Within two days after the Battle of Canterlot had ended, electricity and water had been restored to a large portion of the city, and the monarchs declared it to be a day of celebrations. The castle was still intact, and they had all the preparations for a massive royal wedding planned, why let all of it go to waste?

Less emphasis was placed on the wedding by this point of course. Once the ceremony was out of the way, one could easily have mistaken the resulting party to be mardi gras.

The Royal Gardens were the primary area of the wedding guests, those who weren’t in the hospital and had enough rags to throw together to technically qualify as formal attire partying like crazy. The normal guest list was there of course, with the addition of Alliance diplomats and officers.

The ponies accepted the griffins, hippogriffs, dragons, or humans into the party with gusto. Any animosity held could be forgotten for just this one night, at the very least.

The various members of the Mane Six and their allies were scattered around the party, participating in the festivities.

Rarity and Spike in particular were standing in one area of tables, arguing about something and nervously looking at the orange dragon in a dress uniform sitting nearby. Vaughn was sitting at a table alone, a glass of clear liquid before him. He was the picture of calm, occasionally sipping from his drink as he peered intently at the pocket-sized book in his claw.

“Oh, Spike, he probably won’t bite you! He’s very well-mannered from what I recall. He saved your life!”

“Yeah...but he’s still a dragon! I don’t know if he’s anything like the ones I’ve met!”

“I hardly think Melissa --Melissa, Spike!-- would trust him with her life if he were like those dastardly youngsters. Just go and talk to him! Say ‘thank you for saving my life, my name is Spike’.”

Spike tugged at the collar of his suit, and slowly edged his way closer to the sergeant. He tried to stay out of the stallion’s peripheral vision until he could work up the nerve.

Vaughn looked so much smaller out of his BDUs and equipment, his bulk almost that of a normal human’s. He had a pocket-sized book in his claw, and his eyes were peering intently at it. No one stood nearby, not even close to the table, as if a perimeter had formed around him. He looked utterly unapproachable. It reminded Spike of when Twilight was deep in a new book and in the library. Woe betide anyone who tried to interrupt her in her greatest place of happiness.

Vaughn’s eyes darted upwards to peer at Spike, and the purple dragon flinched. How had he spotted him?

Vaughn blinked several times, his eyes locked with Spike’s. His expression was the same as it was when he’d been looking at the book, neutral, calm. It was the same as it was the whole evening. There was something in his eyes though.

His shoulders tensed. He glanced around at the crowd rapidly in an odd manner. His claw strayed to his side.

Spike didn’t know what was up. He cleared his throat, and walked forward.

The dragon sergeant’s hand went back onto the table, opening and closing. He looked at it curiously, then down at Spike.

He stopped looking around, but it was almost as if he grew even more tense.

Fireworks launched into the distance, making several soldiers amongst the party guests flinch.

Spike clambered up onto the chair opposite him, and gave a little wave, “Uh...hi! I’m Spike.”

Vaughn nodded, “Yes. I know who you are. I’m Sergeant Vaughn, United States Marine Corps.”

He glanced around again, “Do you need something?”

“Who? Me?” Spike stuttered, “Uh...uh…”

He glanced back at Rarity, who gestured toward the sergeant frantically.

Looking back, Spike was surprised to see Vaughn’s eyes become suspicious. He peered around again, unable to see Rarity.

“Spike, are you under duress?”

“‘Duress’?” Spike asked, “huh?”

“Is someone forcing you to speak to me? Are you in danger?”

Spike was bewildered, “What? No! No! I’m fine! I--I--”

Vaughn’s stoney expression broke, and he became nervous, “Oh...da--darn. I’m sorry, kid. I’m...look, I’m a soldier, I--”

He clapped his book shut, his face reddening, “Um...look, I’m sorry. I’ll--”

Spike was staring slack-jawed at this dragon before him. This stallion two or three times his size, a brave soldier who had saved him from a bunch of alien monsters without fear.

And he was stuttering like Twilight or Spike himself.

They had more in common than they thought. Saving the world seemed to be wildly different from social situations in human culture just like it was in pony culture.

“No, it’s okay, nothing’s wrong!” Spike said, waving his claws, “Sorry! Sorry! I--I just...thank you for saving me!”

Vaughn tilted his head, “Huh?”

“I wanted to thank you for saving me. You saved me a few days ago during the battle. I never got to talk to you. I haven’t met any dragons beside…” Spike’s nose wrinkled, “Well, that’s not important. Uh…”

Vaughn’s cool expression changed, to one of mild uncertainty, “You’re welcome.”

“Uh...where are you from?”

“New Philadelphia, New Texas.”

Spike blinked, “You’re...you’re not from the dragon lands?”

“Nope.”

“Is that why you don’t have wings?”

Vaughn twitched. “Birth defect. My grandfather was human.”

Spike looked at him doubtfully, “How does that work?”

Vaughn flushed, and looked off to the side, “Oh, jeez…”

Rarity walked over, turning her charm on to full, “Oh, hello Spike! How are you and the sergeant getting along?”

“Fine, I think.” Spike said.

Vaughn’s nervousness diminished somewhat, “Hello, miss Rarity. How are you?”

“Very well, thank you,” Rarity smiled, looking him up and down, “That is a very dapper outfit, Sergeant Vaughn. Tell me, who is your designer?”

Vaughn glanced down, “I don’t know, actually. This is just a standard-issue dress uniform.”

“Your people have very interesting designs and fabrics. What’s your fashion industry like?”

“I wouldn’t know much...we’ve got a lot of fabrics that can be made back on Earth, though we don’t have anywhere near the manufacturing capabilities of what home must have.”

Spike raised his eyebrows. He thinks of Earth as home?

Rarity’s expression shifted at Vaughn’s relatively limited responses. “Do you know what plans your people have, now that they’re out in the open?”

“Trade and diplomacy, obviously,” Vaughn said, “Probably some immigration both ways, but not much at first.”

Rarity blinked. He was just repeating what the ambassador said. Such a reserved being...he was odd alright.

Perhaps that’s why he got along with Melissa, she mused with a small smile.

