*POV 1st person Prince Nova*

I stormed into Blueblood’s office.

“What in the name of my mother are you playing at‽” I asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” he responded smugly.

“You know damn well what the hell I’m talking about!” I said, before levitating the newspaper off his desk and shoving it in his face “I don't know what kind of bullshit power play you're trying to pull here, but I will be keeping an eye on what you do whilst I am gone. So whatever you're thinking, you'd better think again. Otherwise I am gonna turn my ship back around and I will rain down a Godly fucking firestorm upon you! You're gonna have to call the fucking Terran Union and get a fucking binding resolution to keep me from fucking destroying you. I am talking about a scorched Terra, motherfucker! I will massacre you! I will fuck you up!!"

“Nova!” I heard the last pony I wanted to hear right now say. I sighed and turned to her.

“Yes, Mom?” I asked.

“Outside, now!” I threw one last glare towards Blueblood, who looked about ready to shit himself with fear at the appearance of my mother, before walking out of the room. My mother shut the door behind her before turning to me “Listen to me, Nova. I will not have you throwing around death threats like that!” my ears pinned back and I flinched from the chastisement.

“But…” I protested, only to be cut off.

“Don’t ‘but’ me, Nova!” she snapped “I don’t care if he was trying to vilify your reputation, no son of mine will use death threats whilst I am around, and that will be for a very long time to come” I sighed.

“Yes, Mom” I said, hanging my head “Sorry, Mom” she walked towards me and wrapped a wing around me.

“I only berate you like this because I do not wish for you to fall like Luna once did. No more will I stand idly by whilst my children fall to temptation and darkness” she said, before pulling away “It’s good to see you again. Now to see to Blueblood” she then stepped away and calmly walked back towards Blueblood’s office and walking inside before shutting the door behind her. I quietly tiptoed over to the door and put me ear against it, only to hear an almighty shout that left my ears ringing.

“HOW DARE YOU, YOU INSOLENT WELP!!!” my mother shouted as I took several steps back and tried to stop my ears from ringing “I SHOULD STRIKE YOU DOWN WHERE YOU STAND FOR YOUR BEHAVIOR TOWARDS MY SON, YOU CUR! YOU MAY HOLD THE TITLE OF A PRINCE, BUT YOU DO NOT ACT LIKE ONE. WERE I THE ONE RULING THIS COUNTRY INSTEAD OF MY DUAGHTERS, I WOULD HAVE HAD YOU STRRIPPED OF YOUR TITLE LONG AGO!!!” a few seconds later, my mother stepped out of the room.

“Sorry you had to hear that” she said.

“You could have put up a sound proofing spell” I said, rubbing my ear.

“Regardless, I doubt he will bother you any more” she said, she then turned and began to walk down the hallway before looking back at me and beckoning me with a wing “Come, tell me all about what’s happened whilst I have been absent.

*POV 3rd person*

Blueblood poked his head up from behind the desk, before promptly fainting on the spot.

…

Minion was in Canterlot dry-dock, overseeing preparations when he heard a HGV approaching, he turned to see a group of British army lorries pull up in the loading area, and turned into his Neu-Toa form before briskly walking over.

“Need a hand?” he called as the troops began to climb out and unload their equipment, one of them silently jerked a thumb towards the back of the lorry. Nova had requested a small military presence from the UK to represent Earth-1, so the British Army had sent about 30 or so soldiers. At that moment, Minion spotted a familiar face amongst the soldiers. “Thompson‽ Weren’t expecting to see you here”

“Yeah, chain of command has my team tagging along as some of us already have experience working with you” Thompson said, pulling a hold-all bag out of the back of the lorry. Minion pulled out two simultaneously before following after the Lieutenant.

“So, you got any family?” Minion asked.

“Mom and Dad, but that’s about it” Thompson replied “they already know the situation, how long do you think it’ll be until we reach the first planet?”

“A week or two” Minion answered, shrugging “It’s an Exoplanet, about 12 light-years away, discovered by the Kepler space telescope back in 2016, it’s one of the best hopes of finding life yet, so that’s our best bet. From there we’re gonna go to all the other Exoplanets discovered by said telescope and check ‘em out”

“And after that?”

“who knows, probably look around some more” Minion said, he then noticed a couple of the soldiers carry a crate “what’s in there?”

