King Greatfeather stood above the great docks south of Griffonspire, as a massive flotilla of two hundred ships were manoeuvering out of their docks and moorings into the great river that separated Griffonia from the Dragon Lands. Two combined fleets in all, the flotilla was heading down the river and out into the Great Inland Sea, as the griffons called the Celestial Sea. General Steelclaw watched with him, as a hundred great airships, bigger than any seen over Griffonia before, were also moving into formation above the fleets. "The Army is aboard their transports, My Liege." He told Razorbeak.

"What are the tallies, General?" Razorbeak asked.

"A thousand armed warriors are aboard each airship." Steelclaw answered as he gestured to the four-hundred-foot-long rigid airships. A new design, they were faster than previous airships and bigger than anything they'd put into the air before. Lessons learned from the captured air vessels of the Storm King had made their bigger size and faster speed possible. "Two-hundred-and-fifty warriors are aboard each warship, some serving as crew during their journey to make their numbers less of a strain on provisions."

Razorbeak nodded. "Good." He replied. "What is their estimated progress?"

"The First Sea Fleet should reach the open sea upon the onset of full night, then head towards Equestria at Dawn with the Air Fleet. The Second Sea Fleet will leave the morning after, just as the First fleets gain sight of Equestria's shore." Steelclaw laid things out for Razorbeak. "The first Sea Fleet will have slow-going conditions, but they should reach the shores of Equestria two hours after Dawn on the second day. The Air Fleet will be staying with them, in support of them. We don't want the night-wing troops of the Equestrians fire-bombing our ships overnight, which might happen if they moved into Horseshoe Bay under the cover of darkness."

Razorbeak nodded. "Understandable." He said. "You are dismissed to join them, General. Bring home news of a great victory."

"Aye, Your Majesty." Steelclaw said, then he took off, heading for the lead airship, the Claw of Griffonia.

Razorbeak smirked to himself, as he watched the fleets sail off. The Equestrians had no idea what was about to fall upon them. Their miserably-small army and other forces would be wiped out within the first day, and then he would lead the assault on Canterlot itself. Having the three remaining alicorns chained up and defeated at his paws would be vindication of everything his House had been planning since they were ripped from the Throne so many years ago. His only regret was that the one alicorn he wanted to personally dismember had vanished only weeks ago. He knew not where Stellar Sparkle had gone, but Razorbeak truly hoped she would eventually turn up. He so wanted to feast on her heart, after making the elder alicorn sisters watch him carve the younger sisters apart...

General Steelclaw landed on the fore-deck of the Claw of Griffonia and marched towards the bridge. His aide, Colonel Scarlet Crest, was waiting. "Everything is in order, General." He reported. "The troops were a little restless as we waited to move out, but now we're actually heading out, they have settled down again."

"Good." Steelclaw replied. "I can understand their eagerness; this has been far too long a time coming." He looked over the bridge, seeing nothing but calm activity. "After waiting for so long, building up our forces, and then throwing everything we had into making these new airships, it will be good to finally unleash ourselves on the ponies." He turned and looked out over the foredeck, to where Equestria lay over the horizon. Scarlet Crest took this as a silent dismissal, and left the General alone with his thoughts.

Steelclaw knew what King Greatfeather had planned for the Equestrian Royalty, and while he was as eager to feast on the forbidden meat that had been denied them for so long, he knew it wasn't going to be as easy as the newly-crowned monarch thought. Until they landed the ships and deployed the magic-blocking devices they'd paid the minotaurs to construct, the invasion forces would be vulnerable to Equestrian magic. He also wondered what had happened to the most war-like alicorn amongst those he faced.