“Sergeant, how did you and Melissa meet? You seemed to be good friends--at least, what little I saw of you two.”

Vaughn sipped from his glass, “She and Twilight were assigned my squad. Both of them are good at what they do. I mean, they saved the planet.”

“Oh we all do such things, but what’s your relationship with Melissa?”

Vaughn peered at her, blinking, “What do you mean?”

The sergeant didn’t catch on, but Spike did, and immediately tried swerving the conversation, “So uh, Vaughn...you like gems?”

Still oblivious, Vaughn nodded, “Sure. I put red ones on pizza, with pepperoni.”

Spike nodded, jabbing at Rarity under the table. She pouted slightly, and nudged him back.

Across the party, Andrew Shepherd, wearing his normal clothes, was sitting at a table trying to relearn how to breath without hurting himself. He still had a bandage around his head, and around his chest.

Fluttershy sat nearby, and became alarmed when he winced, “Are you alright? Do you need anything?”

“No, I’m fine,” he grunted, “I’ll breathe on the weekend.”

Across the air had been music of various types, mostly live performance stuff and some relatively calm dance music.

As the latest song ended, there was a static-washed sound that momentarily drowned out the crowd.

A moment later, there was a burst of sound that quickly reverted to words, “It’s been a long road, getting from there to here…”

“Faith of the Heart?” Andrew muttered in surprise, then realization dawned on him.

Getting to his feet, and groaning with the exertion, Andrew stumbled a bit. Fluttershy hovered over, “What, what is it?”

“Help me out here!” he grunted, walking forward and wincing.

“Don’t hurt yourself!” Fluttershy said urgently, “What do you need?”

“She’s back.”

On the opposite end of the party, wearing their dress uniforms as best they could, Ceres and Melissa departed from DJ Vinyl Scratch’s station, where a little red MP3 player had been left.

An earth pony with a dark coat, dark mane, and wielding a cello, standing with the live band, was glaring daggers at their backs, then to the DJ.

Melissa looked back and smiled a little as Vinyl returned the glare with a shrug and a smirk, and started cackling.

She looked forward and sighed. Both hands were white-knuckled trying to hold onto the walker, every instinct telling her to lean on her legs.

Ceres glanced up at her, walking along with his one crutch and making better progress, “You okay, Sergeant?”

“You lucky bastard with your four legs and your wings…”

“I’ll take that as a no...”

Ceres limped alongside Melissa, cursing his own injury but being more cautious of her.

The griffin snuck a glance up at her. He’d respected her at first as a fellow soldier, and an NCO, then as someone he might like to get to know. She certainly responded better to his wisecracks than Vaughn did, and didn’t seem to care that he had feathers instead of skin. And he respected anyone who grabs a helmet and an M16 then jumps into a firefight.

Ceres’ commanders had always complained he was an annoyance, but admitted his loyalty was unshakable. He’d follow superiors he respected into hell and back.

However, after what he’d heard in that debriefing, all the adventures she’d had on this world before they’d met, he wondered what kind of person she really was. What kind of person is able to hold up under all that stress and torment? Along with hiding whatever it was they’d told her to be quiet about?

Someone to admire, in some respects at least. Maybe worth a date or two even...

Ceres caught himself. Maybe someone like that. Doesn’t have to be the sergeant.

On the edge of the party, dancing the night away in their own little way, Melissa spotted the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Despite her injuries, and the walker, she still managed to make it quite close to them without being spotted.

The other two eventually noticed her approach, while Scootaloo did not. She tapped the little filly on the head, “Scoots, your scooter is being towed!”

Scootaloo spun around in confusion, then her face lit up.

“Melissa!” They cried, louder than cannon fire, and immediately set about trying to hug her.
“Whoa, whoa, careful!” Ceres said, limping around to catch Scootaloo by the scruff of the neck to keep her from attacking right Melissa’s leg.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle settled for embracing the other half of her lower body.
“Not too tight, not too tight!” she said happily, leaning down as best she could to give them partial embraces with her limited mobility, “I’ve got quite a few injuries.”

Scootaloo was still struggling in Ceres’ grip, “Hey, put me down!”

The griffin set her down, “Sorry, kids. Doctor’s orders say not to jump on Aunt Foster’s leg.”

The fillies went wide-eyed, “Why not?”

“Can you still walk?” Sweetie Belle asked, reaching out to try and touch the gel on her knee. Ceres grabbed her hoof and pulled it back.

“What happened anyway?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Who are you?” Scootaloo asked, looking at Ceres.

“I’m her babysitter, unfortunately.” Ceres sighed.

Melissa reached down and ruffled Scootaloo’s hair, “He’s alright, Scoots, he’s with me.”

“But what happened?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“You look like Granny Smith after her hip surgery…” Apple Bloom muttered nervously.

“Well girls, I went through a war. You knew that probably, but I kinda took a grenade to half my body and also broke a few things.”

“Tell us the story!” Scootaloo demanded, “We didn’t get to see any of the battle!”

“Now’s probably not the best time, with all the noise and stuff, but I can certainly tell you the gritty details later.”

“Aw…” they collectively sighed.

“But are you okay?” Sweetie Belle asked, “Like...will you be able to walk properly again?”

“Oh yeah, this is just until I heal. My knee’s still regrowing and stuff.”

“So who are you?” Apple Bloom asked Ceres, “Whaddya mean, ‘babysitter’?”

“I’ve never seen a griffin in real life!” Sweetie Belle commented, “ Where are you from? What’s Griffonstone like?”
“Are you with the humans?” Scootaloo asked, pointing to his dress uniform.

They continued to overwhelm the poor marine with questions, and Melissa started laughing, “Girls, calm down! You’re killing the poor guy! We can only be here for an hour or so, so what say we schedule something later for us to talk, and he can answer all your questions and I can tell you how I ended up with a walker?”
Ceres rubbed his beak, muttering incoherently.

The Crusaders were somewhat disappointed, but after some negotiation agreed to the arrangement.

“Alright, roll out, Ceres!”

“Yes ma’am…” the griffin muttered.

Once the foals were gone, he hissed, “Sergeant, I am not an entertainer!”

