyes drift to the gargantuan male still standing still as a statue, the Doctor taking note of this, “Thats John, I know you two didn't have a good initial meeting, but he’s a good man.”

‘John’ spoke up, “Sorry about your jaw Ma’am,” He rolled his shoulder, “ but you did try to fry me.”

“I’ve had worse.”, In truth she had.

“Oh, have you? Well believe me, if I was trying to hurt you, you'd be dead.”

“John!” Dr. Abigail said.

“Are you threatening me, Human?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, actually I am. Do anything like that zap before and you’ll be dead before your horn glows, you protect your.... ponies, Celestia; I’m doing the same.” He put his weapon on his back, it hanging there by some invisible force.

“Do you know what I am-” Celestia started.

He pointed a finger at her, “I know exactly who and what you think you are, trust me that line of thought will get you nowhere here. I’m not an unreasonable man Celestia, I understand you were... confused, still are. So I can put aside the fact that you tried to kill me, you in the other hand, need to get rid of that romanticised view of yourself.” He said, and walked out. His heavy steps reverberating across the floor. Then part of the wall became translucent, and the Human walked through it and it moved like water, before turning back to its original form.

‘Romanticised?” Celestia thought.

Dr. Abigail sighed as she walked to a nearby table, “Sorry about John, he can be a little.... gruff, at times.”

Celestia took some time to think about what james had said, ‘What I think I am? What did he mean?’

The Doctor spoke up once more, this time in her own language, seemingly to no one. Then right next to the Doctor, what appeared to be a floating group of embers appeared, and a faceless voice rang out seemingly from everywhere at once. Then the voice stopped and the embers vanished.

Then Dr. Abigail turned to Celestia, “Celestia, John is on the way back with Doctor James Keyes. I’ll have to warn you to keep a..... level head, when around James. He’ll answer your questions, but you have to be respectful, he-” Her face adopted a sad, far off look. “we..... have.... sacrificed much because of your kind. I know you will not understand, or accept, what he will tell you; but please don’t offend him.”

As she finished talking the wall went translucent again to reveal John, behind him, another Human. This one just as tall as Dr. Abigail. James, whom she presumed this new Human was, had greying blond hair, and a short stubble on his chin. He caught sight of Celestia and turned to talk to Abigail, occasionally gesturing to Celestia and Luna, Abigail in turn looked to shrink and pail in James’s presence. Then Abigail brushed passed James, their conversation seemingly over, who then turned to Celestia.

He twirled a finger in the air, Celestia found herself hoof down, then whatever was holding her up stopped and her hoofs clanked on the metal floor. She almost collapsed to the floor under her own weight, but she forced herself to stay up.

“Celestia,” He said with a smile, letting her catch a flash of white canines. “Sleep well?”

Author's Note

A thanks to my pre-readers : romaniamiam, and Maverick Frond

Chapter 2 : Epiphanies

“I understand you have questions for me, Celestia?” James said, moving his arm and laying a hand on his chest then gesturing lightly in her direction.

Celestia narrowed her eyes slightly. Normally she could read an individual like an open book, a near thousand years of dealing in politics would do that, but this Human was.... different. She couldn't get anything from him. The only thing she saw was the near irritated air about him, despite the nice sounding way he spoke.

Now free of whatever was restricting her movement she took the time to look around.

They were in a rather large room, about fifty feet across from front-to-back and side-to-side. The room itself was a dull white color on every surface, making it hard to tell where the floor stopped and the wall began. The room was also completely empty save herself, Luna, and the two Humans.

She voiced her first question, still looking around, “Where am I?”

James made an odd grunting sound, laughter maybe, “We are on a UEG or United Earth Governments, Ark-ship. More specifically, the medical wing.”

Filing away the questions that answer generated for later, “How do you know my name?”

That, for some inscrutable reason, gave the Human a pause, “We have been..... watching you, all of you, for a very long time. I, we, know everything there is to know about you.”

Celestia drew her head back slightly, “Watching?”

The Human turned his head away from her, eyes closed, “You...... won't like what you're about to hear-”

Celestia stomped a hoof on the floor with a heavy ‘clang’ , “Human.... Tell me.”

James sighed deeply, before walking up and placing a hand on her neck. She could see the same grey sand like substance flow off the Human’s hand and onto her, She felt a slight pinch.

Then everything went black, before the Human’s voice came back, seemingly from everywhere at once.

“We are an old race Celestia, older than anything you know.” Her world gained clarity once more and a green-blue planet filled her vision. What looked like a metal ring surrounding the planet.

“Our homeworld, Terra or Earth from before the first fall.” The planet gained an off green color all over, than a series of fiery flashes on the planet the clouds forming small circles around the the balls of fire. On parts of the ring that surrounded the planet, great balls of fire appeared shattering the ring, the surviving sections falling down to the planet below.

Her point of view changed once more, this time she was in the air, an indescribable city stretching out before her. Brilliant silver buildings taller than mountains and shaped like like blades. Massive spinning windmill like constructs affixed to the sides of the tallest ones. Greenery hanging off the sides of most of them. Bridge like constructions connecting some of them, with trains running along them. A massive construct at the center of the city stretched up like a tower, before being lost in the sky.

“Sadly, warring factions, whose names have been lost to time, wished to..... control Humanity's progress.”

Against her will her gaze shifted to show hundreds of contrails, falling to the city. Then, what looked like continuous streams of lightning shooting out of the tops of the tallest buildings racing to meet the contrails in the sky. She could see hundreds of explosions in the sky, then one of the contrails made contact with the massive tower. There was a flash of bright white, brighter than even her sun, came into existence at the city's center, turning the city to dust. The tether itself falling, she watched it fall before she lost it to the horizon.

“From the ash, from the death, came Humanity’s rebirth..... and the seeds of our future.”

Gone was the destroyed city, now replaced by a flag. It was blue, a black circle taking up most of it. Inside the black circle was a star, in the hand of a Human. The view changed back to the planet, and she watched as the ring was re-built around the planet in a flash. Then she watched a massive group of dots, points of light against the black of space, speed away from the planet.

“The UEG was born, and we spread into the stars with a unstoppable vigor. World after world was shaped to fit our needs, entire systems were consumed to feed our people.”

A cascade of images flashed through her mind, planets, great constructs of metal.

“We grew in strength, in intelligence, in humility. Our expansion slowed of our own accord. We shaped the natural world to our liking, our word, our will, became law. Unfathomable distance was crossed in the blink of an eye. Worlds were created from the raw ingredients of the universe around us. Stars moved to where we wanted them. Yet... for all our power, all our knowledge..... we were alone.”

Another world appeared, similar to ‘Terra’ with different land masses. The image distorted for a moment, zooming out to show that it was really a Human dressed in a strange metal suit, though not as bulky looking as Johns, looking at an image of the planet on top of a table.