Whatever had happened to Stellar Sparkle was one question he wished he had the answer to. He'd followed her career as closely as he could; the epic fight she'd undergone to attain her title had been of much interest to him. Maybe House Sparkle had finally produced another warrior to match their finest so far. He'd hoped to face-off against General Canopus Star one day; the old pegasus seemed to be as immortal as the alicorns at one time... until he finally passed on. Steelclaw was probably the only griffon that mourned the old pegasus general's passing. And now, with Stellar Sparkle having vanished, it would be likely there would be few to challenge him. He secretly (and fervently) hoped that she wasn't dead. Although it would make things somewhat easier for the final assault on Canterlot, he had hoped to finally face someone worthy of fighting one-on-one.

And Steelclaw so longed for a decent challenge...

Luna was riding in Cloudsdale as the massive cloud city reached the east coast of Equestria as the enemy fleets began their travel to the sea, centering itself near Baltimare over Horseshoe Bay. The city's water tanks were full, and more water was being readied for transfer to the city's famed weather station as it came to a halt. She looked behind herself as the city's assistant station manager, Cloudbreaker, landed behind her and bowed. "Your Highness, everything is ready." He said.

"Excellent, you may commence." Luna replied. Cloudbreaker nodded and said something into the microphone of his new comm-gear, fitted into his helmet. Luna had turned to look at Cloudbreaker when he had finished speaking. "Do you think what we have planned will hold?" She asked.

Cloudbreaker nodded. "It took a while to figure out the proper formula to produce clouds that would hold together as you wanted, but they'll stay coherent for nearly a week, we estimate. Any longer, and we couldn't guarantee that." Cloudbreaker answered. "We're using a modified snowfall design; they're the longest-lasting clouds we can make. Plus they're thick and very opaque; we should be able to stack them from sea level right up to maybe twenty-thousand metres without them coming apart due to the altitude."

Luna smiled. "Very good, Assistant Manager Cloudbreaker. You and your father Manager Stormbreaker are to be commended for making this possible so quickly."

Cloudbreaker smiled. "Well, it was tough, switching all the equipment over to winter-mode on such short notice, but it was good training for our new personnel and a good shake-up for the normal staff. Keeps us from getting rusty." He looked over the planned deployment. "We can start the build-up here, working both north and south down to Hayseed Swamp, so anyone coming south of the system will find themselves over the Badlands. Once we reach there, the pegasi can return to us and we can move the city north, to finish the project by swinging out to sea and hiding the Griffish Isles as you requested."

Luna nodded. "Good. Having them hidden will relieve much worry from my sister and I. They are a prime target for armed invasion, and we do not want to see that peaceful community ruined by such aggression."

As they watched, a steady stream of black cloud was coming out of the weather factory's funnel. Sections a hundred metres in length were sliced off and moved away quickly, ten pegasi to a section. The very coherent and somewhat-sticky cloud pieces were dropped down to sea level, and the build-up began. Tens-of-thousands of pegasi were ready to help construct this very interesting project: A cloud-wall that stretched from the Badlands in the south right to the very shores of Griffonstone in the north. The biggest of Stellar's preparations, Luna was finding her ideas to be... amusing, and very interesting. She wondered what the griffons would make of it when their forces saw it for the first time...

As they continued to travel through Fold-Space, Scootaloo was working with Stellar and Applebloom to put together the new armament for Stellar's Elite Air Guard platoons. Special connector bands would wrap around their barrels with the weapons mounted on them, and would connect to the helmet-mounted control systems, allowing the pegasi to aim and fire them effectively. But when it came time to fit Scootaloo herself, she noticed her armament was different to the others. "Why is mine different?" She asked Stellar.

"Well, you can't carry quite as much as the adult pegasi can yet, Scoots. So I thought this arrangement might suit you a little better." Stellar explained, as she locked one of the GR-97 missile launchers to Scootaloo's connector band, down under her barrel. To each side, one of the EP-40 pulse-beam cannons was locked in place, giving her a substantial firepower. "There. You might not have the same long-range missile armament as the others, but with twin cannons, you're more than capable of handling yourself in aerial combat." Stellar gave Scootaloo a grin.

Scootaloo grinned back. "Thanks, Stellar... and thanks for letting me fly with you and the other pegasi." Scootaloo added.

