General Steelclaw found it hard to sleep that night, as the two fleets lay at anchor in the middle of the Great Inland Sea/Celestial Sea. They'd found the seamount that had been charted there quite easily, proving the precision of their charted course, and now the griffons took what was probably the last untroubled sleep for the rest of the campaign. Steelclaw knew there would be no time to sleep until they had established a proper, guarded beachhead and fortifications, before the campaign to take Canterlot began in earnest. Once they had the Celestial Sisters and Twilight Sparkle in chains... then they could relax again. Most of Equestria didn't really matter, since they could bypass most of it by air. The Pegasi would be a problem, but he had enough troops to even give them pause for concern.

He quietly slipped out of his cabin without waking any others, his armor on the frame made for it, and he traversed the decks until he was out on the foredeck again. The guards there just quietly came to attention and saluted him, and he moved to the front of the deck after returning their salutes. His unease was still there. The Moon was high in the sky, as it was almost midnight, and he saw in the distance the dark mass of the clouds he'd glimpsed earlier on. They were far higher than normal storm-clouds; even the thick cumulo-nimbus storm clouds rarely climbed that high. He wondered what the Pegasi and their leaders had done. 'What are they planning?' He asked himself. 'Surely they know we're coming. I haven't had a report from any of our spies in Canterlot in three days. So they must be preparing to face us... but how? They can't know our numbers; most of these airships and the fleet were built a great distance from public eyes, and a great deal of the troops here are from High Reaches Clan and our allies; griffs we can trust. So what are you up to, Celestia? Luna? What do you have planned?'

Steelclaw stood there for nearly an hour, pondering the day ahead. He hoped the battle for the beachhead would be swift and decisive with surprise almost completely on their side, at least in terms of troop numbers and weapons, as well as the anti-magic devices. He hated the fact that they couldn't be activated until assembled; that was a major weakness, but necessary for the total denial of the captured area to the Pony forces. Still, Steelclaw couldn't shake the feeling in his bones that he wasn't seeing something, something major.

Still worried, he went to his bed again and tried to sleep. It was no good facing the Ponies with sleep-deprivation hindering his planning...

Luna sat at court, reports from the War Room as to preparations piled up to one side of her. So far, everything was going according to Stellar Sparkle's plans. Even the nobles were behaving themselves after being informed of the coming invasion. Oh, they had panicked at first and made somewhat spurious demands, until Tia had shouted them all down and told them that plans were well underway to ensure the griffons didn't even set hoof on Equestrian soil. A lot of them had been sceptical at first, some demanding details, until Tia pointed out that secret plans stayed secret by not revealing them. Not even Blueblood and his retinue had insisted on knowing after that.

Blueblood had surprised Tia, though, when he had showed up at Court Recess in armor, with a hundred other ponies of his House also in full armor, with crossbows and other weapons:

Celestia was surprised at the commotion that developed at the doors to the Audience Hall, as she rose to head for lunch. The guards who had been closing the great doors were unceremoniously shoved back, as a large number of armed and armored ponies in unfamiliar armor pushed their way in. Celestia was even more surprised to see her 'nephew' Prince Blueblood, also in armor, leading them. The rest of the guards in the room took an aggressive stance, more troops racing in to form a cordon before the Throne dais, but the newcomers didn't try to accost the guards or race for the throne. Instead, they lined up in four columns behind Blueblood and marched towards the throne, four of them raising banners with the designs of Clan Blue on them.

Captain Gallant Heart was there on the dais, below and before Celestia, and he looked back at her for the cue to stop them. But he was surprised when Celestia gave him the sign to 'stay alert, but let them approach'. He nodded and turned his attention back to the interlopers.

The troops in Clan Blue colors marched behind Blueblood up to the usual spot for petitioners, came to a halt at attention, then saluted the Throne and Celestia. She was even more surprised, but said in a calm voice "Prince Blueblood? What is all this?"

"Your Highness!" Blueblood answered in a stalwart voice. "With the threat our nation is facing, all the best troops should be sent to the front. I and my troops are here to supplement your Guard while this emergency is on-going, even if it is only to guard the inner wall of the Palace." He explained.

Gallant Heart looked back at Celestia, who was showing her surprise openly now. She then looked down at Gallant Heart. "Can we use reinforcements for the Guard, Captain?" Celestia asked.

