As the dropship shot upwards, Celestia saw the sky gradually turn darker. It eventually became pitch black. The dropship levelled out, the furious thrum of the engines turning in a gentler rumble as Lieia held onto the control yoke, a goofy grin plastered across her face. Her fingers danced across one of the screens, and then she slid back in the seat.

“I’ll let Arcelia take it from here. We should rendezvous with the fleet in about half an hour, maybe less.” She stood up, motioning Celestia to follow her.

“I think you’ll like this bit.” She joined the rest of the ponies in the cargo hold. She fiddled with a couple of switches on a panel, and one of the screens flickered to life. Celestia gasped in surprise when she saw the green and blue sphere that was Equestria, floating in space, white trails of clouds scattered about.

“That’s Equestria? It’s so… so… beautiful.” Others voiced their agreement, causing Lieia to grin.

“I was the same when it was my first time in space. I couldn’t stop gawking at everything. Oh, there’s the Sun.” She pointed to the distant star.

“We’ll come across Coalition patrols in a couple of minutes.” She climbed back to the cockpit, Celestia following her.

Lieia was humming absentmindedly, occasionally checking the ETA until they’d make contact with 1st Liberation Fleet. She felt a hoof brush against her leg and she sighed.

“Cel, this really ain’t the time, as much as I’d like it to be.”

“Oh, come on, Lieia. Just for a moment.”

“Sorry, no can do.” Celestia wasn’t deterred, however, and Lieia had to resort to drastic measures. She disabled the autopilot, and threw Arcelia in a wild barrel roll.

“OW! Lieia!”

“See? I told you to stop. Look, I’ll make it up to you later.” A ping on the sensors screen caught her attention.

“Okay, we just tripped their sensor net. We can expect their pickets to intercept us pretty soon.” After a couple of minutes passed, Lieia heard a voice emanate from the speakers.

“This is Patrol 7, identify yourself. Failure to do so will be considered an act of hostility. You have thirty seconds to comply.”

“This is Captain Lieia Grisova, I read you, Patrol 7. Here’s my ID code.” She entered a string of numbers, and a few tense seconds passed.

“Access granted, Captain. Have a good time aboard The Newborn Hope. Patrol 7 out.” Lieia smiled smugly.

“Having a reputation like mine helps sometimes. Okay, we should be within visual range of 1st Liberation Fleet in a couple of seconds.”

“I can’t see anything yet.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” She turned off the screens and the windows were suddenly filled with a cluster of warships.

“Behold, the 1st Liberation Fleet and Battlegroup 71.” She banked the dropship, heading for the biggest ship of the bunch.

The Newborn Hope, flagship of Coalition Defense Navy.

Celestia’s jaw dropped as she gazed at the immense human warship.

“How big is it?”

“Ten kilometres exactly.” She chuckled at Celestia’s crestfallen expression. “Those beam cannons can pretty much slice through everything.” The small flier was seemingly swallowed by one of the two cavernous hangars. The ponies muttered in awe. Lieia slowly decreased the speed, landing gently on the vast deck.

“This is your pilot speaking; we have arrived at our destination. Shipboard time is 1400 hours. Be aware that your luggage in the overhead racks may have shifted during flight. We hope you enjoyed this flight and that you’ll use Grisov Airlines in future.”

She heard Rainbow Dash’s irritated voice float up from the cargo hold.

“My peanuts were stale!” Applejack caught on immediately.

“Yeah, what gives? The seats are terrible! Ah’m never using this thing again!” Lieia grinned crookedly at that.

“There’s no pleasing some people. Or ponies, for that matter.”

She cut the engines and rose from the seat, then turned to Celestia.

“We’re here. Let’s get going, eh? We’ve got some things to sort out.”

“Oh, this is simply dreadful, I say! What were the designers thinking when they built this thing?” Rarity moaned, making Lieia cringe as she lead the pony congregation towards a tram station.