Melissa smirked, “Ceres, they’re good kids. They’ll just ask a few questions.”

“A few?”

“Okay a lot. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine, they’re not monsters, if that’s what you think. You might like them if you got to know them.”

“Last time someone said that I…” he hesitated, the cliche not exactly working for him, “Wait, no, she was nice...ugh, fine, I’ll give them a try later.”

“Good man.”

They continued walking through the party, looking for their comrades.

A rainbow blur suddenly shot past them, then immediately returned.

“Melissa?” Rainbow Dash said in relieved surprise, “You’re okay!”

She eyed the walker, “...I think. Where have you been? Last time we saw you you were passed out in a stretcher!”

Melissa’s face lit up, and she chuckled, “No spoilers. I’ll tell it to everyone, once we find them all. I don’t want to have to explain it all at once. Have you seen Twilight, or Andrew, or Sergeant Vaughn?”

Even more suddenly as Dash had appeared, out of nowhere erupted Pinkie Pie. “You need help finding the rest of the gang?”

Ceres shrieked in surprise, jumping up several meters in the air and flapping there, while and Melissa nearly fell backwards.

“Thundering typhoons, Pinkie! I have a cracked rib and enough trouble breathing as it is! Don’t give me a heart attack!”

Pinkie’s eyes went wide, “Oh, I’m so sorry! Did I hurt you or anything, I--”

“How the hell did she do that?” Ceres demanded, trying to figure out how to land without aggravating his wound.

“Don’t ask, pal,” Rainbow Dash said, “It’s just Pinkie.”

Melissa waved a hand, “No, Pinkie, I’m fine, you just have gotta stop scaring me like that! I’m paranoid enough as it is!”

“Yeah, you nearly broke my muzzle that one time!” Rainbow said with a snort.

“Who sneaks up on someone while they’re asleep?!”

“I was making sure you weren’t dead, you weren’t waking up!”

Pinkie Pie, with one last reassurance from Melissa, went off to look for the others.

Rainbow Dash watched the corporal making a gentler landing than if he was trying to land a Lunar Excursion Module, and hovered over him, inspecting his wings, “So...how fast can you fly? How high do you go? I'll race you!”

Ceres looked up at her with a marginal amount if shock and confusion, “look here, fly girl, I'm in the infantry for a reason! I don't like to fly! Least not outside a plane!”

Dash stared at him, “what are you, nuts? What the hay else do you do with those chicken wings of yours?!“They're wings, jarhead, how-- I don't --”

“Look, I hover, I fly a little,” Ceres replied, making a small gesture with his index talon and thumb, “but I prefer walking! Or driving!”

“Celestia's shining golden flank, I can't believe I found a marine who didn’t like flying more than Fluttershy…” Dash moaned, smacking her face with her hoof.

“Hey Dashie,” Melissa called out, “you see these hands?” she gestured to make as if she was gripping circular objects with them, “These were evolved for climbing trees, but ya don’t see me doing that!”

“Yeah I do! You were stringing up telegraph wires that time! And then there was--”

“Okay, not the point, but you get what I’m saying? I didn’t used to climb trees! Same principle!”

“But it’s flying!” Dash moaned, “Why are marines alike all over?”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Melissa said with a grin, “We can all agree...at least he’s not navy.”

All three shuddered.

Dash gestured, “C’mon, I think I saw the sarge over this way.”

Melissa put a hand down to stop Ceres from taking off, even as he flapped his wings and growled menacingly, “Easy, man. She’s air force, they just don’t understand all us ground pounders.”

They made their way to the table where Vaughn, Spike, and Rarity were sitting.

The ivory-coat mare immediately hopped off her seat and rushed over, “Melissa!” Rarity cried, trotting forward to try and embrace her.

“Don’t hug me too hard!” Melissa held out a hand, “Cracked rib and lots of bruising!”

“Darling, are you alright?

“Yes, I’m fine, I’m fine, just be careful!”

Sergeant Vaughn stood up as well, looking the pair over, ““Foster, Ceres! Good to see you!”

He eyed Melissa’s walker, “Glad to see you’re in one piece, Foster. My soldier keeping a good eye on you?”

Melissa grinned, “He’s doing great. Except he won’t let me drink.”

“Ma’am, you know what the docs said--!”

Melissa chuckled, “I’m kidding, Ceres, geez! Mostly. I don’t actually know if my inhibitions will stay together…” she seemed to drift off for a moment, “...what was I saying?”

Ceres snickered, “She’s got a lot of painkillers. And I’m fine too, by the way, thanks for asking.”

“She has much worse injuries, and when would you admit you weren’t fine?”

The griffin faked a grimace, “I’ll give you that one.”

“How many did you lose, Vaughn?” Melissa asked.

“How many did we lose, you mean?” Vaughn scratched his chin, and scowled, “Still only three KIA, thank god. We found two of our MIAs. Private Jansen and Corporal Shephard we found in those pods--”

“Jansen? That griffin who got dragged off at the strongpoint?” Melissa asked.

Vaughn nodded, “They’re a little freaked out, and Shephard was banged up. PFC Franklin and Lance Corporal Demeter are still missing.”

“Franklin?” Ceres cursed, and kicked at the ground.

“They're the two who you-- who we lost in the wedding, right?”

“Yeah. There’s a bunch of MIAs like that. People who were captured and never found. Not proper missing-- some were confirmed captured and just...vanished.”

“Hell. That’s a mystery I’d like to puzzle out.”

Eyeing their bandages and accomodations, Spike slipped off his chair and walked over, “So what did happen to you, Melissa?”

Melissa glanced down at the dragon, “Well Spike, a grenade exploded near me, and send tiny shards of metal into my leg and arm. The shards of metal in my leg shattered my knee. I also got beaten up by the Changeling queen, and may have broken a rib or two.”

Rarity gasped, then became confused. “But...you still have the leg.”

Spike smiled, “Oh, I get it! Your people can replace them! Is that why you still have it?”

“Replacing a knee?” Rainbow Dash asked, befuddled, “How’s that possible?