Gallant Heart looked at the troops Blueblood had brought with him. They certainly looked the part, with up-to-date armor that he could see had the same crystal radio headsets as his own Palace Guard did. "I can't say a hundred extra troops would not be welcome, Your Highness... but I will see..." He walked down the dais and past the cordon with an "At ease" to the Guard commander, then started inspecting Blueblood's troops. They were fairly young; he could tell they had some experience and training, as well as the older ones amongst them were wearing NCO ranks and their experience showed in their stance. He even recognised two of the sargeants as ex-Guard sargeants that had retired to the reserves. Blueblood himself was wearing Lieutenant's ranks on his armor. Gallant looked him up and down most of all. "I hope you earned those rank badges, Lieutenant." He said to Blueblood.

"Captain Sir!" Blueblood replied in a strong-but-quiet voice. "My Reserve training with the Guard is up to requirements at this time." He informed Gallant.

"And your troops as well, I take it?" Gallant asked.

"Our last training time with the Reserves was only two months ago, Captain Sir." Blueblood answered.

Gallant nodded. "Very well, Lieutenant. Have your troops report to Lieutenant-Commander Heavy Stride, and he will deploy you. Tell him I said to put you in Section Four."

"Sir! Yessir!" All of the troops replied, saluting Captain Heart, who returned their salute. At the command, the bulk of the soldiers turned about, as Blueblood led the four sargeants down the columns to their new front, and they marched out looking fairly competent.

"Guards, stand down to normal mode, the emergency is over." Gallant Heart ordered, and most of the Guards moved out to their stations. Gallant turned and bowed to Celestia.

Celestia smiled. "It seems that even our nobles are wanting to do their part to protect our city." She told Gallant Heart. "However, I do suggest you... remind Lieutenant Blueblood that marching armed private troops into the Audience Hall without announcing themselves first might be considered insurrection by those less tolerant." 'Namely my sister', Celestia thought to herself.

Gallant nodded. "They will be reminded of the 'proper' way to apply for active service by the time I get through briefing Lieutenant Blueblood, Your Highness." Gallant assured Celestia, who was now grinning.

"Then we shall leave this in your capable hoofs, Captain." Celestia replied. 'Now, for lunch...' Celestia thought as she headed for her dining room.

Then the troops in the Audience Hall saw Captain Heart crack a smile that had them quivering in their armored shoes. That smile meant somepony was going to be doing Punishment Detail...

Luna almost giggled to herself when she remembered having seen Blueblood, standing at the entrance to the Guard latrines, a sign around his neck that read 'I am an idiot for bringing my troops into the Audience Hall unannounced'. He was hoofing out rolls of toilet paper to any Guard that went inside. But apparently he had only been assigned that for an hour before Captain Heart had sent him back to his unit. Luna shook her head and sighed happily. The ingenuity of Captain Heart never ceased to amuse her...

After taking turns to get some sleep and a hearty breakfast, Stellar looked at the Firmament before them. It had proven pretty much immune to everything they'd tried to use to get through it, and Stellar didn't consider even the massive power output of the mana reactor, even if she could wield that amount of mana, might have the power to let her teleport the entire ship through the barrier. Then, as she reviewed everything they'd done on the trip home, Stellar had an idea. "Everypony, buckle up." She told the Trio as she fastened her own seat restraints.

The CMC acted without question, harnessing themselves to their seats. "What now, Captain?" Scootaloo asked.

"Okay. Applebloom, power up the Fold Drive and set it for a static fold test, like we did before." Stellar replied.

"Aye, Captain." Applebloom acknowledged.

"Sweetie Belle, I want you to keep an eye on the readings for the Firmament. I know we can possibly detect it while in Fold-Space, but I don't want to take any chances we can't." Stellar said.

"Aye, Captain." Sweetie Belle replied.

"Scootaloo, once we're in Fold-Space, I want you to just use the rear manoeuvering thrusters to push us along. We don't want to move very quickly, and if I am right, the speed-multiplier using the Fold Drive means that even the smallest amount of thrust is going to move us a great distance." Stellar explained.

"I get it!" Applebloom then spoke up. "Since Fold-Space is right outside'a Normal Space, if'n we can't get through tha Firmament, maybe we can just go past it instead."

"That's what I'm hoping, Applebloom." Stellar confirmed.

"Okay! Course is set, Captain." Scootaloo reported. "Thrusters set: ahead, dead slow."

"I have a lock on the Firmament, Captain." Sweetie Belle informed Stellar. "I think it'll hold, even while we're in Fold-Space."