“This is a warship, Rare. Get used to it. Although, the Akkans have biodomes. When we sort the details out, feel free to take a dropship over to one of them. They were cruise liners before the war. Ah, there we go.” A tram slowed to a halt in front of her, opening its doors with a hiss. “Everyone aboard. Okay, I guess we’ll be going to the bridge first. I need to notify the captain of you all.” She reclined in one of the seats, just as the tram took off. A voice poured from the speakers and she perked up.

“Anther ten battlefleets have been dispatched from Imperial space, courtesy of the Asahi. The reinforcements will be sent to reinforce key locations after the Battle of Galanthus, giving Coalition Engineering Corps enough time to construct the new series of Argonev starbases. That is all for now.” Lieia chuckled briefly.

“Vasari are in for it now. Empire’s got some wicked weapons at their disposal. They really helped us amp up our defences. For example, their scientists spent some time knocking heads with our own lab dudes. They cooked up some sort of alloy that repaired itself. Result – the average navy cadet is more likely to survive to fight another day. In addition, the alloy is stronger when it repairs itself. The more battles the ship survives, the tougher its hull becomes. The oldest ones in our fleet are near-invincible, like Hope here. Oh, looky-looky. There’s one of the autocannons.” She pointed to a huge contraption far away below them.

“Fires ten ton armour piercing slugs, rate of fire – 300 rounds per minute. The firing and loading mechanism is a piece of work. They toss those shells like they weigh nothing. See that huge pipe? That’s the railgun. Lugs a megaton of depleted uranium encased in tungsten at about one third of speed of light. No way of avoiding it.” Celestia shifted uneasily at that, dreading the thought of such weapons turned against Equestria.

“Celestia, do you trust me?” Lieia looked at her levelly.

“I do.”

“Then trust me when I say this – You do not have to be afraid from Coalition. We’re not here to nuke you from orbit.”

“Well, that sets my mind at ease.”

“Good to know, Cel. We’re almost there. Top floor: Bridge, CIC, and obdurate navy officers.” The tram was slowing down and eventually came to a halt. The group disembarked and Lieia led them down the hallway. The walls were decorated by portraits of famous soldiers of Coalition. Celestia noted, with some degree of surprise, that Lieia wasn’t among them. Lieia noticed her questioning gaze and shrugged.

“I don’t really care about recognition and all that. Easier to fight that way.” She nodded to the two guards standing on either side of the doors.

“They’re with me.” The guards nodded and the doors opened with a hiss, revealing the pandemonium behind.

Dozens of blue-clad men and women manned their stations, all of them deeply involved in running the joint fleet. Lieia strode up to the captain, standing at attention. She caught his eye soon, and immediately struck up a conversation with him. After a few minutes, she returned, smiling victoriously.

“Sweet deal, guys! He’s okay with you wandering around, as long as you stay away from off-limits areas. Let’s go. I’ll need to set you all up with PDAs.”

“With what?” Twilight frowned, puzzled.

“Personal Data Assistant. Sorta like a minicomputer, map, and wallet all mixed together. Never leave your room without one.”

After another uneventful tram ride, they arrived at the deck where most of the 2500-strong crew resided in their free time. Lieia inhaled the recycled air deeply and sighed.

“Home sweet Home.” She led the ponies through the grey, non-descript corridors, eventually arriving to a door that had Lieia’s name, surname and service number on it. She entered her passcode and the door slid open, revealing an empty room with a viewport and a simple table in the corner of the room. Rainbow Dash frowned in surprise.

“Is this it? How does somepony live here?”

“Simple enough.” Lieia whistled sharply. Right on cue, a bed popped up from the floor, along with a chair on wheels. A screen and a keyboard rose from the table. In a matter of moments, the drab room was transformed. Lieia sniggered at the ponies’ flabbergasted faces.

“This is my room. It’s like many others but this one’s mine.” She grinned slightly, and then removed her bandolier with the revolver, tossing it on a hook in the wall. She flopped on the chair, scooting over to the table, tapping away at the keyboard. Celestia looked on curiously, just as more music poured from the speakers.

