Mass Effect 4

Chapters

The Invasion
The Citadel
The First Mission

The Invasion

Mass Effect 4
Chapter 2: The Invasion

Once Twilight had gotten all of her equipment squared away, she immediately began looking at the beacon once more, claiming that she needed to learn all she could about Reapers and their strategies. She’d turned part of the lab into her own room and organized everything almost obsessively. Aside from that, she’d been quiet, almost anti-social even. The only thing on Twilight’s mind seemed to be this mission, so everypony ended up staying away from her for the majority of the trip to colony Roverkan.

The group had almost arrived at this point, so Applejack had Twilight, Caramel, and Rainbow Dash down in the conference room fully suited up. “Alright, it’s ‘bout time to we reached the colony. Everypony got what they need?” Everypony checked their equipment. Rainbow Dash was wearing a suit of dark blue light armor to maintain her speed. She’d gotten an assault rifle, the R-11 Flasher, which was the average weapon of choice for the Equestrian Guard. It came with the ability to fire magic imbued shards of metal that could penetrate kinetic barriers much easier than without, like all pony weapons. Caramel was wearing a suit of heavy armor, complete with helmet, which was primarily a steel gray. He’d decided to bring along a couple of stun grenades, a T-1 Order sniper rifle, and the same rifle as Rainbow. Both Rainbow and Caramel had their weapons attached to a battle saddle, an item wrapped around their backs that allows them to use weapons without the use of fingers or their mouths. They were activated by pressing a trigger on either side of their mouths for the respective gun. It might also be nice to note that the standard for all weaponry was to use a cooling system where firing too much at once would lead to the weapon overheating.( For those reading, this is contrast to the clip system implemented in Mass Effect 2). Meanwhile, Twilight still had only her white body suit, which she had assured to Applejack, was reinforced by magical wards and had kinetic barriers as the cherry on top. The commander had grudgingly accepted the explanation, partly because she wasn’t completely sure how magical wards worked, as she hadn’t worked with many unicorns, but mostly due to Twilight refusing to put on ‘one of those cumbersome, abortive suits’. The commander was wearing her burgundy, medium class armor. She was outfitted with a SG-40 Pyragon, a shotgun, and the P-1 Magnum, a pistol. Applejack’s shotgun was attached to her right side while the pistol remained in a holster with its mouth grip open to the world.

“We’re good,” Caramel confirmed.

”Commander, we’ve arrived! I’m docking the Revelation now,” Pinkie said over the intercom. At about that moment, the ship began to rumble a bit, the sign of the docking procedure beginning.

“Okay, Pinkie. Y’all’re gonna drop us off and then await further orders.”

”Okie dokie lokie! You got it, commander!” The intercom turned off and AJ readdressed her ground team.

“Rainbow, Caramel, y’all two will split up. Ah’m gonna stay near the workers. Rainbow, I want ya in the air and watching the perimeter.” Rainbow grinned and flapped her wings. AJ turned to her other soldier,” Caramel, you’ll be takin’ point from the best location ya can find and watch with that there sniper of yours.” He nodded and the rumbling stopped. “Alright, ah’m hopin’ we won’t be needed, but be prepared for everythin’. Ready, move out!” At that both Rainbow and Caramel saluted, while Twilight just looked between them. Once Applejack started, everypony followed. The mission had begun.

Roverkan was located on a planet pretty far from its sun, so the highest temperature anyone could expect was around 0 degrees Fahrenheit. It’d been chosen by the Diamond Dogs due to the vast stores of minerals hidden underneath its surface. Topside, there was merely a docking station placed near a very large, circular door. It stood out like a sore thumb due to its color being white, and it being surrounded by lights of varying colors, in contrast to the dark navy blue of the rest of the planet. Applejack stepped out, her ground team, and Twilight Sparkle, in tow. The first thing she noticed was the spires of rock completely surrounding them. They towered no less than 200 hooves above them. Those are equivalent to feet, by the way. It was as if the entrance to Roverkan had been placed in a depression.

“Well, this is a bit dismal,” Caramel commented once he got a good look around.

“Yeah,” Rainbow agreed, “I grew up in the colonies and I’ve never seen anything this depressing.”

Applejack remained silent. She was just glad to be some solid earth again, even it felt incredibly chilled. Rainbow sneezed and Caramel shivered. Even though their armor had their own insulation, it didn’t help as much as the ponies would have liked.

“Trust me, this is nothing.” Twilight said while she trotted past the group of soldiers to a key pad. “The world of Mordor was a complete and utter wasteland. It was unbearably hot and there was a constant shadow no matter where my team and I travelled.” She snorted as she put in a password. A green light sounded and the doors began to open. “It makes Roverkan seem like a vacation spot.”

Applejack just walked through the doors after Twilight. Caramel and Rainbow glanced at each other briefly before following suit. The group had to walk down a long hallway that had been carved out of the rock. It was angled down, so the colony was much further underground than any of the soldiers had expected. What started as a sort of jagged more natural appearing cave eventually smoothed out into the customary halls of diamond dogs. Just beyond the exit of the hall was the majority of the colony. Most of the buildings and homes had been created by the surrounding earth. This was something the diamond dogs had always done; despite their ample supply of materials, most of them preferred to stay traditional and mold their houses with their own paws. As such, all of the buildings looked different, but completely functional. Applejack noticed a few white buildings in the mix of the rocks and figured they must have been the residences of the ponies.

“Twilight, it’s so great to finally see you again!” Applejack snapped her attention from the buildings to the speaker, a light aquamarine unicorn mare wearing a white lab coat. Her mane was a light grayish cyan, complete with white highlights. Her eyes were a bright orange as she gazed at the violet mare.

“Lyra Heartstrings, it’s been ages!” Twilight said as the two trotted toward and embraced each other. Once the two finished, they held hooves while continuing to catch up. “How are you? You didn’t give up playing the lyre, did you?”

Lyra shook her head in the negative. “No, no, I was just asked to come in since I also got a doctorate in humanity in my spare time. Never thought that would pay off like this! But, um…” Lyra looked over to the three soldiers standing behind her old friend, “Who are they?”

“Hmm?” Twilight glanced at what Lyra was gazing at briefly, “Oh, I totally forgot! Lyra, This is Commander Applejack, Ensign Rainbow Dash, and Lieutenant Caramel. They’ll be providing a guard against anyone or anything that tries to hinder our progress.”

Applejack stepped forward and raised a hoof for a shake. “Nice to meet ya, Ms. Heartstrings.”

“Likewise, Commander,” Lyra said while shaking the outstretched hoof. She turned back to Twilight afterward, “So, want to get started? From the message I received, I’m led to believe we’re on a tight time schedule.”

“You’re right. Let’s go.” Both of them turned to walk toward one of the white buildings. From just a glance, Applejack could tell that it was the largest in the area. “Commander, you’re free to protect this place how you see fit now. I only ask that you not hamper anything.”

“Understood, Twilight. Now y’all get over there and start on them weapons. We’ll keep ya safe.” Twilight nodded and left with Lyra. Applejack looked around the colony before turning back to Rainbow and Caramel. “Well, y’all know the plan. Let’s get to it before somethin’ happens!”

“Right, on it!” Rainbow took to the air, a streak of rainbow left in her wake. Caramel simply nodded and walked toward one of the taller buildings that were more in the center. It looked like he’d also been scoping out the colony during Twilight’s little talk. Applejack sighed and trotted near the facility where their only hope for defeating the Reapers would be created.

That day, nothing eventful transpired. Twilight had enlightened Applejack as to what had been completed; the ponies and diamond dogs within decided just how many resources would be necessary and a general timetable for the completion of one. They estimated two weeks. With a time now available to her, AJ was currently communicating with the Revelation to let them know approximately how long they’d be staying. Twilight had opted to remain All three of them were in the tower Caramel had chosen as his lookout, which left Caramel and Rainbow by themselves for the moment.

“Hey, Rainbow,” Caramel started, “You might find this a bit random, but why exactly did you come to Ponyville?”

Rainbow looked up from where she was laying. “You’re right, that is random. What made you think about that?”

Caramel shrugged, “Just curious, I guess. You always said that you grew up on the colonies, but never explained why you came to Equestria.” He laid his head back down. Never explained why you went to live with AJ first, either. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, just wanted to make small talk before AJ gets.

“Nah, it’s cool,” the cyan mare said as she turned over and looked at the ceiling, letting her head rest on her forelegs. “I don’t really tell anypony because it’s a pretty boring story.” She paused and began bobbing a hind leg.

“Are you going to finish?”

Rainbow started suddenly, “Uh, yeah! Let’s see… My parents caught a break around the time I was six. Got this awesome job offer in Canterlot, but there were like no houses available. So, we went to Ponyville.” She turned her head away from him. “See. Told you it was boring.”

Caramel remained silent, but he had noticed what she’d been doing while telling the story. Rainbow’s eyes were shifting from side to side, her wings were fidgeting, and she kept fiddling with her hooves. She was telling a serious lie. And even if she didn’t do that, it doesn’t explain why she lived with AJ and I’ve never seen her parents…

Applejack trotted in at that moment. “Okay, everypony in the Revelation will be on standby until the mission’s done. Rainbow, Ah’mma need ya to take mah position tomorrow while Ah see about gettin’ them some supplies. And tonight, we need to set up a watch. Everypony will watch the facility for three hours before switchin’ shifts. Questions?” Once the two of them had accepted the orders, the commander picked up Caramel’s sniper and set it up in the window facing the facility. “Ah’ll. Y’all get some rest. Caramel, you’re up next.”

Two weeks passed, once again without anything eventful happening. The weapon, dubbed the ‘Godslayer’, was nearly complete, though not without a few all-nighters. The sleek cannon required just a few finishing touches, so Applejack had been called in to talk about the details concerning it. This is where she was now.

“So, ya finished yet?”

“Not entirely,” Twilight replied. The two of them were looking at the nearly finished Godslayer. “It requires a few more plates to be installed, but the weapon is fully capable of firing. And if you look over here,” she pointed to a wall that was about 300 hooves away from the end of the cannon, “you’ll see that the tests have proven to indisputably work just as designed.”

“Well alright!” AJ reared up and kicked into the air with her forelegs. “Then all that’s left is to ship this baby to the Citadel, start up the alliance, and start mass producin’ these babies.” She looked from the Godslayer to Twilight, who was looking more than a bit ragged. Her mane was disheveled and there were dark bags underneath her eyes. She yawned loudly and covered her mouth a hoof.

“Sorry. You can see I haven’t gotten much sleep lately.” She straightened her limbs and everything visibly tightened as she stretched.

“Aw, that’s fine. You should probably get some sleep. Ya been workin’ nonstop for two weeks! I think it’s ‘bout time-“

”Commander,” Rainbow chimed in, ”I just found three ponies walking in from the front gate. You know anything about this?”

Applejack thought for a moment before turning to Twilight, “Twi, you know anything ‘bout three ponies leavin’ the colony earlier?”

She yawned again. “Yes, I’m fine. There were three ponies sent yesterday to prepare the frigate. I’m… not sure what they’d be doing back here though.”

The commander narrowed her eyes. Something was off about the situation, but she couldn’t quite place it. She placed her hoof to her ear to activate the com link, “Rainbow, leave ‘em be. They went out to prepare the frigates. I want you to be ready though. Tell Caramel.”

”You got it, Applejack.”

She cut communications and patted Twilight on her shoulder. “Get some sleep. We’ll come getcha whenever it’s time to ship out.” The violet mare wearily nodded and turned away from her, wobbling over to the exit. Applejack followed her out, but went down to the labs rather than outside. Down there was Lyra and a few other ponies she didn’t know the name of. She was looking up at a glowing blue object held in a clear, obviously reinforced container. “What’s that?”

The lime mare turned toward Applejack, surprise written on her features. “Oh, Commander Applejack! I didn’t expect to see you down here.” AJ nodded and Lyra turned back to the glowing object. “We aren’t sure. All we know is that it’s consistent with the properties of what the Godslayer fires. Commander, this is some pretty advanced stuff.” She turned her head back to the orange mare. “I wasn’t told what this weapon was being used for. Do you know?”

Well, I suppose an overview wouldn’t be that bad. “It’s insurance against an enemy the Citadel Council believes will be on its way soon. They have some powerful defenses, so we gotta have somethin’ capable of tearin’ ‘em down.” In the midst of talking, neither the commander nor the doctor noticed two mares and a stallion walking in simultaneously.

Lyra shrugged, “Well, I suppose that’s all you can tell me. Thanks for filling me in. I know some soldiers that wouldn’t even tell me that much!” The unicorn stallion was now behind them. “I’m sure that, whatever’s coming, you guys will keep us safe. Thanks-“ Lyra’s sentence was cut short as the back of her head exploded. Flashes of light were firing into her head, turning it into absolute mush. Screams sounded from all around her as flashes of bright green light suddenly flared around them. The three ponies that had walked in revealed themselves to be black insect-like creatures with chitin skin. On top of all of their heads were sharp horns that curved toward the ceiling with fangs for teeth. Green, transparent wings adorned their sides and their legs were riddled with holes. Applejack knew exactly what these things were.

Changelings!Changelings were a race of these creatures that everypony was aware of. They lived in the galaxy closest to dark space, named Audubon. The reason that all ponies knew of, and in some cases held a great fear of them, was due to the Changeling Invasion nearly 150 years ago. To summarize, upon ponies entering the Citadel and becoming ascended, the Changelings, a race that feeds on love, realized the vast amount of love ponies held with each other in comparison to the other races. Thus their queen, Chrysalis, had taken it upon herself to lead an invasion force against the pony race in a war that lasted twenty years (see the Codex for more).