“Wasn’t my people exactly,” Melissa said, “Had to get help from the Changeling medical facility.”

“Changelings? How could they help?” Rarity asked. All present noted a brief inferno in her eyes.

“Not the main force,” Vaughn said quickly, “We just captured some of their medical personnel. They surrendered and treated our soldiers in exchange for safety from their people, and to be able to help their own.”

“Seems like a good deal,” Spike said, “Though are you sure you can trust them?”

“If my people had replaced this knee, I would be forced into a desk job or retirement,” Melissa said, “Now that the Changelings replaced it, it’ll just be a bit before I can use it and then I’ll be back to normal.”

“Are you certain? There’s no magic trick or anything associated with such a...bargain?” Rarity asked, peering at the knee suspiciously.

Melissa bent down slightly to get into Rarity’s view, “A, it’s science, not magic this time, and they had guns on the docs the whole time, and B, why aren’t you more surprised by the concept of replacing a knee?”

“I am!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “Seriously, how can you replace a knee?”

“Well, your knee is a bone, and you can replace those--”

“But...but…” Dash sputtered, looking at one of her hind legs for a moment, “Like...how does it not fall apart when you pull it out? How--”

Melissa laughed, “Dash, I’m not a surgeon. Now can I sit down? My everything is killing me.”

Pulling out a chair, Melissa tried to figure out how to sit down, and nearly fell over. Before either pony could interfere, Ceres and Vaughn were there to help.

peered at the book placed on the table, “Hey, is that…?”

“Huh? Oh, Star Trek Enterprise: Broken Bow. Picked it up at one of the book stores. One of your collection, right? What do you think?”

“You like Star Trek?” Melissa breathed, her knuckles white.

“Yeah. I haven’t gotten too far into the book. What’s the show like?”

“Kirk or Picard?”

Vaughn blinked, “Uh...I’m kind of a middle-of-the-road kinda guy on that subject. They both have their strengths and weaknesses--”

He trailed off, seeing the largest grin on Melissa’s face, “...what?”

“Nothing. I’m more Kirk, but I can see the appeal of Picard, and his meme faces.”

“And you have to admit that Patrick Stewart’s a great actor even when it sounds like the writers fell asleep on their keyboards.”

“What’re your thoughts on season 1 of TNG? Most of their worst episodes are in there. That one racist piece of shit, y’know, planet of black people, was episode three!”

“Well, I mean they hit their stride eventually. They did have some good ones there as well. I liked The Last Outpost and The Battle. Say, how much longer did the show last? How many more series were there?”

“Dude, you missed a bunch of shows, Enterprise, Voyager, and Deep Space Nine--oh, remind me to show you Babylon 5 too.”

Melissa pointed to the air with her right hand, grimacing as she did so, “You hear this? Faith of the Heart? This was the Enterprise theme song, first Star Trek series to actually have one. A lot of people complained about it, but I thought that combined with the visuals, it was really moving.”

“What more did they do with the Borg? And Q? I really enjoyed those episodes.”

The other four were observing the encounter as though they were at a zoo.

Ceres laughed a little, face in his talons, “Man, she got the sergeant going on Star Trek. He’s the ultimate Trekkie--Star Trek fan I mean.”

Rainbow Dash smirked, “Oh, I bet she can beat him as the bigger fan!”

Melissa pulled out her phone and angled it toward the dragon, “Dude! In upstate New York, I went to this recreation of the Star Trek Original Series set in Ticonderoga. Some Elvis impersonator spent fifteen years making an absolutely perfect replica! Look, they had the transporter room, Kirk’s quarters, the bridge, obviously…” she pointed at the screen, “There’s me in Kirk’s chair. That was awesome.”

“Oh, I am so jealous!”

“Don’t be so sure.” Ceres countered to Dash, “Wait for it…”

“The medical bay? Nice. You know those computer displays they have there? I heard some medical company got really mad at Gene Roddenberry, because they thought someone had leaked their design even though they totally didn’t.”

“Aw, that’s cool! And ridiculous! I mean, look at all that stuff, it’s just common sense! Respiration, pulse, temperature...what else would you include?”

“There we go,” Ceres hissed happily.

Rarity smiled, and nudged Spike. He nudged her back, making a face.

They continued watching the two soldiers acting as two geeks, and Dash and Ceres started placing bets on who would be the bigger fan. It’s what friends do, right?

Or at least two bored enlisted.

The night wore on, and they still awaited the rest of the group.

Sergeant Vaughn looked around, hoping to spot the others. He didn’t see them, but he saw something else.

“Is that...Admiral Curtis, dancing with Queen Luna?”

The others looked where the dragon was looking. Melissa squinted, “I think it is! Didn’t think she was his type...”

“Many a stallion --and a few mares-- are going to become quite upset.” Rarity commented.

“Well, they may just be dancing together.” Vaughn pointed out.

“Wait a minute,” Melissa said, “isn’t the dude married?”

Ceres shook his head, “Nah, not even close. He’s got a pretty messed up love life. Dumped one girlfriend, and the other two dumped him for each other.”

“Ooh, poor guy.”

“It gets better. The first two were human, but the third was a griffin.”

“Man, he put them off their gender and species? Woof.”

“He’s the only bachelor from the Chesapeake Bay’s original command staff. Everyone else has paired off, but he hasn’t had much luck. Not for lack of female, or male, suitors though. But would you date any of the fans who only know you from your exploits and TV?”

“Corporal, how do you know all this?” Vaughn asked.

Ceres winced, and flushed a little, “Uh…scuttlebutt?”

“Ceres…”

Both sergeants were now looking at him.

“...Celebrity gossip magazines.” he mumbled, putting his talons together nervously.

“Huh. Well, that explains some things...” Vaughn said.

Melissa laughed a little, “Oh, you should talk to my friend Rarity!”

She turned, “Hey Rar’! I think you and the corporal here have some common interests!”

Rarity looked at Ceres with pleasant surprise, “Really? Darling, we should have a conversation about this!”

Ceres was flushing heavily, “Um...sure, miss.”

Spike and Rainbow Dash joined in the conversation, mostly for the teasing but secretly for the gossip as most people who knew them could guess.