“Ever hear of DARPA?” Thompson asked.

“They make robots for the military” Minion said.

“That’s one of their LS3s used for carrying equipment, we’ve got ten of those plus a bunch of other robots” the ship came into view and Thompson stopped dead in his tracks from awe, Minion chuckled.

“Impressive, isn’t she?” he asked rhetorically “you should have seen our last ship, that one was massive”

“How many guns does this ship have‽” Thompson asked in surprise.

“Enough to keep the covenant a bay” Minion said “It’s more of a cruise ship with a generous compliment of guns than a full blown battleship, but it’s still enough to make them think twice before attacking”

“Cruise ship with guns?” Thompson asked, raising an eyebrow.

“We’re going to be out in space for decades” Minion said “plus it’s my brother’s personal ship, so it’s got quite a few…luxuries, for instance, some of the crew members have kids that they have to bring along with them, so it’s got a small school, there’s also a swimming pool and an auditorium-stroke-cinema” At that moment a flatbed lorry drove past with the lifeless form of GLaDOS secured down on the pack.

“The hell…?” Thompson asked, trailing off.

“Equestrian ships these days need some form of AI to monitor the ship’s systems” Minion said “and it just so happens we have one spare”

*POV 1st Person Nova*

I was sat on one of the balconies of the castle with my Mom, discussing what had changed.

“Terra has started to became a major contender in interplanetary politics” I said “I just hope it doesn’t all go to tartarus whilst we’re gone” I then rested my head on her shoulder.

“You’re going to miss this world, aren’t you?” my mom said, sensing my thoughts. All Alicorns had a low level of telepathy, not to the extent of full blown communication, just feelings, suggestions, emotions. So my mom could sense my feelings a mile off.

“Yeah” I said “this world has been so kind to me over these years, so it will always have a special place in my heart. When I’m here, I feel like I’m truly home. But alas, we must progress, ‘onwards and upwards’, as my people like to say”

“Just know that I will be with you to look after you” she said, nuzzling me, I recoiled slightly.

“Mom!” I exclaimed “I’m not a child, I can look after myself just fine”

“Oh please” she said, rolling her eyes “you’re not even a teenager by Alicorn standards, so forgive me if I display affection towards my darling baby boy” she then pulling me into a hug with her wing before continuing to nuzzle me. I sighed before accepting my fate

*POV 3rd Person*

Spiriah walked into the bridge of the Covenant Cruiser.

“What is it that you wished to speak about?” Taag ‘Ngreeda asked “Speak quickly, Spherus Magnan”

“I wish to join you in your fight against the Neu-Toa” the organic Makuta said “they forsook me without even giving me a chance to prove myself”

“I accept your proposal” Taag said, before quickly closing the distance between them “but know this: I have no reason to trust you, your kind are seen as deceivers even on your own planet”

“Well, you know what they say” Spiriah said “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”

Ruby plodded along the streets of the industrial sector of Canterlot towards the dry-dock, beside her the AI orb, recently named ‘Watcher’ (because let’s face it, ‘he’ wouldn’t be doing any fighting, that’s for sure) floated, keeping pace with the Kirin, said orb had multiple plates of metal above and below the eye to give some semblance of facial expresion.

“Nice to know you and your brother will be the first and only members of your species to go into space” Watcher said, his single robotic eye flashing as he spoke

“What makes you say that?” Ruby asked.

“I could go into statists about how unlikely it is for a pony to successfully mate with a dragon” Watcher said “but I don’t want to bore you with the details”

“Not to mention TMI!” Ruby exclaimed “Seriously, I can figure out how it happens without you giving me a step by step guide” the core smirked and Ruby deadpanned “Don’t even think about it”

“Fine” the core huffed “have it your way” they soon reached the dry-dock and Watcher glanced around at the rough workcrew before saying “well, this is certainly an interesting location” this drew a few glances from the workers.

“Watcher, stop it” Ruby warned.  Watcher didn’t say anything in response and merely continued to float alongside Ruby. Soon they reached the Defiance and from there, the hangar of the ship. Inside they found Breezy working on a mech of some sort. “what is this?”

“Our new Kaita slayer” Breezy said in the Minotaurian accent prominent among Mountain Kelpies like her.