Reflexes are something Applejack prided herself on. She immediately analyzed her own position, those of the three Changelings, and how quickly it would take her to duck for cover. The first was just within range of a trademark apple buck. The other two were occupied with blasting equipment and the other scientists. The orange mare bent down and delivered a quick buck to the Changeling’s head. Despite her lack of preparation, the commander’s strength coupled with her armor was enough to knock the Changeling off of its feet. She took the opportunity and pounced on it, delivering a bone crushing stomp on its jaw. The bones shattered as though they were mere twigs underneath her boot. Without missing a beat, AJ quickly kicked its assault rifle off of its battle saddle. Well, it’s a good thing them normal changelin’s can’t use magic or Ah’d be in trouble.

One of the pony scientists made a bee line for the door behind Applejack, drawing a changeling’s attention in her direction. Applejack prepared to be peppered by plasma rounds, but they never came. Instead, the scientist was knocked off of her feet by a hailstorm of plasma that completely dissolved her. A puddle of green sludge fell to the ground where she stood just moments before. Applejack swore; she’d just put her own safety in front of one of the ponies that could actually save the galaxy in the long run. The changeling ignored her and turned about to continue its massacre along with its partner. Applejack slipped the plasma rifle into her battle saddle and took a deep breath.

“Hey, ya cheese-legged varmints! Why don’t ya take on somepony that can actually fight back? Or are ya too chicken t’ face one o’ us after that flank wuppin’ ya got all them years ago?!” Applejack knew very well that the majority of Changeling soldiers had no concept of fear. This was something that every recruit was drilled to remember in the academy, but AJ was willing to gamble that they had some sort of brain in there that would respond to insults.

The gamble paid off when one of the creatures stopped its spree of destruction and turned toward her. While before, the room had been filled with technology, notes, and tired, but happy ponies, it was now filled with nothing but scraps, fire, and corpses. Applejack gritted her teeth and pressed down somewhat hard on the left side. The rifle began firing its ammunition at the Changeling that had turned to her, turning it to mush in mere seconds. She didn’t stop firing and turned slightly to pelt the other as well, ending its little stint of terror once and for all.

With the threat ended, Applejack looked down to the corpse of Lyra. She stared for a few moments before turning away. There was no use in getting angry since her murderer was dead, but she needed to get to the bottom of their infiltration. Changelings were notoriously good at that act, considering it was what sustained their livelihood in the first place. Prior to the Invasion, they nearly exclusively comprised most stealth operations involving the Citadel. She raised her right hoof and tapped her ear. A bit of static later and she’d been connected to the Revelation. “Pinkie Pie.”

”Commander! We’ve got a problem!”

Applejack’s brow furrowed. “Does it involve Changelin’s?”

”Yes! How’d you know?”

“The scientists just had a… fatal run-in with ‘em. What’s the problem?”

There was the sound of rushin ponies in the background. ”T-there’re two Changeling ships that just decloaked around us! They’re dropping off soldiers like crazy. I… I think they’re trying to-“ A loud rumbling sound accompanied the shaking of the building Applejack was currently in.

“The door… They blew up the door! I gotta go, Pinkie.” Applejack went from 0 to 20 miles an hour in a second. While she was charging through the facility, aiming for the exit, she called in to Caramel, “Changelings are invading. Get ready to start pickin’ off anypony that comes down that entrance!” She exited the facility and immediately looked toward the colony entrance. So far, there was nothing, but she knew the Changeling’s were on their way. The worst part was that she had no idea as to how many would decide to show their ugly faces. “Rainbow,” Applejack continued after putting her hoof to her ear once more, “I want ya to git to the entrance. Stay above it and give ‘em a surprise they won’t be forgettin’ anytime soon.” She cut connections and looked around, seeing diamond dogs beginning to walk out. Shoot, I forgot about the locals!

One dog, what appeared to be a male, walked toward Applejack. He was obviously angry; his large maw was set in a frown AJ could have sworn shouldn’t have been physically possible. “Pony,” he rasped, “What iz the meaning of thiz? Firzt, you break ze peace here with your abominable weapon, and now earthquakez? “

Applejack glanced past him to the tunnel. She could swear that there was a rumbling sound emanating from it. “No time to explain. Do y’all have any weapons?”

The dog raised an eyebrow. “Of courze. There are zome lezz than amiable creatures in this planet’s depthz. We require zome protection.”

“Then get everyone prepared, won’t ya? There’s somethin’ comin’, and Ah’m pretty doggone sure they’ll be takin’ out anything in their way.”

He folded his arms in indignation. “And what would zat be?” A screech sounded from the entrance. The changelings had finally arrived. Both the mare and the diamond dog looked at it to see a large mass of black pouring out of the entrance. Before they got too far, a sniper shot sounded and two of them dropped dead.

“That.” Any arguments the dog may have had died in his throat when he saw what could be the end of his friends and family. He rushed off to calm the panicking diamond dogs and get them to take up arms as well.

I can’t wait for that. Those critters will tear everythin’ apart before the dogs can get together. Applejack ran toward the closest building that was in front of the small army. Caramel continued to systematically pick off insect after insect with his sniper. Rainbow wasn’t there yet. The commander set herself and prepared her shotgun, removing the safety and blasting around the corner almost simultaneously. Something yelled and hit the ground; looks like she hit one.

Rounds began pinging off of her armor rapidly, forcing the commander to get back behind cover. If only Ah’d known. I could really use a rifle right about now! She peered over the corner to see five changelings approaching her position. To the right was another rock building. Behind them was apparently a plaza, so it would probably lack any good cover. A majority of the drones were walking through the plaza, blasting at anyone that happened to be out. Luckily, that diamond dog AJ spoke to earlier worked quickly; most dogs were behind her position, in their weapons stores. She clenched her teeth and ran into the open. The drones began their assault mere seconds after her leaving, but that was enough. Applejack unleashed one blast of metal into the chest of one drone first. Once the rounds started flying, she kicked another into one of its partners and followed up by leaping behind the next building.

At this point, her shields were near dead, but AJ knew she needed to take them down quickly before reinforcements decided to come that way. She began taking deep, quick breaths as her blood began moving faster. Her heart rate increased, her muscles tensed and loosened repeatedly, and she entered a state of focus that was nearly unnatural. Adrenaline Rush, a byproduct of genetic augmentation, was normally used by Earth Ponies to combat those races with the use of magic or other special abilities. Due to their incredible innate physical abilities, earth ponies using it were usually to be avoided. Applejack was about to demonstrate exactly why.

Once the enhanced mare had activated it completely she leaped from behind the building, soaring the entire 10 foot distance and landing on top of a changeling. There was a sickening crunch as she pounded her forelegs down and released another blast from her shotgun, making one more of the black creatures bite the dust. With only two left, the commander turned and end up being fired upon by the remaining two. Her shield flickered and died quickly, but the adrenaline she was feeling eliminated all pain for the moment. She just had to ensure there were no shots to the head, since she wasn’t wearing a helmet.

Simple enough.

Time seemed to have slowed down while the orange mare took aim and fired. It wasn’t enough to stop them, but the sudden spray of pellets stopped the changelings from firing. It took less than a second for her to close the distance and bowl one over. A swift kick to the changeling left standing and both of them were on the ground. One stomp and shot later, AJ was alone in the alley.

“Where in tarnation is Rainbow Dash? These fellas should have been a bit more thin than this…” Not wanting to draw more attention to herself, Applejack picked up one of the assault rifles and trotted into an empty home. It was at that moment that two explosions coupled with the yells of changelings reached her ears.

”Hey, Applejack! Hope you didn’t bite the big one while I was gone,” Rainbow’s tomboyish voice sounded through her communicator. ”Thought it’d be nice to have some fireworks during the show!”

“Nice to hear you weren’t snoozin’ on me. Ya mind tellin’ me just how many o’ these things are here?”

There was a bit of silence prior to her quick response, ”After my little show, I can only see around 40. No more reinforcements though. They must’ve thought this’d be easy and brought a minimum.”

Applejack applied some health gel, a medical gel that is able to magically repair wounds, and looked around the home. There was food on the table, still hot. Bags were scattered on the floor, a computer was still active. It looked like whoever lived here wasn’t at all prepared for the current events. “Alright, then stay high and pick ‘em off. I need to find Twilight, iffin she’s still alive.” She really wished she’d kept a tag on the violet mare.

The commander gazed out of the window as she watched the Changelings run through the street corridors. A rainbow blur was above, occasionally raining bullets on the black creatures. There was also the steady boom of Caramel’s sniper rifle, always searching for new targets. She tapped a hoof to her ear, “Twilight Sparkle? Come in, Twilight. Don’t be dead on me…”

There was nothing but silence on the other end of the line. A fear began to sprout in the commander’s heart; Twilight was the only remaining pony that really knew anything about the Reapers or had an idea on how they worked. As of right now, the other races were unknowns. If she died, there would be no one with expertise on them, and the current cycle would be just as much in the dark as its predecessor. Luckily, a voice began rasping on the line after a minute. ”C-commander?” she whispered silently.

“Twilight, you’re alive! Thank Celestia, now where are ya?”

”I’m at the pony’s living facility across from the tallest tower. Applejack, there’s a lot of Changeling’s in here…”

“Just hang tight, Twi. Ah’m on mah way,” AJ reassured her while she was already moving. The Changelins’ must have come down here t’ git rid o’ anypony that knew ‘bout the Godslayer. But… how’d they know ‘bout it? And why? She stopped the thought there; there was no point dwelling on the mystery now. The only important thing was to get to Twilight and keep her safe.

Caramel swerved about the window, sniper in hoof, as he searched for more headshots he could make. Through his sights, he could see Rainbow in the distance; apparently their forces had thinned enough that they could actually remain hidden. Guess I’m done for the moment. He tapped his ear to start a line, “Pinkie. Hey, Pinkie, do you read?” After a few moments of silence, he placed his hoof on top if the window sill and activated his omnitool. Navigating to the list of connections, he found that the Revelation’s signal wasn’t available. Their signal is being jammed? Damn, guess I’m not getting any eyes on the outside. The sniper turned his rifle toward the entrance, to ensure there really weren’t any reinforcements on the way.

Shouldn’t be too long until the dogs finally get themselves… Who is that? Caramel had peered into his scope and found that one Changeling wearing an elaborate set of amethyst armor that covered its entire body, save its wings and face. Aside from that, it looked like any other changeling. What really drew the earth pony’s attention is who was next to it.

It was a sky blue unicorn. Her cutie mark was covered by her black armor, but her mane was clearly visible. It was striped with a very pale blue as the primary color with a slightly darker blue streaking down the middle. Her armor gleamed in the bright lights of the entrance to the colony, coloring it majorly a black with various grays and blues scattered along the leg pieces. There were no weapons to be found on her person, but there was one item that stood out: a black and red amulet with the shape of a pony at its tip. She was conversing with the Changeling and wore a look so smug it would put Rainbow Dash to shame. After the two had breached the tunnel’s exit, Changeling reinforcements began to storm out of the tunnel.

Caramel sighed and raised the commander calmly, “Applejack, Changeling reinforcements on the way.”

”…Consarnit, this is just what we need! Why didn’t Pinkie say nothin’?”

“I think the extra ship caught them off guard. I can’t connect with them.” Caramel gave her a moment to swear before tacking on what he wasn’t totally sure wasn’t bad news, “Commander, I also found what looked like a general and a blue unicorn walking with it.”

”Sounds like generals t’ me. Not so sure ‘bout the pony though.” There was a brief silence before she continued, “” Take ‘em both down. Ya take out the head and the rest’ll run scared!”

“Got it,” he said while already preparing the first shot. The cross hairs aligned with the blue unicorn’s head. “One, two, Luna’s comin’ for you…” The trigger was squeezed lightly, “three, four, you’ll live… no… more.” The trigger was pressed down completely and the magically enhanced sniper roared as it let loose a single round toward the unicorn’s head. Caramel simply waited for the inevitable explosion.

It never came. The bullet had been stopped inches from the unicorn’s face, caught in a completely red aura. The Changeling general leaped back in surprise at what was most certainly to be the end of one of the duo. The unicorn’s grin never left her face as she looked in the direction of where the shot had come from.

It was though she was staring directly into his eyes. Caramel fumbled as he pulled his sniper around and threw it on his back. The moment he’d made it out of the room, the room exploded in red and debris. The blast threw the soldier into the wall adjacent to his now demolished room, causing him to blackout on the spot.

Applejack cantered out of the nearly demolished room with Twilight Sparkle in tow. She’d had to fend off about ten Changelings just to get to the unicorn, but at least they both came out relatively unscathed. The Diamond dogs were rushing past her, weapons in tow, as they prepared to eliminate the little infestation problem they had. The Diamond Dog that had rallied them all was walking over to her. Before that, she had something she needed to tell Twilight.

“Twilight,” AJ said while looking at the purple unicorn. She turned her head to face the commander, a weary frown on her face. Of course Applejack understood; being thrown into a situation where your life was on the line without proper preparation would be jarring to anyone. “Ah just thought ya should know… ‘bout your friends.”

Twilight’s eye brow raised. “What do you mean? What happened to them?”

There was no point in beating around the bush. Twilight seemed like a tough enough girl. After all, she was trained by Princess Celestia herself and she proved her will while working on the Godslayer. Yeah, this couldn’t be bad! “All of the scientists were killed, Twilight. They were the first hit by the Changelins.” The silence that followed was as awkward as possible. The purple scientist could only gape at the commander, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open. That was when Applejack realized that she was not talking to a fellow soldier, where death was to be taken with a grain of salt, but a scientist. She’d probably never lost anyone outside of old age!