Vaughn turned his eyes back toward the admiral and Luna, “You think they might get together?”

“Probably not,” Melissa replied, This might be a courtesy thing, public relations. I don’t think Luna’s interested in anyone yet.”

“Why would an admiral’s love life be in celebrity gossip magazines?”

“Hestons and officers of significant arrivals are always pretty famous. Curtis is a bit of a superstar admiral.”

Melissa passed a glance at the rest of the group, then jerked her head away, “Hey, Vaughn, can I talk to you for a second? In private?”

The marine glanced at the others as well, “Sure.”

He reached out a claw to help her up, but Melissa hopped onto her good leg, and leaned on the walker.

They moved just a small distance from the rest of the group just out of earshot. The part of the garden they were at had a good view of parts of the city. Fireworks were flying, and the larger ones made the pair flinch.

Vaughn shivered a little, “Not going to get used to that again for a while.”

“I heard it was worse for the guys from Bravo and Charlie companies. Bloody Metal Storm.”

“I’ve gotta look that stuff up…” Vaughn removed his dress uniform cap, scratching his blue head crest, “What was it you wanted to talk about?”

Melissa avoided his gaze, “Look, Vaughn...we’re friends, right?”

“Sure. Only known you for a week, but hey…”

The combat engineer scratched her leg, “Look man...I...you remember my argument with Andrew? About the secret plan I had?”

“Sure.”

“And you said you'd go with it?”

“Yep. I recall I also said for you not to do this again.”

“I won't, I won't...but...man, I don't know how to tell you this. Part of my plan was leading your squad into that ambush and getting us all captured.”

Vaughn's eyebrows raised, “really?”

“Yes... I didn't think anyone would get hurt…I just… I’m sorry it had to be your team.”

Vaughn looked away for a long time. “Sergeant, you know you're the only one with an injury from that incident, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Did you plan on any of us dying?”

“No…”

He scratched the top of his head, at one of his fins, “okay... Foster, I don't like what you did. I'm mad as hell. You put my people's lives at risk without telling them what they were doing.” his voice took on a hint of a growl, and one hand curled into a fist.

“I know, I'm sorry. It had to be done though. There was no other way.”

Vaughn nodded, “the mission comes first. I know that, but...I mean you got us all out alive, and mostly in one piece, but you put all of us at risk. Including yourself.”

Melissa cast her eyes downward, “I'm sorry, Vaughn, I'm so sorry. I know you care for your guys, so do I. This...I had to save the planet! It was either your squad, or the entire planet!” Her voice raised slightly, and she almost whimpered, “That kinetic bombardment system could have destroyed us all. I fucking hate those things. Death from above and we can't hit back. Vaughn, it was our only chance! If we didn't stop that weapon, it would destroy us. Vaughn, do you know what else I had to blow up? That damn thing's FTL drive-- Faster Than--”

“I know what it means.”

She snarled, anger overtaking her regret, “Good for you. I had to destroy that too, to keep them from getting reinforcements. That ship was my only way home, Sergeant! It was our only way back to Earth! That ship is now stuck here like the rest of us! I just gave up everything! I did my best to save your squad, man, but I had to make a choice! The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few!”

She grimaced, and looked down again. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry it was you.”

Vaughn looked at her, pinned to a walker, her wrist mangled, and barely able to breathe.

“Foster...Melissa, it’s alright. You’ve been punished enough, by the looks of it. You didn’t just send us in there, you went in there with us. You were willing to take the risk. And you were pretty much the only one who got affected.”

They both chuckled a little at that.

“I don’t think there’s anything I can do to you that would make me feel better. I trust most people I’ve been in a firefight with. So, try not to get us into a mess like this again, and I won’t break anything of yours.”

Melissa rubbed the bridge of her nose, and laughed, “Thanks, Bedwyr.”

“I know it’s what I said last time, but it still stands. I mean we were talking about the same thing…”

“Yeah, I get it. Thanks.”

Awkwardly, they stood/sat there.

“You think Ceres has a chance with Ms. Rarity?”

“Oh, not a chance in hell. Though I doubt either of them are thinking romance.”

They made their way back to the table, and minutes later, the rest of the group arrived. Andrew, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Applejack, all lead by Pinkie Pie bouncing along.

“Melissa! You’re okay!” Twilight exclaimed, and trotted forward to embrace her.
“Hey, Twilight,” Melissa grinned, and embraced her with one arm, “I’m okay. I can still walk, just need a few months to heal.”
Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack joined in the hug, offering their own words of thankfulness.

Andrew, still holding his chest, walked forward a bit. Melissa looked up and nodded, “Andrew.”

“Melissa. How ya doing?”

She made a so-so gesture with her right hand, “Doing alright. Using a walker sucks.”

Andrew squinted at the motion, “Wait, didn’t you get shrapnel in…”

She started wiggling her right fingers, “I did,” she grinned, “Problem?”

“I…”

The others looked at the motion, and Vaughn was alarmed, “Foster, don’t hurt yourself!”

Still grinning, Melissa winced a little, “Yeah, probably shouldn’t do that too much. Still, I still have my hands! I still have my job!”

“But how?” Fluttershy asked, “Your wrist was a wreck!”

Melissa pulled her right sleeve up. Where several days ago there had been torn skin and blood along an open gash was instead another gel-like sponge...thing, mounted to a plastic rig wrapped around her forearm.

She pointed, “They freaking regrew some of my skin, used a laser to help get some of the shrapnel out, and then fixed some of the muscles while they were at it.”

Pulling up her left pant leg, she pointed at a sealed gash, “Check it out, the bugs don’t use stitches anymore! Back home I saw some versions of this, Zip Skin Closure System. I don’t need someone to help me remove it, and I can just peel it off in a few weeks!”
Pointing at her right leg, she lifted it and bent the knee a bit., “They pulled a ton of junk out of here too. This gel stuff is supposed to help heal the muscles in there. The scars from that velociraptor attack will be gone! Oh, and it turns out my knee was shattered.”

All the new arrivals gaped at her.

