Redemption

--It is the debate of the century – the last living descendant of Liiyah Tavrian has taken the throne and title of the Rebel Queen. This single act has torn the Coalition apart. The Provians, East Valc Front, OCVAN Cartel, Naos Reservists, Tondam Corporation – these are just a couple of the sub-factions of the Coalition that have defected to the cause of former Colonel Lieia Aladara Grisova. With the help of the 29th Force Recon, commanded by Colonel Jacobi North, she captured the prototype Ragnarov-class titan – a grievous insult to the Coalition leadership – and declared the beginning of the Rebellion. Her demands of the Coalition leaders so far have been simple – execution of Ayra Alexi. Other than that, she has begun a campaign of terror against the Vasari, visiting death and destruction upon the alien aggressors.

This begs the question – why did she desert? Are the rumours of Ayra Alexi's treachery true, or is this simply misguided aggression? We may never know what happened when the former colonel's battlegroup was destroyed, but the repercussions are widespread – Coalition units of all kinds are defecting to the Rebel Queen's cause, drawn to stand under her banner by the charismatic leader. We do not know what may become of the Coalition in the coming times, but whatever will happen will change the course of history forever.--

- Newspaper cut-out - 2nd of October, 3008 - Coalition News Network -

Lieia leapt through the shining rift in space and time, and it snapped shut behind her. She hummed to herself as she turned to inspect this concealed world – she referenced its location with the star charts she was familiar with, and came to a conclusion – this planet was somewhere inside Kaylsto's Abyss, a far-off nebula perched on the edge of South-Eastern Wastes. No wonder no one had found it this planet – nebulae were a bitch to prospect and survey. Letting out a mental sigh, she banked towards the world, but stopped as she took a closer look at it – there was a star orbiting the planet, along with a moon that moved among its orbit around the warm blue-green ball. She frowned confusedly.

What sort of madness is this? Planets are supposed to orbit their stars, not the other way around!

...we do not know, Shadow Mother...

Would you stop-*sigh* You're still going to call me that, no matter what I do, right?

...maybe...

Erk.

She refocused on the planet and flew towards it – for the first time in years, hope was flickering into life within her heart.

As she descended into the atmosphere, she could feel it – this world was literally thrumming with power. It coursed through the lands in mighty streams, branching off here and there, or joining up in some other places. To anyone else, this planet would seem as ordinary as any other world. To her, however...

She could see rivulets of it permeating air itself, swirling among in great currents of the windstreams – this energy was everywhere, possibly vital to this planet's existence. But enough of that. She had some artefacts to find...

The dirt and leaves crunched under her feet as she trudged through the thick, overgrown forest. Luckily, she had managed to make planetfall undetected – there were no satellites, space stations or starships in orbit, meaning nothing was there to stop her from landing. She strode onwards, her ears occasionally catching the noises of some animals that had been intrigued by her arrival – most of the beasts gave her wide berth. The Lost Children had gone off on a scouting mission, having pointed out some valid reasons why she shouldn't do so herself – they would be able to blend in with the natives more easily, adapting to their behaviour patterns through their ample empathic skills, whereas she was more of a rough-and-tumble sort of woman, more at home with high-calibre weaponry and power armour. Though unhappy about the decision, she agreed, and set to do some exploring of her own...

Twilight Sparkle sat at the table, contently munching away at an apple pie – this was another perfect day in Ponyville, and Equestria in general. She swallowed and went to take another bite, when she noticed something odd – a black-furred foal was sitting near her table, looking at her curiously with amber eyes, a tiny horn poking through his similarly-black mane. She chuckled at the small colt and waved to him.

“Oh, hello there, little one!”

The colt grinned and waved to her in return and she chuckled again.

“I'm Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?”

The foal frowned and looked at the ground. She examined the sudden change of mood and felt a pang of pity.

“Oh... You're mute, is that it?”

