The world slowly began to come into focus. Groggy and disoriented, Starlight opened her eyes. She could not tell where she was, but the thought that her addled mind fixated on was not where, but why. Unable to answer the question, though, she fell back asleep.

It was not clear how long she was unconscious before she awoke to see a yellow-coated unicorn head staring at her, its mouth covered by some kind of respirator mask. Starlight was only confused as to why the appendages that surrounded her were so long and so dark, and to where this pony’s hooves were.

Then the world started to come back into focus as Starlight’s mind rebooted. She instinctively reached out to the tech implants in her brain to assist in the restart process, and to run a diagnostic of mental function- -only to get no response.

Realizing that something was horribly wrong, Starlight sat up sharply, suddenly finding herself quite awake. She was greeted by the sight of many individuals standing around her. Many of them were her friends, looking tired and haggard with worry, but a few were ponies that she did not recognize. Front and center, though, was a thin violet alicorn.

“She survived,” said a distorted voice from beside Starlight. The pony who she had seen before stepped out- -and it was immediately apparent to Starlight that she was not a pony at all. Rather, her body consisted of the head of a pony connected and bolted into the torso of a heavily modified Crimson Horizon drone.

“I can see that,” said Twilight.

“Where- -where am I?” said Starlight, looking around.

“Calm down,” said Zedok, putting her hand on Starlight’s shoulder and gently laying her back down on the steep incline of the table that Starlight found herself lying on. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Z…Zedok?” said Starlight, confused. “You’re not sick.”

Zedok smiled. “You mean compared to you? Yeah, I haven’t been sick in almost three weeks.”

“Three- -” Starlight sat up again. “How long was I out? How long?”

“Several weeks,” said Twilight.

“W- -weeks? What- -what happened to me?”

Twilight’s expression grew serious. “You died.”

“Several times, actually,” said Zedok. “Of course, since I’m such a great doctor, I managed to pull you back each time.”

“Correction, I managed to pull her back,” said the head-transplanted cyborg. “Oop. Pun.”

“You saved my life,” said Twilight. “And for this, I am eternally in your debt, Starlight Glimmer. But your heroism…came at a cost.”

“What kind of a cost?” said Starlight. She looked around the room at the silent faces. The memories of the event were coming back to her, and she reached up to her head, touching one of the ports in her forehead. Instead of feeling the familiar touch of metal, she felt extreme pain- -and a surgical scar.

“W- -what did you do to me?” she said, weakly. She reached over her head and toughed where metal should have been emerging from her cervical vertebrae- -only to find nothing but surgical bandages. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?”

“Your injuries were substantial,” said Twilight. “You exerted far more magic than any pony has ever exerted in those circumstances. You did something amazing…but you burned out your Core implants in the process. The only way to save your life was to…remove them.”

“You…you removed my implants?” said Starlight.

“It was not at all easy,” said the cyborg. “I’ve implanted thousands of sets, but never taken one out of a living host. Any other pony- -any pony without your natural talent- -and you would be dead. You are, frankly, a living miracle.”

“We did manage to save you one omnitool,” said Zedok. “And I think I leveled up about six times assisting Dr. Heart on your surgeries. Look, I have gray head-tentacles- -”

Zedok fell silent when she realized that Starlight was in no mood for jokes. Starlight leaned forward, looking straight at Twilight. “You took everything from me,” she said. “It’s…it’s over. You should have just let me die.”

“I couldn’t do that,” said Twilight, shaking her head. “I need you, Starlight.”

“For what? I’m not good for anything anymore! You ruined me! How am I supposed to fight Equestria now? How am I supposed to do anything- -how am I supposed to help the Cores? Without me, there’s…there’s no one. No equality.” She turned her head to the side, looking away. “I just…there’s no point anymore.”

“I understand it can be an adjustment,” said Twilight, gesturing to the fading scars on her back. “My implants dissipated when you freed me. But you will get used to it. Hope is not lost.”

“Not for me. But what about for them?”

“That’s why I need you, Starlight,” said Twilight. “I haven’t forgotten. What you said to me five years ago. I don’t think I could. And I told you we weren’t ready to give up Cores yet. Well…I think we are now.”

Starlight looked at Twilight with a great deal of suspicion. The alicorn looked sincere, but Starlight could not bring herself to believe her. “What are you talking about?”

“For too long we’ve been imprisoning our own people. You. Me. Sunset Shimmer. Trixie. Countless others.” She smiled. “But the negotiations, they worked. Councilors Falare and Vakarian have established an allied relationship between the Council and Equestria.”