"You're a cadet-lieutenant now, Scoots." Stellar told Scootaloo. "I think our action against the griffons' second fleet is going to be safe enough for you to accompany me, especially with the rest of the Air Guard flying with us." Stellar smiled at Scootaloo.

Applebloom gave Scootaloo a huge grin and a wink, then the pair of young mares high-hoofed each other.

The dawn of the new day found the Air-fleet and First Sea Fleet having reached the bay at the mouth of the river that led from Griffonia to the open sea. A very well-protected trade route for the griffon empire, it was the one line they had to the Celestial Sea.

General Steelclaw looked out over the ocean, as the airships waited for the first hundred ships to move out of the bay and formate on the open ocean before them. The wind was being kind that morning, coming off the land behind them and ready to drive the ships towards Equestria, but it wasn't a strong wind so far. He estimated that it would take probably all day and night and onto the next day to have the ships in sight of the far shore.

Some had advised that the airships should go on ahead and establish a beachhead for the ships, but Steelclaw knew that was folly. Without the anti-magic devices the ships carried, the Equestrians would sweep them off into the sea faster than a griffon could dive on prey. No, this had to be a combined effort for the first landings. Once they had established themselves, then the airships could move on to take Canterlot.

After two hours, the entire First Sea Fleet was in formation and moving steadily out into the open sea. Steelclaw just had a momentary glimpse of the vessels of the Second Sea Fleet starting to formate themselves in the bay as the ships under him headed for Equestria. The second front might have been more of a distraction than his force was, but they would draw away pony troops on the long trek to the Griffish Isles. Even by train it would take a long time to reach there, and that would make things much easier for his own landing.

He smiled as one of the crew brought a hearty breakfast for him, plus a fold-out table. Locking it in place, the crew-member served him and waited patiently as the General ate...

Celestia, Luna and Twilight were also enjoying breakfast after the Sun had risen and the Moon set. They were discussing the day's itinerary, when a message was brought in by a pegasus courier. Celestia opened it and frowned. "According to the scout we have overlooking Wide Bay, a griffon flotilla of two hundred ships and a hundred airships arrived there during the morning twilight and have set off. The airships and half the normal ships have set sail across the Celestial Sea, the other hundred ships seem to be heading up the coast along Griffonstone." She told the others.

"Towards the Griffish Isles, like Stellar said." Twilight said back.

Luna nodded. "It seems her visions are showing their accuracy, now that events are underway." She stated. "Her preparations are, therefore, quite proper to stave off this invasion."

"Yes, more than I'd thought." Celestia agreed. "It seems Stellar can trust her prescient vision more, now that what she has seen has proven accurate."

"And that's good for all of us, then." Twilight replied.

"Yes. We shall therefore proceed with the rest of the list of preparations she has given us." Celestia told them. "We will be ready for their return... and the griffons will not be ready, at all." She gave a wicked smile, that Luna returned and Twilight just grinned.

Before Sunset later that day, Luna inspected the progress on the cloud-wall. She was amazed at how fast it was being assembled. The huge numbers of weather ponies had managed to complete more than half the wall, including bracing against the steady wind coming from across the Celestial Sea. She stood on the top of the section that hid Baltimare, looking out over Equestria, the setting sun now blocked for a good portion of the afternoon from shining on the Celestial Sea. An early sunset was no worse than having a storm across the sky would normally. After the invasion was defeated, the clouds would be broken up fairly easily, the water returning to various lakes and reservoirs whence it came.

Luna took off and headed North. Eventually she came across Cloudsdale sitting north of Fillydelphia, almost at Manehatten. The wall's frontier was already starting to encroach on the water in front of Manehattan at sea level, the uppermost part of the wall was completed to within twenty kilometres of the fair city. It had already been anchored to the peninsula south of Manehattan, from where the wall would cross the northern Celestial Sea to the far anchor point on the small peninsula north of the Guto River in Griffonstone, blocking off the entire section where the Griffish Isles were and the Celestial Sea narrowed and flowed around them.