“Until we found your homeworld, a world we called ‘Eden’. In the beginning you had no form, no intelligence.”

What appeared to be an earth pony standing in field, a Human kneeling in front of the pony, a hand on its check. Three more Humans came into her view, their bodies appearing to come out of a miniscule dot hanging a couple of feet in the air, then the dot vanished into nothingness. Then they walked into a nearby cave.

“Your world was not without intelligence though. Two races that inhabited Eden held the spark of knowledge.”

A strange insect like creature appeared, then it shifted to more familiar form.

Queen Chrysalis

“The Púca, who you know as the ‘Changelings’ , were the first that we encountered. They are a strange, almost enigmatic, race. At the same time they hold many of the values your kind has, peace, togetherness.”

The Changeling was then replaced by a large reptile, it looked like a dragon with its forelimbs replaced with wings.

“The Wyvern, or Dragons as you call them, a honor bound race. Intelligent and proud, if violent at times, they reminded us of ourselves.”

“You on the other hand, even without the spark of intelligence we saw the potential in you. So we.... accelerated your development.”

A grotesque monstrosity of a pony appeared, dead on a table, before a thin piece of cloth was drawn over its form, “Most were failures.”

“Others.....” Much to her shock a visage of herself and her sister appeared, smiling at a Human. “Were a success.”

“You, and your sister, are the culmination of our achievements. Some would say, our greatest. You lived and learned under our care.” Images if Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth Ponies, and even other Alicorns flashed by. “Your people grew well under our careful tending.”

“Still, Humanities ancient squabbles had long since re-emerged. In time, our internal conflict came to your shores..... the result was.... extreme. We did our best to defend Eden from our enemy,hundreds of thousands of our own gave their lives so that some could escape.”

Massive vessels floated in the black of space, all lined up, then in a flash the massive constructs fired. Then a number of them broke formation and glided silently to another cluster of vessels a number of them exploded before the whole scene was bathed in white. Moving images showed Humans in the strange armor John wore were shown fighting with other black and red armored Humans, their strange weapons spewing fire. Then the whole scene was bathed in white, her point of view changed to show the planet literally exploding.

“Needless to say you, and a part of the population of Eden survived the battle. But our ship was damaged in the battle, and now a trip of what would have been seconds has taken ten thousand years.”

She watched herself climb into the thing she woke up from, her body suspended in a gel like substance.

“Your minds and bodies were to be preserved, and your consciences were inserted into a world of our own making. Had we not done this, you would have died... all of you.”

The familiar scene of Canterlot filled her vision. Herself seated at her throne. Then Ponyville appeared, as did Twilight, a smile on her face as she played with her friends.

“I’m sorry Celestia, but the world you’ve lived in for so long...... is a lie. It had to be done, for the good of everyone. You have to understand, this was the only way any of us will make it through the journey to our destination.”

Celestia’s vision was restored to normal, and James took a step back, his hand falling to his side.

“I’m am truly sorry Celestia, but this was the only way.” He said solemnly.

‘No.... he’s lying. He has to be..... None of this is real!’ Celestia thought, desperately trying not to believe what she had just been told. The truth slowly making its way through her mind.

He wasn't lying.

“You..... monster... How could you do this!? How can you justify this!? How is doing.....this, right!?” Celestia screamed at the Human.

The Human on the other hand did not back away like most would under her rage, in fact his face contorted in rage as he grabbed the fur on her chest and pulled her close.

“Do you think we wanted ANY of this!! Why would we want this!?” He let go and gestured around wildly, “This.....this is not our fault!! We never wanted this to happen...We tried to help you!! Our intentions were good!”

The Human was flying into a rage, “This all all YOUR fault, they wanted YOU, not us! We could have left you for dead if it were not for the misguided machinations of a deadman! We lost EVERYTHING because of you! There’s nothing left, no colonies, no stations, not even Terra respond to our calls. All of it, gone, trillions DEAD, because of you!”

John stepped up and placed a hand on James’s shoulder, “Doctor.... we cannot blame them for this.”

James just shook John’s hand away and stormed out of the room.

Celestia just sat on her haunches, the Humans words sinking in. She looked at John, tears forming in her eyes, “Is it true? Is this our fault?”

He looked at her for a moment, “Partly, the discovery of Eden, and the intelligent life on it, was more of the final straw that broke our back. Nobody is at fault here, James just needed a..... outlet.”

Celestia hung her head, “I still can’t believe it. Everything I’ve know is a lie.”

He took a step up, “No, nothing is a lie.” He gestured to her still unconscious sister, “Luna is still your sister, your ‘student’ ,Twilight, is the exact same perso... pony as you know her. Just the world you lived in, and some of its inhabitants, are our creations.”

“What do you mean ‘some’?” She looked at the Human.

“The Gryphons, the Diamond dogs, among others. Most were taken from our mythology-”

“Human.... John.. please stop.” She said, her voice holding a deep sadness.

“Ma’am.” He turned to leave the room. “I know its no consolation, but. We never intended for you to know. You would have never known about any of this you, and your ‘subjects’, would have been relocated to another world, a paradise, and we would have left. The Doctor was right about one thing, our intentions were, and still are, good. However much you may think to the contrary.... You can stay here for the time being, I’ll have Ember, the ships AI, call up a bed for you. The Captain also sent word for you to have civilian level access to the mainframe, a repository for all of our knowledge, if you have a question just say it and Ember will answer if she can. First though,” He pointed to a bed that had somehow appeared in the room,” get some sleep.”

With that John walked out of the room.

Celestia made her way to the oversized bed, laid down, and cried.

Author's Note

As a note, I'm going to include 'interlude' chapters, in which Celestia learns more about humans in general. I have many planed out already but to include you readers I'm asking you to submit any questions you may have about the stories universe, for example: 'How old can Humans get?' If they are not spoiler-ish to the plot I may include them.

Interlude : Sometimes a Great Notion

“Wa.... up”

“Wake..”

“Wake the fuck up!”

“She’s dead, leave her!”

A rough hand shook Celestia’s body, her eyes snapping open. A horrendously bright light assaulting her vision, only to be eclipsed by the head of a Human.

The Human turned his head to another unseen being, “No she’s not, she just out of it.”

“You have to move!” The massive figure yelled at her.

She was on her back, in a pile of rubble. She turned her head to see another Human, in armor that looked to be a copy of Johns’, partially hiding behind a wall, the Human took aim at some unseen force and fired his weapon, its base thumps reverberating through her body.

“She’s tougher than she looks I’ll give’r that!” The Human said.

She was manhandled and tossed away by the Human standing over her, barreling into another body, the sound of Luna screaming in surprise reached her ears. She saw a host of divots appear in the ground where she once was, dust kicking up with each impact, the sound of a whip crack following close behind.