“So?”

“So we can use mass cores,” laughed Twilight. “And element zero instead of ponies.”

Starlight’s eyes widened. “You’re…you’re kidding.”

“No! Within five years, Cores will be obsolete.”

Starlight looked at Zedok, and then across the room at Lyra.

“She’s not lying,” said Lyra. “I checked.”

“That…that…” Starlight put her hoof to her nose, trying to dissipate the pain of being unable to cry. “That’s amazing…”

“Which is why I need your help,” said Twilight. “There’s going to be a lot of Cores with a lot of unique problems. A lot of them are going to have trouble reintegrating into society, and a lot of Equestria is going to have a hard time accepting them.”

“So what do you want me for?”

“I want you to help them. To stand at my side in the Cult of Harmony and help them become equal.”

Starlight looked at Twilight, and then at her friends. Then, slowly, she neared forward, taking a step off othe table she was lying on.

“Careful!” said Zedok.

“I’m fine,” said Starlight. “A bit wobbly…a lot wobbly. But I’m fine. It’s just so…”

“Sudden?”

“Yeah.”

“You saved Equestria,” said Twilight. “And me. News is already spreading throughout the Kingdom. That a hero Core protected them when the Gate opened.”

“But I’m not finished yet,” said Starlight. “I barely did anything there…but I want to help.”

“You do?” Twilight seemed a bit surprised by Starlight’s sudden response.

“It’s all I’ve ever wanted. But you had better not be lying, Twilight. Because I will hold you to your promise.”

“I wouldn’t lie to you, Starlight Glimmer,” said Twilight, smiling widely without showing her teeth. “If we fight each other, nothing good will ever come. Just pain and strife. But working together in friendship, we can make Equestria a better place.”

Starlight smiled. “I just…I never thought it would end like this.”

“Oh, it has hardly ended,” said Twilight. She started walking toward the door, and Starlight followed. “It’s only just beginning.”

When Starlight passed through the threshold of the door into what she only imagined was an Equestrian ship, a voice called out to her. “Hey,” said Jack, pushing herself off the wall she was leaning on.

“Jack!” said Starlight, hugging her friend’s legs.

“Star, no need to get all mushy!”

“I’ll be up ahead,” said Twilight.

“Goddamn,” said Jack. “You actually pulled through that. Hell, cheating death like that you could give Shepard a run for his money.”

“I’m sorry I had to do that.”

“I know,” said Jack.

“But you were there,” said Starlight. “Just when I didn’t think I could get myself out, you were there. And you saved me.”

“I did what I could,” said Jack. Her silver eyes turned to Starlight’s bandaged back. “I just wish I could have done more…”

“I’m alive. And that’s what counts.” A thought occurred to Starlight. “Jack, when you saved me…did you…teleport?”

“I think so. Partially, kind of. Yeah.”

“Epic.”

Jack laughed. “Yeah. It pretty much is.” She looked at the room behind her, where several people were taking and milling about. “Star, I heard what you said in there.”

“Don’t worry, Jack,” said Starlight. “I’m not saying goodbye. I’m not leaving. Just…doing something different.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Jack looked around, and then took one knee so that they were at eye-level. She put her hand on Starlight’s shoulder. “Starlight, listen to me. You have a chance here. One I never had, one I never will have. One you almost didn’t get. You have a shot at living a normal life.”

“Jack…you can do that too.”

Jack shook her head. “It’s too late for me. I’m too old, and I’ve lost too much. But you haven’t. Star, if you do one thing for me, please- -PLEASE don’t waste this chance. Go out there. Make your life. Fall in love. Go to the Crystal Empire and grab that goddamn Sunburst stallion by his horn.”

“I will,” said Starlight. “Not the horn-grabbing, but I’ll live. As long as you promise that I’ll always be able to find you, that you won’t leave me.”

Jack smiled. “I’m not going anywhere until I die,” she said. “Beyond that, all bets are off.”

Starlight hugged her, and Jack hugged back.

“I’ll find the most potent alcohol Equestria has to offer, and I’ll have Twilight send you a whole crate of it,” said Starlight.

“You had better, for all the times I’ve pulled your pony ass out of the fire.”

Starlight laughed, and she released Jack. She waved as she went to join Twilight, who was waiting down the hall. Twilight looked over her shoulder back at Starlight, and then at a different pair approaching from the other side of the hall. Starlight immediately recognized one of them by her blue coat and the obvious implants on her back and head, and she realized that Trixie’s horn was missing. It did not seem to be slowing her down, though, because she was smiling down at a much younger orange Pegasus pony.