She landed at Cloudsdale and sought out Cloudbreaker once again.

"Your Highness!" Cloudbreaker addressed Luna as he saw her striding towards him.

"How goes things, Assistant Manager Cloudbreaker?" Luna asked.

"Very well, Your Highness." Cloudbreaker replied. "The work is going so fast, we've divided up the numbers we have into three shifts. One shift is resting while the other two work on. They switch out every eight hours, so that each shift only works sixteen hours, but the wall is still to be completed on-schedule." Cloudbreaker reported with a smile.

"Excellent. Your ponies are to be commended, Assistant Manager. Keep at it, and things will be worse for the griffons, come the dawn."

"Aye, Your Highness!" Cloudbreaker saluted Luna, and she headed once again for the outside of the city. Taking off, she continued towards the Griffish Isles.

Luna had seen the build-up of Equestria's defences as well, as she had travelled. The bulk of the standing army and half the reserves were at Baltimare and Horseshoe Bay, the rest of the reserves to the north of the city by the bay, in case the fleet turned north. She was sure, however that they planned to land at Horseshoe Bay. It was the best place for such a large fleet to anchor, and would be much harder for Pegasi weather forces to bring storms upon them there. Luna felt sure, as Stellar had suggested and Twilight agreed, that the griffons would attempt to overwhelm Equestria's troops with sheer numbers. Their army was so much larger than Equestria's, they could field five-to-one odds in their favor and still have more troops back in Griffonia to provide security.

Stellar had said to ignore the fleet heading for the Griffish Isles. She had written that, if things went to plan, she would have her Elite Air Guard fitted out with new weapons capable of destroying the second griffon sea fleet decisively. While Celestia was inclined to trust Stellar completely on this, Luna had had a large number of her Thestral troops take up residence on the islands for the moment. They would serve to bolster the confidence of the residents, and show they hadn't been forgotten. Plus with fish so abundant, the thestrals wouldn't put a strain on the resources of the small island nation. Satisfied things were well in-hoof, Luna made to return to Canterlot to raise the Moon that evening and report to her sister about the progress of their preparations.

General Steelclaw was looking to the west as they crossed the sea. He was frowning, however, as the Sun seemed to disappear behind heavy cloud-cover over Equestria. "Captain, what do you make of that?" He asked Captain Skydiver.

Skydiver joined Steelclaw and looked through his own spyglass. "Looks like a large storm over Horseshoe Bay and Baltimare." He answered.

"Indeed." Steelclaw answered. "Unusual, do you think?"

"No, General. The weather schedules we obtained said there might be rain scheduled for tonight over the city and bay, to replenish the reservoirs there and help clean the city. That's probably what we're seeing."

Steelclaw chirred uneasily. "I hope they'll be clear for the morning."

"Baltimare usually likes their summer sun, so I am fairly sure we won't have any problems in that regard. Besides, the Sun will be at our backs in the morning, so there shouldn't be any problems regarding our approach, at least." Skydiver reassured the older griffon.

Steelclaw nodded. "If it's scheduled, the ponies will have it cleared in due time. They are ever-so-fussy about keeping their precious weather schedules as perfect as possible."

"Aye, General. At least the weather's been fair for the journey so far. We should be right for anchoring tonight. The storm should allow the wind to die over night, so we won't drift too far." Captain Skydiver told Steelclaw.

Steelclaw nodded. "Good. Bring us down over the fleet before it gets too dark, and prepare to drop lines to anchor us to our assigned vessel. We'll set up for the night and in the morning, we'll be ready to go on and finish this."

"Aye, General." Skydiver saluted Steelclaw, then headed back to the bridge. A few minutes later, lines dropped from the Claw of Griffonia with flags on them, and signalled to the fleet to descend and converge over their assigned surface vessel.

