Altair nervously looked up at his father as they walked through the halls of the castle, his dad had a rather thoughtful expression on his face, almost as if he wasn’t completely paying attention. They were entering a part of the castle that Altair had never been too before, there were more guards and people carrying folders. They had been moving in silence since they had gotten home from school, Altair had seen his mom go off to ‘let off some steam’... At least, that’s what she had said. He didn’t know what that meant, but he supposed it had to do with whatever had happened at the school.

Altair turned with his dad as they approached a door that was protected by two guards that stood on either side. They saluted as usual, and his dad saluted back before he pushed the door open and stepped inside. He gestured for Altair to follow him, the boy gulped quietly before he stepped into the new room and looked around. The guards closed the door for him, sealing him and his father in the strange room. There was a large desk, it looked brand new, a large mahogany piece that was almost as tall as Altair was, as well as a new looking leather couch. There were a couple items scattered around the room, a long leather coat hung from a hook on the wall. It looked like it had been sewn together a dozen times, and there were faded patches on the shoulders.

“Take a seat, son.” Altair heard his dad say as he pointed to the couch, Altair nodded quietly and sat on the large couch. His dad walked behind the desk and pulled a chair with a tall back from behind it, then rolled it across the floor so that it was across from Altair. His dad sat down and sighed quietly, the laced his fingers together. “I want to start off by saying that I’m not mad at you, okay? Don’t think I’m mad.”

“But mom… She was.” Altair said meekly, his dad shook his head quietly.

“She isn’t mad at you though, understand that. She’s mad at the school, and I can’t say I blame her.” His dad trailed off for a couple moments, then rubbed the back of his neck and took a deep breath. “You defended yourself, I want you to know I’m proud of you for that, even if you didn’t win the fight.” Altair raised an eyebrow at his father, a bit confused by the statement. “When I was a kid, I had a plenty of fights, lost a few of them…” The man chuckled for a couple moments, then shook his head. “But, I remember very clearly this guy named Josh. I was putting up with him when I was about your age, nasty little kid, just a straight up bully.”

“What happened?” Altair asked with a bit of hesitance, he was still worried he would get in trouble.

“One day he pushed me just a little too hard, so I turned on him and drew back my arm.” His father went on, leaning back in his chair. “Hit him so hard he just went straight to the ground, but he had friends, and they decided to get involved.” Altair scooched a bit closer to the edge of the couch, appearing nervous. “I got pretty banged up, but from that point on they didn’t bother me anymore. They knew not to fu-... Mess with me anymore.” Altair was a bit comforted when he saw his father reach out and rest a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not saying to go out looking for a fight, but If these punks keep messing with you, don’t be afraid to remind them of who they’re dealing with.”

“Okay…” Altair said, nodding as he felt his fears ease, the look on his dad’s face told him that he wasn’t about to get into trouble. “But… I got suspended from school for defending myself, I don’t want to get into more trouble… Maybe I should just let it happen and go to the teachers like they told me to…”

“If they told you to jump off a bridge, would you?” Dad asked, Altair shook his head as he leaned back on the couch. “School is there to teach you the basics of life, how to read, and write, how to do math and so on…” The man stood up quietly, adjusting his uniform. “It’s up to your mom, your mother, and I to teach you good morals, not the school.” He knelt down in front of his son and gripped his hand, giving it a firm squeeze as he looked into Altair’s eyes. “That principal of yours is thinking like an old style Equestrian, and we can’t really blame her.” Altair nodded quietly, feeling even more at ease. “If you want to go back to school, I’m sure I can get you back in early. If you want to stay home for a week, that’s okay too. I know your mom has been missing you since school started.”

“I was hoping I could hang out with you more often, you’re always so busy…” Altair said, he saw his dad frown for a moment before he nodded.

“Alright, kiddo. We’ll hang out more, all you’ve gotta do is ask.” The man stood up quietly and gestured for Altair to follow him, he walked to a window in the room that was a little too high up for Altair to see over. It wasn’t much of a problem, as he found himself picked up in order to see outside. The afternoon sun was casting its glow down on the city, windows and glass roofs reflected brightly and Altair could see cars and people wandering on the streets below, there were bars on the window though, but that didn’t really take away from the view. “This is my office, where I run all of that, and then some.”