I've seen the lightning

Can't wait for the thunder to roar

This is my battle

For honor and glory will soar

Afraid of my name

They shatter with pain

The army of horrors

Getting them all…

Lieia had a huge grin plastered over her face, still letting her fingers dance across the keyboard. After a while, she leant back, lowering the volume a bit. Now the song was simply ear-shattering instead of ground-splitting.

“Okay, I got the PDAs ordered. They’ll be here in a couple of minutes-Oh! Cara’s online! Haven’t seen her in ages.” A few moments later, the screen was filled with the smiling face of a brown-haired woman.

“Lieia! How’s it going? Everything alright? The BattleNet’s awash with news that you’ve found more aliens. They friendly?”

“Everything’s fine, Cara. Hey, ponies, say hello to my sister!” She rolled aside, letting the ponies introduce themselves. Cara was confused to no end by this turn of events.

“Well, Lee, you were always the strange one. I’ll have to get over to you someday. I’m so jealous of you I could be spread on a toast.” Celestia laid her head on Lieia’s shoulder, brushing against her cheek. Cara gaped for a moment, the coughed awkwardly.

“Um… Lieia? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“All in its own good time, Cara. All in its own good time. Look, I gotta run. I got a gun to upgrade and a surgery to get to. My lace’s been giving me trouble lately. See you next time. Bye!” Cara seemed about to protest, but Lieia was faster. She tapped the screen and the video link was terminated.

“Oops. Looks like we lost signal. Look, Luna, can you and others give us a moment? We won’t take long.” Moments later, the room was empty, with only Lieia and Celestia present.

“Are you embarrassed of our relationship, Lieia?”

“No. I just want it to be a surprise. Come on, Celly, nothing to worry about. Besides, it’s better to keep it this quiet. The last thing we need is the rumour mill to go on overdrive, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I suppose that would be unwise.”

“Twilight? You can come back now! Oh, y’hear that?” A nearby vent was rattling. Moments later, a mottled grey cat crawled from it, holding a dead rat in its mouth. Celestia shuddered, but Lieia knelt down, smiling as the cat ran up to her, purring.

“Calypso! There you are!” She scratched behind the cat’s ears. “What have you got there? Oh, a rat.” She turned to Celestia. “Years have passed, technologies have evolved, but you can still find rats on ships. No idea how they find their way inside. Calypso here finds ‘em. And disposes of ‘em.” The cat grabbed the rat again, disappearing in the vent again.

“She’s very independent. She even has birthed some kittens aboard. How did she find another cat here is beyond me, but there it is.” She turned to Twilight, just as the box containing the PDAs arrived through the mail tube.

“Sweet deal! Okay, everyone, gather ‘round!” She handed out the small devices, fitting them on their heads.

“They’re voice activated, so just say the word if you need to find anything. I’ll wire them with my bank account, so feel free to buy something while out and about.” Celestia shook her head at that.

“Oh, I possibly couldn’t spend your savings.”

“It’s nothing, really.” Rarity trotted over to her.

“I’m not trying to sound greedy, but how much money do you have?”

“25 thousand credits and change. I had more, but I spent it on getting my hands on some upgrades. Hang on, I’ll get you all linked up.”

Minutes later, they were all again in a tram, heading towards the medical deck.

Lieia turned around, smiling beguilingly at Celestia.

“This is where we part ways. For now, at least.” When Celestia said nothing, she laid a reassuring hand on the mare’s shoulder, her face softening somewhat.

“Celestia, relax. No one’s going to vivisect me. Now go on, enjoy yourself.” She rubbed Celestia’s shoulder, and then turned around, walking down the bright, white corridor, disappearing through one of the doors.

“Princess, is everything alright?” Rarity asked her, and, reluctantly, she turned around, boarding the tram.

Rarity needn’t be worried.

Everything was fine. Next Chapter: Chapter 14 Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 44 Minutes