Consarnit, Applejack! What in the hay were ya thinkin’? The orange mare glanced away feverishly and spotted the Diamond Dog was nearly upon them.

“Pony commander!” He waved one of his large paws to catch her attention.

Saved by the dog! “Well howdy! Ya got ya friends ready? Reinforcements for the Changelin’s just arrived a few minutes ago.”

The dog nodded his head. “Yez, pony. Dogz uzed to battling creaturez. Able to hold our own against Corznacz and Rimicorez. Huge, feral beaztz that alwayz try to take food storez.” He waved his hoof and turned away. “We will help you, pony. You have proven yourzelf against theze… monzterz. My name iz Rover, commander.”

“And Ah’m Applejack. Pleasure t’ kill Changelin’s with ya,” she said as the two began to run toward the fray. Twilight recovered from her shock soon enough to not get totally left behind.

Applejack thought she had escaped what was sure to be a cacophony of emotional rage, fear, and anguish all bundled into one little unicorn’s mouth. She was wrong. Once they had made it to frontlines where the dogs were currently blasting away at the Changelings, they ducked down as Rover let loose a primal scream, challenging any of the cheese-legged insects to take what was rightfully theirs.

Prepared to help, Applejack prepped her shotgun and pilfered assault rifle moments before Twilight grabbed the nape of her neck, forcefully spinning her toward him. “Woah, nelly!” On Twilight’s face was an anger she’d only seen once, on Braeburn’s mother’s face when he was killed during a griffin skirmish ten years ago. She’d rather face a Reaper early than this. “Uh, what’s up, Twi?”

“What’s up? WHAT’S UP?” Her nostrils flared as she prepared her attack. “My friends are DEAD! That’s what’s up!” She huffed and stomped on the ground, staring directly into the commander’s eyes. The dogs that were firing near them slowly edged away. “It was your mission to protect us! To protect them! And now you speak about them as though they were any other ponies!” She lifted her left hoof and jabbed her in the armor. Applejack could have sworn she was penetrating it once Twilight’s eyes began leaking tears. “They were your failure… At least own up to it!”

Applejack’s jaw set and her brow furrowed. “Twilight, Ah understand you’re angry and that Ah did fail to protect ya friends…” Twilight snorted and looked away. “…but I didn’t fail mah mission. Twilight, you read the files ‘bout the Reapers. We’re at war and have been for centuries, even if we didn’t notice.” Twilight’s grimace didn’t disappear, but she did look back to the commander. AJ took that as a good sign. “Look, the point of this whole shindig was to show we could make that there Reaper killer in record time and with just two races. Ya friends did their job and, though they might be gone, they’ve given us the chance t’ make the alliance!

“Them scientists may well have been the first step t’ savin’ this galaxy. Ah’ve lost friends before, but there’s two things ya can do.” She lifted hoof, turning it up to the sky. “On one hoof, ya can always wallow in the past and never move forward.” The hoof moved to the left. “And on the other, ya move on, remembering ya friends always, but doin’ everythin’ within ya power to help those left alive.”

Twilight’s grimace had slowly moved to a frown as understanding dawned within her. She’s right. Lyra, Comet Tail, Amethyst Star, and all the others… We all gave the galaxy its first weapon against the Reapers. We know it can be done now! And I… I have to… “You’re right, commander. Thank you.”

The commander smiled widely as she spoke, “It was mah pleasure-“ A tower’s room exploded, raining debris on diamond dogs and Changelings alike. “What the hay was that? They bring some of them torpedo cannons?”

Twilight shook her head. “That’s not right. Judging by the amount of destruction wrought by the blast, it’s unlikely to be anything less than a 70 mm antimachine rifle.” The tower began cracking around where it had been struck; it was threatening to collapse. “Um, correction. That would be a tank rifle.”

AJ just stared at the tower though, scrutinizing it until she suddenly gaped in realization. “That’s the tower Caramel was stayin’ in!”

As if on cue, a trail of rainbow flew into the opening that’s been blown into the tower. The tower began leaning a bit more, causing Twilight to turn away and Applejack to stare on in horror. It was about to come down and both of her crew members, or more importantly her friends, were still inside. There was only one thing she could do and it made her feel completely powerless; she had to put her faith in their abilities and chance.

A blue and gray figure jumped out of the tower just as it decided to finish its little tumble, coalescing into a single rainbow that headed straight for the commander’s position. As she landed, she immediately placed Caramel and took a deep breath. “Jeez, he’s heavy! I’m gonna have to get him to lay off the hay fries.” The rainbow maned Pegasus glanced to her left to find both Twilight and Applejack trotting toward her. “Oh, Applejack and Twilight! If you guys are alright, I gotta say, I saw this weird blue unicorn out there with a Changeling in armor. She shot some blast at Caramel and took out the whole room!”

Twilight stopped where she was while Applejack continued to trot. A unicorn destroying an entire room fortified with stone with just a magic missle? That’s…

“Nice t’ see ya, Rainbow. That unicorn on her way here?”

“From what I could see, yeah. She looks important enough to be controlling the Changelings, but I can’t be sure.” Rainbow began snickering, “Not like it would matter, ya know? That tower falling actually took out a bunch of the Changelings that were hiding!”

“Right, well the Diamond Dogs should be ‘bout finished with the cleanup. We should get ready to move the cannon outta here.”

“Ma’am… It would appear the mutts and ponies have eliminated our forces,” a voice that seemed to be a collection of varying sounds mashed together. It was more like a fusion than a unique voice.

“Is that so? Well, The Great and Powerful Trixie will have no problem rectifying the situation-“

“The queen wishes us to withdraw… the mission has been fulfilled.

“I swear that drama queen’s plans are the same as her legs; riddled with holes. If I could just remove whatever filth remains here, there would be no loose ends!”

The blue unicorn Caramel had seen earlier walked around a corner near the barricade the ponies were staying behind. A moment later, the Changeling with armor also made his appearance. “Trixie, we must leave. Now.”

“Oh, don’t go blowing a gasket, Cli’kat. Or whatever you insects have instead. I want to at least see the ponies who would dare rebel against The Great and Powerful Trixie!” The unicorn’s eyes were tinted with a light red glow as the amulet seemed to resonate with it. She gazed upon the barricade and amalgamation of races behind it as though they were but ants underneath her hoof. “Hmm, looks as though Changelings really require an upgrade, don’t you think?”

Cli’kat grit his teeth, causing him to bare his fangs. He looked at her with a rage that burned as intensely as Celestia’s sun, but he did it out of her sight. He muttered something in his native language to himself.

“Now, who do we have… Twilight Sparkle? Is that you?” Trixie was then wrapped in a light red aura as she flew into the air effortlessly. Rainbow could do nothing but gape, while Twilight looked on in horror. Applejack and the diamond dogs seemed to be the only people not surprised by a unicorn taking flight. Seems like something they’d be able to do.

“Trixie…? What are you doing here?”

The boastful mare snorted and flipped her mane, the smuggest smile possible present on her face. “What does it look like? I’m killing all of these so called experts that were working on your little project. Or rather, should I say killed?” She began cackling aloud, causing everyone listening to back up just a tad. “What was it called? The ‘Godslayer’?”

Rainbow stepped up, “It’s called, ‘None-of-your-bee’s-wax!’ How about you just get the buck out here, Oh Lonely and Boastful Trixie.”

Trixie worked her jaw as her eyes began to dangerously glow red. “Trixie is going to enjoy ripping your wings off inch… by… inch.”

Rainbow’s wings spread wide as she prepared to take off. Applejack halted her before that could happen, though. “Rainbow, ya dun riled up a pony that can destroy an entire buildin’ floor an’ controls them Changelins. Now, I’mma need you to go up there and woop that prissy mare’s flank good. We’ll back ya up.”

She grinned and took off toward Trixie in an explosion of color, reaching her just as horn began to flare up even more in preparation of a spell. AJ removed the assault rifle from her battle saddle and mounted it on top of the barricade along with a dozen diamond dogs. The moment the rainbow haired mare was near Trixie, she performed a hair-pin turn to the right to avoid another magic missile. A deep red in color while lighter on the inside, the blast headed straight for the barricade.

I’ve… got to do this! Twilight’s horn flared as she prepared a variation of the barrier spell that would form a type of slide like barrier. Fortunately, Trixie was at a suitable distance for this to actually work. A half-pipe formed sideways, reaching down toward the ground at an angle until it finally turned toward everyone’s right. The blast hit the ground and the resulting explosion threw everyone for a loop. Everything was released away from them, but the shockwave was so powerful the barricade of rocks and sand bags was completely blown away. Any buildings on the side of that street were either completely demolished or had been damaged in some way. Twilight collapsed from a combination of lack of sleep and actual magic exhaustion, as she had to put everything she had into that one spell just to keep it from breaking clear through.

Applejack yelled for the dogs to provide cover fire for Rainbow as she strafed around Trixie. Her speed was keeping her out of the blue magician’s grasp, but all of her bullets were being caught in Trixie’s capture field and then reflected back at her with the force of the bullets that destroyed Caramel’s room. The colony’s roof was taking a beating thanks to the misses by the unicorn. No one noticed, but the roof was about to collapse.

“What’s the matter hot stuff,” Rainbow jeered, “Too slow? So much for ripping me to pieces!” She delivered another spray from her assault rifle, all of which were caught in the motion field.

The bullets turned in place and coalesced. “Writhe in agony, you little blue worm!” A red aura surrounded all of the bullets as they prepared to fire, taking away her motion field. A few of the bullets being fired from below hit her in her legs. Her concentration lost, the bullets fell to the ground normally. Before a counter attack could be mounted though, a voice began playing in her head.

Fool, the queen grows tired of your impudence, Cli’kat stated, She also wishes to NOT lose another ship. Return now or we will both be stuck on this rock.

Trixie growled as her wounds began healing extremely quickly. “Fine. Excuse Trixie, rainbow girl, but Trixie’s assistant and Trixie herself must be going. Your demise will have to wait for a later date.” Her horn began to glow its vivid red once again.

Rainbow stopped in midair, raising an eyebrow as she contemplated what the unicorn just said. “So after all that big talk, you’re just gonna run?”

“Running is the wrong term. A… tactical retreat, would be much better.”

“Tactical retreat? What the hay are you retreating from?” Her wings began flapping hard as she backed away from the unicorn rapidly.

“According to that dolt of an assistant Trixie has, it is by the Queen’s orders. Oh,” she looked to the ceiling, where large chunks of rock were beginning to fall, “This little cave is also going to collapse. Bye, bye, Rainbow Crash. Kill you later!” At that moment, Rainbow flew forward with such speed that a shockwave cone formed around her. Despite this, she wasn’t able to hit Trixie in time. Two red balls formed around both her and the armored Changeling before popping out of existence.

Rainbow curved up and performed a loop to angle back to the ground team. Both Twilight and Caramel were now lying on the ground unconscious, a sight the Pegasus did not enjoy seeing. Applejack walked over and put them on a stretcher, which two diamond dogs began carrying away. “Hey, where are they going?”

“We’re getting’ ‘em out of here, Rainbow. Rover came and said that Ruckus we were causin’ is gonna make the cave collapse. Civilians are on the way out. Y’all go with ‘em too.”

“Wait, what about you? You’re saying that like you aren’t coming.”

“That’s ‘cause Ah’m not,” the commander replied. She’d turned around and was now cantering to the entrance of the facility where the Godslayer and the mysterious objects were. “Some of the Diamond Dogs came down here t’ git the Reaper-killer. Figured if that was lost, then losin’ their home was for nothin’. I’m goin’ to help.”

Rainbow flew in front AJ before she could take two steps. “With all due respect, commander, I’m going to have to disobey those orders. I don’t leave friends behind, especially in situations like this.”

“You’ve been in a collapsin’ colony before?”

“…Well, no, but you get the idea!”

Applejack smiled, “That Ah do. Ah appreciate it, Rainbow. Now come on! Ah’d hate for the durn thing to cave in when we’re right at the exit.”

Surprisingly, everyone had managed to escape safely. The Godslayer and other supposed Reaper artifacts had been removed a few minutes prior to the entire cave collapsing. There was a frigate parked outside that hadn’t been damaged by the Changeling attack, so the weapon had been placed there.

Rover and the rest of the Diamond Dogs of Roverkan, which Applejack had just realized was probably named after him, left on the frigate for the Citadel. As of right now, they were all refugees, most likely the first of many.

This led to the current situation. The Revelation had been caught by a tractor beam, had its radios jammed, and been boarded. In the surprise attack, about a fourth of the crew had been killed, which was really only about ten people. Thing is, in a ship like the Revelation, every pony was important. One stood out more than others.

“Our medic is dead?” Applejack yelled within the center of the ship. It was relatively unscathed, actually.

Pinkie rubbed her ear. “Yes, I just said that! The Changelings actually went for her first.”

Applejack swore. She hadn’t even had a chance to meet the mare and now she was dead, when she had someone that seriously needed to be checked out. “And what else was damaged?”

Pinkie sat down on her flank as she began to list off items, “Let’s see… stealth systems, normal FTL drive, the medical ward, a few beds in the living ward, a toilet, and… one of my cakes. Aw!”

The commander wanted to ask how only one toilet got destroyed. She wanted it badly, but there were other matters at hoof. “Alright Pinkie, set our next destination for the Citadel. We got a lot of recuperatin’ t’ do.”

Author's Note

Dear Luna... I kept stopping on this chapter to think about what would happen later. Took me days! Can anyone see the initial battle scene as close to Fallout: Equestria? If so, it's because Project Horizons kept popping into my head while writing that scene.