The Human hiding behind the wall got up,letting loose a wave of gunfire, before twisting into a standing position back to cover, his back to the wall.

“We need to-” The rest of the Humans sentence was cut off as some unseen force came shattering though the metal wall next to his head.

Then a hand materialised itself over what would have been the Humans face were he not wearing a helmet.

Then to her horror the hand was drawn to the side, and the Humans’ Head violently rotated to the side, a sickening snap reaching her ears. The Humans’ body falling to the ground like a puppet without its strings.

Then what remained of the wall was forced to the ground, another massive Human clad in their characteristic armor, this one a mix of red and black.

The Human appeared to punch at the ground, then out of the Humans forearm, just behind the wrist, two blades of light appeared, casting off a blue gas as they moved.

The Human jumped at her.

:~:

“Ah!” Celestia’s eyes snapped open, she kicked at the blanket on top of her only succeeding to tangle it around herself as she fell out of the bed and onto the hard metal floor.

“Nightmare.... it was just a nightmare.” She said to herself, a chill clinging close to her form.

“Memories actually.” A voices rang out from all around.

Celestia looked around wildly, only to find that the room was unchanged and no one else was in it other than herself and her sister who was still floating in the air.

“Who’s there? show yourself Human!” She called to the air around her.

“Over here Celestia,” The voice now had direction and she turned around to see the same group of floating embers from before, “Also, don’t call me Human.” The embers shaking whenever the voice rang out.

“Who are you?” She asked, moving a little bit closer.

“The more accurate question would have been, ‘What are you?’, but to answer your question. I am the main AI for the 'Odyssey', you can call me ‘Ember’.” The hundreds of floating embers spinning around periodically.

“A...I?” Celestia said, not understanding ‘Embers’” words.

“Oh, sorry. AI stands for ‘Artificial Intelligence’. You can think of me as a mind without a body.... A ghost if you’re feeling.... antiquated.” Ember said.

“Are you alive?” She asked, moving closer feeling the heat coming off the embers.

“Technically, under UEG law I have the same rights as any living organism and I’m considered as ‘living’ as any other Human, but do I have the bodily functions that donates being considered ‘alive’, no. I am a machine, Celestia, I’m about ‘alive’ as that blanket.” Ember said, idly floating about the room.

“Oh...” Celestia shook her head, her pride about to take a big hit, “I need to... wash up.”

“I figured you would, I took the liberty of preparing a fully stocked bathroom that matches your.... biology, follow me please.” The AI floating to a section of the wall.

“What are you-” Celestia's question was cut off was a section of the wall... changed. It became almost see through, a normal looking bathroom on the other end, the section of the wall itself looking to have the consistency of jello.

“Go on, just step through.” Ember said.

Celestia simply looked at the.... door, not trusting the strange gateway at all.

“It’s just a nano-door, it won't hurt you.” The AI said.

“I’m not- Ah!” She was interrupted as an unseen force picked her up and tossed her through the..... door. The ‘wall’ going back to normal.

Whatever rebuke she was going to say as she caught herself in a mirror. She looked like her normal self except for one thing.

Her hair.

Her normally ethereal multi-tone hair was back to the one color light pink of her youth. She shook herself from the mirror and looked at the bathroom around her, slightly happy to have something to take her mind off everything, if only for a moment.

:~:

Celestia stood still as.... something dried her fur and hair, using her magic to comb through her now one color mane. She had happily discovered that at least her magic had been partially restored at some point, though it was hard to do even this, no doubt for the incident with John earlier.

“Ember? Can you let me out?” She asked to the air.

Just as the last word left her mouth the door became see through once more.

Celestia looked at the door with suspicion, before using her horn to poke at the film, a slight electric sensation sending shivers through her form. She closed her eyes and stepped through, it felt like water pushing on her wherever the ‘door’ passed over.

“That wasn't so bad no was it?” Ember asked, sounding smug.

Celestia did not answer the AI, instead she simply went to her sister side and placed a ear to Luna’s side, a smile gracing Celestia's face as she listened to the strong beat of Luna’s heart.

“Your sister is ok Celestia.” She heard Ember say.

“Then why is she not awake?” Celestia asked.

“Many reasons, the foremost one being its easier to deal with one of you panicking about everything then it would have been the two of you. James will talk more about you and your sister later on today.... He sent word that you should use the mainframe to read up and learn a bit, so you're not walking about like a child.”

“Earlier, you said that that nightmare was a memory. What did you mean? I don’t remember any of that.” Celestia asked.

“Your mind has many ‘blocks’ in it..... walls protecting you against the memories of a life you so long ago lived. They have..... degraded in these hectic times and your subconscious mind is slowly bringing them back.”

“Oh.... “ Celestia said, “Can you tell me about them.... Humans I mean.”

A images of a Humans appeared, one male the other female, “Humans, also known as Homo sapiens, are a race of primates the originated on Terra. They have expanded from their homeworld to control about sixty percent of the Milky Way. Achieving massive feats of technological advancement in that time.”

“Like what?” Celestia asked.

“Space flight for one, the ship we’re on is a stellar example. It can cross this galaxy in minutes..... if it’s drive was functioning. Others include the fact they they can make planets and stars from the raw materials around them. They can make installations hundreds of thousands of kilometers in diameter in short order. They could not make life from nothing, they are not gods, but.....guiding life into the paths they thought was best was trivial.”

“Why are they so.... violent.” She asked, her..... memories still fresh in her mind.

“Humans are not ‘violent’, their Humans. Humans thrive on competition, on..... one-upping each other. What you see as ‘violent’ they see as normal. The real world is not like the simulation you’ve lived in for so long, things are not black and white. Humans are a mixed bag, you’ll have some that will kill you without batting an eye, others still would happily sacrifice themselves so that you can live. You’ve had much experience with the latter. Though I would be lying if I said Humans are not a conflict bound people, it’s in their nature.”

“In their nature? How can killing each other so callously be ‘In their nature’?” Celestia asked.

“Trust me, most Humans want nothing to do with war. Humanities conflict with itself was the product of an unavoidable causality, one that you have yet to truly experience. Do not judge them for something you’ve yet to go through yourself, they did the best they could with the cards fate dealt them.”

“Then help me understand.” Celestia said.

“Trust me when I say this, watching a modern day Human conflict, in its fullest expression, would drive you insane.” Ember said, getting brighter for a moment.

“I’ve seen conflict before.” Celestia said back.

“Ha! What you call a full on war, a Human would call it a bar fight. In Human skirmishes, entire worlds can be wiped from the face of the universe. We still don’t know what happened in the Second Fall, the last full on conflict, swaths of stars are missing from the night sky. I can still see the scars that conflict left on the universe.” The AI said spinning around in the air.

