The Armoury was a place of constant activity. At any time, there was someone inside, upgrading or repairing their equipment. This was one of Lieia’s favourite places onboard any ship. She loved the smell of gun grease in the air, the constant clamour of weapons and armour being taken apart, modified and put back together.

She turned to face the crowd of ponies, making sure she got their attention.

“Okay, so this is the Armoury. Watch yourselves here, don’t stray from the marked pathways and take care at crossroads. Seven-Tens are always moving around here, doing heavy lifting, same goes for cargo trucks. The PDA will give you a fair warning if anything’s nearby, so keep it on at all times.” She eyed the crossing once more, then led the congregation forwards, presenting the Coalition arsenal to them, explaining the various types of firearms and armour their troops used, until they arrived at a storage locker. Lieia flashed her access code, and the doors opened.

“This is my own little world. A workshop just for me. Well, looks like they already delivered the parts I requested.” She strode over to where her 1st-gen EXO suit stood, along with the vaunted NX-61, the bread and butter of EXO soldiers. She lifted it on her shoulder, grunting slightly at the weight, settling it down in a gun cradle, where she could easily access every nook and cranny of her weapon.

“Don’t worry, I won’t take long.” She removed the ammo box, pulling the long belt of flechette rounds out.

“This is the standard projectile fired by the NX-61. Magnetically propelled, armour piercing; devastating against footsloggers. The usual powder charge is replaced with a magnetic one. Magnet sleeves within the gun’s barrel shape that magnetic charge when it goes off, providing far better muzzle velocity, range and accuracy than conventional firearms.” She pulled the shell casing away, letting the rows of laser-sliced blades pop out. She held it up for closer inspection to the ponies.

“It isn’t uncommon for some unlucky sod that got gutshot by this to get his digestive tract strung out behind him, pinned to a wall. Hit him anywhere else, it leaves a nasty laceration that will bleed him dry in minutes. If you feel picky, you can choose explosive rounds. Those contain ten milligrams of 100% pure cyclotaurite, the most explosive substance available. Other types are also available, like incendiary, tracer, shieldcrackers, and then some.” She tossed the bullet at the wall. It struck it with a twang and Twilight could see it was half-buried in the surface.

“Okay, then. Let’s see what the Logistics coughed up for me.” She ripped open a crate that lay nearby, pulling out several strange objects.

“Neat!” She announced seconds later, and took her weapon apart; replacing the parts with quick, methodical efficiency, before putting it back together. The whole operation lasted five minutes.

“Okay, that’s that. Who would care for a quick demonstration?” She strode over to her EXO suit, climbing inside and powering it up. She donned her helmet, staring at the ponies with a blue-lit gaze for a moment.

“Uh, Lieia? You’re kinda creepin’ me out.” Applejack spoke up, fidgeting nervously.

“That’s the idea. C’mon, let’s go. I want to show you what this baby does.” She picked the NX-61 up like it weighed nothing and squeezed herself through the doors, beckoning the ponies to follow her to the firing range.

The firing range bore the permanent smell of gunpowder, metal and cordite and other smells that were completely alien to the ponies, but Lieia could identify most of them. She herded the ponies in a viewing room, and then hefted her rifle.

“You might want to cover your ears!” She braced herself, taking careful aim at the pock-marked target downrange.

“Firing!” she squeezed the trigger, and a stream of blue fire erupted from the barrel, as Lieia felt the rifle shake in her grip. The gunfire sounded like a sheet of metal being sawed in two by a dull circular saw. The ammo belt ran out in about twelve seconds. She zoomed in on the target. Little of it remained untouched now, peppered as it was by ten-centimetre projectiles. She waved to the ponies.

“It’s safe now! Boy, that felt good. Okay, let’s keep going. I’ll get out of this and then I’ll take you to on a small tour to some of the other ships. Meet me in two hours in my room.”