Stupid, good, Fallout stories...

Oh, and critic, critic, critic! Just don't be a douche about it.

The Citadel

Mass Effect 4
Chapter 3: The Citadel

At the Citadel, what was left of the Revelation were currently enjoying a few days of shore leave. The Revelation itself was currently being outfitted with the weapon capable of destroying a Reaper: the ‘Godslayer’. Twilight had retired to her apartment inside of the library where she was currently passed out. Caramel wasn’t so lucky, though.

This very moment, Applejack was present by his side in the hospital ward. Since their medic had been amongst the casualties in the little Changeling attack they’d suffered one day ago, the earth pony soldier remained unconscious for the entire trip. While the commander knew very little about medicine, she knew staying out for that long could only mean some sort of trouble. The first thing she’d done was rush him to the ER. As of yet, his condition had yet to be released.

The sound of a door opening drew Applejack’s attention from her friend to a doctor. Standing there was a butter yellow Pegasus mare with a long, light pink mane and tail. She was wearing a tight fitting white lab coat that stopped just short of her flank, revealing a cutie mark of three pink butterflies. She looked a bit shy, something that Applejack figured to be true when the mare shrunk back at the sight of her in the room.

“Oh… um, are you Commander Applejack?” She spoke softly, so softly that Applejack could hardly hear her.

“Yes ma’am, that’d be me,” the orange mare turned toward the doctor. “So, who are ya?”

Using a wing, she placed some records on the table and trotted to the side of Caramel opposite of the commander. “My name is… Fluttershy,” she replied, this time just a bit more softly than before. She began nosing around underneath a metal desk, looking for body scanner. Her mane fell forward to cover her face.

Startin’ t’ see why she’s got ‘shy’ in her name. She waited patiently as the doctor began to run the scanner along the Caramel’s barrel. After a few minutes, she stopped and placed the oblong object away. Fluttershy was entering some notes into a datapad when the commander could take it no longer. “So, what’s wrong with ‘im?”

The Pegasus started; having the silence broken so suddenly startled her. “Oh! I’m sorry… He has a concussion and a few broken bones.”

Applejack wiped her brow, “Whew, is that all? Thought he’d been knocked into a coma or somethin’!”

Fluttershy shook her head and placed the datapad down. “He’ll be fine. He just needs some bed rest. The concentrated health potion will do the rest.” She walked over to a desk, sitting down in a position that faced both her patient and the commander. “I’m afraid he won’t be able to partake in active combat for at least a few days… The bones need time to reset themselves.”

“That’s better than never bein’ able to jump in the saddle again. Ah can wait ‘til then,” she said while turning her gaze back to Caramel. The light brown pony was resting peacefully; a rest the commander was fine with allowing him. They’d yet to receive new orders from neither Shining Armor nor Luna, and thus were stuck with nothing to do. With the knowledge of the Changelings out there to destroy their chances to win against the Reapers and that new mare, Trixie, leading them, Applejack honestly did not want to be resting so soon.

“Hey, Fluttershy? Ya think we can take him with us if we need t’ leave? Ah’d rather not waste more time than Ah need to.”

“Mm,” she chirped, “it should be fine. I haven’t seen your ship’s medical facilities, but Mister Caramel needs very little right now.”

AJ jumped out of her chair, keeping her voice low as not to disturb other patients, “Well then, now all we need is another medic and a startin’ point!” Just y’all wait, Trixie, Changelin’s. Me and mah crew are comin’ for y’all. Ya can’t hide for long! Her thoughts were interrupted when Fluttershy’s coughs finally reached a pitch that she could hear. “Uh, what is it, Doc?”

“Um, you won’t need to wait for a medic…”

The commander’s brow furrowed as she fully turned to the doctor. “Why not?”

“Because I’ve been… given the job.”

A mug of nice, light brown cider slammed into a countertop elsewhere in the enormous cylinder. The top of its contents spilled over, spraying all of its neighbors with froth. “Man! Never thought the people up in space would have cider like home…” Rainbow swayed, blowing her hair from in front of her face so she could see again.

Pinkie was practically vibrating in the seat next to her. “Ooooohhh, you weeeerrrreeee right, Daaaashie!”

Dash gazed at Pinkie with a confusion so blatant any passerby could tell. “Uh, Pinkie? You drinking the same thing I am? Last I checked,” she stopped briefly to hiccup, “…cider doesn’t make people hyper like that.”

The party pony lifted a cup of whatever she was drinking, somehow managing to still her hoof outside of everything else on her body. As she poured the mystery liquid into her mouth, Rainbow saw that it was white. Then it turned blue. After that it was pink. A color shifting drink? Either I drank too much or space has some really weird stuff going on.

Rainbow turned back and took another swig of her drink while Pinkie continued to shake. She actually began shaking out of her seat, moving backward away from it. She hovered in the air, but no one was paying attention to her. The other patrons were either drinking their livers dead or paying attention to the women currently dancing for them. Thanks to that, no one was able to stop the giddy mare from colliding with a gruff, menacing looking griffin.

Pinkie could have sworn she’d just bumped into a rock; whether it was or not, her vibrations came to an abrupt halt anyway. There was a distinct splashing sound followed by a crash a moment later. The griffin stood tall, taller than anyone else within the room, and turned to the pink mare. “You spilled my drink, girl?”

The deep, intimidating voice snapped Pinkie out of her reverie. A quick glance backward instilled a small bit of fear within her, but that passed just as quickly as it came. She was the Element of Laughter after all, even if she didn’t know it yet. “Oh, I’m so sorry, mister! Let me clean that up-“

“Lick it up,” the griffin interrupted. A group of griffins that had been sitting next to this intimidating beast, each wearing a set armor, began snickering. The mare that had been dancing behind the table stopped, lowering her head solemnly.

Pinkie didn’t move. The only thing that so much as twitched was her eyebrow. “Uh, that sounds a bit nasty for both us. I don’t know how that drink tastes… and you’d be covered in saliva…”

The griffin’s eye twitched. Is she fooling with me or is she just a ditz? “Look, mare,” he started with a deep growl. Taking a powerful step forward and glaring down at her, he continued, “You made the mess and you will clean it by my rules.” The mare whimpered as one of the griffin’s henchmen grabbed a claw full of flank. Pinkie’s brow furrowed. “You ponies think you’re something special, that you hold power! You forget the greatest race in the galaxy is the Griffins!”

Pinkie’s tail began to twitch, prompting her to take a few steps backward. The twitchy tail slowly began to escalate into several other bodily abnormalities; it was a doozy, the warning granted by her Pinkie sense that meant something crazy was about to take place. “Uh oh. Dash, don’t!”

The request came too late. Rainbow had flown into the air upon the griffin replying in such a ghastly manner, preparing a strike that would take him down in one swift strike. With one flap of her powerful wings, the blue Pegasus flew down like a bullet, crashing into the gray griffin’s skull with both of her forelegs. The griffin went down with no protest, having been completely unprepared for the assault.

“’Griffins are the greatest race in the galaxy’ my flank! You go down with a good blow to the head like everyone else,” Rainbow yelled in rage. Her violet eyes seemed to glow with the fire that had been lit within her. The music that had been playing ceased, the dances that had been ensuing ended, and everyone’s attention was now on the Pegasus with the rainbow colored hair.

Rainbow didn’t notice any of them, however. She turned to the other three griffins. They’d all been so stunned they’d dropped everything they were doing, freeing the mare that was dancing. Problem is, she was just as stunned as they were.

“So, Griffins think they’re all that, huh?” A cyan hoof stomped on the ground next to Griffin she’d just felled. “Think that you can beat anypony because you’ve got some good guns and claws, huh?” She moved forward another step and the Griffins were very much wishing they’d decided to stay home that day. “Well, let me be the first pony to put you feather-brains in your place.” The rainbow mare flapped once and soared above them in preparation for a dive bomb on the griffin closest to the dancer.

Another flap and she was flying to the feathered offenders… only she was taking the long route. What the…?” One millisecond, Rainbow was flying south; the next, she was moving to the east at a very rapid pace. She and another figure collided with the wall on the far side of the bar, prompting the patrons directly underneath them to run away in absolute terror. A cacophony of yells, murmurs, and general discontent suddenly broke the deathly silence that’d made the bistro its home for a while.

However, Rainbow was in a state so focused, she didn’t even notice the noise start up or the occupants begin to move. The only thing the mare was paying attention to were the griffins on the ground, Pinkie, and whoever had just rammed into her. Speaking of which…

“Get. Off.” Rainbow kicked off of the wall and into the ceiling, making whoever had interfered lose their breath. They dropped slightly before a swift buck to its back was dealt, knocking the attacker away. “Pinkie, we gotta bail!”

The pink pony in question was expertly dodging the ponies rushing around her. An all-out brawl had begun in mere moments. How Pinkie managed to remain completely unscathed baffled the cyan Pegasus. “Really? But we’re having so much fun!”

Rainbow groaned and her hoof whipped up for a facepalm, but she didn’t make any other reply. The duo practically flew out of the bar together at a blinding a speed that knocked glasses over in their wake.

“Dash,” Pinkie started once they were in the hallway that led to the market wards, “Why’d you get so angry in there?”

Rainbow turned swiftly to the pink mare, suddenly enough that it actually startled her. “Why? Because those guys were a bunch of stuck up flank holes, that’s why! And they were trying to… to…”

“Get me to clean the mess I made?”

“Degrade you,” she spat with no small amount of venom. “I mean, ‘Lick it up’? You already said you would get it. Why’d you let them keep on with that bull crap?”

Pinkie frowned and trotted over to her friend. “Dash, there are lots of people like that out in the galaxy. You can’t just beat up all of them. Where would that get us? It’s like my Granny Pie said! Everypony has to-“

“Stop right there!” There was a clacking sound behind them in addition to the flapping of wings, which were audible to Rainbow Dash. There was a navy blue unicorn with a neon green mane standing there in the gray outfit of the Citadel Security. Above him were two griffins, dressed in the same uniform as their unicorn partner, although they were also outfitted with some shoulder pads and chest plates. That wasn’t everyone though. From behind the unicorn came another clacking sound, announcing a third griffin.

This griffin was female, but had thick muscles everywhere they could be seen. Unlike her friends, she wore a complete set of red and orange armor. The armor appeared to be outfitted with heavy kinetic barriers; on it were three hexagonal plates glowing a bright blue, located in a triangle formation on her broad chest. Her wings were the only thing on her left bare. She came to a stop upon walking ahead of the unicorn, who had a pistol floating directly beside him. “Well I’ll be damned…” The griffin smirked and lefted a foreleg to remove her helmet, which had a black visor covering her eyes. “We got a call for a rainbow haired Pegasus making trouble down at Uno. Didn’t expect to see you any time soon, Dash.”

If a jaw could physically drop off of a pony’s body at any given moment, that would be the moment. “G-Gilda?”

Applejack leaned back in her chair as she and the butter yellow Pegasus filled it with laughter both great and silent. About an hour had passed and the two had somehow managed to bond rather quickly. Friends at first sight, as it were.

“A-and so Ah’m lookin’ over th’ field like ‘Shoot, Ah can pick all these mahself!’ Mah brother Big Macintosh said othawise, but Ah was all full o’ mahself. Mah parents let me go and Ah started! Was buckin’ them apples like tomorrow would neva come.” She grinned and rubbed the back of her neck, just underneath her mane. “Couldn’t shirk mah chores though, so Ah didn’t get a lot o’ sleep. Ended up gettin’ into a whole mess of shenanigans around town.”

Fluttershy stopped giggling to ask, “What happened?”

“Well, Ah nearly started a epidemic helpin’ a bake sale, started a stampede of wild antelopes while lookin’ for mah dog Winona, and durn near completely wrecked our barn! Mah parents, Macintosh, and Caramel had to help with the cleanup. Sure taught me a lesson.”

“That you can’t do everything on your own?”

“Eeeexactly.” Both quieted down once a ping sounded from the entrance to the room. The clopping of hooves alerted them that it was a pony, though neither of them were expecting anyone to come for Caramel.

The newcomer was a thick white unicorn with a sky blue mane and parted mustache. He stood a full head above both of the conscious occupants within the room. On his left eye was an orange light that held the appearance of a monocle. The pseudo-monocle was actually an omnitool; its location utterly baffled Applejack, who’d never seen them anywhere other than the fore hoof. Other formats were too expensive for the average Joe. He was wearing a somewhat extravagant outfit, at least to Applejack, that denoted his position. He was a very important pony, and that showed in his confident demeanor.

He looked directly to Applejack after looking around the room, “Ah, Commander Applejack? We are to meet with the council in thirty minutes.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Oh, uh, alright…” She glanced over to Fluttershy, trying her best to convey the fact that she had no idea who the large unicorn was. Fluttershy didn’t quite understand it though.

Fancy Pants, being the perceptive guy he is, picked up on her confusion. “Terribly sorry, Commander. My name is Fancy Pants, the ambassador for ponykind.”

At that, the orange mare leaped to her hooves. “Oh, well in that case, Ah guess we better get goin’. Ah’ll see you later, Fluttershy.” Applejack saw her smile and nod slightly in recognition before the medical room’s door closed behind her.

The ambassador and commander trotted through the halls of the Citadel swiftly; no one wants to be late for a meeting with the leaders of the Citadel controlled space, after all. They hardly met with anyone outside of the major ambassadors of species or some group with special privileges that was well known, but at the same time completely shrouded in mystery.

She put her mind off of that topic. It wasn’t important at the moment. What was important was the reason that she’d suddenly been called in front of the most important beings alive. There’d been no prior notice to this when the Revelation had docked.