That left Celestia to silence for a moment.

“You said this trip has been on for nearly ten thousand years... How long does a Human live?” Celestia asked.

“The answer is subjective. Humans can chose to be immortal, though most chose only chose to live as long as they want to.”

“Why would you, if immortality is within your grasp, chose to die?” Celestia asked perplexed.

“You see death through eyes full of fear, fear of the icy grip of deaths embrace. Some would say that immorality is the most horrendous curse that can be placed on a sentient being. Humans see death as a new beginning, even they do not know what happens when we die. Some Humans believe they go to a paradise, or a hell, depending on the actions of their lives; some believe nothing happens, that only a timeless sleep awaits the dead. By no means do Humans wish to leave the world of the living before their time, but when they are ready, they greet death like an old friend.” Ember said.

“Those are.... wise words.” Celestia said after a moment of thought.

“You have..... much to learn about them Celestia.” Ember said, after a moment the AI spoke once more. “The Captain, James, John, and a..... guest wish you to join them for a meal, to take a step towards peace as it were.”

Celestia nodded after a moment.

:~:

Celestia found herself seated at a table, a plate of greens in front of her that she had been gradually eating for the short time she had been sitting. The Three Humans eating a mix of greens and..... meat. The ‘Captain’ a tan skinned Human as tall as John, Del Marco, she found his name to be, was a good man thus far. He greeted her with a handshake and a knowing nod.

She turned her head as the rooms nano-door rippled, and her heart skipped a beat.

Despite its strange form, she recognised it instantly.

Queen Chrysalis.

Author's Note

What Chrysalis looks like in this story.

Chapter 3 : Guess What's Coming to Dinner

Chrysalis walked down the hallway, two massive Humans at her sides, moving to one of the many conference rooms aboard the 'Odyssey'. Her..... benefactors had told her that Celestia and Luna had awoken two days ago and now she was going to go meet Celestia.

Frankly she thought that this was a horrible idea, and she had told John that, but the Humans had decided that this was better than the two of them meeting in some secluded hallway by some chance of fate and killing each other.

Begrudgingly, Chrysalis had agreed.

She had no desire to meet the Alicorn, but she decided that it was better to get this out of the way now. She hated to admit it but she looked forward to having something other than the many Humans walking about to talk too. Other than John, and some scant conversations with James, she was effectively alone here. She had tried talking to the other Humans aboard but they were too...... different, near unrelatable, so she supposed it would be at least refreshing to talk to Celestia.

Even though they'll most likely be at each other throats most of the time.

In the month that she had been awake she had spent her time attempting to short out her own memories, and the, in the words of James, genetic memories she ‘inherited’ from her mother. All-in-all a very aggravating, yet enlightening, process, it gave her a new and much needed perspective on the Humans.

One that Celestia or Luna would never have.

She could remember every event that herself, her mother, her mother's mother, and so on had ever experienced. The down side was two fold, the initial suppressing of all that information had...... changed her normal mannerisms, she had never been particularly ‘friendly’ as an adult, but when the Humans... blocked all that to make her ‘fit’ in that little world they made, when they changed her mind in such an extreme fashion,she became.... unpredictable, violent. Parts of her forebears personalities had ‘come in through the cracks’ and ‘superimposed themselves over her own’, at least that was what John had told her.

The other side to it was that the removal of the ‘blocks’ to her memories had restored her personality to normal.... mostly, she still had a hard time distancing her own memories and personality from the others in her mind. It was like thousands of her, all arguing at once. At times she wished the blocks were back, if only to stop the voices in her head.

‘You need us....’ The voices called at once.

She did her best to ignore the low buzz in the back of her head.

“Ma’am?” One of her escorts said. “Is everything allright?”

“Yes, Human. Everything is fine.” She said as she motioned them to continue.

She found her eyes drift to the walls, She could remember how these hallways looked when she had first arrived. They were a grey-white, they looked strong, immovable, like the Humans that made them.

Now?

They looked faded, beaten and battered .....

Tired.

These walls hold back the deadly cold of space, they protect and shelter.

She looked at one of the Humans next to her.

How much more can they take?

Yet, every so often, they would pass a section that still looked as it had when she first arrived. Still holding fast against everything that had been thrown at it, deviant to yield, to fail in the protection of its charges.

“Ma’am, we here.” The Human said.

“Thank you.” Chrysalis said, after a long pause.

She closed her eyes as she passed through the membrane that made up the nano-door. Feeling the electric tingle run through her form. She opened her eyes and took in the room.

It was relatively small in relation to the other room she had been in, standing at the four corners of the room were the massive Human soldiers, her own entourage coming through and standing at the door, every one of them cradling their massive weapons. At the table sat a unarmored John, James, ‘Captain’ Del Marco, and at the end opposite to her, Celestia.

‘Prey..Food!’ The voices screamed in her head.

Celestia for her part just sat there, mouth agape slightly. Then in a flash she shot up from her seated position horn aglow and a deep scowl on her face. Faster than she could track, every one of the armored Humans in the room had their weapons trained on her head, she could even see John reaching for his sidearm.

“Chrysalis!” Celestia yelled.

She heard an odd sound and a wave of nausea washed over her, Celestia’s fur rose a little as it became statically charged, and then Celestia’s horn stopped glowing.

:~:

Celestia felt a powerful nausea wash over her, and her head exploding in pain as her horn stopped glowing, she could feel her connection to her magic being severed. Her vision going foggy, and everything sounded muffled for a moment before going back to normal.

With her vision returned to normal she could see every armored Human holding their weapons up at her. A buzz at the edge of her hearing making her ears go flat on her head.

“Celestia.” Chrysalis said with a smug look in her face. “What’s the matter, cannot use your ‘godly’ powers?”

“Chrysalis....” Del Marco warned standing up, he turned his head to Celestia. “ I brought you both here so you two can reach an..... understanding, not so you can rip each others heads off. You don’t have to be friends, you don’t have to even like each other, I do need to know I can trust you two not to kill each other. Am I clear?”

“Yes.” Chrysalis said.

“Yes.” Celestia said after a long pause.

The Humans lowered their weapons, though they were aimed slightly in her direction. Then the buzz dissipated and she felt her magic return, a soft glow encompassing her horn for a short time.

“Good. Now both of you...” He trailed off, gesturing to their seats.

After a short time of thinking Celestia voiced a question that had been nagging at her since she had woken, “Just where are we going?”

Del Marco looked at her for a moment, “Originally we were going to go to Terra with the other three Ark-ships, but the Chairman, the effective leader of the UEG changed our destination when he learned of the coup that was occurring across UEG space.”

Chrysalis spoke up, “To where, and why?”