It would be a sight the few Pony scouts who saw it were awed by, as a hundred huge airships slowly came over an equal number of surface vessels and were anchored to them. Then the two combined fleets seemed to move together in rows, the airships lashing themselves to one another and holding the entire assembled fleet as one unit, while the wind died as twilight descended on them early. Lights were lit on the ships, crystal lanterns bought from the Crystal Empire over several years illuminating the airships, and the griffon warriors were served a hearty stew by the crews of their vessels. Steelclaw was below decks in a cabin assigned to him, still going over projected outcomes to their landing, and making adjustments to them, until full night descended and the griffons mostly slept.

Stellar and the Trio were at their stations, the final countdown to reaching home playing out on a holo-screen before them. "Three, two, one, exit Fold-Space!" Stellar ordered.

"Aye!" Scootaloo answered, even as she pulled the drive activation lever back and the Xerxes dropped back into Normal Space again.

Just as the ship settled, alarms started blaring across the bridge. Reacting without thinking, Scootaloo fired the retro-engines and put the main engines into reverse-thrust as Sweetie Belle yelled "There's a massive obstruction ahead!"

"Scan it!" Stellar replied. "Fire all reverse thrusters as well, Scootaloo."

Scootaloo added all the reverse thrusters to the efforts to cut their forward momentum. The Xerxes gradually slowed down until Scootaloo cut the thrusters and engines. "We're at full stop relative to the obstruction, Captain." She reported.

"It reads... as solid, Captain." Sweetie Belle replied. "According to the scans, it reads as cosmic dust and energy... almost like a shield."

"We're stationary at fifty metres, Captain." Scootaloo added.

"That was too close..." Stellar commented. She slid out of her chair and trotted around to the front of the bridge. Her horn lit up and she sent a bolt of magic through the transparencies, where it travelled the length of the ship and hit the wall. The return signal was as she had silently speculated. "It's the Firmament." Stellar told the Trio.

"That means... we're nearly Home." Applebloom stated.

Stellar nodded. "Nearly." She agreed. "We just have to find a way through... this." She gestured to the Firmament shield.

"We could try blastin' our way through." Applebloom suggested.

Stellar contemplated that option. "Helm, take us back to five hundred metres and park us there." She ordered.

"Aye, Captain." Scootaloo replied and fired the forward retro-engines again. The Xerxes slowly moved backwards until a quick blast of the secondary engines brought the ship to a halt, thrusters stabilising them. "In position, Captain." Scootaloo reported.

"All right." Stellar replied. "Applebloom, power up the main cannons and aim the forward turrets at one point on the Firmament, just about where we almost hit it." She told Applebloom. "Sweetie Belle, train the sensors on that location. I want you to see what results our firing on that one point has on the shield. If we can destabilise it for long enough to get through, so much the better."

"Aye, Captain." The two young mares said as Scootaloo programmed a flight course through that section, ready to head through if ordered to do so.

"Ready?" Stellar asked. After getting affirmative answers from both mares, Stellar nodded. "One turret only, Applebloom. Fire."

"Aye. Firing one turret." And the upper forward turret glowed and fired three concentrated beams of energy at the Firmament shield. The shield glowed with the impact, but nothing else happened.

Sweetie Belle spoke up as the guns stopped firing. "Nothing, Captain. The shield seemed to absorb the energy as it was hit."

Stellar nodded, looking annoyed. "All right, Applebloom. Focus all the forward turrets on that one spot and fire at will." She ordered.

"Aye, Captain." Applebloom acknowledged, then fired again. This time, the glow of the shield was much greater, but there was little more effect than the last time.

"No effect, Captain." Sweetie Belle said as the guns kept firing at the shield.

"Shut them down, Applebloom." Stellar said, and as Applebloom did so, she contemplated their options.

"Any ideas, Captain?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Maybe." Stellar answered as she thought back to everything she had learned about the Firmament, especially from Discord himself. "Discord once told me he made the Firmament not to keep us in, per se, but to keep anyone else out. Mainly so no-one could disturb him 'playing' with his favourite toys." Stellar told them.