"Fold capacitors are charged an' ready, Captain. Fold Drive is ready for Static Fold-jump." Applebloom then told Stellar.

Stellar nodded. "Okay, Helm; activate Static Fold-jump."

"Aye, Captain!" Scootaloo replied enthusiastically as she shoved the activation lever forward, and the Xerxes vanished from Normal Space again, to sit without moving in Fold-Space.

"All thrusters ahead, dead slow." Stellar ordered.

"Aye, Captain; thrusters ahead, dead slow." Scootaloo said back, grinning as the Xerxes started moving forward.

The speed, to the visual sensors, seemed imperceptible, but Sweetie Belle gasped. "Captain, I've lost contact with the Firmament. I think it's behind us now, and we're going too fast to keep a lock on it."

Stellar nodded. She was counting to herself as they 'crawled' forward. Then she ordered "Exit Fold-Space.'

"Aye, Captain." Scootaloo said as she dragged the activation lever back again, and the Xerxes dropped back into Normal Space.

Sweetie Belle grinned. "Captain, the Firmament is over two-hundred and fifty thousand kilometres behind us. Our current position is barely fifty kilometres from the orbits of the Sun and Moon."

Stellar and the others breathed sighs of relief. "All that distance just on thrusters in Fold-Space? No wonder it only took nine days ta get back here under full thrust." Applebloom stated.

"And we found the way through the Firmament." Scootaloo added. "We just go past it in Fold-Space, like you thought, Stellar."

Stellar nodded. "Yes. And that also means one more thing, Cadets." She told them. "Pony-kind is no longer trapped on Equis. We can now go explore the Stars... once we build more ships." Stellar grinned at them.

"Orders, Captain?" Scootaloo asked.

"Full cruising speed ahead, Scootaloo. Course, for Equis." Stellar ordered. "We should be there within six hours, if nothing else gets in our way."

"Aye, Captain." Scootaloo replied, and the Xerxes' engines powered up, shoving her forwards and gaining speed rapidly...

As Dawn flowed over Equestria, the Celestial Sisters moved their celestial bodies on their eternal dance from balconies outside the War Room. Luna looked up to the sky, frowning, as Celestia walked around to meet her. "Is something wrong, Dear Luna?" Celestia asked.

"Something has appeared in our sky, Sister." Luna replied. She closed her eyes and concentrated, her horn lighting up again. "Something... I have never felt the like of before, heading closer to the atmosphere."

Celestia closed her eyes and did the same, scanning the area Luna was already scanning. "I see it too, Luna. It's... it's a vessel of some kind." Celestia was a little startled.

Luna nodded. "Indeed..." Then her eyes opened wide. "There are Ponies aboard her!" She stated.

Celestia sighed and smiled. "It must be the Xerxes, then. Twilight said Stellar and the others were sitting outside the Firmament, trying to find a way in. They have been successful, even where we ourselves failed." She said in a happy tone.

Luna nodded, even as a door slammed open, surrounded in magenta magic, and Twilight raced out. "They're here!" She yelled. "They got through!"

Celestia and Luna giggled at that, then smiled at Twilight. "We know, Twilight." Celestia informed her. "We both felt the emergence of the Xerxes inside the Firmament."

"Oh... right... I should have known." Twilight sighed.

"Where are the Griffon fleets?" Celestia then asked.

"The airship fleet seems to be pacing the sea fleet heading for Horseshoe Bay. They just started getting underway, separating out from the tight formation they'd taken at Dusk yesterday." Twilight reported. "They seem to be acting very cautious, with the cloud-wall in the way."

Luna nodded. "As would I act, if I was their commander." She replied. "It is unlike anything we have ever done before, and must be perplexing them greatly."

"The second sea fleet left port at dawn, heading up the Griffonstone coast about a hundred kilometres out." Twilight then told them. "They seem to be heading for the Griffish Islands."

Celestia nodded. "As expected." She said back.

"At the rate they're progressing, with the wind coming from off the coast, they'll be there probably in twelve to fifteen hours, if the weather reports from Griffonstone are accurate in their predictions." Twilight said as they all headed inside.

"Plenty of time to deal with them, then, once the main fleets are disabled." Celestia commented. "Shall we have breakfast, then?" She suggested.

"Indeed." Luna smiled in return.

Twilight was feeling uptight, but her stomach rumbled hungrily and she sighed. "Yeah, breakfast sounds good." She admitted, and followed the senior princesses back into the small dining room...