Come to think of it, Ah didn’t get any new orders either. She raised her head to look at Fancy Pants, who was now gazing over the railing of the Presidium. In his line of sight was a plethora of pathways that intertwined with each other before branching off into several differing doors and areas. Applejack opened her mouth ask a question, but was cut off before she could even begin.

“Ah, I never grow tired of watching everyone at work together like this. We’ve come a long way, wouldn’t you say, Miss Applejack?”

Her brow furrowed while she came to terms with how out in left field that question was for her. It only took a moment before she managed to get it out. “Ah can’t really say. Mah first time workin’ with otha races was about two weeks ago. Neva left Equestria ‘fore that.”

“Oh? That is most unfortunate.” He paused in his speech and looked ahead. “Seeing different species unified toward one goal, coalescing their skills and strengths without restraint, it is an amazing thing. It opens a… door, one that leads to several opportunities we might never find on our own.” The stallion turned his head to the commanders, only to find that she had a genuinely confused look planted on her face. He chuckled and continued, “You must be wondering as to how my observation relates to you?”

“Not to be rude, but yeah, kinda.”

“Do not fret about, Miss Applejack. You will come to understand what I mean in a few moments.” He raised his head to follow the path of an elevator that stretched up as far as the eye could see. Applejack soon followed, wondering just how long it took to build the colossus. “This is where we part. The Council and Admiral Shining Armor await you at the meeting pedestal.” Fancy Pants made a quick bow and stepped backwards.

Applejack nodded in his general direction, still looking at the elevator. Shining Armor too, huh? Startin’ t’ think this next mission is gonna be a mite more complicated than bein’ a bodyguard. With her thoughts in tow, the commander stepped into the elevator and commanded it to go to the Council’s floor.

It had to have been the longest ride of her life.

She had listened to four separate news reports interspersed with some minutes full of elevator music, music that had gotten old very quickly. Currently, twenty minutes had passed.

“Now Ah see why Fancy Pants came to get me early.” She lifted her omnitool to bring up a time display. “And Ah’m still gonna be late. This ain’t gon be pretty.”

Luckily enough, the doors slowly opened a moment later, revealing the large, dark-lit interior. Foliage was located all along the sides of the room, rising with the first set of stairs before cutting diagonally through the next floor to a small garden filled with plants foreign to Equestria. Several diplomats walked by it obliviously, while others chatted to each other on the greater stories the room held.

The commander strode forward quickly and with purpose, passing everyone rapidly, oblivious to whom they were, what they were, or their own job. There was only one thing on her mind at that moment.

What did they call me for?!

“Applejack.” The mare being addressed finally paid attention to her surroundings at the mention of her name. “Commander, up here. The Council’s been waiting!” Near the final set of stairs was none other than Shining Armor, dressed neatly in his blue service uniform. Gold medals adorned the outfit all over his barrel, indicating his rank and accomplishments.

AJ didn’t spare another thought toward it, however. There was still a meeting to get to.

With no time to ask questions, the two quickly came upon the end of the single pathway. Glancing to either side would show a floor made entirely of glass tiles, below it another garden of some sort. It was hard to tell without actually studying its interior, as there multiple hues of green, red, and blue splattered everywhere.

“Commander,” a calm, eerily peaceful voice spoke, drawing the commander’s attention immediately. Every pony knew exactly who that voice belonged to. The pony that led them into a new age. The one constant in a universe that constantly fluctuated.

Princess Celestia stood behind a podium, the top of which neither Shining nor Applejack had a view of. To her right was a griffin, obviously hardened by several extraordinary experiences, with a very noticeable frown planted on his beak. Councilor Gadd was his name and he was the leader of the griffin navy prior to being made a councilor ten years prior. He always wore his old armor, maybe not to show the fact that he could most people within a twenty foot radius as though they were dough, but it definitely gave that effect.

Two different creatures stood to Celestia’s left. Closest was a female zebra, her name being Baas. Rather than one of the more recent outfits, she wore brown robes with golden highlights to signify her clan and position within it. Applejack wasn’t really well-read when it came to other cultures, so the significance of them was lost on her. The mare stood tall, maybe just as high as her older brother Macintosh. Her eyes remained only slightly open as though she were squinting and her mouth remained in a neutral expression.

Last was a dark brown, male diamond dog: Reave. His arms were somewhat slender in comparison to the other males she’d met. He, like Celestia, wore the current style of somewhat expensive clothing, the only thing that stood apart from it being a somewhat rusty collar around his neck with various gems embedded within them. He looked… bored, if anything.

Both Shining Armor and the commander bowed quickly, as was the custom of ponies. Gadd simply rolled his eyes, muttering something underneath his breath.

Once both of them had risen, Celestia spoke first, “We have read the mission reports. Your wards were attacked and killed by Changeling infiltrators, correct?” Applejack nodded, frowning. She already didn’t like how the meeting was going. “And where is the weapon the workers were creating?”

“It is currently being outfitted to the Revelation,” Shining entered, “It was completed prior to the… battle.”

Baas raised an eyebrow, the first show of emotion Applejack had seen, ever. “This is being performed without our permission? Why was this ordered before we’d reviewed the mission?”

“Orders of Admiral Luna.” Luna held only about half the amount of pull within the arena of politics as her older sister. The only reason she lacks so much is that, according to her, ‘politics will be the death of them all.’ Still, her vast age was enough to keep most from questioning her orders. This was apparent in Baas and Celestia. Gadd, not so much.

“What is this?” He said in a tone practically spilling over with anger. “The lieutenant fails her mission, yet is given the first weapon against the Reapers?” He snapped his head to the left, staring directly at Celestia. “She may be only a few years younger than you, Celestia, but this decision is complete and utter folly! It should be given to someone with an actual track record, rather than a green-beaked newbie that doesn’t know what to do with herself.”

Applejack cringed at the open insult and Shining began frowning deeply. If there was any councilor he actually could say he detested, he would be it. Before he could make any sort of retort, Reave began speaking in a lazy manner.

“Gadd, you are forgetting zomething.” The griffin, along with his fellow Councilors and the soldiers below, looked to him. “Our… alliance waz formed after the weapon had been completed. Completed by hoovez and pawz. I believe there were no claws since, and quoting, ‘thoze high and haughty poniez will never be able to build a weapon like that in lezz than two monthz!’ Simply put, only Celeztia and I have jurizdiction over the Reaper killer. Mind your mannerz.”

Really, everyone took the statement well. Celestia smiled, Baas’ lips moved upward a bit, and the two soldiers stone-faced, as they were trained to do. Gadd’s white feathered head began turning a deep red before he banished his rising blood with a thought. His eyes tightened after he shut them, a vivid grimace now on his face. “You are correct in that statement, Reave. So, does your decision correspond with Luna’s?”

At this, the diamond dog councilor looked to the sky. After a few moments, he brought his head back down. “Yez.”

Gadd seemed hurt by the response, hurt and confused. “But… why?”

“If the mare that haz been leading military operationz for 400 yearz thinkz it to be wize, then it would be folly to rebel againzt it.” Before his fellow councilor could get a word in edgewise, he raised his paw. “Also, this ‘failure’, az you put it, ztill managed to zave a colony of my dogz. I am willing to give her another chanze.”

With that settled, Celestia once again spoke in her angelic voice. “Now, Applejack,” she said, bringing the commander’s attention to her, “I believe it would be best to address the head of that invasion.” A hologram of a blue unicorn then appeared in front of both groups. Applejack immediately recognized her.

“Trixie…”

“Yes, Trixie. This mare once attended Tellos, the school for unicorns with exceptional magical ability. She was a student for eight years prior to becoming a professor in the same place. The point of interest is her research topic: dark magic.”

With a major like that, Ah’d be surprised if she didn’t go bad.

“According to the report, her magic was red and her eyes would always flash the same color when she cast a spell.” Celestia turned her head to Applejack. “What color were her eyes in between spells?”

Applejack looked to the ceiling for a moment before she could finally recall, “Ah’d say purple.”

“Then she was not using dark spells, but rather a chaotic or dark artifact. Baas, your experience with such objects makes you the better source for question. If you would?”

Baas nodded in reply. “Please tell me, what was she wearing?”

“A black suit of armor with a… uh, light… that started t’ glow whenever she used magic. Ah didn’t really get a good look at whateva it was ‘ttached t’. It was black like the rest o’ her outfit.”

“Red glow in resonance with her magic? Boosting her magical power to such heights is unduly fantastic… I must research the matter later. There are few totems that could produce such behavior.”

Celestia nodded. “Then it is settled. Baas shall determine the nature of Trixie’s artifact. Meanwhile, you, my little pony, are to receive your next mission from Shining Armor. Good luck.” Once her speaking had ended, the lights above the council shut down for a moment. When they began lighting their surroundings again, the people it had once been shining above had vanished.

“How’d they do that?” Applejack asked incredulously.

Shining turned to leave. “No one knows. I think they just like to show off a bit. Dignitaries from everywhere watch their meetings. Can’t imagine why. Most of them can be like watching paint dry.”

“Okay, now for your next assignment,” Shining spoke once the two were on the elevator. “You’re to search out and apprehend Trixie. As of now, she is the only lead as to why the Changelings left Audubon after all of this time.”

“Right, right. Got any suggestions?”

“Trixie has extensive records about her kept here in the Citadel. Well, that’s all information about her before the disappearance. There’s a zebra information broker in the Presidium’s financial district, Geheim, who has some special connections. He may have what you need. I’ll get back to you with a few specifics before your shore leave ends.”

At that, the door to the elevator opened. Ah coulda sworn the ride up took like twenty minutes!

Shining stepped out and nodded toward the commander. “Alright, Applejack, enjoy your shore leave. Good luck with Trixie; we’re counting on you.”

With the data center closer, Applejack decided to start her search there. Currently she was browsing through files with the keyword ‘Trixie’ anywhere within them. Most of it was unimportant information or things she’d already learned. Where she was raised, her scores in school, a few diaries…

Dairies? The commander smacked herself upside the head. O’ course! If she kept a diary, Ah might be able to see a pattern. Let’s see what Ah can glean from this.

And so she began. Using her omnitool, a display of audio diary entries appeared in front of the commander’s face, bathing it in an orange light. She scrolled through one at a time, swiping her hoof through the air to traverse the list while she read the titles. It took around an hour before she actually found something worth noting.

Universal Date of the Stars 2155,

Well, well, well… In Trixie’s research today, Trixie found something of great importance. An amulet, black with a red gem in its center. More interesting is its shape. It looks exactly like an alicorn! Same as either of the Princesses. Trixie is not so sure as to what the amulet does exactly… but it just seems to ooze power! Trixie will be looking into this more tomorrow. Those children still need their exams graded. Hopefully, Midnight Shadow was able to remember how a flame is created and sustained using illusion magic. That filly…

Applejack blinked and swiped to the next file.

Universal Date of the Stars 2155,

It’d be the fifth of November in Equestria. Trixie hasn’t been there in years! …Not as though that pathetic wasteoid of a planet is worth visiting. All of Trixie’s years in that place were spent in complete misery, ponies ridiculing my talents. But here… in Tellos, the foals and young ones look up to Trixie! …To me.

But Trixie’s woes are not the highlight of today! No, I have come to record another success. The amulet’s name is the ‘Alicorn Amulet’. Fitting, really. Also more than a bit predictable. The amulet’s age is unknown, but estimated to be around 50 to 70,000 years ago. Trixie was unable to experiment with it today, but surely tomorrow will yield definitive results!

But there was no log for the following day. The next was not until three days later.

Universal Date of the Stars 2155,

Trixie was able to test the amulet on schedule. The amulet amplifies the user’s magic by no less than 300%. Truly, Trixie felt like she was on par with Celestia herself!

But at the researcher’s dinner party last night, Twilight Sparkle was present. Celestia’s little student. Privileged is what she is. She didn’t need to fight tooth and nail to attain a suitable job, a comfortable life. She was born in it!

…That is what Trixie usually feels, but we are at least on speaking terms. At the ball, I felt as if I wanted to… murder her. Cut her open and smear her innards across her apartment! To gouge…

No… no, no! This is not Trixie! Where are these thoughts coming from?!

And why do I continue to hear that whispering?

Applejack saved the recordings to her omnitool and stood up. “Alright, time to mosey on down to the presidium.” And she would have, if not for several figures now approaching her and the lights not shut down.

Three ponies stood in front of her, decked out completely in matching sets of blue armor. One was a unicorn, while the other two were earth ponies. “Somepony’s been putting their nose in Trixie’s business.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “And who might y’all be? Ya got hired by Trixie t’ keep anyone from lookin’ stuff up about her?”

“I’d say that’s pretty obvious,” the unicorn deadpanned.

The commander knew this; she was just buying time to weigh her options. The data center was not like the information hub, which was filled rows upon rows of datapads. Everything here was digital, so there wasn’t any cover. The mercs knew well enough to stay at a far enough distance that she wouldn’t be able to disarm them before they could fire. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Until she saw something that she never expected to.

“Is… is that a dragon?” She stammered.

The earth ponies chuckled while the unicorn spoke, “Look, lady. We know you don’t want to get gunned down like this, but that’s one of the oldest tricks in the book!”

“Should have listened,” said a deep, gruff voice from behind them. The earth pony on the right was thrown into an electronic booth, electrocuted and dead before he’d hit the ground. The earth pony on the left was lifted into the air and promptly slammed down by a purple blur, knocking him unconscious. The unicorn turned back and was faced by his, now, worst nightmare.

The dragon knelt down, peering into the unicorn’s brown, terrified eyes and uttered something in a guttural language before the translator picked up. “Any last words?”