As Lieia headed down the corridor, she became aware that she was being followed. She had a fairly good idea of who was it, and she checked that her revolver was still fully loaded. Her reputation meant there were many who were jealous of her. Luckily, most of them were smart enough to leave her be. Some, however, were practically suicidal. She’d refrained from killing them, handing the sods to courts instead. Still, she had to watch her back. She rounded another corner, and deftly slipped behind a pipe, quietly readying her wristblade. As the quiet footsteps approached, she tensed up, waiting for a moment to fully exploit the element of surprise. She jumped out, reaching for the stalker’s neck, and received the surprise of her life when she came face to face with Celestia. She barely managed to divert the blade so it hissed through empty air.

“Celestia? What do you think you’re doing, sneaking up on me? You know that if you wanted to have some time alone with me, you could’ve just asked.” She relaxed, sheathing her knife and pulling Celestia closer to her, whispering quietly.

“Come on. Let’s have a walk. Just you and me.” They resumed the walk, their quiet voices barely rising above the background thrum of Hope’s reactors.

“Celly, I still don’t understand how we got together.”

“What do you mean?”

Lieia started to answer but was cut short by a fist that smashed her against a wall. Celestia stared in shock as Lieia collapsed on the floor. A sneering man stepped out from the shadows, pulling out a gun and aiming it at her, just as Celestia stepped in front of him.

“Leave her alone! You-“She recoiled as the man backhanded her and she landed heavily at Lieia’s side.

“If you know what’s good f’r you, you’ll shut your trap. I got no quarrel with you.”

Lieia shuffled blearily, but froze at seeing what had happened to Celestia. The alabaster alicorn sat there, staring in disbelief at the man, as blood welled up from the gash on her lip. She watched, hypnotised as the small drop of red fell through the air and hit the floor. She retreated somewhere deep back inside her mind, emerging far more dangerous than she usually was.

Rage doesn’t just conquer fear. It obliterates it, along with any sense of self-preservation or caution. Lieia surged to her feet, leaping at her assailant. He turned to her, raising his gun, but the lead slug didn’t even slow her down. She was on him immediately, her blows snapping three of his ribs immediately. Then she did something that Celestia never forgot.

In her rage-induced frenzy, Lieia tore the man’s right arm off, stuffing it down his throat and dumping him in a chute that led straight to the waste incinerator.

“A shame he decided to commit suicide like that. I could’ve stopped him.”

Then, she just stood there, her shoulders shaking as she burnt through the adrenaline in her body.

“Lieia…?” Celestia flinched slightly as Lieia turned to her and winced.

“Ah! What the…? Oh.” She glanced down, seeing the torn hole where she’d been shot. The dermal augmentations had been worth it, apparently. Still, the bullet was sticking out from her stomach, and she knelt down, gritting her teeth.

“Boy, does that tickle.” She grasped it firmly and pulled it out.

“Okay, maybe that wasn’t too smart of me. A hundred credits says that I bleed out before I get to medical deck.” Celestia was horrified, to say the least.

“How can you regard your own injuries with such casualty?”

“The way I see it, it’s either laugh, cry, or go crazy. And I hate crying. I suppose you don’t have any bandages on you? The hell am I talking about? Here, let me see what he did to you.” She wiped her hands clean of the blood, reaching towards Celestia’s face, causing her to flinch.

“Celestia… come on. You don’t have to be afraid of me. I’m not going to hurt you. I will, however, visit a world of pain upon those who do.” She caressed Celestia’s cheek, wiping the tears away, inspecting the cut on her lip.

“Hmm. Well, it’s quite nasty. We should get a medkit or something.”

“No need. I can take care of it.” Her horn lit up with magic and she quickly fixed the wound.

“Wow. That’s quite something.” Lieia gasped as Celestia turned to her, flooding her body with restorative energies, knitting flesh and ruptured blood vessels.

“Ooogah, that really tickled. Neat, now I won’t have to leave cryptical messages written with my own blood! We should, however, clean up all this blood.” Celestia stood up, ‘magicking’ the blood away.

“Okay. Whatever floats your boat.”

“Why did he attack you?”

“I turned him in once for drug smuggling. Bastard should’ve known to leave me alone. That’s what, the seventh attempt on my life? I’ve kinda lost count.” She pulled Celestia close to her again.