The griffon fleets were separating and spreading out once again, now that the Sun had risen. Formating as they had been the day before took some time, but it had been well-practised before now, and soon they were underway again. The wind from the east was like the day before, steady but slow, but at least the sea fleet wasn't stationary, General Steelclaw surmised as the airships came up to speed carefully. He looked back at Colonel Crest, who come out from the wheelhouse. "What's our status, Colonel?" He asked.

"The fleets are almost seventy-percent in formation, General, but we are underway already. The rest of the sea fleet will fall in as we move along. They're just maneouvering for the wind at the moment." Colonel Crest reported.

Steelclaw nodded. "Good. What is our E.T.A. for landfall?"

"At the rate we're going, about seven hours, barring the loss of wind." Scarlet Crest answered as the Air Fleet rose in formation to a kilometre's altitude.

Steelclaw nodded. "Very good. Have the troops begin their final preparations for deployment an hour before we land, and have the scouts ready to take off at a moment's notice." He ordered. "I may want to send them in before we unleash the troops on the Ponies, just to make sure of the best site for the de-embarcation."

"By your command, General." Scarlet Crest replied, and headed off.

Steelclaw turned back to the horizon in the distance... but the fact he couldn't see the sky below a certain point still had him slightly unnerved. What had the Ponies been up to?

After nearly six hours underway inside the Firmament, the Xerxes was approaching Equis quite rapidly, as the globe got too close to see all of the surface in the transparencies of the bridge. The large ship slowed down to a safer speed for re-entry as they headed past Low-Equis-Orbit and moved to head down for the surface.

"Atmospheric boundary approaching, Captain." Sweetie Belle reported to Stellar.

"Very good, Lieutenant." Stellar replied as she checked their location over Equis. "Helm, bring us in at eighty degrees to the atmospheric plane. Tactical, bring up the shield, pinpoint barriers to the extreme front." She ordered.

"Aye, Captain." Came the replies, and the Xerxes started heading almost straight for the surface of Equis. They hit the atmosphere like a bullet, the shields boring a hole through the air as they headed for the South Luna Sea. The Xerxes barely shook as the atmosphere thickened around it; wisps of flame and smoke quickly building into a inferno around the shield's sharpened tip.

"Is this tha normal way ya re-enter atmosphere in a starship, Stellar?" Applebloom asked, a little worried.

Stellar chuckled. "No, Applebloom, this is a full-on combat insertion. You don't waste time drifting down on your anti-gravs when Battle awaits you on the surface!"

Applebloom nodded, still looking nervous, while Scootaloo was grinning wide, almost bouncing in her seat. Sweetie Belle, however, took her cues from Stellar and remained cool and focussed as they plunged downwards, making a tremendous sight for the ponies below in Las Pegasus as they trailed fire through the sky like a long meteor.

Stellar closed her eyes, the star in her cutie mark lighting up briefly as she told Twilight they were coming...

"They're coming." Twilight said to Celestia and Luna, as the glow faded from her eyes and cutie mark. "I have to get things ready!" Twilight exclaimed and raced off.

Luna and Celestia looked at each other and smiled. Their odds at putting down this invasion just moved in their favor, as they'd expected.

Twilight raced through the Palace to a balcony and took off as her suit of purple, gold-trimmed armor extended over her and encased her. A gift from Stellar, Twilight hadn't had to wear it seriously before now, but knowing she was as well-protected as she could be made her feel much safer about being out in-the-field. Heading out of Canterlot, a call over the radio brought a flurry of pegasi encased in white-and-gold armor rising to meet her, formating in three arrows of forty-one ponies each, staying in their platoon-formations. Twilight smiled. These were three of the platoons of Stellar's elite troops, the ones with pegasi in them, at least. There were others, including three made up solely of the three tribes of Thestrals she used for night-time engagements.

The leader of both the first platoon and second-in-charge of the entire combat group, Lt-Cmdr Steady Sentry, came up alongside Twilight. "Your Highness!" He said to her. "I take it the Knight-Commander's on her way home?"

"That she is, Lieutenant-Commander." Twilight confirmed as they headed away from the city on the mountain. "We're heading out to rendezvous with her before she passes Appleloosa on the way to the front line.

"Excellent." Steady replied. "The troops are all ready and eager to join up with our commander again. We'll see those Griffon invaders off!" He looked back at the others behind him. "For Princesses and Equestria!" He said sharply and proudly down the comm-line.