Dominic looked over to his son, Altair was staring out the window in a bit of awe. The boy slowly extended his hand and placed it on the cool glass, Dominic felt like he was looking in a mirror when he looked at Altair. All he could do was hope he could stack up to be half the man that his father had been, if he could pull that off he knew Altair would turn out alright. Dominic put his son back down after a couple minutes, Altair looked up at him with a more relaxed expression than before. Even with his black eye. Altair felt himself swelling with another odd emotion, one that he vaguely recognized as admiration.

“How about we go watch some ‘Lunar Commandos’?” Dominic said as he started walking towards the door of his office, Altair followed him excitedly. They stepped out of the office and Dominic looked to one of the guards standing outside the office. “I’m going to be in my quarters, don’t disturb me unless it’s absolutely necessary.” The guard nodded before Dominic and Altair began making their way through the hallways that lead to the part of the castle where their rooms were. It didn’t take them long to get to Dominic’s room, the guards outside saluted as usual, and as usual Dominic returned it. He and Altair stepped into the room and looked around, the TV was already on, and Maria was sitting on the couch in front of it. She was curled up under a blanket with Luna sitting beside her, Altair had never seen his mom so frazzled before. Her hair was frizzy and her expression still told him that she was upset.

He moved over towards her and climbed up onto the couch next to Maria and Luna, Dominic saw that Luna was having trouble restraining herself when she saw that Altair had a black eye. Dominic joined them and gave Luna a disarming look, the mare shook her head softly and went back to watching the screen. She was upset, but Dominic had managed to calm Altair down, and she didn’t want to put the boy back on edge. Instead she put her wing over him, holding him protectively against her barrel.

[♠]

Jacob adjusted his duffle bag over his shoulder and looked over at his mother, she had her fingers firmly gripping her chair. They were riding in a helicopter, flying southbound over numerous military installations, below they would occasionally pass over tank depots or bunkers. It was certainly proof that the Onorussians had as much power over the region that they claimed to have, perhaps a bit more. His mother hadn’t hesitated to jump at the chance to see Cousin Maria, and Jacob couldn’t blame her, their life in Littlefork hadn’t been the most glamourous or comfortable. Still, he wished that they had spent a bit more time packing, then again, it wasn’t like there was much to pack.

Honestly Jacob wasn’t sure what to expect, but he had met plenty of people who had claimed to have seen the other side, and from what they had said it was actually very nice. They had already been given clean clothes to wear, and a nice warm meal hadn’t hurt either. Jacob looked back to his mom, the woman hated flying, but despite that fear she looked a lot more relaxed. Her hair had become considerably grey over the course of the past ten years, she had a lot of worry lines and despite her assurances she had taken up a few bad habits. Now it seemed that the nightmare was over, for that reason Jacob kept his mouth shut about his concerns. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen her so… hopeful.

“Initiate portal construction sequence beta seven.” The pilot said over the intercom that was linked to their headsets, Jacob raised an eyebrow and looked out the side of the helicopter. ”Arcane modulators on the ground are reading optimal, prepare the resonance pulse.”

”Resonance pulse charged, ground control is reading nominal.” The copilot replied, Jacob stood up from his seat and approached the cockpit. He looked ahead through the forward canopy as two beams of purple energy shot up from the ground and met midair, the pilots flicked a couple switches. ”Resonance pulse… Engaged.” Jacob watched the sky ahead of them for a few moments, the beams of energy swirled in on one another until a swirling vortex had been formed. After a couple more seconds the helicopter was just about to cross the lip of the vortex, Jacob returned to his seat and gripped the edges tightly.

He felt like he had been pulled into a warm shower, tingles of comforting energy washed over his skin for several moments. Everything outside the helicopter was replaced by an endless void of white, he looked over to his mother. She seemed surprised, but wasn’t panicking. For Julia the sensation was one she hadn’t felt in a long time, very comforting and warm, she wished she could stay in that place forever. Unfortunately the void vanished, replaced by an almost alien landscape. Desert replaced fields of snow and ice, a glistening city was off in the distance, but to Jacob’s surprise they didn’t start flying towards it.

”Portal jump complete. Laying in a heading for Doolittle AFB.” The pilot said over the intercom as the helicopter flew out into the desert, Jacob could see cars and trucks moving along roads and even a highway. There were several large vessels that floated in the sky, they looked dreadnoughts of the second world war, one seemed to be based off of an Iowa class battleship. There were other floating ships moving to and from the city, they looked more like cargo vessels than warships. It was an impressive sight to say the least, capturing both newcomers attention. The helicopter turned and flew a bit further out, briefly it passed over an area that had barbed wire fences surrounding it, as well as people milling around and wearing orange jumpsuits.