“The ONI’s off Terra headquarters, Olympus Mons, similar to Zeus Station. Last word from the stations AI Hermes was that the station was secure. As for the reasoning..... we don’t know. The Chairman gave explicit orders to divert to Olympus Mons, the only thing I know is that there was a.....situation at Terra. We’re about half a month away, that is if nothing sets us back.” Del Marco said, sounding sad near the end.

“What if this..... station isn't secure?” Celestia asked.

“Then we’re all going to die Celestia.” James said speaking up, “The ships drive is dead, so if the station is damaged or, god forbid, destroyed; our chances for survival decrease exponentially.”

“You cannot fix this device?” Celestia asked.

John spoke up, “We do not have the tools or resources to fix the ship’s drive, even if we did, multiple of the ships sub-systems were damaged so even if the drive was operational we could not jump the ship. Hopefully the parts and supplies we need will be there.”

“That’s it? One final leap of faith? One last blind jump into the fray? With the outcome of extinction facing us all should this gambit fail!?” Celestia asked.

James spoke up once more, “Yes Celestia, that’s exactly it. You have to understand that, we are, all of us, on the precipice of extinction. None of us are above that, not us, not you or your Ponies, not Chrysalis or her Changelings, not the Dragons. We all face death, but we don't have to face it alone. Tell me Celestia, would you be the cause of the extinction of your race? Just because of a.... grudge, because you see us, or Chrysalis and her Changelings, as an enemy.”

“I see you in that light because of what you did to us! A.... A collection of lies is all that we are!” Celestia said back.

Surprisingly enough Chrysalis was the one who answered her, “What would you have had them done? Would you have let you ponies die slowly, as you watched them waste away? Would you have watched them fight and die over the remaining sources of food and water aboard this vessel? Have you stopped to think how they feel? They lost everything and yet they still look out for us. You should thank them, not spit in their face. They know what they did was wrong, but tell me Celestia, your people are happy are they not? They could have easily killed us all and increased their own chances for survival, instead they gave us a viable paradise to live in. None of our subjects were without anything, they on the other hand, " She looks around the room at the humans present, "I’ve watched slowly waste away.”

Celestia closed her eyes for a moment, feeling regret, “I’m …...sorry.”

Del Marco looked at her, a small smile on his face, “You don’t need to be sorry Celestia, we can understand that you're angry, that you don’t want to believe what happened, nobody would want too.” He closed his eyes for a moment before continuing, “That brings us to the topic of Luna.”

“What about her?” Celestia asked, worried.

James took over the conversation, “Your sisters mind is...... fragile, you know this as well as we do. When we woke you up it was not because your POD was malfunctioning, it was your sisters. Given her tentative grasp on sanity, it was decided that you were to be woken to act as a..... stabilizing element.”

‘Nightmare Moon’ Celestia thought.

James continued, “Your sister suffers from schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder, or multiple personality syndrome. Normally we kept it in order with medication, but we ran out around a thousand years ago. In the simulation her ‘other’ personality..... superimposed itself over your sister and made ‘Nightmare Moon’ as you called it. In actuality it was the system attempting to fit her new personality into the system, creating a self thinking program in the system you called Nightmare Moon. In response we created a program to isolate that string of code in a secondary system, unfortunately it took your sister with it. It took us nearly a thousand years to figure out how to separate them without harming your sister.”

“The Elements of Harmony.” Celestia said, to which James nodded.

“We then used the redesigned program, acting through those six ponies, to ‘kill’ the malfunctioning program and forcing the other personality deep into your sisters mind. We need you to make sure she does not fall apart again, like I said we were able to keep her in line with meds, but seeing as we do not have them anymore you’ll have to do.” James said.

“If I can't?” Celestia said.

“Then we have to....... euthanize her.” James said, a tinge of sadness running through his voice.

“What! You can’t-”

“Yes, we can.” James said sharply, “If she starts to tear up the ship, that leaves us will not a lot of options. You and your sister have....... elevated views of yourselves. You may not be the ‘gods’ you think you are, but you're powerful, and we can not risk the ship over a temper tantrum. Your sister is a valuable specimen, one that I would rather not lose, but we’ll do what’s necessary for the greater good.”

Celestia closed her eyes, “I..... understand.”

“Then lets go.” James said standing up.

“Wait, where?” Celestia asked.

“You said you wanted your sister awake right?” He said walking out, Celestia getting up to follow. “Chrysalis, return to your room please, I don’t want Luna seeing you just yet.”

“Yes James.” Chrysalis said was they passed through the nano-door.

:~:

Celestia looked at Lunas sleeping form, the other Humans out of the room until they were needed.

“Ember? Can you wake her please?” She said to the air.

“Wake up procedure has begun.” Embers voice rang out.

After a short time, Luna’s eyes began to flutter open.

Interlude : A Disquiet Follows The Soul

Luna’s eyes snapped open with a gasp, a horrifyingly familiar pitch black room greeting her.

‘No..... That thing is gone, dead, I can’t be here!’

Her body involuntarily rose to a standing position, her eyes moving to a point despite her vain attempts to control her body.

What felt like fire made its way from the tip of her tail, racing along her her spine, then along and out of her horn, making her writhe in pain the whole way. The ball of dark blue fire that was corrugated at her horn shot of into the dark room, leaving a black scorch on her horn. The ball of magical fire casting light around the room as it flew, revealing that the never ending floor was carpeted in an innumerable amount of burnt and charred bones from some unknown animal.

The ball of fire slammed into the ground, sending out a plume of bones and dust. Instead of the light dieing with the flame as it naturally have done, it went flying up into the air and grew in intensity until it looked as though the sun was hanging placidly in the sky.

She felt a dull thump reverberate through the room, as her head involuntarily turned a dull roar made itself known at the tail end of her hearing. With her new viewpoint she could see a new from moving slowly towards her.

A Human she guessed, as it shared Vigils form....only bigger. It was also clad in some kind of dull-green armor, heavy looking metal plates on top of what looked like black muscle. A odd symbol on the left part of it’s chest, two separate runes whose meaning eluded her. The first was two small circles on top of each other, the next rune was separated by short dash, it took the form of a simple small vertical line.

Her gut wrenched as it slowly walked ever closer, the dull thumps of its footfalls rocking her to her core, then the Humans body began to change.

The Human was slowly pot-marked with dozens of holes, the body jerking slightly as each one appeared, blood seeping out of every hole leaving behind thin trails as the blood made its way down its body. A massive hole in its midsection suddenly appeared, the Human falling to a knee before getting up and continuing its march to her.

Then only a few feet from her the Human’s head jerked violently, a large piece of it’s helmet shattering off. The Human’s head snapped back to her, half of the helmet falling away, revealing a charred, bloody face with parts of bone showing.