"For Princesses and Equestria!" Came the reply from the platoons, and Twilight felt a surge of pride and joy surf through her at their pride in serving their country and rulers.

"For Equestria!" She replied, as she guided the pegasi to where Stellar said to wait for her and the Xerxes.

The Xerxes plunged down, the atmosphere slowing her gradually as it thickened up, until the shields lost their fiery coating and they were in the clear.

"What's our speed, Miss Scootaloo?" Stellar asked.

"Just over Mach Ten, Captain." Scootaloo answered.

"Good. Extend hull air-brakes to thirty-five degrees and raise the nose to thirty degrees from the horizontal." Stellar ordered.

"Aye, Captain!" Scootaloo replied, and the Xerxes' nose rotated upwards as large plates of metal extended out of her rear section, slowing her as she still headed down.

"Level us out at a kilometre up, Miss Scootaloo, and reduce our speed to six hundred knots as we approach Ghastly Gorge. We have some troops to pick up before we head to engage the enemy." Stellar said with a smile.

"Aye, Captain." Scootaloo said back.

"You can drop the shield once we fall below trans-sonic speed, Miss Applebloom." Stellar added.

"Aye, Captain." Applebloom acknowledged, as her hoofs and kinetics danced over the control menus in the screens before her.

"Miss Belle, did you and Miss Applebloom adjust our main armament the way I asked you to?" Stellar inquired of Sweetie Belle

"Aye, Captain. Tests showed they will have the desired effect on the griffons." Sweetie Belle reported.

"Excellent." Stellar grinned. "Now all we need to do is pick up our troops and get there." She rose from her chair. "Armor-up, everypony." Stellar added.

The Trio lifted their heads for a few seconds, their new armors' helmets dropping onto their heads and their armor extending out over their young bodies. Sweetie Belle's armor was more like one of Stellar's combat suits in its shape and design, rather than a specialised flight-armor like Scootaloo's, or a dedicated combat-engineering suit like Applebloom's were. However, it had numerous mana arrays fitted to it and a pair of extendable artificial wings, as well as a single mana thruster. If Sweetie Belle ever needed to bail out of the ship, she could easily fly down to the ground under her own power now. Plus many specialised spell-arrays were available to her to cast some very powerful spells for defensive and offensive capabilities. The Trio returned their attentions to the screens and viewports as the Xerxes descended further.

Aboard the lead airship in the Griffonian Armada, General Steelclaw was frowning as he saw clearly now, shining in the morning sun, the huge wall of dark cloud that seemed to blanket Equestria for as far as the eye could see. They had seen something of it as they approached the shores of Equestria the afternoon before, but now it was much clearer to see. He moved to the forward observation post out on the foredeck and looked down. Sure enough, the clouds seemed to even go so low as to touch the water, as well as heading up as far as the older griffon's powerful eyes could see.

"It's a sight, isn't it, General?" His second-in-command, Colonel Scarlet Crest, said as he joined the general. "Its got the troops a little nervous."

Steelclaw snorted in derision. "It's just clouds." He replied. "It won't stop us reaching Equestria."

"Maybe, Sir, but Ponies can make lightning from clouds, as well we know." He glanced upwards at the huge envelope full of gasbags above them. "A lightning strike of sufficient intensity could set our ships alight, even with the new armor."

"Mmm... there is that." Steelclaw admitted. He turned and looked over the fleet of a hundred huge airships that cruised steadily towards Equestrian shores again. The new envelopes were filled with gasbags that contained the explosive Hydrogen gas, not Helium as the normal airships used. Ponies knew how to make Hydrogen non-explosive, but they guarded that secret jealously... as Steelclaw admitted to himself that the griffons would as well, if they knew how to do it. The latest envelope used in these larger-than-normal ships were armored with a new fibrous material that had been dug out of the ground in the far east of Griffonia. 'Ground cotton', it has been named by those who had found it and were making new products of it. It resisted fire and electricity very well, and could be either encased in other substances or woven into a material, which was how it was used to armor the envelopes of the airships. "Any other suggestions as to the purpose of this... wall?" Steelclaw asked the colonel.

Scarlet Crest looked along the vast wall of clouds. "They're hiding something." He put forward. "It keeps us from seeing their troop-deployments and preparations. Also, you could stand a hundred-thousand pegasi in those clouds, just in the two kilometres either side of our path easily, and we'd never know they were there."

