Celestia hid in the shadow of the trees, listening to the human’s strained words. Her voice fell silent and she took it as her cue to appear. She sat down in the arm grass, regarding Lieia quietly.

“What am I going to do with you?”

Lieia handed her the knife from her holster. Celestia was surprised by her defiance, but she could see it in her eyes that Lieia no longer had that stubborn spark in her eyes. All she could see was tiredness in her features. Shortly afterwards, she collapsed, the blood loss getting the better of her. Without a second thought, Celestia teleported her to the hospital.

One week later

Celestia looked at Lieia, who had a confused expression on her face.

“Am I dead?”

“Far from it. You are in the Ponyville hospital, in fact.”

“So, will you just execute me when I’m healthy again? Sorta harsh, that. Not like I care.”

“There has never been a case of capital punishment in Equestria as far as I can remember. I intend to keep it that way.”

“But I. Shot. You. I nearly killed you, didn’t I? In Coalition space, that equals a firing squad.”

“Well, you’re not in Coalition space, whatever that may be. You’re in Equestria. You ask so many questions of me, yet I know nothing about you, or where you are from. Please, tell me about yourself.” She sat down in a chair. Lieia was about to simply ignore her, but then noticed the motherly aura Celestia had about her. In many ways, it reminded her of her own mother, and she had a brief, but difficult battle with her loyalties to TAC.

“Linv.”

“Hmm?”

“My home planet. Linv. My family wasn’t too big, jus’ me, my dad and mom, and my sister, Cara. Dad ran a car service; mom had a shop at the state capital. Cara and I were at high school at the time.”

“Oh. Do continue.” Celestia wasn’t sure what had caused Lieia to drop her barriers, but she still listened.

“Right. My dad was the best grease monkey around. Ran in the blood, he said. There wasn’t a thing he couldn’t fix. He’s why I fell in love with cars in the first place. My bedroom walls were completely covered in posters. Mostly, they were of the classic race cars. Selvar Thundercharge was my favourite. Selvar’s most celebrated ride.”

“What is a race car, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“A vehicle designed or modified purely for speed. Thundercharge was like a thoroughbred horse, if you’ll forgive the expression. Everything in it was designed for speed. Lemme tell ya, there’s nothing like hammerin’ down the highway at more that 500 kilometres an hour, music on full blast, so loud it shakes my teeth.” She smiled contentedly. “Good times. Good times.”

“Would you tell me more of yourself?”

“Whaddaya want to know?”

“I don’t know, really.”

“Same here. D’ya want to continue this tomorrow, maybe? ‘S been ages since I’ve slept without needing a helmet.”

Celestia nodded graciously. “Maybe this time you won’t try to escape.” She turned to leave, when Lieia sat up a bit higher.

“By the way, I never caught your name.”

“I am Celestia, ruler of Equestria.”

“Honoured t’make your acquaintance, ma’am.” She did a half-assed salute to the alicorn. As Celestia exited the room, she heard Lieia again.

“I seriously don’t know what I was thinking. For what it’s worth… I’m sorry. ‘Bout everything.”

“I accept your apology, Lieia, though others may be less forgiving. Now, sleep and regain your strength. We shall talk again tomorrow.”

Next day, they spoke of Lieia’s life before war. Celestia in particular was interested in the music that humans listened to.

“It was the craze back then. All the teens listened to it. Yes, the revolution that was heavy metal swept through Trader planets like nothing else at the time. Everyone was enthralled by it, for lack of a better word. Of course, the Trade Order tried to shut the bands down. Dozens of planets went in total chaos, since a lot of people were rebelling against the government. ‘Stick it to The Man’, they said. But, a couple of days everyone quieted down, since there was no booze left anywhere. In the end, the rebels ended up with the ungodly lovechild of a hangover and a migraine. I didn’t get off too easily either. I was seriously wasted for days, could hardly act coherently, but that’s life. And I lived it as if it were my last day alive. Walked around in torn jeans, a leather jacket with slogans printed all over it – ‘Metal forever’, ‘Join the revolution’, everything along those lines. The most offending ones were the best regarded ones, usually. Galaxy’s weird that way, I guess.”

“Indeed it is. Do you have any songs from that time with you?”

“Do I?! Hundreds of ‘em! I have a music player in my jacket at all times. If you’d be so kind as to retrieve it, please, I’d show you some of my favourites.” Celestia busied herself over the piece of clothing. A small piece of paper fell out of one of the pockets and she picked it up. It was a photo of Lieia and a group of other humans, all of them grinning broadly at the camera. Celestia smiled a bit, and then pulled out the device Lieia had requested from the jacket. As she put it down, she could see something stencilled on the jacket. Curiosity got the best of her and she took a closer look. She immediately wished she hadn’t.

