Victoria winced as she looked herself over in the hospital mirror, doing her best to keep her legs from shaking with exertion. A few days off her feet should have given her plenty of rest, at least in Victoria’s mind, but she was pushing herself. She had dressed herself in a uniform provided by the colonel that had personally debriefed her- it was Terran military, blue and green jumpsuit with a silver shoulder pad. Pips for honorable service, a valour award, the Equestrian ground assault award, and award for honorable injury all shown on the collar, which had her… conflicted. That fucking alien had whipped her, and good.

The soldier slowly reached up to trace the two reddened claw scars that ran from the bridge of her nose over her left eye, trailing up to her partially shaved scalp. They still stung, and tugged slightly at certain expressions, but it was bearable. Her left arm had been transferred out of its large tank, and was now merely casted, the plaster encasing a soft bag of the changeling healing goo. It was an annoying necessity of healing. She smiled shakily at herself in the reflection, standing to attention. Victoria would get passed this. She had to; she had a new job to do now.

Immediately after her debriefing, the colonel had assigned Victoria to be the personal attache to Princess Twilight Sparkle; usually, Victoria would have been livid to being shunted off the field. But these were… special circumstances, weren’t they? According to the colonel, talks in orbit were going well, and there was even rumors that the Equusians might be joining the Republic in an official capacity. It would be up to Victoria to show Princess Sparkle just what a Terran soldier embodied.

The door clicked open, a familiar pony head peering in. Rainbow Dash grinned up at Victoria, flapping her wings to hover at eye level.

“Nice look on you,” she told her sincerely, grinning wider, probably from the blush Victoria could feel climbing up her neck and cheeks.

Definitely had to get that response under control.

“Thanks, Rainbow,” she managed to reply without stammering, “Have to look the part and all. How’re the others?”

Rainbow shrugged a bit, but the grin stayed put, “Ready to get out of here with you; c’mon down, we’re just waiting for Twilight to get back. She said something about a decision being made.”

Victoria nodded, letting out a breath before turning to walk outside; pain twinged through her legs, but she blocked it out. No worse than boot camp. Rainbow Dash hovered alongside her, wings flapping slowly and somehow keeping her aloft. Looking her over, Victoria noticed the pony’s own scars- scrapes and slices at specific spots around her legs and neck- probably where her armor didn’t cover.

“How’re your hooves?” she asked her friend quietly, “Any stress fractures?”

Rainbow blinked at her approvingly but shook her head, “Nah, I had the doctor take a look. Be happy to rest ‘em, though.”

“What about your wings, though? You were in the air for, like…”

“About a day straight, yeah.”

Rainbow Dash nudged her- gently, and shook her head, “Pegasi wings don’t need a lot of rest. Our hooves and magic are usually what get worn out faster.”

She grunted and stretched her spine, which popped a few times, “And I burned a lot of that. No more Rainbooms for awhile.”

Those had been fucking impressive. Rainbow Dash had told Victoria about her first Rainboom, and all those since, in her letters, but actually seeing one up close…

“I can’t wait,” she replied, grinning.

Outside the hospital, the Wonderbolts were all sunning themselves on the hospital lawn; they looked relaxed, but Victoria noted the perked ears, and Soarin’ was settled on his haunches in the middle of the herd, head tilting a new direction every few moments. He noticed the two females quickly, grinning and waving them over. The herd opened up to let them into the middle of the group, Soarin’ scooting to give them room to settle down.

“Twilight should be back soon,” Spitfire called out- she was on the outside of the herd, facing away- looking more to the sky, Victoria noted, “I see a human ship heading this way.”

Victoria blinked curiously, peering up at the sky herself. Through the thick clouds, it was hard to see much, but in places where pegasi had cleared flight paths, one could see the vague outlines and lights of the fleet in orbit. The wormhole would be opening up in a few days time, when most of the Aegis and volunteer forces would be heading back to Sol. Victoria imagined the aid fleet would start coming through, these next few months. Equus needed it.

Even around the well defended hospital, the battle had raged- from their spot on the hill, Victoria and the ponies could see the blasted scape of the battlefields: trees were smashed flat or burned, and smoke from the great Seraph body fires rose into the sky, funneled into specially formed clouds for safe-keeping. Pastel shapes, pegasus ponies, were zipping around in the distance, working hard on the vast cloudscape. ...Victoria hoped that the race could recover. Cloudsdale had been the seat of their culture and power; in human history, when cultures lost those sites, their civilization often suffered heavily or outright disappeared.

“Here she comes,” Rainbow spoke up suddenly, ears twitching.

An Albion-class frigate rumbled through one of the flight paths minutes later, and Victoria blinked respect at her pegasus friend.

Wish I had ears like that.

As the Albion flashed overhead, a Langley dropped out of the support bay, roaring as it powered down to the surface. Both ships looked fairly beat up; the Langley’s gunmetal grey exterior was streaked with carbon scoring, and even the bright scars from blades in places. The squat, bulky craft did not look pretty; but Terran’s built tough. The herd all leaped to their hooves as the craft moved to set down at the cleared landing zone in front of the hospital; the Langley was built as a VTOL, its thrusters tilting and scoring the ground beneath it.

“Come on!” Rainbow called out cheerfully, zipping over to it, Fleetfoot following close behind.