“Oh yeah. Well, partially at least. This new thing is some sort of biodegradable ceramic. They implant it into where my knee used to be, it forms a sort of scaffolding for osteoblast cells to grow on. It’ll act like a normal knee, and over time the osteoclast cells will eat it like they do when they maintain your normal bones, and replace it with new bone material. So then it’ll be fully integrated.”

“But...wait, will you be able to do your job?” Andrew asked.

“I can’t believe you even still have the leg!” Fluttershy said. She stepped forward, peering at the knee, “The Changelings may be scary, but...my word, they can do wonders! Any soldier in our military who takes such an injury is lucky to even still have their leg!”

“It’ll be just like a bad break instead of knee replacement surgery. I’ll be fine and back to work, I just need a few months of physical therapy.”

Melissa glanced at the griffin corporal, “He got some of this stuff too.”

Ceres turned to show his hind lion leg. He didn’t have a full brace as Melissa did, just one small rig around the lower part and the bullet wound, “They got that ceramic for my leg too. I can limp on it, and it didn’t have as bad damage…”
Andrew scratched his head, looking at Melissa, “So I get a concussion and a ton of bruises, and all I get is a regular old hospital. You just happen to be closer to the queen so you get all the special treatment?”

“Well I’m sorry for being around when some jackass starts hucking grenades around! Anyway, you got the envy of the alien commander, remember?”

“What?” Ceres demanded, “What on earth does that mean?”

Vaughn half-smiled, “I’m sure there’s a story, right?”

“It means the bitch who broke my rib was hitting on him.” Melissa said.

Andrew smiled half-heartedly, then narrowed his gaze at Melissa. “We need to talk. You, me, the group.”

“You want us to go?” Vaughn asked, gesturing to himself and Ceres.

Andrew nodded.

“Sure. We’ll see you. Mr Shepherd, Ms. Sparkle, Melissa...” he offered a nod.

“See you later, man!”

Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie noticed Melissa watching Vaughn go. They smiled at one another mischievously.

“Is someone smitten?” Rarity smirked, nudging Melissa’s arm.

Melissa’s cheeks burned, and she hissed, “He’s just a friend! I don’t even know if it would be legal to have a relationship, you fucking crack shippers!”

“What are you yelling about?” Twilight asked.

Andrew, with a small grin on his face, raised a hand and opened his mouth to reply.

“You’re not even gonna start that sentence if you want to keep that hand.” Melissa said cooly.

He put his hand down, his smile fading. He looked at her with a changing expression, his whole demeanor shifting.

Melissa crossed her arms, eyes locked on his. “What is it?”

“That sergeant. How long have you known him?”

“Literally a week.”

Andrew scowled, “Right. Of course. Okay, Melissa, why’d you lie to us?”

The ponies looked at each other.

“Oh, the spacecraft!” Twilight said helpfully, “You never explained your plan with that!”

“No, that’s not what I--”

”Oh, the ship! We did not hear the details of that!” Rarity said.

“All I saw were a bunch of lights in the sky.” Rainbow Dash muttered, “What kind of space battle is that boring?”

“Wait!” Andrew snapped, immediately regretting doing so, but still mad.

He crossed his arms, and looked at Melissa, “When we were looking through the Sophia’s flight recorder, you recognized the Changeling. Before that, you were acting really weird around Cadence, who turned out to be an alien. I thought you said you came here before the invasion.”

Melissa put a hand to her chin, looking off to the side, “I did get here before the invasion, but I can't tell you how I know. My brain is a strategic resource. You'll just have to trust me.”

“Trust you?” Andrew snapped, “Melissa, how can we trust you again? How can I trust you again? After all this?”

“Hey, we got out fine, didn’t we?! Everything went according to plan!”

“Fine?! Plan?!” Andrew spluttered, “Christ, look at you, you’re using a walker!”

Melissa chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“It was the knee replacement part I didn’t expect. The cracked rib, dislocated shoulder, and other shit I was expecting. But nobody expects the Shrapnel Inquisition!”

Andrew goggled at her, “...What?”

“It was part of my plan.”

“What was your plan, Melissa? Operation Let's-Nearly-Get-Everyone-Killed 32?!”

“No! It didn't have a name!” She sighed, “alright, I explained this to my superiors already.”

Glancing around, she sat back in her chair, “So Andrew reminded me the Sophia existed. Then I remembered the Weaver existed-- that’s the Starfury up there. It was powered down, but since the crew thought they’d be able to contact it, I figured I’d be able to as well. They said something about remote piloting, so I also figured that the Sophia could contact it. Since it was powered down, the Changelings wouldn’t be able to pick it up, at least not until it was right on top of them. I played a lot of Kerbal Space Program, so I knew how to make an orbital intercept with a keyboard. Then I figured out how to designate targets, threw some advanced Phoenix missiles at em, bing bang boom. So my plan was only partly faked. I meant to get to the Sophia, I just didn’t need its weapons. I needed the communications array.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you lied to not just us, but your superiors,” Applejack pointed out.

Melissa grinned, “That was the best part! I lied because I knew the bad guys had agents among us. I was counting on it, in fact.”

“What?” Andrew asked, rubbing his face.

“I knew they had agents in amongst us, didn’t know who, but I knew it.”

“And what good would telling them our plan do?” Andrew demanded.

“Um...that was part of the plan? I let them know what they thought was the real plan. See they didn’t know that I knew they knew, and that way I could manipulate them to my purposes.”

“So what was your idea, Melissa? You got to the ship, and readied the weapons, then what was your plan?” Rarity asked slowly.

“Okay, so the Sophia plan was only partly fake, obviously. However, I knew they had some Earth knowledge, like the Navy specs for the LaWS. They would know--”

“...That you lied, right?” Andrew pointed out, scratching his head.

“No, that’s the best part! They’re a bunch of imperialist dickheads led by a racist X-Files-looking colonialist nightmare bitch, so they wouldn’t assume I was lying...well, some of them would...except one.” She grinned.

Rainbow Dash grinned, “Chrysalis would think you were just stupid!”

Andrew shook his head, “Wait, we know most of this!”

