It was odd, seeing a biped for the first time in over twenty years, especially a M.A.C unit, one she very well recognized. It made sense though, for the humans to set up multiple containment barriers. Even more so, it was a lucky coincidence. She needed as much help as she could get.

A storm of thoughts struck her mind as she and the android inspected the others’ eyes, even though they both had memorized every little detail about each other over a decade ago. Oddly enough the humans seemed to have assigned Mac, an AI platform, as their vanguard for the planet. She always thought that they were never the ones to quite trust artificial intelligence that much. Yet, it was true that their Admiral was one to bend the rules quite often.

She was brought out of her mind as Mac stepped forward, causing a small tremor. Luna made space for him to maneuver by moving backwards a few paces, then watched as he made his way over to a nearby weapon case. He waved his hand over its control panel, lighting it up and promptly causing the case to open. From inside, the android grabbed a hold of a gauss rifle and a pulse pistol and set them on their respective magnetic locks on his body.

“What should we do now?” Luna asked.

Mac turned to her. “What happens now is simple...” He walked past her, going back up the hallway with the alicorn following his steps. “We continue walking.”

“Why?”

The android halted, looking over his shoulder. “I will explain as we move. Now, follow.” He broke his stance and continued walking, Luna following closely behind. They went all the way up the eerie hallway, looking around it at the pieces of old technology, back into the main halls of the museum. Mac spoke up with his monotone voice, “The Colonial Guard is after us.” He and Luna walked out back into the forest.

The Princess frowned. “Why? They are supposed to be fighting to protect us!”

“It is... complicated,” Mac said, brushing off a branch with his arm. “During the attack on the Citadel, I was able to monitor their communications and discover that GoldenTalon Enterprises has a relatively strong grip on the Guard... And more.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Not only did they build and are stationed on LunaBase Delta, your home for more than twenty years, but they have long since claimed that the real Luna died.”

The alicorn gasped, looking down and away. “How could they...”

“Their explanation for you not actually being dead,” Mac dictated, “is that you are a rogue experiment. A copy of the real Luna, one that caused the whole incident of the citadel.”

“And now they’re using the Guard to cover their holes, while manipulating the media to turn people away,” Luna said, disgusted. “I had hoped that my return would be more... relaxed.”

“Nothing is relaxed in this world, Luna.”

The two spent some time in silence, walking towards no direction in particular, as far as Luna knew. She recalled the immense pain that brought her away from her world, her friends, and now she was back only to see an entirely different planet with different people and more problems.

A dystopia, so to say.

“What now?” Luna broke the silence. She estimated that she and Mac had been walking for a couple of hours now. It was a pity he could not fly.

Mac craned his neck, looking at her. “We must track down Princess Twilight and Celestia. In order to regain your credibility upon the masses, you need them.”

“You could just call the humans yourself. You can move now,” Luna said.

“The moment I try to contact the Humans, the Guard would find us. Allowing them to pinpoint your location and begin hunting you down is unacceptable.”

A few more minutes were spent in silence. Luna sighed and looked up. “HOW do we track them down?”

Mac continued to reply, “In order to safeguard my existence, I severed my connections to the infranet. We must do this, the ‘old fashioned way’.” He stopped walking, and so did Luna. She opened her mouth to question his cessation in movement, but he cut her off before she could speak, “Ponyville is still a quaint little town, is it not? Perhaps we could find aid there, yes...”

“What could we find in such a small town?” Luna asked.

“Rarity Belle. We are going to need as much as we can to hide our identity.”

Past some trees, Luna caught a glimpse of some lights. The two continued walking, eventually pushing out of the tree line and into the outskirts of a small town. “Here we are,” Mac said, resuming to walk forth. “Carousel Boutique is our destination.”

Luna grunted in acknowledgment. She struggled to recall the times of peace, the few times she interacted with Rarity, former Element of Generosity. She briefly wondered what she was up to lately.

Only a few minutes passed before they found themselves at the entrance of building similar to an actual carousel. As far as Luna knew, it did not seem to have gotten any bigger in the past twenty or so years. Perhaps Rarity did not do so well with business.

What drew the most attention was the music that was seeping out from the inside. Luna approached one of the holoscreens set on the outside walls, prompting it to turn on, showing to her a snow-white unicorn mare with an illustrious purple mane. “What your eyes should now be beholding,” the recording of Rarity said, “is CAROUSEL BOUTIQUE!” She struck a “fashionable,” pose. “Here, we provide all species with top-notch stylistic augmentations and fashion service...!”

Luna decided she had heard enough. This was definitively Rarity’s store. She looked around, not seeing anyone that had taken any concerning grade of attention on Mac and herself. Yet, she knew it was for the best to hurry and get inside the building. Once inside, she found herself surrounded by what she assumed to be an assortment of threading machinery, along with a questionable amount of spa equipment and various boxes of gems and jewels. Yet, there was nobody inside the store. It was empty.

“Perhaps it was not a good time to come here,” Luna mused quietly. “With the riots happening everywhere else...”

“I beg to differ,” came a voice from behind them, then the door locked.

Both Luna and Mac slowly turned towards the third person in the building. Once done, they found themselves standing in front of none other than Rarity Belle, who looked up at them with a warm smile.

“Threat Level: Zero,” Mac stated. “Interesting for you to make use of a syntex cloak.” He pointed to the mess of synthetic muscle next to Rarity. Luna smirked, realizing that if she was in any physical danger the android would have thrown the mare to the floor as soon as they entered.

“Why, thank you!” Her face turned grim as she began to step closer to the two. “Now, explain to me why I have you two in front of me. It’s not everyday you have a Princess who’s, for some reason, being looked for by the guard, and a M.A.C unit inside your house...”

Luna craned her neck backwards. “You... do not think I am a ‘rogue experiment’?”

Rarity scoffed, “Of course not! Twilight has told me about you recuperating on the moon -- ironic, might I add -- during the weekly get-togethers with our friends!” She turned to Mac. “And it was filled with your types back in the war.” She adjusted her mane.

“Well...” the Princess muttered. “This is convenient.” She trotted over to the unicorn, her heavy hoofsteps leaving cracks on the floor that made the mare’s eyes twitch. “Miss Rarity Belle... we need your aid.”

“Very well,” she said, adjusting her pose. “What can an old fashionista do?”