Victoria smirked and shakily got back up; Soarin’ and Spitfire stood on either side of her, both grinning at her.

“Don’t mind them,” Soarin’ told her, shaking his head in amusement, “Rainbow and Fleet are still all worried about Twilight.”

“Not that we aren’t, mind,” Spitfire added in, chuckling, “But Twilight is a strong mare, and an alicorn at that. If she’s standing, she’s okay.”

Victoria nodded, letting out a breath, “Can you give me a uh… quick summary on the Princess?”

Soarin’ snorted out a laugh, eyes sparkling as he looked up to catch Victoria’s eye, “That won’t be easy; there’s no quick guide to Sparkles. But pro-tip? Be honest. She hates it when ponies waste her time. Remember, princesses gotta deal with bureaucrats and nobles.”

...I think I might like this Princess, then.

The rear-hatch of the Langley opened up as it settled down; two cyan-armored stallions rushed out, making way for the Princess, who was in gold-and-purple regalia herself. She looked a lot more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed than Victoria had seen those few days prior- she was standing tall and smiling kindly, her wings preened and sleek. Her regalia gleamed in the sun, purple light spilling off the edges.

“Unicorn magic?” she muttered in surprise.

“Alicorn, technically,” Spitfire corrected softly, “But this is probably your first look at it? Don’t worry, you’ll see lots more, hanging out with us.”

“Is that how you guys did the lightning and fire thing?” she blurted out, “Scared me half to death…”

That got a toothy grin from the mare, “Nah, that was pegasus magic. All ponies have a connection to one element or another, but sometimes that’s stronger than in others. Twilight and I are attuned to fire; Soarin and Fleetfoot are attuned to the sky and lightning, while Rainbow is attuned to sky and friendship magic. And yes.”

She raised a hoof to stop Victoria, still grinning, “Friendship is magic. Twilight can explain it better than me.”

“And I will!” Twilight called out, voice brighter and more clear than the other day, ears tilted forward towards them while she hugged onto Rainbow Dash.

Victoria could not help but smile as she watched the Princess interact with her fellow ponies, all but glomping Rainbow Dash and Fleetfoot in hugs from hooves and wings. Ponies were a more touchy-feely species, she had figured out; from what she remembered of pony physiology, their fur was extremely sensitive to touch, more than their hooves. It was a little odd for the human, but Victoria imagined that she could learn to deal with it. And goddamn was it cute to watch.

The soldier stood up straight and gave a quick salute to the Princess as she turned her attention to the human. The smile Twilight Sparkle gave was dazzling, though Victoria only saw it for a split second before she was firmly hugged by the very warm pony, and she had to quickly hug her back to keep them both standing.

“Nice to meet you again,” Twilight spoke softly, giggling a bit after a moment’s thought, “Now that I’m not delirious.”

“I-it’s good to meet you properly, princess,” Victoria managed sheepishly, though she couldn’t help but smile around Twilight, “Did uh, did the meeting go well?”

Eyes all but sparkling, Twilight Sparkle nodded as she dropped back to all fours and settled on her haunches, “It did! The Equusian nations have signed a treaty with the Terran Republic- we will be joining you, with our leaders taking the place of senators until we can organize a proper vote. There’s more to it, but-”

“Hey Twi!” Rainbow butt in, glancing over at the Guards and the waiting ship, “Are we going somewhere?”

“Let her finish, Dash!” Spitfire barked, and Victoria couldn’t help but stand up just a bit straighter.

That was a fine drill instructor voice!

“Yes, Rainbow,” Twilight answered, not seeming phased in the slightest as she grinned around at her herd, “We’ve all been invited to tour the Sol System, for a diplomatic mission. Victoria will be coming with us as an attache.”

As the Wonderbolts burst into excited chatter, Victoria nodded firmly to Twilight, “I will do whatever I can to help. Sol will be happy to have you.”

With a flick of her tail and wings, Twilight nodded and waved them all back onto the Langley, looking somewhat troubled.

“I’m hoping I’m what you humans were expecting,” she replied to Victoria softly as they walked aboard, the rest of the Wonderbolts on their heels, “We… I… owe you all so much. The rest of the girls kind of feel the same.”

She held up a hoof towards Rainbow Dash without looking, “They’ll be joining us in orbit.”

The Princess turned to peer thoughtfully at Victoria, seeming to chew on her thoughts before continuing softly, “Am I what you expected, Victoria?”

Oh yeah, don’t put me on the spot or anything.

The soldier took a moment to think as she took a seat in the Langley, running her fingers through her partially shaved hair. The rest of the Wonderbolts hopped into seats around them, purple magic from Twilight buckling them in tight, though her gaze hadn’t left Victoria’s.

“No,” she finally answered, smiling faintly to ease any initial sting, “You aren’t. You’re alot more personable than any royal I’ve ever seen. You feel… real. And the rest of humanity will see that, and appreciate that.”

The Princess moved to settle in a seat beside Victoria, gently laying a fetlock over her casted arm; warmth swelled in her heart at the smile that had spread over the alicorn’s muzzle. A quick look around only worsened a quickly growing blush, as the pegasi were giving amused, if pleased, grins at her.

Welp. This… will be an interesting trip home.

Author's Notes:

I am so glad to get back to writing. Sorry about the pause- holiday times are always busy, plus finals in school. I know it's a little short, but don't worry, things will pick up!