Melissa nodded, “You know her half. You don’t know mine, so let me finish.”

She held up her right arm and tried to extend her index finger, and winced, “One, she thought I was stupid. Two, she has a massive fucking ego. Three, I knew she loved to gloat. So, I knew that if she knew where I was, and thought she had me all figured out, she’d want to capture me to gloat.”

“So what was the point of us?” Rarity asked nervously, “Were you trying to get us captured?’

Melissa winced, and chuckled nervously, “Yeah...sort of. Look, it was the only way to guarantee none of us would die. I needed all you guys to be in the same place as Chrysalis. This way, I’d be able to get Twilight in, and she could free Cadence. So I hid a truth in a lie, then manipulated the bitch who likes to manipulate people, so that we could save the day! I expected to be beaten the crap out of, because that damn bug is that kind of person, I just wasn’t expecting a grenade.”

Andrew rubbed his face, “Melissa, you’re insane.”

“But brilliant, in a way.” Rarity commented.

“Fine. Brilliant but insane.”

“How is this new information?”

“Point there. But why didn’t you tell us?! And you still didn’t answer my question, how did you know about everything with Chrysalis before she showed up? You knew who she was!”

“Whoa there, sugarcube...calm down!” Applejack said, seeing the anger building.

Melissa tapped the side of her head, glaring at Andrew, “Stra-te-gic resource! The enemy has ears everywhere, even with the Changelings gone! I can’t tell you much!”

“What enemies? Dammit Melissa, I can’t trust you anymore! Tell me the truth, how long have you known that sergeant?!”

“What the hell are you getting at, Andrew?! Spit it out!”

He stood up, “I figured it out. It’s the only possibility. Since day 1, you must have been a Terran Alliance agent, or spy. You’ve been with them this whole time! You came here during the invasion, to help them win!”

The ponies were silent, shocked at the accusation.

Melissa looked at all of them, watching them gravitate toward different opinions.

“Huh?” Rainbow and Applejack grunted in unison.

Pinkie Pie blinked, “Why would that be?”

“That’s ridiculous!” Rarity said.

“What are you saying, Andrew?” Twilight asked.

“Think about it, all of you! A perfectly-equipped United States Marine falls into our laps, who just happens to have plenty of knowledge on how to upgrade your technology? Just in time for the aliens to show up? And just happens to know the invasion is coming, and just happens to show up with a massive army to help? Seriously, you managed to convince them you were legit if you weren’t working with them?! You lied to us Melissa! You’ve lied about everything, haven’t you? How could you do this to me, to us?!”

“I...he has a point…” Fluttershy mumbled.

The rest of the ponies were nervous, fidgeting or muttering some half-hearted agreements.

Twilight looked between the two humans, quite nervous.

Melissa was not nervous.

Painfully, awkwardly, she got to her feet, standing on one leg without her walker.

Andrew took a step back, but kept his gaze on her.

“Excuse me?!” she roared, “Do you have any fucking idea how insane that is, you doryphore?!”

She jabbed a finger at him, “For fuck’s sake, you’re a dick! Do you have any idea how ridiculous that is?! Did you pay attention to the news report the other day at all?! They had plenty of spies who were way more secret than I was! If I was a spy, why would I be so obvious? There are millions of ways to do this better that don’t end with me losing a fucking knee! Cthulhu’s bloody tentacles, man, that’s insane!”

“Then how--”

“They were spying on us, you fucking dolt!” Melissa shouted, “One of my board of directors was a spy! She came in the other day, and admitted she was a spook!”

“What?” Rarity demanded, “Who? I’ll throw them out of the company immediately!”

“Oh, don’t fire her…” Melissa huffed, and redirected her rage back at Andrew, “I trusted her, and she was hiding this shit! They knew about us for months, and didn’t tell us because of their damned secrets! They had satellites, they had spooks, they knew about us and didn’t tell us! That’s how they knew I was trustworthy, moron!”

“How can we trust you on this, Melissa?! You’ve lied to us before!”

“No I haven’t! I haven’t actually lied, I just--”

“Andrew!” Twilight roared, loud enough to drown both out.

The rest of the ponies shrank back, and Andrew took a step back. “...Yeah?”

“If you can’t trust her, trust me! She’s not a spy!”

Andrew’s eyes widened, as hers blazed with anger.

“She told me why she...bent the truth. About knowing about the Changelings, about everything. I can’t tell you what she told me, but she’s no spy. I can’t believe you’d think like this! She didn’t know anything about the Terran Alliance, she knew as much as I did! Andrew, I was there!”

“You...you knew? She told you and not me?!”

Melissa put her elbows on the table, and gazed about the table, “Look...I’m sorry. I told you before, I didn’t trust your ability to stand up to interrogation, and you can’t give up things you don’t know. The only reason I told Twilight was because we thought we might drown out on the ice. I told the Brass, and they ordered me not to disclose this information. I don’t have a choice anymore. I understand you’re mad that I didn’t tell you, but that still doesn’t excuse you accusing me of being a fucking spook!”

Andrew sat back down, “I, sorry...but...but…”

Twilight looked at the others, “Do the rest of you understand?”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw tightened, “Yeah. Need-to-know junk. I don’t like it, but...I get it.”

Fluttershy nodded rapidly.

“Not knowing the secret makes it easier to keep the secret!” Pinkie Pie said.

“Matters of national security, of course I understand.” said Rarity matter-of-factly.

“I don’t get why you can’t tell us,” Applejack said, shaking her head, “You know us, we wouldn’t say a thing.”

“You still won’t even tell me!” Andrew grumbled.

Melissa gently beat her head against the table, “Ugh...why can’t you understand it? Do you have any idea what this is doing to me?”

“So why are you doing it?” Andrew demanded.

“You ever heard of the enigma machine? World War II?” Melissa asked.

“Ye...no.”

“During the war, the Germans had a code system called enigma, to protect their communications. The Allies cracked it, but there was a problem. If they used it too much, the Germans would get wind of it, and change the code. So they had to be very careful about what info they gave out.”

She considered adding Dinobot’s speech from Beast Wars, but decided against it.