“How wonderful” Watcher said “you can’t solve problems through negotiation so you smash things”

“Shut it!” Ruby snapped.

*POV 1st Person Nova*

I was on Earth with Depth Charge in a coastal town near where I used to live called Cleethorpes, they have a nice little Indian restaurant that sells really good food, the aforementioned pony was currently looking at her meal, a simple vegetable curry, with a small hit of suspicion. I was thankful that they had readied a table at the back of the restaurant, away from the prying eyes of the public, and what few poepe were sat near us were kind enough to leave us be apart from a few questions when we first arrived

“It’s alright” I reassured her “it’s just got vegetables and spices in it, I know the people that run this place, they would not mess up an order like this” Depth Charge reluctantly picked up a fork with her hoof before getting a small amount of food on her fork and placing it in her mouth. Almost immediately, her eyes lit up and she tucked into her meal with much gusto. I smiled knowingly before tucking into mine; a chicken korma with Pilau Rice and Keema Naan bread, if you don’t know what any of those are, then what in gods’ name are you doing with your life, man, step away from your computer this instant, and order yourself an Indian take away right now.

“Thank you for bringing me here” Depth Charge said, “this is a nice little place, and the food is really good”

“Why do you think I had them train a bunch of the cooks on my ship?” I asked rhetorically, before my eyebrows furrowed “Say, Depth Charge, I never did find out here you came from, I mean, you must be from South Equestria, given your accent, but where exactly are you from?”

“I grew up in a town near to Ponyville” she said “so we often heard about all the crazy stuff that would happen, what about you?”

“Whilst I was living in Scunthorpe before I was displaced,” I said “I actually grew up in London”

“City boy” she said, smirking.

“My whole life people were saying I wouldn’t achieve anything” I said, before taking a sip of my drink “they were always trying to push me down, I guess all that I’ve done is my way of proving them wrong” Depth Charge held her glass towards me.

“To proving everyone wrong” she said.

“And succeeding in life” I responded, tapping my glass against hers.

…

Sometime later we were walking along the seafront, the Sun was going down and Depth Charge looked absolutely stunning, with the like of the late evening Sun making her glow.

“Thank you for this” she said, leaning against me, I put a wing around her to stave off some of the cold from the seaborne wind “this is your last night on your home worlds, you could have spent it with Autumn, or Glück, or your family, but you spent it with me” she then reached up and kissed me on the cheek, causing me to stop dead in my tracks. Depth Charge giggled at my shocked expression.

“So, does this mean you’ll join the herd?” I asked, Depth Charge turned and pulled me into a kiss as a response, time seemed to melt away and I was unsure how long we stood like that. Unfortunately, like all good moments, it seems the hands of fate had other ideas about the two of us enjoying this evening.

“Get a room you two!” A male voice called, we both looked over to see a Human in his mid-thirties, surrounded by a small group of humans, all of them seemed just a little bit drunk.

“Do you have a problem with open affection?” I asked.

“When it comes from road shitters like you? Yes” he responded.

“Excuse me‽” I asked indignantly “do you have any idea who I am?”

“Nova, leave it” Depth Charge whispered.

“I will not let us be insulted like that” I said, before turning back to the group and stepping forward before bringing my Alicorn form to its full height, all 6ft of me, minus the horn “I will repeat the question, do you have any idea who I am?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care” I said “you’re just a pastel Cathyfucker like the rest of your kind, we don’t need your lot on our planet” the group all voiced their agreement.

“Allow me to make this…perfectly clear” I said, before my fiery mane exploded into a raging inferno and I grabbed the leader with my magic until our foreheads were practically touching “I am Prince Nova Corona-Solaris Blast, born on Earth as Luke Washington, I saved your blasted planet because you’re too incompetent to do it yourselves. Inbred-fucking-chavs like you are exactly the reason I forsook my Human heritage. As a crown prince, I have every right to have you arrested and then, just to spite you, I can make sure that you and your friends never succeed in life, I will make sure you end up on the streets for the rest of your life if you do not back right the fuck up immediately” I then shoved him towards his friends “now piss off, before I do a lot worse than make you need a change of underwear” they promptly scarpered and I turned to Depth Charge before sighing.

“Let’s get back to my place” Next Chapter: Chapter 8 Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 55 Minutes