“M-mommy…”

“Not my choice, but whatever,” the dragon shrugged. Then, without warning, blew a strong gout of green flame into his face plate. The flame coursed over his head and into his armor before cooking him alive where he stood. The screams started immediately.

And were ended a second later with a spine-rattling crunch.

The dragon looked at the bottom of his boot and sighed. “Damn, I just bought this armor!”

Applejack stood stock still. She’d just gone from certain death to facing a dragon. A dragon that had mostly likely just saved her life. Jarring, to say the least, but the shock had worn off to the point where she had questions and could voice them.

The dragon stood tall on two legs; an accurate comparison would be to Luna, since he was the same height as her. His armor was bright silver, while the joints and suit underneath were all dark gray. Several ceramic plates reinforced the suit and, if the rumors about how tough dragon skin was were true, this one in particular was a tank.

And there were only two parts of his body visible: his head and tail. His scales were purple and the spines atop his head along with his underbelly were green. His tail was almost as thick as her torso! All in all, he looked pretty formidable.

Applejack wasn’t frightened, though.

“So… yur a dragon?”

Spike snorted some green flames and rolled his eyes. “No, I’m a T-rex that survived 100 million years of war and evolution.”

Applejack shook her head. “Ah know… it’s just that dragons don’t really come around Citadel owned space. Why’d ya help me?”

“It was something to do. I saw your meeting with the council, figured interesting things would happen around you. I mean, Changelings? Come on! Those guys haven’t been seen for 400 years, but when you show up-“ His fist pounded into his open claw. “-BAM. A big ol’ firefight in the middle of a backwater colony close to the Solitaris systems. That’s just great.”

“Y’all know it could be cause of whateva we were workin’ on, right?”

He waved his claw in dismissal. “Whatever. If you got to meet with the council, I’m sure your next mission is going to take you somewhere exciting.”

“So what are ya getting’ at?”

The dragon cleared his throat and got down on knee, putting one of his arms across his chest. “Greetings, Commander Applejack. My name is Spike and I wish to join you on your journey, if you would have me.”

“What was that about?” Applejack asked. The two were making their way to Geheim through the market ward. Various species walked the halls, chatting amongst themselves or to the vendors. The vast majority was the major Citadel races, but a few of the minor were there as well. Minotaurs, goats, and even the rare crystal ponies were there. Not a dragon in sight.

“What was what about?”

“That fancy speak ya started usin’ when ya asked t’ join me.”

Spike looked away, but answered nonetheless. “Well, when I was… younger, I was taught that giving the utmost respect to my superiors is paramount to success. And that definitely goes for when you’re asking for something. Otherwise, the askee gets all pissy.”

“Uh, that sounds like… a pony more than a dragon, ya know?”

“That’s because the rest of my people are a bunch of lethargic, lackadaisical, languid, lecherous…”

“Whoa there, dragon boy. That’s a lot of bad stuff ya got to say ‘bout ya own folks. Half o’ them words Ah didn’t even know!”

“Sorry, sorry… It’s just that… I went to Drakkoledge after spending my childhood with ponies. It was… disappointing, to say the least.”

Applejack side stepped a griffin decked out in armor usually given to the higher-ups in Citadel Security, although this was customized with a red paint job. “Lemme guess, they weren’t what ya was expectin’?”

Spike shook his head. “They were the exact opposite. I wanted to know why one of the oldest races didn’t have a seat on the council. I mean, all of us live for thousands of years, yet you never see one outside of their system!”

Spike shook his head and the two walked for a bit in silence. Well, until some chatterbox got close to them.

“Oh, guys! You almost lost me up there. So what are you guys talking about? The Changelings? Ooooh, aren’t they so creepy looking with the holes in their legs? How do they even keep on standing with that? I mean, it looks like a structural weakness. Do they even have bones underneath them? So weird!”

Both of them turned to their left and there was the unmistakable visage of Pinkie Pie. She was bouncing toward someone. Applejack turned her head to scan the crowd for anyone familiar. And so, there was Rainbow Dash, walking with a griffin she’d never seen.

Spike picked up on AJ’s curiosity, following her gaze. “Whoa, a rainbow mane?” He whistled, drawing Applejack’s attention back to him. “Think she dyed it?”

“Nah, Rainbow’s had the same hair eva since she was little.” The commander turned and began trotting over to them. Spike followed.

“Her name’s Rainbow? Seriously?”

“Yeah, what’s the problem?”

Spike shook his head. “I grew up here, but I will never understand the naming rules for ponies.

Applejack wanted to question that, but she had already reached her destination. Pinkie was already there and recognized the commander’s arrival immediately by bouncing again in response.

“Hi, commander! How’s Caramel doing?”

“He’s alright, Pinkie. Just a few broken bones, nuthin’ he can’t get over,” she said nonchalantly.

“Oh, then I better get started on his cupcakes! Hmm, caramel filled cupcakes…” And then she bounced off, leaving behind a group of very confused species.

Spike bent over and whispered into Applejack’s, “Hey, your friend’s name is Caramel?” Applejack nodded once. “So she’s going to make a cupcake… out of him?”

“O’ course not,” Applejack deadpanned. “She means the candy.”

“But how can you be sure…?”

“Applejack, hey!” Rainbow turned toward them. Gilda, who’d had her claws over her ears, saw her friend moving and did the same. “I thought you were with Caramel. How’d you end up meeting a dragon?”

“Ah’ll tell ya later. Right now, there’s a zebra Ah need t’ speak t’.”

Rainbow was positively giddy. “Oh boy, sounds like you’ve got something cool to do. Mind if we tag along?”

“Fore Ah say yes, mind tellin’ me who yur friend is?” She waved a hoof in Gilda’s general direction.

The griffin took that as her cue to strut her stuff. “The name’s Gilda. Officer for Citadel Security…”

“And my oldest friend,” Rainbow added, wrapping a foreleg around Gilda’s neck. Both had smug smirks on their faces that were nearly identical. “So, is it alright?”

Having a C-Sec officer on board would allow Applejack to get anywhere she needed to go on the Citadel. After being around Gilda for a bit, she found that it was about the only reason. The griffin acted almost exactly like Rainbow Dash, only with the ego factor turned up to eleven.

At any rate, they were standing outside of Geheim’s office now. To the right of the door was a blank video pad. The office was located on one of the more common levels of apartments you could find in the Presidium, which was why the group continued to pass it over in disbelief, despite Gilda’s urging to the opposite.

“I just don’t see how a guy that lives in an apartment like this could possibly have anything good about an intergalactic criminal,” Rainbow said. She was the first to express her feelings, not that anyone else thought differently at that point.

“Can’t say,” Gilda responded, “But he’s supposed to be the biggest information broker this side of the galaxy. I’ve never been to see him, but he gets enough gossip across the station. I’m thinking he’s probably legit.”

Applejack moved to press the alert system when it suddenly buzzed. The screen showed gray static before clearing up into the face of a small, female zebra. “Commander, I’ve been expecting you,” he stated with the normal zebra accent. The door slid open to allow the group passage right after. “Please enter with your crew.”

They followed the invitation, but were greeted by a room that was completely empty save for a desk in the center and computers lining the back. The room was completely white and there were no other doors to be found. The most important component was missing and it was not something any of them missed.

“Please excuse my absence. I’m afraid earlier circumstances forced me to take action,” the voice of the female zebra rang through the apartment. “If you require Trixie’s information, then you must go to the Markarian station.”

The commander stepped ahead of her group of fighters to speak. “Ah can see ya ain’t round these parts anymore. Why’d ya up and leave?”

“I was to be murdered by a few mercenaries today. Avoiding that eventuality was mere child’s play.” There was a pause before he continued. “Regardless, you must be on your way briefly. The Reapers no doubt approach quickly.”

She was about to ask just how a civilian could no about such a secret, but thought better of it. It was rather obvious, after all.

“Alright, Geheim. Ah guess Ah’ll get mah questions answered when we meet up. Don’t get killed before Ah arrive,” she said wihle motioning for everyone to move back outside. An audible static resounded through the room before suddenly terminating.

After walking for a minute, they ran into some non- armored ponies that had seen them walk out of Geheim’s office. They kindly asked if the zebra was inside the office, to which Applejack smiled and said “Yep.”

The explosion that wrecked the building later wasn’t unexpected by anyone.

“Applejack,” Shining started, “I heard that a house you visited blew up a few minutes after you left? What was that about?”

Everyone, including Caramel and Twilight Sparkle, who had decided to stay and help, were now standing outside of the Revelation. A good view of incredible vastness of space was available for view; military docking bays on the Citadel were located outside of the major portions of the station.

“Geheim found out he was gonna be attacked three days ago, so he must o’ set up a trap. He gave me a place to go too before his computer conked out.”

Shining nodded. “That’s fine, then. Regardless, I have some information that will be essential to you capturing Trixie successfully. First is the zebra Zecora.” He raised his foreleg and raised his omnitool to look at some data. “She’s an alchemist with experience in the biology and intricacies of various species. At one point, she was a highly valued stealth operative. Baas let me know about her.”

“What do ya mean by, ‘used to be’? She retired?”

Shining shook his head. “She became a Z-class criminal in the eyes of the Zebra council. Her crime was fatally poisoning the previous government leaders.”

Applejack’s eyebrow rose. “Seriously? Ah don’t think Ah want someone like that on mah ship.”

Shining shrugged and lowered his omnitool. “The choice is yours, commander. Luna has decided to give you full control over this mission. You do what you need to however you want.” Then he stopped added nervously, “Just don’t wreck too many towns, okay? Don’t want to start an intergalactic incident.”

“Sir… that sounds like a bit too much. Ah didn’t even fully complete mah last mission!”

“No, but you were able to rally an entire colony to arms and prevent what could have been a complete massacre. I suppose that earns you another chance, don’t you?”

She muttered mostly to herself, “No…” But somepony’s got to do it. Might as well be me, Ah guess… “Ya got any more information, Admiral?”

“Not really. I just advise you to check out Tellos. It’s Trixie's previous place of employment, but more importantly we haven't had a steady connection with them for the past week. You could kill two dragons with one bullet if you can get some info on Trixie from the staff and settle that connectivity issue.”

She nodded and turned away. Shining stopped her by calling to her before she could leave, “Applejack? What’s with the aliens?”

Oh, them. She’d wondered if the admiral would bring it up or just let it pass. Truthfully, she was glad she could handle however she pleased; it meant she’d be able to get help from wherever it appeared. Spike was tagging along just for the adventure, but Gilda was something else. After some prodding from Rainbow, she’d allowed the griffin to come along. Apparently the Pegasus, Pinkie, and Gilda had run into something that let her reveal her true skills, which Rainbow stated “were absolutely, amazingly awesome.”

“They’re some good fighters, Admiral,” Applejack responded. “They volunteered t’ help protect th’ galaxy. How could Ah say no?”

Shining was obviously not completely sold on the idea, but Applejack figured he was just going to have to understand she could use all of the help she could get her hooves on. With that, she walked to her ship with her ground team behind her. The only things left to do were pick a destination and take on a virtual army wherever they landed.

Easy enough.

Choices:
Find and recruit the specialist criminal Zecora.
Travel to Markarus Station.
Travel to Tellos.

Author's Note

Solitaris systems are like the Terminus systems. I got the name from solitary. Clever huh? Don't answer that.
In case you were wondering, the dragons don't have a genophage thing going on.
This took entirely too long to write, but pure dialogue portions are just so boring to me! But I had to get it out early, since I'm going back to college later today.
I plan on releasing two chapters a month for this just to make time to proofread and stuff. This starts in February.

Ah don't plan on having choices every time, but I read another ME story that used this mechanic. I figured it would be cool here.

The First Mission

“Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia!”

A violet mare barreled through the white hallway knocking over anyone that happened to be in her way. Her horn shined a bright purple slightly as she attempted to reach her mentor simultaneously.

“Princess… Please answer this!”

She bumped into a griffin, knocking the hybrid and her clawful of datapads clattering to the ground. Ignoring the complaints that immediately followed, the mare continued her storm rush through the complex until she reached the political wards. She passed several screens with quickly scrolling data referring to stocks, news about planetary affairs, and freshly enacted policies, among other things.

The mare passed by a mirror, her face which had once been set in a grimace was now changing to one of glee. Ahead was a pair of doors with ‘Conference Center’ marked above them both. Yes, I made it! Her horn flared slightly and a door opened, allowing her passage into this conference room.

“Princess, I have something I must show you! It is of the utmost importance!”

Inside the center was a steel gray, round table, the middle of which held the projection of what appeared to be a new colony. Surrounding the table was a tall, pure white alicorn and a well-built griffin with multiple scars on his body. Behind those two were blue holograms of an older zebra mare wearing what looked to be traditional Konakkatun robes and a Diamond Dog wearing armor encrusted with gems.

“Twilight? What are you doing here?” Princess Celestia turned toward Twilight slowly, her golden regalia shining in the light of the holograms.

Twilight trotted forward quickly and bowed to the princess of all Pony kind. She then looked at the griffin, who was glaring down at her. The scar across his left eye and down his beak absolutely terrified the young mare, but what she needed to say outweighed her fear.

“Princess, my team and I have discovered an ancient artifact dating back to the end of the last great races. It is a beacon, completely intact and… I believe the information is something that all of the Council leaders should see.” She paused after finishing, looking at the ground as though she’d seen a ghost. Celestia waited patiently, however the battle scarred griffin was the exact opposite.

“Well out with it, girl! What is this all important artifact you rabble on about?”

“Gadd, please!” Celestia stated firmly, but near silently. “Twilight, do you have the object with you?”