The foal nodded and looked back at her with that eerily innocent amber gaze of his.

“Are your parents around?”

Nod.

“Oh, okay. That's nice to know. Here, have this. I don't think I can eat all of this pie on my own and I don't want to waste food.” She smiled and levitated over a generous slice of her pie to him. He smiled and his magic also sparked into life and grasped the piece of pie, making her gasp quietly in surprise – a foal of his age, already able to use telekinesis! How proud his parents must be of him! The foal chomped down on the slice, quickly devouring it. Once finished, he wiped his muzzle clean and smiled thankfully to Twilight.

“Oh, it's nothing, little one. Run along now, and enjoy this day!” The foal nodded happily and cantered away. The purple unicorn chuckled and returned her attention to the book at her side, before pausing and frowning in confusion.

Had she also seen wings on that unicorn foal's sides?

She hummed to herself, deep in thought as she turned to look down the main street, where the foal had run off towards, but he had already disappeared...

And that wasn't the only thing that confused her – despite the foal's seemingly innocent appearance, something about the colt just rubbed her the wrong way. She couldn't put a hoof on it, though. She did, however, make a mental note to keep an eye out for him in the future. Knowing her tendency to overreact, it probably was nothing, but it didn't hurt to be sure...

Lieia looked up as she heard the branches snap and she saw the familiar shadowy shapes of the Lost Children as the dead  godlings sat down in front of her, eyeing her.

Well?

...we have returned from our mission, Shadow Mother...

And? What did you find out?

...one would have to see it for oneself to believe...

Um... Okay?

The mental link that connected her to the collective, yet shattered consciousness of the Lost Children was an odd thing. She had once asked them what it was like. They had explained it to the best of their abilities – it was like a giant expanse of desolation where the Children resided, whole, yet separated, condemned to wander without respite forever.

The Lost Children were aptly named.

In any case, she let their memories join her own, and after a moment of examination, she came to a conclusion – she had gone even more insane, if that was even possible.

Horses? Technicolor horses? Is this shit for real?

...ponies. They seem to be the dominant species of this world...

Are you fucking kidding me? Aaargh... And they have these Elements, I presume?

...correct. These ponies seem to be benevolent enough. We even were gifted with a slice of pie. It was tasty...

Good for you. *sigh* Well, now what do we do? It's not like I can just walk into that town and ask if I could borrow the Elements of Harmony so I can turn myself into a bona fide god...

...perhaps you can. You could take the form of a pony, and enter the town without fear of being apprehended...

I guess that makes sense… Gimme a moment…

She closed her eyes and concentrated, her power bubbling as she did so. She felt her body shift and change, almost like putty in a sculptor’s hands, drawing on the memories from the Children, and added some of her own imagination as she did so. It took her mere moments to change her form. Once it was over, she craned her now long neck around, and took a moment to look at herself.

Two rows of sharp teeth flashed in the gloomy undergrowth.

“This ain’t that bad, you know…”

Twilight sneaked through the Everfree Forest, following the trail the foal had left behind him – a magical trail, that is. The energy signature was incredibly distinct, unlike anything she’d seen in her entire life. What she didn't understand was why he was going into the Everfree! It was one of the most dangerous places to live in. Few ponies made home there. Zecora was the only one she knew of that dwelled in the forest.

An hour later, she arrived where the trail ended, and another started, very similar to the previous one. Sighing in mild trepidation, she followed it…

Ten minutes later, she wasn’t sure if that had been the smart idea to do so. She crouched inside a bush, staring at the pony whose magic emanations she had been following – a tall mare, her coat grey, her mane a dark blonde colour. But that wasn’t the oddest thing. The six wings and the long horn were. The mare didn’t seem to notice anything, her muzzle dipped into the stream as she drank, and her eyes were closed. The purple unicorn sat silently, curiosity overtaking hesitation as she looked at the tall, six-winged alicorn, questions swirling through her mind. After a couple of moments, the grey mare raised her head and Twilight stifled a gasp as the alicorn’s eyes opened – they were dark blue, and the whites were pitch-black as the two orbs darted around for a moment – the mysterious alicorn seemed oddly cold and merciless, her gaze stoic and compelling. The grey pony in question slowly trotted away, soon disappearing into the forest proper, leaving her alone. She sighed relievedly, and stood up. She had to tell of this development to Princess Celestia, as soon as possible!