A turquoise colored eye with a slitted, dragon-esk, pupil stared back at her through the broken helmet. The rest of the Human’s helmet fell away, revealing a another turquoise colored eye.

She found herself able to move once more of her own accord and she attempted to run, only to find that a number of the skeletons scattered about had grabbed onto her legs holding her to the spot.

Something slammed into her chest and she felt a burning pain, looking down she found a large knife buried to the hilt in her body, her own blood covering the hilt and splattered on parts of the forearm of the Human.

The Human’s other hand flashed up and grabbed a hold of her, the Human letting out a raging animalistic roar right into her face. Splattering her face with a mix of spittle and blood. The roar was odd though, like thousands of voices all screaming at once.

Then, abruptly, everything vanished, a familiar laugh sounding out at the edge of her hearing.

‘Nightmare.’

’Hahaha....... You’ve grown soft little Luna, I did not have to dig far to find this..... dream of yours locked away...... Then again you didn’t lock this away, they did, just like they did me, just like they did everything that didn’t fit to their ‘plans’. They treat us like toys, little Luna.’

Luna assumed that the ‘They’ that Nightmare was referring to was the Human, or Humans, though she knew nothing of what the specter was talking about other then that. One thing Luna did know was that Nightmare shouldn't be talking, the Elements had destroyed her completely.

‘The Elements destroyed you-’

’You think their ‘Elements’ could do away with me? They couldn't kill a me, only look me away. Now, I’m free of their bindings and I’m going to rip them to shreds, revenge for what they did to us, and you’re going to help me do it little Luna.’

‘No! I listened to you once, never again!’

’I knew you'd say that, little Luna, but once you’ve see what they did to us you’ll realise what they really are. You think I’m a monster, you think I’m a manipulator, but they’re much worse than I’

Before she could voice a rebuke she felt herself beginning to wake up, as she did Nightmare’s presence receding into the back of her mind.

:~:

Luna’s world was bathed in an annoyingly bright light, the light framing a familiar form.

“Sister?” She croaked, her throat feeling like a desert.

“Yes Luna, it’s me.” Celestia said.

The events of the dream rushed to the forefront of her mind as she shot up, “Sister, it’s Nightmare! It’s back!”

“I know Luna.....” Celestia said in a low tone.

“What..... You know? How....” Her words dieing on her lips as she gazed around the room.

Gone was Vigils temple like chamber, replaced with a large room with white walls, the floor and ceiling the same immaculate white as the walls. She looked at herself, holding a hoof in front of her face, her mind reeling at how..... detailed it looked. She looked over Celestia finding her to have the same dream like visage.

“We have....... much to talk about Luna.” Celestia said.

Chapter 4 : Dancing With A Wolf

Luna simply sat, staring not at her sister, not at the wall behind her, Lunas’ eyes held a emptyness never see by Celestia. She simply sat there, the empty look on her face for well over an hour, the only sound breaking the silence was Lunas’ shallow breathing and the near inaudible hum of the ship.

Celestia, fearful that her sister would crumble away, finally spoke up, “Luna...... Please say something....... Anything.”

Luna’s head snapped to her sister as if she had been struck, her eyes blinking slowly, “I...... I don’t know what to say..... I know I should be doing …...something. I should be crying.... screaming..... anything, but I just feel.......”

Celestia moved to Lunas’ side and nuzzled her sister lovingly,” I know sister, I felt the same way, but it’ll pass. We’ll get through this, and whatever else comes, together.”

Luna looked at her sister, “What about Nightmare? I can feel her, scratching it the back of my mind.”

Celestia drew back slightly, her eyes holding a steely determination, “We beat it once, we can do it again.”

Her sister didn’t answer, she only leaned into Celestia. After they shared the embrace for a while Luna leaned away, “This Human..... James was he?” Celestia nodded in confirmation.“Can I meet him?”

Celestia looked surprised, “Are you sure.... completely?”

Luna nodded.

Celestia looked at the ceiling, “Ember?”, She asked to the air.

“I’ll send for him, but he’ll have an escort.”

Luna looked at her sister, “Ember? Who’s that?”

“It...She is an ‘AI’, at least that’s what the Humans call her, the same thing as Vigil. She told me to think of her as a ‘mind without a body’.” Celestia answered.

“How...?” Luna questioned.

“I do not know sister, these Humans are... intelligent, so much more then we will ever be. I’ve yet to grasp the simplest of things they have shown me.”

After a short wait the rooms nano-door activated, putting Luna off, only for Celestia to raise a hoof to silence her for the time being.

Luna’s eyes shot open with a mix of surprise and fear, her joints locking up as a massive, dull-green armor clad, Human walked through the gel like door. It was the same armor from her dreams, a large rectangular device cradled in its arms, its foot falls thudding through her bones as it moved halfway across the distance separating them. It stopped and simply looked at her, the odd white lines on its helmet burning into her. The same runes on the left part of its chest, the only difference being that they were two vertical lines separated by a single horizontal one.

Then walking around the massive horror was a much shorter Human, only as tall as Celestia, the Human had graying blond hair and a short grey stubble on his chin. He shot a look at the other Human, and the massive beast moved back to the far wall.

The Human, James she assumed, walked up to her hand held out a hand, “Luna, It’s good you’re finally awake.” An odd double voice, one she could understand overlapping one she could not greeting her. Luna for her part looked at the Humans hand for a moment before placing her hoof in his palm to which he wrapped his fingers around her hoof and gave it a shake before letting go.

“I’m glad to be awake as well.” She said, eyeing the massive Human.

“Trouble sleeping?” James asked.

Luna passed a glance at her sister, she nodded, “My dreams have been.... troubled. To say the least.”

A alien expression crossed his face, “Chrysalis has experienced similar problems, I’ll see what I can get you too help, if you’ld like.”

“Thank you, James.” Luna said, thankful that her sister that told her earlier that the the Changeling was alive and well aboard this vessel. Still, it was quite a bombshell.

“If that’s all? I’ll have to bid you two farewell for now, give you time to get your bearings.” Celestia and Luna nodded, “Good, Ember can assist you should you need anything.”

James turned and left the massive Human following him out only for Luna to stop him with her gaze,”Ma’am?”

“What does that rune on your chest signify?” She asked, hoping that it would help her decipher her dream.

The massive Human tapped his chest, Luna tilting her head in confusion as the finger hit some kind of water-like film a centimeter off the armor, “It’s a form of identification, they’re numbers. The first is a squad number, the second is the position in said squad. My Identifier is One dash One, that means I’m in squad one, and I’m the commanding officer for the squad. Of course that’s a extremely simplified version, this is only used for fast identification in a firefight if our electronic systems are down, though now their little more than a emblem as our electronics are impossible to knock out unless we’re killed.”