"Ya mean the Firmament's per... um... per..." Applebloom started to say.

"Permeable." Sweetie Belle supplied the missing word.

"Yeah. 'Permeable' only one-way, then?" Applebloom asked.

"Looks that way, and that makes sense." Stellar agreed. She thought on for a minute. "That way we could get out... but no-one else could get back in. But there has to be a way, unless Discord wanted us to leave and not return when we finally did... but that's not like him. We have to be able to return to tell of what we find, or there's no incentive to leave..."

Stellar sat back on her chair and relaxed, thinking hard. Then the Sparkle Star in her cutie mark lit up as she felt the presence of Twilight, so close now...

Twilight sighed as she sat, reading up on the Draco-Griffon War, the last major conflict Equestria had been involved with. She was sure that the strategies and lessons learned from the war that was over three hundred years ago, now, wouldn't stand up to the advancements of the modern era. Plus, the griffons would be attacking Equestria in force and directly, not as a side-adjunct to an existing conflict.

Then her eyes glowed as the Sparkle Star in her cutie mark lit up and she felt Stellar's presence again, for the first time in three weeks. "Stellar?" Twilight asked silently.

"Heya, Twi-Sis." Stellar's loving voice sounded in that place they both shared.

"How close are you now? You can't be in Fold-Space if we can talk like this again." Twilight asked.

"We're just outside the Firmament, Twi, and I mean, just outside." Stellar answered. "It's proving a little difficult to get through, but we're going to try everything we have to get through to you. Hopefully, it's not going to make us late for the party."

"I hope so, too. We really could use you and that new ship of yours. The Griffons are sending a big force towards us, and I don't know if the army could handle them without your guidance or the weapons on the Xerxes." Twilight told Stellar.

"Don't worry, Sis. We'll be there, on-time and ready to hand the Griffons their tails." Stellar reassured Twilight.

"Good." Twilight replied.

"See you soon, Twi-Sis, and stay focussed. The griffons won't know what hit them once we get there." Stellar said, a big grin in her confident voice.

"We'll be waiting, ready and able, Stellar-Sis." Twilight replied, and after a magical snuggle, they disconnected. Twilight sighed happily, and returned to her work as the moon rose up outside...

Later, Twilight joined Luna and Celestia for dinner. "I have news." She said once she was seated.

"Do tell then, Twilight." Celestia encouraged her.

"While I was working before, I got a communication from Stellar, through our link." She told the Diarchs. "She, the CMC and the Xerxes have arrived outside the Firmament."

The pair of older alicorns relaxed visibly. "Thank Faust for that." Luna said out-loud.

"Yes, indeed." Celestia agreed. "To hear they are now so close to home is a big relief."

"Did they say when they might be landing?" Luna asked as they were served the first course.

"They're having a little trouble getting through the Firmament." Twilight reported as she sniffed the milk soup, licking her lips at the delicious smell of it. "Apparently it's not just going to 'let them' through it. Stellar said it might take a little time to come up with an answer, but she's confident they'll find a way through before the battle begins."

Celestia nodded. "Yes. If memory serves me correctly, not even Luna nor I could get through it when we tried after petrifying Discord. I was most surprised your spell actually penetrated it, but it seems things have changed somewhat after Discord's reformation." She took a sip of the soup, and nickered in pleasure. "Ah, excellent as always." She commented.

"Yes. Maybe Discord is finally going to find a way to undo some of what he did so long ago." Luna added her own comment.

Twilight was silently sipping her soup, when she saw a sight that made her do a double-take: A little Discord was doing the backstroke in her soup. Scooping him out with her spoon, she glared at him as she brought him up to her gaze. Luna and Celestia looked on with interest, as they saw what was happening. "Discord... it isn't very hygienic of you to be swimming in my soup." Twilight admonished him.