“Yes, your highness… It’s right here,” Twilight murmured as her horn glowed. The sides of her white body suit had a single diamond on each which resonated with Twilight’s horn. From them poured a blue light that formed into a disk once completely loaded. The purple scientist pressed the top of the disc, initiating the message that had been copied to it.

A blue, bipedal Asari rose from the disc. She looked human, save for the tentacles on top of her head and blue skin. She wore a white body suit nearly identical to that of Twilight’s as well. However, the occupants of the room were not paying attention to what she was wearing, but rather what she was and had to say.

”If you are hearing this, then there is still hope. Hope, that you can avoid the same mistakes we made.

“We fought the Reapers, but… we failed to stop them.

“We did everything we could. We built the Crucible… but it didn’t work. We fought as a united galaxy… but it wasn’t enough.

“I only hope the information in this capsule is enough to help you. My name is Dr. Liara T’Soni…

“And this is the recounting of our war with the Reapers.”

In the year 1635, astronomers found spatial objects of an unknown origin. The following decades of study wrought advances in technology not even the goddess princesses of Equestria could conceive. The basis of these items was a force that controlled the very fabric of space and time.

The ponies of Equestria called it the greatest discovery in history.

The civilizations of the galaxy called it…

Mass Effect

“Princess Luna, this beacon that Twily found has some… disturbing information.” A white stallion with a mane striped two different shades of blue levitated a datapad in front of him as he walked through a pair of transparent blue doors. On the other side was a deep navy blue alicorn wearing black and silver regalia with a mane that flowed as an ethereal mass of stars. Truly, she looked like the embodiment of the night itself. Currently surrounding her were three separate terminals and a plethora of datapads all covered in a light blue aura.

“Yes, Vice Admiral Armor. I require a summary of the information,” she stated without turning her head.

“Understood, your Highness.” Shining Armor lifted his right foreleg causing his grayish blue armor to shine slightly from the light of the terminals. An orange light in the form of a glove hovering above the end of his foreleg formed after a moment and the Vice Admiral tapped a few buttons, bringing up a screen. “I’ll transfer the contents of the beacon to your omnitool. You’re aware that the Asari race, along with krogans, salarians, and humanity, came to an abrupt end.” Luna nodded her head once. “Well, the beacon explains what caused the deaths of entire civilizations in such close proximity of each other. They were, believe it or not, attacked and defeated by a race of sentient war ships titled the Reapers. The disconcerting point is that these Reapers attack every 50,000 years, and we’re next.”

Luna was silent for a while before she finally dropped the datapads and turned toward him. “You are sure this is what the datapad relates?”

Shining nodded. “There are also schematics for weapons developed over the course of their battle. With the massive amount of Element Zero on Equestria, outfitting all of our battleships with the armaments will only be a matter of construction time.”

Luna walked past him, her head gazing at the ceiling. “My sister once had a dream of these Reapers. In it, a human was battling against one alone. It was a horrific sight, seeing what this ‘Reaper’ had wrought on the city surrounding it, but decided that it been a dream and just that.” She turned back to Shining, who had a slightly surprised look on his face. “I see now that we were wrong. Come, Shining Armor. We will need somepony to ensure the creation of the weapons goes unhindered.” A set of faces appeared in front of both of them once Luna tapped her omnitool a few times. “And I have just the pony…”

“Woowie! Now ain’t that a beauty?” An orange mare with a blonde mane wearing burgundy and gray combat armor was gazing at a results board. On it read “Applejack – 1:19” along with other names and time recordings. “Ah told y’all I was fit as a fiddle, just like Ah’ve always been!” She turned to face a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and a light brown earth pony colt with a a darker mane. “How ya like them apples, Ms. Ten-Seconds-Flat?”

Ms. Ten-Seconds-Flat looked away in derision. “Yeah, well I was just having an off day. Without this armor weighing me down, I’d have finished way before you!”

The light brown stallion chuckled and said in a deep voice, “Yeah, sure Rainbow.” He looked up to the ceiling and put a hoof to his chin, feigning serious thought. “But then again, you’d probably get blown to Tartarus.”

Applejack guffawed once Rainbow Dash’s cheeks went from blue to red in about a second. Her merriment was cut short once Shining Armor’s voice began playing from her headset.

”Lieutenant Commander Applejack, report to my office immediately.”

The mare’s brow furrowed. “Now what in tarnation do you think that’s for?” Rainbow flew next to her and whispered something into her ear. “I did not drink that much cider yesterday.”

“You sure? It was your birthday, after all.” Her eyebrows waggled, causing Applejack to roll her eyes. “Who knows what else you did… am I right?”

“I can vouch for her, Rainbow,” Caramel interrupted, “She didn’t drink more than 9 mugs of cider.”

“And that isn’t a lot?”

Applejack beat her chest. “Good ol’ Earth Pony constitution. Couldn’t live without it!”

The rainbow Pegasus shook her head. “Of course not. You don’t have wings or a horn; Earth Pony endurance is pretty much all you got-“

”Lieutenant Commander. My office. Now.”

“Applejack, I think you should probably leave…” Caramel looked up to see Applejack already running, leaving him and a snickering Rainbow Dash behind. They all knew that if Shining Armor had to repeat himself, terrible things would ensue.

Applejack barreled through everyone and everything that was unfortunate enough to be in her path. A combination of natural Earth Pony prowess, years of military training, and a background in applebucking made her a force to be reckoned when it came down to pure power. With the addition of her armor, nopony had a chance in Tartarus of not getting sent flying. She burst into the Vice Admiral’s office, stomping on the ground to stop herself like she was a 10 on the Richter scale accidentally heading to California.

“Applejack, you’re here!” He raised his omnitool. “And only three minutes late. Impressive, considering you were all the way in the training ward when I called you.”

“I’m sorry, sir. There’s no excuse for mah lateness.”

“It’s fine, Applejack. The reason I called you in here gives me cause to overlook a bit of tardiness.” At this, Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“And what is it that Ah was called up here for, Vice Admiral?” A ping sounded from Applejack’s foreleg. She checked her omnitool to discover that Shining had just sent her a rather large amount of data.

“There’s something that’s come up. Something serious. You’ll find all of the information concerning this matter in the data packet you just received, but here’s the gist of it; there’s a fleet of sentient warships out in dark space. They… destroy whatever civilizations are capable of space travel every 50,000 years and they are only able to be destroyed specially. That’s where you come in.”

To say Applejack was confused would be a vast understatement. She’d stopped understanding some point after ‘sentient warships’. “Uh, sir. Are you absolutely sure that’s what the data says?”

Shining deadpanned. “Yes. Princess Luna said something similar until she realized the truth of the matter. You will see, just watch the vid.”

Applejack wasn’t really sold on this idea, but if it came from both Admiral Luna and Vice Admiral Shining Armor, there had to be some merit to it. “Understood, Vice Admiral. Now, what’s the mission I’m gonna get have to do with these Reapers?”

“Princess Celestia is currently wiwth the three other members of the Council in efforts to coordinate a united front against this threat. As you know, however… Not all of the races are on the friendliest of terms.” Those being the dragons, changelings, and little skirmishes between the other races. “Since we have the largest pool of eezo in the galaxy, we will start the weapons early.” Shining stood out of his chair at this point and walked around his desk to stand directly in front of the orange mare. “The Reapers have a weapon called indoctrination, which they use to manipulate the minds of organic beings. I want a smaller squad that won’t as susceptible to this to protect the team creating the materials.” He placed a hoof on the nape of Applejack’s neck. “You will lead that team.”

Applejack recoiled. “Sir, ya can’t be serious! If this mission’s that important, shouldn’t somepony else with more experience be on the job?”

Shining smiled and lowered his hoof, “I’m going to be honest with you, Applejack. You were specially chosen by Admiral Luna herself. She has over a thousand years of experience, so I’m sort of inclined to trust her judgment.”

Applejack swallowed and braced herself. A hundred things were running through her mind simultaneously, but one seemed to stand out. Why would she pick me? The orange mare shook her head and smiled broadly, saluting at the same time. “It’d be my honor, Shining Armor, sir!”

“That’s more like it! Now, we’ve already provided you with one of our latest and stealthiest ships available. The crew is complimentary, but feel free to bring along two or three ponies of your own choosing. Now, you’re to leave in 5 hours. Your ship is located in Docking Bay D-24.”

Sensing that all that needed to be said was already out in the open, Applejack saluted once more and turned to leave the room. Before she’d left the room, Shining called out to her.

“Oh, and you’ll need to stop by the Citadel before heading to Roverkan.”

“What for?”

“You’ll have to pick up Twilight Sparkle. She’s an expert on nearly everything concerning the past races and technology. Direct orders from Princess Celestia herself.”

“Yes, sir. You got it.”

“Tell her I said hi, won’t you?”

Applejack trotted to the cafeteria, where Rainbow Dash and Caramel were conversing with each other and a few other ponies. “Rainbow! Caramel! Ah got a proposition for y’all.”

Rainbow looked up first. “Oh, hey AJ!” She flew in front of the earth pony in the blink of an eye, since her armor had been taken off. “So, how was getting chewed out by the Vice Admiral? Pretty bad, I bet.”

She grinned and looked into the cyan mare’s eyes. “Ah didn’t get fussed at by Shining Armor. He called me in there to give me a mission.”

“A mission?” Caramel had walked over to the duo while they’d been speaking. “Seems a bit sudden. What would the Vice Admiral need a Lieutenant Commander for in a time of peace?”

“I gotta agree with Caramel on this one. Nothing’s happening right now, so what’s your mission?”

“Let’s just say somethin’ big’s comin’ and it’s comin’ soon. Mah mission is to be a bodyguard for some of those smarty-pants ponies and dahmond dogs while they make guns good enough to fight with.” She stood up straight and stated firmly, “And Ah’m gonna need some good friends to help me. Y’all want in?”

Rainbow and Caramel looked at each other briefly before large grins overtook their faces, “Of course!” they yelled simultaneously.

Applejack grinned. “Then pack ya stuff and get to docking bay D-24. We leave in 5 hours!” The three of them high hoofed and separated to prepare.

The orange mare looked at her room, the room she’d called home for the past two years. It was rather compact and only the bare essentials were there. After all, despite her rank of Lieutenant Commander, AJ preferred to not live in any of those ‘fancy-schmancy’ apartments that the higher ups tended to get. Before, it held a bed, two drawers, a bath, and a toilet. Only one of those drawers had actually been used though. At the moment, all of her clothes had been placed inside a pair of saddlebags. Currently, she was still wearing her burgundy and gray combat armor, so there was only one thing she needed.

A beat up, brown Stetson.

Applejack gazed down at the Stetson as she thought about who had given it to her. Now that I think about it, I haven’t talked ma and pa in a while. I better check in with the family, let ‘em know what’s goin on. A few taps on the omnitool and her parents were getting called.

”…Shush, Anna! AJ’s callin’!” Another southern voice sounded from her omnitool. A large stallion appeared on top of her omnitool, although his colors couldn’t be made out. He seemed to be just a bit smaller than Big Macintosh.

“What? She is? Well, don’t just sit there flappin’ ya gums, Brock, tell ‘er I said heyya!” This was a Manehattan accent. While the woman wasn’t visible on AJ’s omnitool, since only the called pony appeared, Applejack knew exactly what she looked like. With a navy blue coat and orange mane always tied back by a bandana of some sort, her mother was a bit thinner than Applejack herself, possibly due to her Manehattan heritage. Brock Apple, on the other hand, was born in Ponyville, a quaint little town not too far south of the world capital, Canterlot. Applejack’s father was a pinkish red with a tint of cream in coat color, while his mane was a vibrant green, almost like a mix of Applebloom and Big Mac.

The farm mare turned soldier smiled at the sounds of their voices. She really hadn’t heard from them in a few months, but it was always a good sound. “Hey pa, hey ma. How y’all doin’ down there?” The image of Anna appeared next to Brock’s after a ping sounded from Applejack’s omnitool.

”We’re doin’ just fine ova here, sweetie pie. Farm’s neva been betta, especially since Big Mac started helpin’ out. Y’all would be suhprised how much havin’ a business major here boosts profits!”

”And little Applebloom is doin’ great too. She misses ya AJ, but she made a new group of friends not too long ago. Callin’ themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, or some nonsense like that.”

“Well,” Applejack placed the Stetson on her head, “It’s good to hear everythin’s fine in Ponyville.”

”Applejack,” Anna started, “Ya haven’t called in two months! What’s the occasion?”

“Ma, pa, Ah got a mission not too long ago and Ah’m not sure how long it’s gonna take. Could y’all tell Big Mac and Applebloom everythin’s fine? Ah’ll come visit right after it’s done,alright?”

”You got it, AJ,” Brock replied, “Y’all be careful out there.”

“I will, pop.”

Applejack severed the connection and sighed. She had no idea when she’d been returning. If she was tasked with protecting the scientists and engineers, who knew how long it would take them to finish the guns necessary?

Until they the Princess finishes that alliance, probably a while. Anyway, no time to mope. I gotta get to the docking bay! She made sure her Stetson was secure and all of her belongings were in her saddlebags before barreling out of the room.

“Woah, nelly… That’s the sleekest ship I dun ever seen!” At the moment, Applejack was in the docking bay gaping at what was to be her new ship. Although she didn’t know any of the technical terms or reasons for why it would look the way it did, it was nothing like a frigate or battlecruiser, for certain. In fact, it looked more like a ship one of the more well off ponies would purchase to show off the credits they’d stored. It was primarly silver in color, although there were thick, dark gray lines lining its sides to wrap turn onto the wings. There was a single thruster in the back of it, large and seemingly powerful. Its wings seemed more like smaller versions of the main hull, except they leaned inward rather than straight. Right above the grey lines on both sides of the hull was the name Revelation.