When I die, bury me facing downwards so the world can kiss my ass.

Ears burning with indignation, she rushed back, handing the music player to Lieia.

“Much obliged, princess.” She fiddled with it for a few moments, and then noise poured from it, making Celestia flinch, but after a few moments, she could make out the words as Lieia started singing.

Decisions that kill

And bullets that fly

Lords of inferno

That litter the sky

Shattered cries of the prayers never heard

Wars of the gods drown out of words

As the world burns

Beneath the ground

Godspeed

Hellbound

The gears that grind

Shall never be still

The grudge that burns

Obsessed 'til it kills

Shattered cries of the

Prayers never heard

War of the gods that

Drown out of words

Crashing burning all shall fade

Dead and dying here to stay

Against his maker

No regard for his fall

The winds of the west

Bow down to his call

Famine and murder

Beside from within

The vultures gather

Devouring sin

Much to Celestia’s surprise, she found herself nodding with the song’s rhythm. As the song ended, Lieia smiled satisfiedly.

“That’s the good stuff. Seems you like it too.”

“No, it is too loud and brash for my liking, but it’s quite enjoyable nevertheless.”

“Ah. I guess it’s the old people music for you, then.”

“Pray tell, what would that be?”

Lieia chuckled wryly. “Basically, anything that isn’t metal. So, you feel up for another song?”

“Maybe some other time. For now, we have other things to discuss. Your arrival wasn’t quiet, you know. The nobles have been all over me, pestering me with questions.”

“Lemme guess. They want to talk to me.”

“More or less, that is the case. I would not want to pressure you into that.”

“Meh, how bad can it be?”

“We’ll find out, I guess. The Grand Galloping Gala is going to take place in two days time. Go to the Carousel Boutique in Ponyville as soon as you’re released from the hospital. The shop owner there will help you out with a dress. We need you to be presentable.”

Lieia shrugged “Can’t argue with that.”

“Very well. We are agreed then?”

“I’ll need someone to guide me around the town.”

“How forgetful of me! Not to worry, I’ll assign one of my guards to show you around.”

“Many thanks, ma’am.” Celestia turned to leave, but she paused on the doorstep.

“Lieia, I am investing a great deal of trust in you on this. Do not disappoint me.”

“I… I won’t. Word of an EXO.” She thumped her fist against her chest. Celestia’s smile was so warm, Lieia felt like she was looking at her mother again. She felt reasonably ashamed. “So, when do I leave?”

“Right now, as a matter of fact. Your wounds are healed, though I’d take it easy for a while if I were you.”

Lieia slipped back in her old clothes. “Right. Well, I’ll see you later, I guess.” Celestia nodded slowly, grace incarnate, and left. Moments later, one of the Royal Guards entered, a Pegasus by the looks of it.

“Princess Celestia has assigned me to you for the day. I’m Diamond Feathers.” She held out a hoof and Lieia grasped it and shook it.

“Well met, soldier. Name’s Lieia. So, shall we get on with this lil’ excursion of ours?”

“That would be for the best.” They both left the hospital room, as the other medical staff gaped after the human amidst them and minutes later, they were heading down the road.

“You really had us chasing their own tails, y’know. How do you hide something that big?”

“You mean my armour? It’s nothing, really. We kept moving around, never staying in the same place for more than a single day. EXOs are trained to be sneaky.” Lieia took a small paper box from a pocket, retrieving a small paper cylinder she stuck between her lips and lit it with a match. She looked at Feathers dourly. “My last cigarette. At least, the only one that’s not wet. Never mind.” She puffed on the cigarette for a moment, before Feathers asked another question.

“What are eksos, anyways?”

“EXOs, first of all. The best soldiers the Coalition has to offer. We get the best armour and best guns. But it’s only for the nutjobs. Wanna know why?” Feathers nodded.

“Well, first of all, EXOs deploy from space, jumping directly out from the ships that carried them, falling for dozens of kilometres. Fastest way to strike at the enemy, that. The battles are always the toughest ones, too. If you’re a marine and you receive EXO reinforcements, that means whatever’s going to go down is going to be an unimaginably bloody hell. Stuff like that can make or break a person. I didn’t get off too easily, either.” She ran her finger along a scar that stood out on her cheek.

“What do you mean?”