"Don't worry, Twinkle-hoofs; I had a decent bath and sterilised my claws before I dove in." Discord's tiny voice reached their ears.

"Still..." Twilight was a little miffed, but as Discord disappeared and returned full-size beside them, snagging a mug of soup from one of the serving mares, She put the spoonful in an empty bowl and grabbed a new spoon.

"Don't be like that, Twilight. I am here to congratulate your sister on arriving home so quickly." He told the alicorns. "Honestly, I thought it would take her months to get that old ship up and running again. It shows her ingenuity that she did it so well and so quickly, especially without Protoculture."

That got Twilight's attention. "Protoculture? What do you know about Protoculture?" She asked.

Discord chuckled. "Everything." He simply replied.

The sisters looked at each other as Twilight glared at Discord. "Care to enlighten us, then?" She asked.

"Protoculture is the energy released by the seeds from a very special plant... or that's how it was used by the humans aboard the Xerxes and other ships." Discord revealed. "The other uses..." He visibly shuddered. "Twilight... what the Haydonite told Stellar about not even trying to find out about it is essentially what I would tell you. You do not need Protoculture and the complications it brings with it." He cautioned her. "Besides, the mana crystal technology is far simpler and much easier for you to use than Protoculture... and far safer, too."

"We have already concluded this, Discord." Celestia then spoke up. "Laws against its use and even keeping it have already been drafted. We will not let this substance invade our world and destabilise it."

Discord nodded. "For the first time in a very long time, Celestia, you and I are in total agreement." He said to her. "Even I would not use this substance, or let it onto Equestria. The potential and scope of abuse it holds... no civilised people need such as it to reach their full potential. Magic is far better and safer."

Then Twilight got an epiphany. "That's why you put the Firmament up. It wasn't to keep other races out... it was to keep Protoculture out!"

Discord turned to look at her. "Perhaps... but those other races were also dangerous to you and the others here, Twilight. Some would have enslaved you; some would have taken ponies apart just to try and learn the secrets of your magic and how to wield it; others would have wiped this planet clean, just to ensure you never threatened them." Discord shook her head. "No, Twilight; you ponies weren't ready to face what is out there back then."

"And now?" Luna then asked.

"Now?" Discord smiled. "No, not just yet." He answered. "But you are very close; very close indeed. Once you reverse-engineer and understand the technology of the Xerxes, and the lessons she brings to your world, then you will be ready to go out there and begin exploring." Discord explained. "The griffons also will need your help to leave Equis. They are packed far too tightly in their little area of the world, and they will need somewhere where they can become explorers and have other places to explore and settle properly. They will be your best allies in finding your place in the galaxy you live on the edge of, and in facing the nastiest of the other races out there. You have an opportunity, Ponies, to conquer your worst enemies here without shedding a drop of their blood. It's up to you all to prove you are the ones who lead this world, not to conquer it, but to take it to the next level. Make them believe; make me proud of you." Discord then faded away.

The three alicorns looked at one another. "It seems far more is riding on this battle than we thought." Celestia said softly.

Luna snorted. "I do not trust Him... but what he said... makes sense. Conquering without shedding blood... Leading without conquering. It is what we have always dreamed of, Tia."

Celestia nodded. "Yes. To make friends of all those around us and lead them. It was what we were charged to do by Mother. And now... We are closer to realising it than ever before."

Twilight had listened to this; the weight of the crown she now bore was starting to grow. As the Princess of Friendship, this was her task: to make friends, both in the singular and in multitudes. She closed her eyes, and a familiar feeling swept over her. A presence was there with her, and it made her smile. It made her destiny more attainable with her sister by her side, as Discord had once said to her. The pair of them... there was nothing they couldn't do together. "Together." She whispered softly to herself... and one other.

"Together..." came the unheard reply...

Author's Notes:

I can't believe I managed to finish this so quickly. Shows what you can do, I guess, when you have the time and a rainy weekend...