“Hey, what’s with that camp down there?” He asked as he pointed out the side of the helicopter, one of the pilots looked over his shoulder at the camp, then back into the cabin of the blackhawk.

”That’s a camp for war criminals, those guys down there are in there for slaving, rape, pillaging, murder, or a combination of all those.” The pilot explained as he went back to flying the helicopter, Jacob looked down at the camp again as they flew further into the desert. “Most of them have death penalties.” The camp disappeared as it moved out of view, leaving Jacob with a rather odd feeling of satisfaction. Littlefork had never really been one for the death penalty, often times they just cast their criminals out into the wilderness with basic supplies to fend for themselves, something Jacob found to be a stupid waste of resources.

The helicopter continued flying for half an hour before it landed at an air force base in the middle of the desert, with only a small town sitting on the edge. From there he and his mother were moved onto a plane, a B-17 of all things. Their weren’t any guns or gunners, just sacks of mail and other cargo. Jacob adjusted his deputy attire, now covered by a heated flight suit and oxygen mask, then ended up leaning back against a sack of mail to take a nap. His mother, Julia, didn’t feel inclined to sleep. The engines sputtered to life before the plane began to taxi down to one of the runways, Julia moved to one of the waist gunner positions and looked out the window at the buildings and aircraft that lined the tarmac.

She sighed quietly and adjusted her own oxygen mask, the wind began to blow against her skin as the plane moved down the runway at faster speeds, until finally it lifted off the ground. She hated flying, but she had never thought she would fly again, and now seeing the sky seemed like a dream come true. Puffy white clouds, clear blue sky, and a desert landscape that stretched out beneath the plane as far as the eye could see. The aircraft moved a bit higher into the sky, passing through the sparse cloud cover. Julia adjusted the oxygen mask they had given her as she thought about where she was going, she had always had a soft spot for her niece in Colorado. To know that there was another member of her family alive was a true hope builder, and from the looks of things, Julia had missed a lot of her niece’s life.

The woman sat near the window for an hour or so, then turned when she heard movement near the front of the aircraft. One of the crew had emerged from the nose of the aircraft and was hefting two bags of mail onto the the bomb bay doors, Julia watched for several seconds before the man returned to the nose of the plane. When he had gone she moved towards the bomb bay doors and looked at the sacks of mail, they had large pouches on the outside that she didn’t quite recognize. She moved onto the catwalk that moved through the bomb bay to get a better look, then paused as she heard a couple shouts from the nose of the aircraft.

To her surprise and brief terror, the bomb bay doors opened and the two sacks of mail dissapeared out the bottom of the aircraft. She moved to the tail of the aircraft quickly, just in time to see parachutes open on the bags of mail as they fell near a moderately sized town. She wandered back to the waist gunner position and looked out at the wing, relaxing for the flight that she knew would take several hours to complete. It would give her time to think about what she was going to say when she met Maria, and most likely her husband.

As she flew along further, she was treated to a rather odd sight in the middle of the desert below, massive hulks of metal that were rusting away and half covered in sand. They looked like the skeletons of ships, tatter remnants of fabric flapped lazily in the wind. They looked like the remains of sails, and perhaps even gas bags, Julia realized they were likely airships like she had seen over that other city. With a bit of uncertainty, she clicked the microphone on her oxygen mask and spoke.

“Um… Excuse me. Could you tell me what those ships are doing out here?” She spoke, her voice was soft, with a faint rasp at the tail end of her question. A couple seconds she heard the commline flick back on.

”That’s the Skeleton Coast.” A man’s voice responded simply, Julia continued watching the ships on the ground in the distance. ”Those were Equestrian vessels, part of their first attack wave at the beginning of the Forty Eight Hour War.” Julia raised an eyebrow, she wasn’t familiar with the history of this world’s history yet. By her silence, the man speaking judged she didn’t fully understand. ”The Equestrians were worried about our technology outpacing theirs so they tried to take over to maintain their status as a global superpower. You can guess who won, and how long it took by the name alone.”

“Oh…” She mumbled quietly, continuing to stare at the remains in the distance. She could only imagine what the battle had been like, to leave such great metal behemoths at the floor of the desert in shattered ruins.