“This is Priestess Scootaloo,” said Twilight. “And you already know Trixie.”

“Hi,” said Starlight, awkwardly. “Trixie, I’m- -”

“I’m sorry,” blurted Trixie. “I said a lot of things to you. Really, really mean things. I don’t know what was going on in my brain, it just…I don’t even know.”

“I was just going to say that I’m so glad they got you out of there.” Starlight hugged her friend, and though surprised, Trixie eventually hugged back.

“Trixie is no longer able to use magic,” said Starlight. “But I want her on board with this too. To help us.”

Trixie and Scootaloo smiled at each other.

“And Scootaloo will be helping us as well. Of course, a lot of ponies will be helping us.”

“Wintry is chomping at the bit to give you a tour,” said Scootaloo. “She even set you up a room and everything until the Harmony II can be built.”

“Harmony II?” Starlight looked at Twilight with some concern.

“To inaugurate a new era. The first Equestrian ship with a mass-core drive system. It’s already nearing completion, actually. A lot of ponies are very enthusiastic about what I want to accomplish.”

Starlight smiled, and the group started walking. As Scootaloo and Trixie talked, though, Twilight suddenly looked somewhat concerned.

“Is something wrong?” asked Starlight.

“Oh no,” said Twilight. “I just remembered that I need to make a report to Princess Celestia about my progress. It’s kind of a thing I do as a junior Princess, and I’m kind of obsessive about being punctual.”

“Go ahead,” said Scootaloo. “I can take it from here.”

“Thanks,” said Twilight, stepping away from the group. She watched them walk off. When they were out of sight, Twilight crossed the now empty hallway to an unused communications room on the sides. She opened the door, entered, and closed it behind her- -being sure to engage the locks completely.

Once inside the darkened room, she opened an interface with her magic and began mentally imputing a complex set of encryption algorithms. A hologram pad on one end of the room charged to life, and violet particles swam through the yellowish light, projected by Twilight’s own magic.

Then a figure stepped into the projection. She towered over Twilight, even though by human standards she was actually somewhat short. Even through the relatively low resolution of the Equestrian hologram, it was possible to see the her long, wavy hair, her robotic arm- -and the vertical pupils of her eyes.

“What do you want, you filthy bitch?” said Twilight, darkly.

Bob smiled. “Come on, One,” she said. “Is that really any way to talk to your own mother?”

At the sound of her name, One smiled- -revealing several rows of pointed teeth. She allowed her forced Equestrian accent to slip back into her normal French one.

“And just how else would you propose I speak to you, Robette? Would you have me feign decorum?”

“I hate feigned decorum. No. I just expect more creative insults from you.”

“I see,” said One. “I believe my mimicry may be effecting my edge.”

Bob’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t let it.”

“Trust me, it will not. Not when it comes to the main mission.”

“And the status of the main mission?”

“Integration is excellent. They hardly even suspect that the real ‘Twilight Sparkle’ was atomized in the blast.”

“And you don’t feel bad about that? Not even a little? You are cloned form her, you know.”

“Of course I know. And I am a substantial improvement over the original.”

“I can’t argue that,” sighed Bob.

“But…”

“But what?”

“That teleportation sequence. It was actually very well executed. Had I not intercepted it, I am reasonably sure that Starlight Glimmer would have saved the life of Twilight Sparkle.”

“And what would be the fun in that?”

“No fun at all. Which is why I made sure that Twilight Sparkle was terminated.”

Bob sighed, and leaned back. “You know what? You are my most successful daughter. The most like me out of all of them. The spitting image mentally. But even the Blue-Lit Machines weren’t perfect. If they find you out?”

“Then I kill them.”

“All of them?”

“All of them.”

“Do you really think you can pull that off?”

One grinned menacingly. “I’ve already killed two alicorns. And I would have killed a third if your synth whipping boy had not intervened before my coup de grâce. How is my little sister doing these days, by the way?”

Bob’s eyes narrowed. “She’s alive. That’s all you need to know. And what you did? Because of that, if I ever see you again, I WILL kill you. You understand that, right?”

“I would like to see you try, mother. That day will come eventually. But not today.”

“No. Bigger and better things?”

One smiled. “I’m the Princess of one of the most powerful galactic empires in history. Just think of the things I can do to leverage this…”

Bob smiled. As much as she hated One, she appeared proud. “Hail Cerberus eternally,” she said.

One- -as perhaps the only other being in the universe who could understand the pure irony of that statement- -chuckled, and replied knowingly.

“Hail Cerberus...eternally.”