"Indeed." Steelclaw agreed. "We'll close to within five kilometres of the cloud-wall and send scouts to it from there, Colonel. We'll see what they find before we head in."

"I'll inform the Captain, Sir." Scarlet Crest replied, and headed for the bridge.

Ponies in Las Pegasus looked up and gaped as the Xerxes crossed over the coast there, the noise of her secondary engines making her easy to hear as she flew over the city. They gasped in awe as the starship, bigger than any airship they'd ever seen, flew over the city heading east, towards Appleloosa. Local guards-ponies ran for their headquarters and sent frantic messages along the landlines to Guard Command in Canterlot.

Twilight was hovering inside the three platoons of pegasi, when the Sparkle Star in her cutie mark lit up and she heard Stellar's voice in her head: "We've just gone over Las Pegasus, Sis. On our way to your position now. We should rendezvous with you just north of Appleloosa on a course for Horseshoe Bay."

"Rojer that, Sis. We're over Ghastly Gorge now, ready to begin accelerating to meet you." Twilight sent back.

"Okay, Sis. Start accelerating now and prepare to match us and come on-board. All three bay levels will be open and accessible." Stellar informed Twilight.

"Rojer. Beginning our run now." Twilight responded. She then turned to the three Commanders. "Let's get moving! The Xerxes is approaching at six hundred knots, and the side landing bays will be open for us to enter her. Land at will as she reaches us."

"Rojer that, Princess." They replied, the three platoons of pegasi troops saluted Twilight, and they all dived together, accelerating in twin rows alongside each other as they formated out behind Twilight. They gained speed as they dived from the two-kilometres level down to one kilometre, leveling out as they did so

Twilight kept looking back as they passed north of Appleloosa, when a shape appeared in the skies behind them, coming up on them quickly. There were gasps over the radios, and even Twilight was a little astonished at the sheer size of the Xerxes as she gained on the pegasi. "Speed up for rendezvous." Twilight commanded.

"Aye, Princess!" Came the reply, and the columns moved even faster as the Xerxes closed on them, pulling in between them. Twilight saw a familiar set of armor at the upper flight bay, gesturing them in, and she carefully slid sideways, crabbing without losing speed, until she came into the bay. Instantly, her forward speed dropped to nothing and she came to a hover near Stellar, landing easily and trotting inside to clear the area for the pegasi troops. Eventually all of them had landed and the bays closed.

Twilight moved to where Stellar was, her sister's face-plate open. Stellar's smiling face was echoed on Twilight's as her own face-plate opened, and the sisters gently touched noses. "So glad to have you home, Sis." Twilight whispered.

"So glad to be home, Sis." Stellar replied. Then she giggled as Scootaloo's voice echoed around the flight bay, directing the troops to formate on the lower flight deck. Stellar, Twilight and the First Platoon that had escorted Twilight inside walked down the ramps to the lower flight deck. Scootaloo was standing in front of the remaining two platoons, looking them up and down as if she was a general reviewing the troops, something that had the experienced troops silently amused. The First Platoon took their place in a single line beside the Second and Third Platoons, and Stellar came up in front of them. They all came to attention and saluted Stellar and Twilight, as Sweetie Belle came up to them, towing a little cart with her. Stellar and Twilight saluted back, and Stellar addressed them all.

"Good to see you all again." Stellar told them. "You're all going to be instrumental in my plans to stop this invasion, but not straight away. We've got some new equipment to equip you with, plus some you've been waiting on for a while now. Everypony stand easy, and we'll equip you."

"AYE, KNIGHT-COMMANDER!" came the welcome shout.

"Lieutenant," Stellar addressed Scootaloo, "return to the bridge and aid Lieutenant Applebloom in bringing us to our destination."

"Aye, Captain." Scootaloo saluted Stellar and raced off at a fast canter.

As Twilight watched, Sweetie Belle walked around with her cart, levitating and putting into place mana thrusters into the backpacks of each of the pegasi troops. Stellar was slipping the new weapons packs around their barrels as well, sliding it up behind their wing-roots and connecting them to the backpacks' auxiliary ports. Under each of them was an EP-40 pulse-beam cannon, and to the sides were GR-97 micro-missile launchers, giving the pegasi troops similar armament to a Cyclone Suit, just not with the bigger chest-mounted missile launchers. Considering these weapons had never been seen before on Equis, they were easily the best-kitted-out troops anywhere on the planet. Only Stellar was better-armed. Once everypony was fitted-out, save for Twilight, who'd only received the mana thrusters, Stellar addressed them all. "Right! Now, listen up, and I'll tell you how to use your new weapons-rigs."