“You’re an odd one, Lieia.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Shhh, here comes the best part! Quiet down!” Lieia waved frantically, turning the volume up.

…Wheel of Time

Save my soul, find a way

May it be as the pattern has chosen

Oh, Wheel of Time

Turn the Wheel of Time

It keeps on spinning

There's no beginning

There's no end, Wheel of Time

There's no beginning

Just keep on spinning

Lieia was singing along, her clear, strong voice adding to the harmony.

Shine on,

Embrace and deny me

Turn on, Wheel of Time

Shine on,

You've burnt me, now guide me

Weave on, Wheel of Time

She opened her eyes, smiling as she picked the book up again.

“That bit never fails to give me the chills. I love that song.” She glanced at Celestia, who was studying the book in Lieia’s hands.

“What does it say on the cover?”

“Oh, it’s The Gathering Storm. Twelfth book of Wheel of Time. I’ve yet to read the final book, since it’s still in the works. Wheel of Time puts other fantasy novels to shame, though the Deepgate Chronicles isn’t to be underestimated.” She stood up, rummaging through one of the lockers, eventually lifting a box out. She picked a somewhat worn book out, handing it to Celestia.

“The Eye of the World. First one in the series. Have a go at reading. We still got something like an hour or so left until we go.”

Celestia opened the book, settling down comfortably at Lieia’s side.

Chapter 1

An Empty Road

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to

myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the

Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind

was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it

was a beginning…

One hour later

“Right, then. Time’s up. Twilight and the rest should be here shortly.”

“Do you have a bookmark I could use? I’m really enjoying this book.” Lieia found an empty snack bar wrapper, tossing it to Celestia.

“I’d say this will do the trick. Better than nothing, eh?”

Celestia laid it in place, closing the book. Moments later, she heard Twilight’s voice through her PDA.

“Princess, are you there?”

“Yes, Twilight. Are you ready?”

“We’re waiting on you, actually.”

“Cool your jets, Twi. We’re coming.” Lieia joined the conversation, slipping in her jacket. She looked at Celestia.

“I want to make something clear to you. I know you’re still worried about that incident with that dude. You’re worried I might snap again, right?”

“You were so brutal! How do you have it in yourself to kill so easily?”

“I just do. I have to eschew my own humanity to get through this war. Look, the day I hurt you again is the day I kill myself. I wasn’t quite sure earlier, but I cannot imagine my life without you anymore.” She pulled Celestia closer to her, feeling the mare shiver slightly.

“Lieia, I… I love you so much, but you scare me sometimes.” Celestia whispered.

“I know. I know. I’m really starting to wish the war was over, see if I could actually live a normal life.” She sighed shakily and stood up.

“Right. Let’s put that behind us, shall we? We’ve got a day to waste away.”

Arcelia banked sideways lazily, and Lieia pointed to another ship.

“There. That’s one of the carriers. Holds two squadrons of strike craft. Next, we have a Kodiak, Coalition’s heavy hitting cruiser. It can easily take a punch on the chin and send it right back with interest. Ooh, look there. That’s an Asli Talar-class dreadnought. Deadly at long range. Their particle cannons will eat through most armour easily.” She continued her monologue, explaining the various types of ships the Navy used. Minutes later, as they neared their destination, she could see the vast vessel slowly growing in the viewports.

The Ravager.

“That’s a Marza-class dreadnought, Coalition’s long range hitter. Before war, it was used as a recovery workhorse and destroying asteroids and other small planetoids that posed a threat to our holdings. Now, it has those massive siege cannons. They are powerful enough to cause earthquakes.” Arcelia landed in the hangar bay minutes later. The captain of Ravager, a short, stocky man by the name of Mark Farretto.

“Welcome to the Ravager, dear guests!”

“Nice to be aboard, Captain. I’m just showing my friends here around the fleet.”

“They know the rules?”