”Whole site is a historical landmark, and a cemetery.” Another voice cut in, it didn’t need to be stated that most of the remains that had been found at the sight hadn’t been in one pace. The sheer height of the fall and force of the impact had meant that only twenty out of nearly seven hundred bodies had been found intact. Julia looked away from the distressing sight and moved to the other side of the plane, on that side she could make out a line of posts in the sand that seemed to stretch for miles. It was some sort of border, perhaps the very border that had lead to such destruction in the aptly named ‘Skeleton Coast’.

”Captain, I’m picking up radio from Canterlot, want me to patch it through?” A third voice spoke up, Julia moved away from the waist gunner positions and went to lean against the mail bags.

”Sure, I could do with some music. Go ahead and lock in on that signal, we’ll follow it in.” The first male voice said, Julia was a bit surprised to hear fifes and drums playing through her headset. Soon enough it transitioned to a martial sounding military march, very bold and powerful. Ah! Der Koniggratzer Marsch! Good choice!” Julia wasn’t going to lie, the music and focus on military strength was a tad unnerving, but she supposed that it was necessary if they were to retake Earth. With the music still playing she closed her eyes, perhaps a nap wouldn’t hurt.

[♠]

As if Maria’s day couldn’t have gotten any more stressful, she had just received a report from the Terran front informing her that she had two family members on their way to see her. That added to the stress that came with her son getting in a fight at school was just about enough to push her to the breaking point. Thankfully Luna had taken Altair to see a few new constellations in her room, so Maria was free to vent her frustration in as colorful a fashion she wanted. Dominic could only sit and watch as his wife paced back and forth.

“Honey?” Dominic asked quietly, the woman looked over at him with a very intense glare. “Please, calm down…”

“Calm down?! How can I calm down?!” Maria shouted as she put her hands on her temples. “My son has a black eye and got suspended, I can’t even tell you how angry I am about that, and now I have family coming to visit. Family I haven’t seen in over ten years! I don’t even know what they’ll think of me, what do I tell them about my parents? What do I say when they ask how they...” She threw her arms down in frustration, prompting Dominic to stand up and move towards her. “I hate this day! These things always come in threes!” Maria picked up a pillow off the couch and held it against her face, Dominic heard her screaming into it angrily before before she lowered it and panted heavily. After a couple seconds she sat back on the couch, Dominic moved behind her and leaned down, resting his hands on her shoulders. “I… I don’t know what to do… I just want this day to be over…”

“Shh… Just relax.” Dominic said as he started to massage her shoulders, Maria closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths. “Reeeelax. In through the nose, out through the mouth…” Maria nodded and followed his instructions. “Feel better?”

“No…” Maria said quietly before quietly moving her hand up to her face and wiping her eyes, then sniffling. Tears started to roll down her cheeks, and she took a couple deep lungs of air again. “I… I don’t know why I’m crying… I’m angry, not sad…”

“You’re emotions are running high.” Dominic said quietly as he moved around the couch and sat next to her, she leaned against him and nuzzled against his chest. The man put his arms around her and gave her a tender squeeze. “Just let it out, Luna should be along shortly, then she can help you with some meditation exercises… You know she’s better at that than I am.” Maria nodded quietly and continued to cry into his chest.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you…” Maria said in a quiet voice, Dominic responded by kissing the top of her head. She wiped her eyes and took a couple more deep breaths, then sat up straight and straightened her hair. She redid her ponytail, resting the hair on her right shoulder, providing a bit of asymmetry to her features. “I… I should get ready to meet them, they’ll be landing soon, no doubt.” Maria stood up, Dominic followed her lead. “Do you mind staying with Altair? I… I think I’m gonna need Luna’s special brand of support for this…”

“Whatever you need.” Dominic said with a nod. “I’ll go get him, we’ll watch some movies, and I’ll explain to him what’s got you so worried.” Maria nodded, she hugged Dominic and gave him a tender kiss on the lips before watching him walk to the door and out into the hallway. The woman sighed and walked over to the wardrobe on the wall, she pulled it open and looked through the available garments before deciding on a long coffee colored skirt and a light navy blue shirt. Maria quickly changed outfits and adjusted her hair, from then on it was a matter of waiting for Luna to arrive. She adjusted the long sleeves of her shirt in a vain attempt to try and force down the thoughts that continued to run through her mind.

The woman walked to the closet and pulled the door open, then looked inside, it didn’t take her long to find what she sought. A scabbard containing a sword forged from Lunar steel, it had been some time since she had carried it openly, but she found that practicing helped to bring her mind back to its center. Maria drew the blade from the scabbard as she moved away from the furniture and took up her usual fighting stance, she closed her eyes and focussed on nothing but the sword. Luna’s voice echoed through her mind, the sword became an extension of her body, she was in control of her body, she was in control of the sword. Slowly she changed the position of the sword, letting her stress melt away as she took control of the sword, and by extension, her body and mind.