“I took a phase halberd to guts once. It went right through the armour, turning my stomach to so much mulch. Had to get a synthetic replacement. Next, I nearly got my neck blown out.” She craned her neck, letting Feathers see a cluster of cables in the right side of her neck. The Pegasus in question blanched, but Lieia continued talking.

“Lost my left arm to a disintegrator bolt. Got a bionic replacement and my lungs had to also be replaced. But here’s the cool part. When they replaced the arm, they hid a weapon in it. Wanna see?”

Warily, the pegasus nodded. Lieia flicked her arm and a small blade leapt out from her wrist. Lieia grinned.

“Quite the party trick, eh? This way, I am never without a weapon.” She flicked her arm again and the blade disappeared with a quiet snikt.

“Like I said, EXOs are the best Coalition’s got. 1st Battalion disagrees, though. A dedicated stealth commando unit, the lot of ‘em. They always compete for the Deadliest Killer award with the EXOs. I’m pretty sure that’s what makes them all, EXOs and commandos alike, so efficient at their business. Someone once said: ‘War is business. And business is good.’ Can’t argue with that, now can I?”

Feathers was quite galled by the human’s attitude, for she seemed so callous, uncaring and brutal. She had never been so relieved in her life to finally see the Carousel Boutique in their front.

“Allright, we’re here, Grisova. Go on right inside. I guess I’ll see you at the Gala.” Feathers took off, flying back to the castle. Lieia stared after her, quite impressed.

Dude, that was so boss.

She knocked twice on the shop’s door, and a second later, the door popped open, and Lieia saw the proprietor, a brilliant white unicorn with a lustrous purple mane. Three diamonds adorned its flanks. The unicorn was staring at her, looking like she’d throw up any moment. Lieia shrugged uncomfortably.

“What?”

The unicorn fainted, collapsing on the floor and Lieia rubbed her face sullenly. Dealing with this one was going to be a trial, she just knew it.

Rarity was unceremoniously woken up as a splash of freezing water hit her in the face. The human was staring at her, holding an empty cup in her hand, an amused look on her face.

“Wakey, wakey, sunshine!”

“What happened?”

“Well, you passed out, that’s what.”

“Well, your clothes are simply awful! I cannot simply stand by and let this crime against fashion continue!”

“…Excuse me?”

“Your apparel, my darling! It’s simply hideous!”

“Hey! I love this jacket! I’ve had it for years! Never mind, okay? That princess of yours intends to introduce me to the royalty at the Gala, whatever that is, so she sent me here, said you’d be able to help me with a dress or something.”

“YOU! You nearly killed her! You monster!”

“Hey, do you know how I feel about it? Not a day goes by without me thinking about that moment! I’ve been regretting it since! When Coalition returns, it’s the firing squad for me and I’ll be chalked up as a random casualty of war.”

“Oh, surely it isn’t that bad.”

“We’ll see, I guess. Okay, how ‘bout we try anew? I’m Lieia Grisova. Nice to meetcha.”

Rarity shook Lieia’s hand. “My name is Rarity and this is Carousel Boutique, the finest place for anypony who’s looking for some marvellous clothing! OH! The princess sent you?” Rarity’s eyes seemed to grow bigger. “Worry not, my darling, I will create a dress for you that will outshine everything I have created before!”

“Whoa, there, miss! I don’t need anything flashy. Just a simple dress, if you will. I never did take to fashion, no matter how much my mum tried.”

“Well, I’ll just need to take some measurements for the dress. If you’d take that dreary jacket off, please?” Grumbling, Lieia complied and Rarity set to work, taking measurements for the dress, chatting about something that she simply let wash over her, but minutes later, she was asked a question she couldn’t ignore.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what are these things on your body?” She pointed at the strips of metal curving across Lieia’s chest.

“Oh, these? Armour plating. It’s there to reinforce my ribs.” Rarity was shocked, to say the least, but she ventured further.

“And how did you come to need them?”

“Let’s just say that I was seriously wounded at the time.” Rarity finished taking the measurements and nodded. “There! That’s done. The dress will be ready tomorrow. Drop by at noon.”

“Will do. See ya tomorrow then.” She bade her farewell and left the shop. As she descended the steps, she was confused as to what she would do now, when she remembered something.

Briggs was still at large, and presumably, she would be looking for a target to strike, and she didn’t have a sure way of communicating, but the she remembered her comm-bead.

“Briggs, this is Grisova, can you hear me? I need you to lock on my signal. We got stuff to talk about.” That was all she could do for now. Next Chapter: Chapter 7 Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 3 Minutes