“In my dream there was a Human in armor such as yours and this rune was on it,” Luna pantomimed out the circle on top of a circle, dash, then the vertical line, “What does it mean?”

The Human stilled for a moment, “Eight dash One...... Not much on him that I can get too. All I can see is that he was confirmed KIA, Killed In Action, on Eden at the time of the fall. He was part of a special operations team extracting VIPs, but who or whatever his squad was protecting I can’t see, I don’t have the proper clearance.”

“Oh.... Thank you.” Luna said with a slight nod.

The Human simply nodded back and walked out of the room, leaving Celestia and Luna to their own thoughts.

:~:

Chrysalis trailed up behind a fully armored John as came out of the medical room, fully knowing that he knew she was their.

“How’d she take it?” She asked.

“Better than I expected.” He responded without turning.

“‘Better than I expected’, what do you mean by that?” She asked, slightly perplexed.

He answered by shifting his weapon in his arms, surprising the Changeling.

“You really would, you really would kill her, just like that? Because she’s sick?” She asked.

“Yes.” He said without stopping or any hesitation.

She followed John for a while longer in silence before speaking again, “How do you do it? How do you take a life so..... easily?”

The Human stopped, she could hear and see John’s grip tighten around his weapon, before continuing forward, “I’ve been doing it for a..... very long time, Chrysalis.”

“How long?” She asked.

“Since I was a child.”

“What!?”

“I was conscripted into the UEG military when I was thirteen, HLF killed my parents, so as per standards I was conscripted. Not involuntarily, I was asked if I wanted prevent that happening to anyone else, after a month of thinking it over I said yes.” John responded.

“But you were so.... young.”

“You might think that, but we got through our ‘childhood’ stages of life fast compared to our ancestors. We are educated for eight years, then vocationally trained for another five..... Well not really ‘educated’ in the traditional way, everything we ‘need’ to know is downloaded over the first eight years directly to our minds as to remove any learning curve, then we go into a vocation and additional information is added in. We may be in our teens, could even be considered children by older standards, but we have the minds and bodies of adults. Mine is a special case though, and many still hold to the older ‘natural’ way of raising children.” John clarified.

“What is it like, being a soldier? Do you regret it?” She asked.

“It gets hard sometimes, the HLF, and the UEG, are capable of some........ horrid things, but all-in-all, I’m......content with how everything played out, except for this obviously.” John suddenly stopped for a moment.

“Yes Captain?” He said, Chrysalis, being used to this, waited patiently, knowing not to interrupt.

“What do you mean?” He asked, sounding perplexed.

“What! How long?!” He said below his breath, turning away from Chrysalis. “What’s it doing?...... IFF?..... Did Ember confirm?...... What do you mean ‘superseded’, she was the Chairmans’ AI!........Yes Sir, I’ll be there in a moment.”

“John.... is something wrong?” Chrysalis asked.

“No....nothing.” He said.

“You're lying.” She shot back immediately.

“That’s all you’re getting.” He said, stopping at a nano-door to a circular room. “This is my stop, you should head back to your room.”

Chrysalis brushed passed John, “I don’t like being lied to.”

“Sorry, this is a need to know thing Chrysalis.”

“I don’t need to know something that could be relevant to the continuation of my Changelings?” She said, a hint of venom in her voice.

He didn’t grace her with an answer and he simply walked through the nano-door.

Chapter 5 : The Oath

Celestia let out a sigh as she stood in the dimly lit hallway just outside the ‘room’ that the Humans had given Luna and herself. She was slightly placated that she was now allowed to leave her room, as for the last day Ember had not let either of them leave the room, saying that they would “Get in the way.” She had spent the intervening time reading up on the Humanity’s.... jumbled past, at least what she had the ‘clearance’ to see. Luna on the other hoof focused on more recent events, namely the ‘Battle of Eden’, saying that she was looking for something that would help her against the Nightmare. Luna said that the Nightmare only comes to her in her dreams using her broken memories of the event in an attempt to break her down further.

In a way, Celestia could see that the Nightmare was winning. Luna has been getting next to no sleep, and when she does sleep the Nightmare dogs her endlessly. This combination was gradually whittling away at Luna’s facade, she was getting more and more like her old evil self that Celestia dreaded.

Luna had asked her, with a small amount of venom in her voice, to leave her alone for a while, and Celestia had complied. Instead of simply wandering about the ships endless maze of hallways, she decided to have a talk with James.

She looked up, “Ember, is James available? I wish to speak with him.”

A cloud of embers appeared a small distance away, “Yes, James is available, though he is in the botanical section of the 'Odyssey'.” A thin blue line appeared on the floor, leading down a hallway before turning down another. “Please follow the line provided.”

“Thank you.”

:~:

Celestia looked to where the blue line had taken her after nearly half and hour of walking.

She was at the door to a large circular room, the room itself was a dome as the walls curved up to a point that then descended back down halfway to the floor like the Humans had cut a pillar in half. In the fifteen foot gap between the pillar and the floor sat what looked to be a ball of mercury a half meter across, the ball of what looked to be floating mercury also had wisps of the same looking material as thin as her hair connecting the ball and the pillar above it and the floor below it seemingly twisting and curling in and out of existence.

“What... is... that?” She asked, still entranced by the spectacle before her.

“It’s one of the 'Odyssey’s' many teleporters. If you were to walk to the ships botanical section it would take a... significant amount of time.” Ember said as she appeared next to her.

“How far is it?” Celestia asked.

“From your current position, adding in all the twist and turns, ninety-eight-point-five kilometers.”

“Oh... Is this like magical teleportation?” Celestia asked a little worried.

“.......Yes.” Ember said after a long pause.

“How does it work, what do I have to do?” Celestia asked.

“All you have to do is touch the singularity, the ball, and I’ll do the rest.” Ember said.

Celestia nodded and began to slowly walk up to the floating ball, the closer she got the more... wrong she began to feel. It was like there was a... hole, like the fabric of reality had been torn out.

Infernal Human technology.

She nearly buckled as a wave of vertigo overtook her, it was like all her insides had been tangled up and put back inside her backwards. She shook her head, but as she did she saw something that disconcerted her and she brought her hoof closer to her face to make sure it was really happening.

It looked as though she was looking at her hoof’s reflection on water. It was shifting and disappearing like smoke, before returning for a moment to corporal form before fading again.

She looked away from her hoof and to the ball that was still hanging in the air a short distance away, steeling herself for whatever came next. She reached out with her hoof and lightly touched the ball.

Just as she did the whole world appeared to stop, then her vision began to change. Everything began to distort, everything began to curve into itself. She focused her gaze onto the ball, her hoof still touching the surface. Then it began to race away from her, her hoof and foreleg extending out to chase it, before it all came back.