Time was meaningless, there were no hours, no minutes, no seconds, only Maria and the sword. She could practically sense the edge of the blade, the point stretching out into infinity as she saw it within her mind. For all she knew she stood like that for an hour, or only a minute, in the end the result was the same. She opened her eyes and exhaled a deep breath, then slipped the sword back into the scabbard and leaned it against the wall. With her emotions in check the woman straightened her hair once more. There was a knock on the door, Maria simply hummed loudly and watched Luna enter.

“Dominic said you were in need of my support.” Luna said simply as she approached her wife, she extended a wing around Maria and pulled her into a tender kiss. “Given the circumstances, I can understand why…”

“I need that… That analytical tone of yours to keep be grounded…” Maria said as she returned Luna’s embrace. After a couple more seconds she broke off the contact and looked to the door. “I can’t put it off any longer, it’s likely they’ll be landing soon, if they haven’t already. Thank you for coming with me… And keeping me from chickening out.”

“I’m sure you won’t, regardless of whether I’m there or not.” Luna said warmly as the two of them walked out of the room and into the hallway. “I can guess that you have just completed a session of the Lunar Sight… It was wise of you to do so.” Maria smiled faintly at the praise, but despite her mental discipline, she could still feel the emotions of the day nagging away at her from the fringes of her mind. “If I am to be completely honest… I had to perform the same trial when I saw Altair’s bruises earlier today, it wouldn’t have been good to have an alicorn lose her temper, even if…” The alicorn trailed off. “I shouldn’t talk about it, it will undo the meditation I’ve already completed…”

“We can talk about it tonight, in bed… When all of this is over.” Maria mumbled as the passed by a couple guards on their way down a stairway to the motorpool. Luna nodded and adjusted her own mane, the flowing stars in that beautiful hair acted a lighthouse to Maria, keeping her from smashing aground against the rocky emotions that permeated her consciousness.

[♠]

Two officers stepped out of an olive drab Jeep parked next to the main runway of Baxter Air Force Base, several troop trucks were parked there as well, and the soldiers that had ridden in them were setting up a defensive perimeter around a solitary black Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. Overhead there were a couple fighter jets circling, all in preparation for the B-17 that was five minutes from touching down. In the distance the ground crew could see it, and the Air Traffic Control tower had cleared all other airspace in preparation for the arrival of the VIPs from Terra.

The two people in question were staring out the waist gunner port at the cities of Canterlot and Ponyville on either side of them. Neither Jacob or Julia could pick which one looked more appealing, all they knew was that soon they would be going to one of them. Jacob was actually happy to see that so far things seemed to be working out, and a smile played widely across his lips. Julia shared her son’s expression of awe and excitement, her eyes were locked on the city that dominated the mountainside. It glistened brightly with glass and gold, like a precious crown jewel. She could see a castle there, and she assumed that was where her niece was waiting to meet her. Nearly ten hours of travelling and she still hadn’t thought of what she was going to say, Julia supposed it would just have to come from the heart. To know that her sister’s daughter was alive was wonderful enough, yes, she could think of something.

Gradually they saw the ground getting closer, rushing up to meet the aircraft as it dropped lower and lower in the air. Green trees that were just starting to turn to fall, grass that was unmarred by burn marks or destroyed vehicles, a veritable paradise that was both Julia and Jacob’s to explore. The two of them waited patiently, the plane seemed to take forever to descend, until finally they heard the squeal of rubber and felt a lurch as they landing gear made contact with the runway. The aircraft rapidly began slowing down, there was a rather hard jolt as the tail wheel touched down. The B-17 coasted a bit longer before it began taxiing towards the trucks and other security forces. Julia and Jacob stood up and gathered their things when the plane came to a complete stop, the engines began to shut off one by one.

“What do you think she’s going to be like?” Jacob asked as he removed the oxygen mask that he had been forced to wear for the duration of the flight. “I don’t remember much about Cousin Maria.”