Sweetie Belle looked up at Twilight. "Princess, could you come with me?" She asked.

"Ah, sure, Sweetie Belle." Twilight replied, and the pair walked off. "Are those lieutenant's bars?" She asked.

Sweetie Belle grinned. "Uh-huh. I'm a senior Cadet-Lieutenant on the Xerxes." She explained.

Twilight was impressed as she followed Sweetie to the lift. "Very nice! You and your friends really have come up in the world."

Once in the lift, Sweetie Belle turned to Twilight. "We also want to say... We're sorry for what happened. We didn't mean to barge in like that, but we didn't think you'd be casting that late at night."

Twilight leaned down and nuzzled Sweetie Belle gently. "It's okay, Sweetie. I forgave you three a long time ago, after we got your letters." She revealed. "So... what am I going to be doing?" She asked Sweetie Belle.

"The Captain will explain when she's finished briefing the troops." Sweetie Belle replied. "But I think you're going to be watching over us when she leads the pegasi into combat."

Twilight nodded. "Makes sense." She agreed. "She mentioned something like that in her last letter."

As Twilight walked out onto the bridge with Sweetie Belle, she gasped in amazement at the huge holo-screens that floated before the bridge-dais, and looked around eagerly at the ultra-modern look of the bridge itself. Sweetie grinned at her as Applebloom giggled, and Twilight quickly closed her mouth, her helmet partially hiding her blush. Sweetie Belle grinned. "Don't worry, Twilight. We were the same way when we got everything operational again."

"Yeah." Applebloom agreed. "It's been a steep learnin'-curve, but we're handlin' things okay now, accordin' ta Stellar."

"I just bet you are." Twilight replied, as Sweetie Belle showed her to the Captain's chair, and instructed her on how to use the controls and manipulate the monitors and holo-screens. "This is... very much like the tablet computers Stellar sent back to us." She said absently as she manipulated the touch-screens and brought up menus, accessing parts of the database. "Amazing!"

"Yeah, it really is." Sweetie Belle agreed as she climbed back up into the Sciences Station seat, and smiled at Scootaloo in the Helm Station seat.

Eventually, Stellar and the three Lieutenant-Commanders of the Elite Air Guard joined them. "Where are we, Lieutenant Scootaloo?" Stellar asked as the pegasus commanders gazed about the bridge in wonder.

"Just passing Dodge Junction, Captain." Scootaloo reported. "We're down to three hundred knots, and should be at the cloud-wall in twenty minutes."

"Good. Come to a halt just before the cloud-wall; we only want our snout to stick through at first. I'll be standing out there, to address the griffon fleets and see what they're going to do when we let them know we know what they're up to." Stellar said with a smile.

"Captain," Sweetie Belle then said "The Wonderbolts and Flying Squad are ready to come aboard when ordered to land, Ma'am."

Stellar nodded. "Good. Let them land on the exterior of the hull. I'll talk to them once they're aboard." She replied.

"Aye, Captain." Sweetie Belle said, and returned her attention to the comm-panel.

Stellar moved up to Twilight. "Twilight, I am temporarily commisioning you as a Commander aboard the Xerxes with the position of Executive Officer. You'll be in command of the ship while I am not aboard her." Stellar placed Commander's rank-insignia in place on Twilight's armor, then whispered "If you're smart, let the CMC handle things. Just make sure they don't do anything rash, like open fire without permission. They're fairly disciplined, but not fully-trained yet, so they might react without thinking things through, if you don't watch them. Okay?"

"Got it, Captain." Twilight replied with a smile. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Always, Sis." Stellar replied and kissed Twilight on the nose, getting a soft nicker in return. "I'm not going to be leaving for a while, not now that we just got back again. There's too much to do without jaunting off across Space again... or going anywhere else."

"You're right about that." Twilight agreed.

Stellar stepped back and Twilight saluted her. Stellar returned her salute, and headed off the bridge, the three commanders of the EAG platoons following her.

Author's Notes:

Now we see how the Firmament can be bypassed, and we meet Stellar's Elite Air Guard. The Wonderbolts end up in armor as well, ready to help, and Twilight gets close to a nerd-gasm upon seeing the bridge. The griffons are getting close and the stage is set for an epic conflict...