The alicorn diarch in question paused in her tasks and reached out with her magic, a feeling of terror taking hold in her mind. There. The Everfree Forest. Something dark, twisted and utterly alien had taken up refuge there. Dark thoughts crawled there, along with an overwhelming sensation of guilt, failure and regret, making her wonder what this being had done to feel that sort of crushing guilt. She suspected it was nothing good and she sighed bitterly. Why was this happening to her? Whenever things seemed to return to normal, a bad event took place. She tiredly stood up to summon a servant, when a scroll popped into existence in front of her. She blinked, and opened it.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I believe we have a situation on our hooves.  Today, I met a strange little foal. At the first glance, he seemed a harmless unicorn colt, but mute. When he left, I think I saw he had wings as well. Curious, I followed his magical signature – it is nothing like I’ve ever seen! – and eventually, I wound up in the Everfree Forest. I could no longer find the colt, but I came across something much more significant.

In the space that followed, she saw a hasty sketch – it displayed an alicorn, but with six wings and a long, undoubtedly sharp horn decorating the mare’s forehead. Underneath, Twilight had scrabbled hurriedly

Eyes blue – no whites!

I turn to you for answers. Who is this strange alicorn? Why is she here? Where did she come from? We need to find this out, but I wanted your approval for trying to contact her.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

The letter ended there and the white alicorn frowned, deep in thought as she examined the sketch, taking note that Twilight hadn’t provided any image of a cutie mark. She sighed, and picked up a fresh piece of parchment, preparing to write an answer letter…

I turned into the space in front of the garage, the tow truck’s engine rumbling as I came to a halt, the dilapidated car creaking in protest, attached to the back of the truck. My parents were standing at the porch – dad seemed to be wearing a look that was both bemused and proud. Mom, however… She was less than pleased. Cara was absent, however. The twelve year old brat that was yours truly climbed out and prepared to weather the storm.

“Lieia Aladara Grisova! What were you thinking, driving off like that?” The stern-faced woman exclaimed and I winced slightly. Dad spoke up at that moment.

“Now, take it easy, Marian.”

“Wha-what?”

“You heard me. She will receive a punishment, but it’ll be of a different sort.”

“Thed, what are you talking about?” He waved her off and walked over to the machine attached to the tow truck, examining it closely.

“Hmm… This is a-“

“Selvar Thundercharge. The 2976 model.” I piped up and he glanced at me, eyebrows rising, and I added quickly. “B-Model, the one with the Talwen R37 engine.”

“Hmm. True enough.” He cast a quick glance at the front of the car, lifting the rusted hood up a little, eyeing the age-worn powerplant nestling in the engine bay.

“Thed, what are you-“

“You want her to be punished? Let her rebuild this thing. If she abandons the project-“

“I won’t!” I declared defiantly.

“That so, huh?” There was a glint in my father’s eye and he smirked softly.

“Yes! I am going to fix this car and get it running! And then, I am going to enlist in the Thunder Run when I am old enough, and I am going to win!” I stomped my foot and nearly shouted. “I’ll be the best racer there ever was!”

He stared at me quietly, and then burst into laughter.

“That’s my girl! Let’s get this thing in the garage, then!”

Mom gave up with an exasperated sigh and walked up to us.

“If you’re going to do it, you’ll have to do it properly. I’ll help with what I can – parts, tools, etcetera…” I smiled and hugged her. She chuckled and hugged back, followed by my dad moments later…