“Yeah. I’ll take full responsibility for any trouble or damage they cause.” She eyed Pinkie Pie, causing the pony to chuckle nervously. Farretto frowned, but said nothing, excusing himself moments later.

“Okay, everyone, this is perhaps the most dangerous sort of ship to be on. Half of this vessel’s weight is high-yield warheads, so don’t touch anything. That goes double for you, Pinks. Denaros is still fuming about your little stunt back on Hope. If this ship goes up in flames, the explosion might just wipe out the entire fleet. Equestria might get worked over, too. So, do I have your word that you won’t touch anything without asking? That you’ll stay away from locked doors?”

Pinkie Pie wilted slightly under her glare, but then puffed out her chest proudly.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. You have my promise, Lieia!” The human in question said nothing for a few moments, holding Pinkie’s gaze a bit longer, then stood up.

“I believe you. Okay, feel free to wander around. And remember. Don’t touch anything that has the destructive power to tear the universe a new one.” With that, they went their separate ways.

“Welcome to the Sideliner, ladies! What’ll it be?”

“A bottle of whiskey and two glasses, please!” She leaned closer to the man, slipping a fifty-credit chip to him.

“Comin’ right up!” he turned around, rummaging through the shelves behind him.

“Word is that Vasari have been spotted just a couple of jumps away. Might be they’re headin’ this way.” Lieia leaned forward at that.

“Where’d you hear that?”

“Well, I can’t exactly recall the fellow’s name. Might need somethin’ to jog my memory…” He rubbed his fingers together. Lieia tossed in another fifty credits and he grinned.

“Ah, I just remembered it. A guy aboard Resolute. Said PSIDAR had detected several ‘sari Jiks probin’ the space around here. Might be we’ll have a fight on our hands pretty soon.” He handed the bottle and glasses over to Lieia.

“Many thanks for choosing Sideliner for all your drinking needs.” She nodded at him, and led Celestia over to a vacant table.

“Are we in any danger, Lieia?”

Lieia sighed, choosing her words carefully.

“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, Denaros will leave a defence force here. This has become a key route for reinforcements and we’re not going to let the Vasari take it.” She leaned closer, whispering.

“Besides, I won’t stand for some filthy Vasari slaver getting his claws on you. Come on. Let’s have a drink.” She poured the amber liquid in the glasses, handing one to Celestia, raising the other to her own lips.

“Bottoms up!” She swallowed the shot of whiskey in one go, gritting her teeth.

“Oooh. That’s the stuff.” Celestia took a small sip and nearly spat it out.

“Ugh!”

“You swallow it all in one go! Come on!” She refilled the glasses, standing up, whistling for attention.

“To victory!” She downed her drink, and others in the bar cheered, raising their glasses.

“HOOAH!” She refilled her glass again.

“To those of us who leave this world too early. May they live in our memories forever.” This time, the cheers were more subdued.

“Amen to that.” A marine nodded somberly.

“I hear that.” Another one clapped the man on the shoulder. Others echoed their agreement. Lieia smiled sadly, before turning back to Celestia. As they downed another couple of shots, Lieia heard two new arrivals arguing at the bar.

“…Women are like mules, bro. No. They are like goats. Goats, except every damn one of them thinks she’s a horse and a prize racing mare to boot.” His companion nodded at that.

“Pure poetry, that.” Lieia turned around, facing the two. “Now, how about you say that to my face, tough guy?”

The offenders stood up, clearly not knowing who they were dealing with.

“You know, you’d better watch your mouth, missy.”

“Or what? You’ll hit me? Are you man enough? I don’t think so.” He snorted at that.

“You think you could fight me?”

“Fight you? I’ll beat seven shades of shit out of you both and then wipe the floor with you and your butt buddy.” By now, everyone else in the room was staring at the three of them, but the barkeep was having none of it.

“Y’got a score to settle, take it somewhere else.”

“Oh, I intend to. Well, kiddies, how about we finish this in the ring? You got the balls to fight the lil’ old me?”

The muscled marines glared at her, but she didn’t even so much as wink.

“You’re on.” Next Chapter: Chapter 16 Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 19 Minutes