“If I give out too much of what I know, the rest will become useless. Understand?”

Andrew was silent, his mouth open slightly.

“Oh...oh…”

The table was quiet.

Melissa slumped forward, resting her elbow on the table and putting her hand on her mouth. “The price we pay.for this shit. God damn it…”

“Look, I’m sorry, I just--”

She looked at Andrew, “Man, if I could tell you, I would. I’m using myself up dealing with this shit. I just want it to be over. I want to be able to think again, to breathe freely, but I can’t.”

She looked at her leg, “If the Changelings hadn’t been here, I would be honorably discharged, at least from frontline duty. Would that have been better? Nah, Silverbolt would...or I...uh...”

She rested her head on the table, her eyes half-closed, “Hoo, I feel funny…”

Rarity smiled a little, patting the marine on the head, “Andrew, darling, I hope you understand how rude it was to accuse her of being a spy.”

“Yeah...yeah…”

“Haven’t...haven’t you had conversations like this before?” Fluttershy inquired, shrinking a little as all eyes turned toward her, “I mean...why do you keep doing this to yourselves?”

“It’s not on purpose, Quiet Yellow…” Melissa mumbled, her head still on the table.

Fluttershy was bewildered for a moment, “Was...she talking about me?”

“I didn’t wanna call you Butterball or Butters, one might be offensive and the other’s copyright…”

“We’re not doing it on purpose,” Andrew muttered, “It’s just...I dunno…”

“You kind of keep being really suspicious of her,” Spike pointed out, speaking up for the first time in a while, “And you guys fight every other time you meet. Aren’t you supposed to be friends? Who fights like this?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, and shook her head slightly.

Andrew sighed, “I know. We drive each other nuts.”

“We’re perfectly aware of this everyone,” Melissa said, somewhat muffled with her head still on the table, “We’re not complete fools.”

“Then why do you keep fighting like this? It’s always one of you has suspicions, another is upset over bottled-up anger, it never ends!” Applejack exclaimed, “Can’t you two just--”

“That’s what humans are like! That’s what you’re like, AJ!” Andrew interrupted, “You and Rarity, you and Rainbow Dash!”

“Friends aren’t people you never get mad at,” Twilight said, “They’re people worth forgiving more than once. We argue all the time, right? Just because these two don’t have the best relationship doesn’t mean--”

“We’re not gonna kill each other.” Andrew said, smiling a little.

Melissa sat up suddenly, “Gah, phasers, full spread!”

“Don’t you mean torpedoes?” Pinkie Pie asked, looking at her like she was crazy, “And don’t you only have twelve?”

Melissa, even in her addled state, managed a confused expression, “Whatever. We’ve been through a ton of shit, and I expect Dr Wolf is gonna make a mint from all this. That’s why we’re at each other’s throats right now!”

“I was stuck in a tunnel for a week!” Andrew said loudly, “I’m surprised I haven’t become Gollum!”

“And, a serious contributing factor to all of this, is the Terran Alliance.” Twilight said.

“Why would that be a problem?” Rarity asked, “I would think it would make them happy!”

“It’s a subconscious problem.They’ve been homesick for almost a year, with no prospect of alleviating it. Then they find humans, and their hopes are raised...but the very fact that they’ve been stuck here for 200 years ruins everything.”

“How?” Fluttershy asked.

“We might end up like Rhysling. That’s what makes it a problem.” Melissa growled, “We’re not just homesick, that’s the problem, we’re scared that we won’t ever go home again. Just like Rhysling.”

“Rise-ling?” Applejack asked.

“Rhysling. Blind Singer of the Spaceways. He’s from an old story. The Green Hills of Earth, by Robert Heinlein.”

She rubbed her nose, and snuffled, “In the story, he...he was a jetman, operating nuclear rockets across the solar system. He flew around for years before he was blinded in a reactor accident. Spent decades singing songs, earning money, becoming a folk hero. The titular song, he started writing on Venus. We rot in the molds of Venus, we retch at her tainted breath…”

She looked up at the sky, the darkness lit by fireworks, and the celebrations of the locals. Far above though, she could still see the stars. The stars that were silent, and distant. She felt so small.

“As an old man, he tried to return home, but...but…”

Her voice shuddered, “He recorded his last rendition of the song after an accident killed the main reactor technician, and he was forced to seal himself in the power room to keep the rocket safe. He never saw Earth. He died of radiation poisoning.”

She closed her eyes, “This isn’t Earth. No matter what we do, it’ll never be Earth.”

Andrew sat up, scratching his head, “Well, yeah...It’s the best we’ve got though, right? I mean, I want to go back as much as you do, but...what if we can’t go back?”

Melissa shook her head, “Andrew, I can’t think like that. I refuse to ‘settle’. This place is great ‘n’ all, but as long as there’s a change Earth is still out there, I refuse to let it go. I...I want to see home again I want...I want to land there at least one last time, I want to see the hills of home again…”

The sergeant rubbed her eyes, then took a deep breath. “‘We pray for one last landing on the globe that gave us birth, let us rest our eyes on the fleecy skies and the cool green hills of Earth’.”

“'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.’” Andrew scratched his head, “can't remember much more of the song then that.”

Their futures were secure, for now at least. The survival of humanity on this new world wasn’t in jeopardy from the same threats anymore.

But none would forget their world, somewhere out among the stars above. It was Earth. It was home. Even generations removed, the humans of the Terran Alliance still said “back home” when referring to their origin planet.

It was a relatively unremarkable dot, suspended in a sunbeam, but to its inhabitants, it meant everything to them.

Mid pleasures and palaces though I may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home;

A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there,

Which, seek thro' the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere. Home.

Home! Sweet, sweet home!

There's no place like home.

There's no place like home.

An exile from home, spendor dazzles in vain,

Oh, give me my lowly thatched cottage again;

The birds singing gaily, that come at my call;

Give me them, with that peace of mind, dearer than all.

Home! Sweet, sweet home!

There's no place like home.

There's no place like home.

To thee, I'll return, overburdened with care,

The heart's dearest solace will smile on me there.

No more from that cottage again will I roam,

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.