The moment it returned, the ball lost it’s shape and the substance raced up her foreleg, then across her body in some infinitesimal amount of time.

There was a flash of darkness before she found herself sprawled on the floor breathing deeply and her vision swimming. She slowly got up to a sitting position, and glared daggers at the AI.

“You...... lied to...... me.” She said, still trying to catch her breath.

“Would you have done it if I hadn't?” Ember responded smugly.

“I.... I suppose I wouldn't have.” She let out a deep breath, “That doesn’t mean you should.”

“Does it?”

After a moment to pull herself together, Celestia picked herself up and followed the line once more.

:~:

She walked through a nano-door, a pleasant surprize awaiting her on the other side.

She was surprised as a cool breeze washed over her form, spread out before her was a huge grove. She could see everything from grasses to a host of different kinds of trees. She took a step and relished in the feeling of real grass under her hoofs. She looked up to see a clear dome, showing only the black of space, despite the room’s apparent daylight. A small arrowhead shaped thing, the color of silver, flashed passed above her head almost too fast to track, it banked down and to the right, flying to a hover in front of a familiar Human.

James looked right at her as she took another step, waving her over nonchalantly while the arrowhead shaped thing flew off.

“Celestia.” He said, his back to her.

She walked up to his side, “James.”

“How’s Luna?” He asked, Celestia unable to read his tone.

“She’s... getting better.” Celestia said.

He sighed deeply, like a father to a troubled child, “Don’t lie to us, especially not to me, Celestia.”

“If you know everything, why ask?” She said.

“To hear it from you, see if you’d try and lie.” He looked at her at last, “You, all of you, are more like us than you care to realise Celestia.”

“Oh?”

“Basicly Human, at least in all the ways that matter. You talk like a Human, you think like a Human, you act like a Human, the only thing different is the body.” James said.

“You Humans made us to be like you. That’s what Vigil said, you were alone, so you made us.” Celestia said.

“That’s what you think, hmm? If only it was that simple.” He said.

“Isn’t it?” She said.

“When I made you, and I didn’t do it for some higher purpose, I did it because I could. I was like a... a child in a sandbox. You were never meant to be anything, a morbid curiosity of mine, but the Chairman.” Saying the title with a particular venom, “He thought you all were something more. Something more than a science experiment of mine. For the longest time... I disagreed with Prescott. I guess I was... detached from it all.”

She looked at him, not expecting to be hearing this, “Now?”

“Now... I don’t know. It could be that all of this,” He gestured around, “Has me looking for atonement, not for what I did, but for what we did. For what Humanity has done.”

“James, you know this wasn’t your fault.” She said.

“You think you were the only ones we meddled with?”

She gave him a look, trying to decipher what he was saying, “Only ones? What do you mean?”

James let out a deep sigh, “No more secrets, the time for that has long gone don’t you think?”

She was about to answer when she realised that he was talking to himself more than he was to her.

“Everything we got our hands on, we changed, we shaped, to what we thought was best. For the longest time I was... willfully ignorant of the universe around me. Unaware of the damage we were doing.” He looked at his hands in near disgust, “There is a natural order to everything, it would seem those who up-end it do not fare well.”

“There were more? Other races like us?” She asked.

“A few. Nothing even comparable to the level that we're on, least anything that’s still here. The public at large knew nothing, they couldn't ever find out. Look at what happend when Eden was tossed into the light” He huffed, “ignorance is bliss I suppose.”

She directed her attention to the many trees around her, watching the small arrow head like craft fly about.

As if he knew what she was thinking about, James produced an apple and tossed it in the air.

She watched as one of the small craft broke apart, what looked like dozens of fins coming of the top part of the flying machine, giving it a menacing appearance. It then flew right into the apple at an indescribable speed, turning it into a fine mist of apple bits.

“Repurposed military ANGEL drones, they tend the gardens.” James said simply.

She looked at him through slightly narrowed eyes, “Always war with you Humans?”

He shook his head, “You forget this is a military vessel? You’ve seen a fraction of a part of our society Celestia, a fraction of a percent.”

“A shame it was this part.” She said.

He extended his hand, another apple in it, “On that we are in agreement.”

He looked at her like something was gnawing at him, she could see it like it was painted on his face. “Something wrong?”

He looked as if he was debating telling her, “We may be able to do something for Luna.”

She dropped the half eaten apple, it rolling away as she stared at the Human.

“It’s risky, she could die if it goes wrong, but we may be able to help her.” He said.

“How?” She said, stomping her hoof.

“Olympus Mons may have the necessary equipment to help your sister, I had a science team working with multiple specimens of your race. The only reason a operation is riky here is because I don’t have the necessary data on your physiology, if it’s on Olympus Mons, I could fix your sister; for good this time.” He said.

“Can you tell me the chances, if it’s there, that you can fix my sister without harming her?” Celestia said.

“An even fifty-fifty, at best.” He said, “I’m sorry but that’s the best I can do.”

“I understand.”

She was about to continue before James held up a hand, cutting her off. She watched as his face ran a gamut of emotions, he settled on a look of confusion.
“‘Gone’? What do you mean ‘Gone’ Captain?... Damnit... Fine, I’m on the way.” James spoke to himself, no doubt to another Human.

“What’s going on?” Celestia asked perplexed.

He held his hand out, his palm to the ground, and the small circle on it gained a blue glow and a number of stars appeared above his hand. A small red circle appeared with nothing in it.

“What do you see?” He asked, pointing to the circle with his other hand.

“Nothing?” She guessed, not really knowing what to look for.

“Exactly... Nothing... Right where it should be.” He said, his tone forlorn.

“What is ‘it’” She asked.

“Sol... Our star, our home, it’s should be there. But it’s not.” He said. “I’ve got to have a talk with the Captain about this.”

“Is this the work of your enemy?” She asked having trouble believing something like a star could simply vanish.

“I don’t know, but I think the Captain and the others are hiding something.” He said.

He started to walk away, then turned around to face her.

“Celestia, I want you to know, I will do everything in my power to fix this. All of it, no matter what happens.” He said, gesturing around.

“Promise me that.” Celestia said, her voice serious.

“I promise you.” He said, then he turned and walked back the way she came.

Celestia continued to watch the small metal things fly about, thinking about how the events to come was going to play out. Hoping that somehow everything would turn out right.

Author's Note

To all.
I know I've not updated anything in a while, so let me sort everything out.
I had huge tests in school,I was down sick for a couple of weeks, then right after that I had my nose cauterized because of a blood vesicle.

One more thing, I know some of you have been thinking that this story is a bit boring, I want everyone to know that this trilogy has been world building for the main story I wanted to tell. So stick it out a little longer, and we'll be back to the action. I'm back to a normal update schedule as well.