“As I recall she was a very nice girl last I saw her, I expect you to be on your best behavior.” Julia replied as she pulled her suitcase out from under a pile of mailbags. The crew of the aircraft was meanwhile opening a hatch in the side of the aircraft for them to get out through. Jacob rolled his eyes at his mother’s comment, he knew to be on his best behavior, he wasn’t eleven anymore. With his duffle bag over one shoulder and his deputy hat atop his head, he made his way to the hatch that had been put in the modified Cargo B-17. His mother wasn’t long behind him, he handed the crew of the aircraft back the jacket and headset they had given him before stepping down out of the aircraft. Julia followed with her flowery luggage, like her son she returned the headset and jacket, even if it was a nice looking jacket.

She joined Jacob in leaving the aircraft, when she set foot on the tarmac she could see numerous soldiers surrounding the plane. Unlike the ones she had seen on earth, they wore grey uniforms and stood in strategic points around the plane. There was also a black car ten feet or so from the plane, after a couple moments of uncertain silence both Julia and her son saw the back passenger door pop open. The door was pushed open fully, and a foot adorned with a flat soled shoe appeared. The woman that emerged wore a blue long sleeve shirt and a coffee colored skirt, her hair was off in a rather cute side ponytail.

“Achtung!” Shouted one of the soldiers near the car, Jacob and Julia jumped slightly as every soldier snapped to attention and turned to face the vehicle. To their surprise they saw an indigo hoof step out of the car as well, a regal looking mare with a horn atop her head and wings on her side stepped out beside the woman. Julia could see the resemblance of the woman to her own sister, that told her that this was likely Maria, come to meet her in person. She didn’t know who the odd mare was, but her flowing mane seemed to denote that she was rather important. The mare closed the door before the two of them began walking towards Julia and Jacob.

The two pairs stared at one another for a couple moments, silently sizing one another up. Julia could see that the woman she believed to be her niece was wearing a necklace with a silver crescent moon. She had eyes that glistened with emotion and womanly features that only served to remind Julia more of her sister. Jacob found himself looking at the pony instead of the woman, her eyes were intense, her expression was stoic, and the constant movement of her mane proved to be a bit of a distraction. It felt like an eternity passed before the woman cleared her throat and stood up a bit straighter.

“A-Aunt Julia?” She asked with a bit of nervousness, Julia nodded with a smile. “I’m Maria… This is my herd mate, Luna.” Maria gestured to Luna, the mare gave a slight bow of her head. “It’s… Been a long time, I didn’t think you’d recognize me.”

“Oh, I recognize you alright, dear.” Julia said before she wrapped Maria in a tight hug, the woman was a bit surprised, but after a couple seconds she returned it. “You’ve just grown up a lot since our last christmas together, still, you have your mother’s good looks.” The two of them let go and Julia offered her hand to Luna, the mare shook it softly. “I’m Julia, this is my son Jacob.” Luna nodded to the young man and offered him her hoof, he gave it an awkward but firm shake.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Luna said with a smile. “Both of you.” The mare looked to Maria with a neutral expression. “We should be heading back to the castle, I don’t want to be away from Altair for too long.” Maria nodded quietly and gestured for Julia and Jacob to follow her towards the car, Luna walked ahead of the group and opened the rear door of the car.

“Altair? Might I ask who that is?” Julia asked as she got in the car, Maria slid in next to her and adjusted her skirt. Jacob sat next to Maria, admittedly the backseat was a bit cramped. Luna decided to move up and sit in the passenger seat next to the driver.

“My son.” Maria said with a bit of an uncertain expression. “We’ve had a bit of a rough day with him, he got in a fight at school.” Julia hummed in response as the engine started and the car began driving back towards Canterlot. The security personnel gradually dispersed and a motorcade that had been parked at the gates of the air base began driving along with their vehicle.

“Oh, I understand.” Julia said with a nod. “I’m glad you could take the time to greet us, you didn’t need to come personally.” Maria shook her head and leaned back in her seat.

“That just isn’t my way.” She said quietly, she looked forward at Luna, then looked at the others in the car. “Once we get to the castle the staff will take you to your rooms, we can speak more tomorrow. You can meet Altair and my husband then.” Julia gave another nod and looked out the window as they drove up a winding mountain road towards the city on the side of the mountain. She was certainly in awe of all that had been constructed, it seemed that Onorus was a veritable garden of eden. Jacob shared that sentiment, though he let himself be a bit more skeptical, he still had yet to see what this new world had to offer that Earth didn’t. Even still, it was warm, that was a plus in his book.

Author's Notes:

Here's another chapter for you lovely people. Sorry for the delay, I've been getting some things in order, I'm going to be moving soon.

Here's your clip of the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6fluCc8b2A