“Pretty ironic, huh? A super sneaky stealth ship being named Revelation? Gotta appreciate Princess Luna’s sense of humor!” Applejack turned around to see a bubbly pink mare standing, or rather, hopping, right next to her. She was entirely pink; both her coat and mane were just a normal and darker shade of it, respectively. Her mane was also poofy and appeared to look a lot like cotton candy. The Lieutenant Commander had only seen hair like that extravagant back in Ponyville. Usually ponies trimmed their hair or styled it to something more manageable for helmets. This seemed to be exact opposite, like she didn’t care.

“Uh, and who are you?”

“Me?” The pink earth pony stopped bouncing and gazed at Applejack. Her eyes were a deep blue, the only thing about her, save for her uniform, that wasn’t pink. “I’m Pinkie Pie and I’m going to be your pilot for the whooooole mission!” Applejack blinked.

Right, Ah remember her! Pinkamena Diane Pie. Profile said she was raised on a rock farm and decided to become a pilot after witnessin’ Rainbow’s Sonic Rainboom. Her special talent was throwin’ parties though, and the psychological section only said ‘I can’t deal with this!’, so I’ve got no clue what I’m in for. She seems nice enough, though.

“Helloooo, Equestria to Applejack! Oh wait, we’re on the moon, so Equestria is actually pretty far away. Never mind, then!” Pinkie stopped waving her hoof in front of Applejack once the orange mare shook her head.

“Right, right. So, Pinkie, y’all gonna show me the inside?”

Pinkie gasped loudly, “Oh, I totally forgot I was supposed to do that! The rest of the crew is already on, so let’s go!” Pinkie zipped into the Revelation, leaving Applejack wondering how it was possible for anypony to move that fast without some sort of tech or magic. She trotted into the ship as well, finding the beginning to be mostly a long hallway until it reached the back. In the center of the back was a hologram of the galaxy, from the looks of it, and it stood below a pedestal for whoever may be viewing it. Surrounding that hologram were several terminals connected with each other. To the left and right were doors that led t the wings of the ship. Behind it was an elevator. Pinkie was walking down the middle hallway past some seats that were placed in front of terminals.

“Okay, Commander, welcome to Grand Revelation of the ship, led by your host and pilot, Pinkie Pie!” She bounced into the end of the hallway, entering the room with galaxy map. “See what I did there? Did ya? Ah, anyway, the room in the front is the helm, if you didn’t see it. This is the command center, where you’ll be making the decisions on where we get to go!” She walked around the back to where the pedestal began. “To your left, you will find your own personal terminal. Well, you have another one up in your room, but that’s not the point! This is where messages will be sent when you’re not here.” She pointed to the door on the left next. “Over in the left wing are the labs! That’s where all of our smart ponies where do their science stuff. On the right are the living wards, where the other crew mates will be staying.” She tapped her chin with a forehoof while she thought for a moment. “…Um, right! This is the second floor. Your room is on the first floor, and maintenance and the shuttle bay are below us! Any questions?”

“Just one. Where’s mah crew?”

At that question, Pinkie smiled broadly. Actually, broadly would be an understatement. It was more like her face went from pink to white and suddenly flattened, how big her smile was. Applejack was a bit put off. “They’re in the living ward! Follow… meeeeee!” Then she leaped from her current position to the door on the right in one go. As she walked through the door, AJ sighed. Looks like she got a weird one.

Inside the living ward was a café area to the immediate left. To the right were bunk beds for the entire crew, save AJ herself. What Applejack noticed first was the fact that Pinkie had completely disappeared upon entering the ward. Then she noticed that she couldn’t see anypony else either.

“Okay, what the hay is going on here? Where is everypony?” She took one step forward and a lot of things happened at once. First, confetti exploded out of hidden canisters around the room. Second, all of the ponies AJ had been searching for popped out from various locations screaming “Welcome aboard, Commander!” Third, Shining Armor walked in behind her. She nearly bucked him out of reflex.

“Hey, Commander! How do you like the party we set up?” Pinkie bounced out from the back of the kitchen with a cake precariously balanced on her back.

“Uh, Pinkie?” Applejack finally gained her bearings, although she didn’t notice Shining behind her, “I’m just a Lieutenant Commander.”

“That’s where you’re wrong~!” She sang as she popped the cake into the air. It landed on the only table flawlessly.

“What are you talkin’ about?”

“You’ve been promoted, Commander Applejack,” Shining stated as he walked past her.

Applejack blubbered before finally managing to utter a single, “Huh?”

Shining turned to her, “You’ve been promoted. Princess Luna figured it would make this mission a bit easier if you were a commander rather than lieutenant commander. Besides, lieutenant commander is such a mouthful to say!”

Applejack stared first, before deciding to take it with a grain of salt. Who was she to question the decision of a goddess? “Welp, now that that’s out of the way, I believe there was a shindig we were supposed to be getting’ to?”

Pinkie jumped at the question. “Youuuu betcha! Let’s get this party started!” Music cut on and everypony cut loose, including the Vice Admiral. It was a very surreal experience for many of the soldiers and crew mates present. The party persisted for about two hours before it had to be ended, much to Pinkie’s chagrin. There was a schedule to keep, though, and everypony understood that. They were about to break into their tasks before a mare’s voice sounded from the main corridor.

“Applejack, I’m here… Wait, did I miss a party?” Rainbow trotted into the room a moment later. She looked around, obvious displeasure on her features. “Come on AJ, couldn’t you have told me there was gonna be a party for early birds? I might not have slept in then!”

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that, Rainbow. I didn’t know ‘bout it mahself until I got here.”

“Oh well, is this where we sleep?”

“Sure is!” Pinkie bounced over to stand directly in front of Rainbow. The mare in question flinched backward a bit. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?”

“Uh, Rainbow Dash…”

“Hi, Rainbow Dash!” She bounced over to Rainbow’s left. “Oh, I get it! Rainbow, because your mane’s a rainbow, and Dash because you’re fast, right?”

Rainbow blinked a few times before her cockiness reasserted itself. “Oh I’m not just fast. You’re gazing at the fastest Pegasus in all of Equestria!” Her wings raised and she adopted a smug smile. “Heh, I’m probably the fastest in the universe!”

Pinkie smiled and began bouncing out of the room. “Oh, I don’t know, Dashie. It’s a big universe~”

The grin remained for a few moments before it dropped in a sudden bout of realization. “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow chased after Pinkie, who was giggling the whole time. Applejack shook her head and walked after them.

Now that the party was over, 5 hours had passed. It was time to begin the mission. “Alright everypony, this is your Commander speakin’,” Applejack said from the radio in the helm, “We got our orders, and I can’t lie to any of y’all; this probably won’t be easy.” She paused for a moment to take a deep breath. “Everypony aboard this ship was chosen because y’all’ve proven to be worthy of it. This mission needs to go off without a hitch, not only to show we’re toughest in the galaxy, but to be the first step in protecting everything in the long haul. We will succeed, that, I promise.”

Applejack turned off the radio, and took a deep breath. “Whew, that was a doozie. Never was one for those long speeches.”

Pinkie tapped some lights and the ship began to move. “Well, Commander, for your first time that was pretty good! I know I was inspired. I think it would have been better if you’d done it as a song, though!”

“A song, Pinkie?” Pinkie just nodded her head. She may be one of the greatest pilots in the Navy, but she’ll always be a weird one, I guess. “Alrighty then, call Rainbow-“

“Wait, don’t forget me!” Caramel charged through door, saddlebags leaking items and everything. He tripped over his own two hooves in his rush and fell face forward, planting his face on the ground and sliding into the wall on the opposite side. Both Pinkie and Applejack couldn’t help but laugh at his misfortune. He got up and shook his head, snorting and releasing some confetti… somehow. “I’m here, Lieutenant Commander. I’m not late!”

Pinkie continued laughing while Applejack managed to calm herself down. “Caramel, mind lettin’ me on why ya got here with only seconds to spare?”

“Well, you see, I was… uh, I left and sort of forgot… everything. So I had to run back to my room and pick up my saddlebags. Then, I was halfway here and some pony cut my saddlebags by accident! I didn’t even notice until I realized my bags were becoming so much lighter when I was ALMOST HERE. So I had to go pick up my items, patch up my bags, and then I came back.”

“Wow, your luck really hasn’t gotten better since we left Ponyville, huh?”

“Unfortunately,” Caramel sighed in resignation.

Applejack patted the nape of his neck with her hoof. “Well, ya made it on time, even if it was almost late. Follow me; I gotta debrief you and Rainbow.” He nodded and picked up a few of his items, placing them into his torn saddlebags. They fell out the moment he began trotting, eliciting more snickers from both AJ and Pinkie. He shook his head and decided to just pick everything up later.

Moments later, both Rainbow and Caramel were in the debriefing room, a room that was primarily white and actually illuminated. In the center was an oval shaped, white table that had its ends clipped off so that they were flat.

“Ahem, now I’m gonna give y’all the gist of the mission.” She tapped her omnitool a few times and a hologram appeared on the center of the table showing weapon schematics. “We’re going to be protecting a group of engineers and scientists while they get together to start makin’ some weapons to combat the Reapers. Now, we’ll need to-“

“Wait, wait,” Rainbow interrupted, “What the hay are Reapers? They sound like the bad guys in some foal’s tale!” Caramel simply nodded his agreement.

“Look, everypony thinks that when they first hear about. Ah’ll send y’all the data about it once we’re done, but ya need to listen to what we’ll need to watch for.” After Rainbow had sat back down, Applejack continued, “Now, as Ah was sayin’, we’re gonna have to protect them while they’re makin’ them weapons. Nopony knows who may attack ‘em, so be on the lookout for anythin’ that looks suspicious. These Reapers can apparently take over anybody’s mind with enough time and we can’t have them screwin’ with our operations. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Caramel confirmed as he saluted, “Though, is this the only thing we’ll need to do? It’ll all take place on…” He looked at his omnitool for a moment. “…Roverkan?”

“If everything goes according to plan, yep.”

“Alright then, Lieutenant Commander. If that’s all, I’ll be picking my stuff up and packing it… again.”

“Same here, but do you mind tellin’ me where the weapons are, AJ?”

“Sure, they’re… uh…” Applejack stammered as she realized she hadn’t actually asked where the weapons were. How could a soldier forget that? “I… don’t know. Forgot to ask Pinkie.” Rainbow shrugged and both of them moved to leave the office. Before they could leave, AJ suddenly turned to them, “Oh, and Ah was promoted to Commander! Just, so you know.”

Two days later and the Revelation had arrived at the Citadel. Pinkie brought the ship in low and docked it relatively quickly. “Okay Commander, we’re here!” Applejack walked toward the exit of the ship wearing her trademark Stetson along with a navy blue soldier’s outfit.

“Got it. I’ll be right back Pinkie and I’ll be bringing along somepony else, so be ready with a big welcome, alright?”

“You bet, Applejack!”

The orange mare nodded and stepped out of the ship to find that there were a female griffin and a male diamond dog both waiting for her. “Commander, we will be your escort to Twilight Sparkle’s abode,” the diamond dog spoke, “Am I not mistaken when I believe you have not yet been to the Citadel?”

AJ finished walking to them by the time he’d finished his question. “That’d be correct, partner.”

He nodded and turned around. “Then follow us.” As the group traversed the giant space station, Applejack found herself wondering how anybody could possibly live in a place with so little nature around them. As an earth pony, she was more attuned with the earth and natural creatures than other species. The Citadel just felt… cold, even though it was a nice 70 degrees.

It wasn’t long until the two reached what appeared to be a data library. Inside the rather tall building were tons of datapads holding all of the information of the known races in one place. Well, those were the first and second floors. Everything above that were rooms where the researchers and recorders of this information lived. On the top floor was a single room devoted just to Twilight Sparkle. Standing in front of it, Applejack was more than a little awed, considering she came from a farmhouse and moved to meager soldier barracks.

The female griffin pressed a button on the keypad directly to the right of the door, speaking into it, “Ms. Sparkle, Commander Applejack has arrived.”

”Oh, I’ll be right out!” A few fumbling noises could be heard inside before the guard released the button. A few minutes later, Twilight Sparkle fumbled out of the door with nothing but her white body suit. “Sorry, I’m sorry. I needed to take care of a little something… anyway!” Twilight stood up straight and looked directly at Applejack. “Commander, it’s nice to finally meet you. My name is Twilight Sparkle, but you already knew that. Will you be departing immediately?” She raised her foreleg for a shake.

Applejack shook it firmly. “Nice to meet ya too, Twilight. And to answer your question, yes. We need to get started on this project right away.”

Twilight smiled and lowered her foreleg. “I like the way you think, Commander. You’ve got your priorities straight.” She trotted past her. “Well, let’s get going!”

The commander started to leave as well but paused as she realized something. “Twilight, where’re your saddlebags? Ain’t ya bringin’ anything?

Twilight didn’t stop as she began talking, “Oh, I’ve got everything I need with me.” Her horn glowed and one of the diamonds on her side lit up. A blue light streamed out and formed a pillow. “Compressor bags! I made them not too long ago.”

The guards began following her without a single change in emotion. Applejack trotted after them, shaking her head and muttering to herself. “Unicorns and their new, fangled contraptions…”

Author's Note

So this is done. Gotta say, this took me a while due to actually needing to research stuff for this. Anyway, post what ya like, what ya didn't like, and... other things.

Also, I'll be adding characters to the main character list as they appear.