Briggs leaned closer to Lieia, whispering in her ear.

“Boss, that’s the best you can do?”

“Briggs, am I the highest ranking officer present?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“So does it seem a good idea to speak to me like that?”

“Not sure, ma’am.” Lieia grinned despite herself.

“You’ve got guts, Briggs, I’ll give you that. We could use someone like you in EXOs.”

“Excuse me, but who are you people?” One of the ponies piped up, clearly impatient. Lieia straightened out a bit.

“My name’s Lieia Grisova. I’m a Captain of the 3rd EXO Company of Trader-Asli Coalition Marine Corps, currently in command of Reaver Squad. I’ll try my best to answer whatever questions you have, but I hope you’ll understand if I don’t answer questions that touch classified topics.”

“Why?”

“Officers of my rank have knowledge of sensible information, information that can severely damage Coalition’s war efforts, so we’re not at liberty to talk ‘bout it.”

“I suppose that makes sense. Can you tell us about the Coalition, then?”

“What would you like to know?”

“Well, what’s like for a civilian there like?”

“Peaceful, if you’re living on one of the Core Worlds. Although most of our industry is war-oriented, our people don’t starve. Those who aren’t afraid of honest work will always be welcome in the factories, where you’ll be set up with personal quarters, company-paid meals and life insurance, and then some. We take care of our own. Those who want some payback on the Vasari, they can enlist in Marine Corps or Defence Navy.”

And so it went on, with either Lieia or other Reavers answering the questions, until Celestia stepped forward and announced the end of the Gala. Many of the ponies weren’t pleased with that, since they also wanted to ask their questions, but Lieia promised that once Coalition returned, they would make their databases available for studies.

Lieia looked as the ponies left the hall, and then picked at one of the tables, choosing an éclair and taking a bite.

“You did a good job tonight, Lieia. You handled the situation very diligently.”

“I made you a promise, Celestia. I keep my promises. Well, if that’s all, I’ll be going now.”

“Actually, Lieia, I wanted to ask if you were available for a moment. I’d like to introduce you to the captain of the Royal Guard.”

“Alright, then. Lead the way.” She followed the princess through the hallways, eventually arriving in a small room, where they were met by a white unicorn and a pink alicorn.

“Lieia, meet Shining Armour, captain of the guard, and his wife, Princess Cadance, my niece. You’ve already met my sister, Luna. She’ll be joining us shortly.”

“Well, so you’re the one who caused so much trouble, huh? You don’t look that tough, truth be told.” Cadance stood up, trying to calm Shining down, but Lieia interjected.

“That a challenge? If so, I’m all too glad to accept.” Her bionic arm shifts and clicks, and a number of armour plates crept across the synthetic skin. The wrist blade also leapt out.

“Come on, tough guy. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Luckily for him, Celestia intervened, stopping the fight before it even started.

“Lieia, I do believe you promised that you’d be on your best behaviour. I intend to hold you to that promise.”

The woman in question stared for a moment longer at Shining, and then took a step back, sitting down in a chair, letting herself revert to normal state. Cadance finally managed to persuade Shining to sit down, just as Luna arrived.

“Okay, so everyone’s here. What did you want to talk to me about, Celestia?”

“Well, your arm, for an instance! And… are those steel cables in your neck? Who did this to you?”

“You sure you want to hear the whole story? You’d be the first one to hear it in its entirety, but it’s not a happy one. Y’might want to keep a bucket handy.” She leaned back in the chair.

“So, when I joined the Marine Corps, I didn’t get to be an EXO straight away. I enlisted as a private. My neck was shot out by a drug dealer I came upon during shore leave once. I killed him, but I nearly bled out before I was found and taken to hospital. They replaced the torn tendons, muscles and blood vessels with synthetics.” She chuckled briefly at the shocked faces of her four-strong audience, and then continued.

“Next time was the worst one. I got separated from my squad, and then got captured some time later. The Vasari Warmaster threatened to kill my CO if I didn’t reveal our encryption codes. I looked to him, but he shook his head, ever so slightly. So I offered myself up for execution. We were low on experienced officers, so he was a valuable commodity, so to speak. But they shot him anyways. I don’t remember myself being angrier than that time. I broke free from the two Vasari holding me, but I didn’t get too far. A disintegrator bolt blew my left arm off. The shot boiled my left lung, and it swelled, snapping my ribs, crushing my other lung, and nearly making mincemeat of my heart. So, while I lay there, bleeding out in the mud, EXO reinforcements arrived. They later told me it was nothing short of a miracle that I lasted as long as I did. My lungs and heart were beyond repair, so they had to get rid of them. I spent best part of a month in a bed, medical machines keeping me alive. They fixed my ribs, and covered them in armour plating for extra protection. My heart was replaced with a pump powered by a tiny fusion reactor. My lungs now permit me breathing polluted air if need be. That’s how I got accepted in EXOs. Only the toughest ones will get the invitation. When I joined the EXOs, I got a couple of augmentations: carbon-titanium nanolattice to strengthen my skeleton and my muscle density was increased threefold. I can rip a man’s arm off and beat him to death with it. So, now you know what makes me tick. Think what you will of it.” Celestia noticed only now, that Cadance was going to throw up any moment now. The alicorn in question managed to conjure a bucket in time. Shining Armour was simply speechless. Celestia really didn’t know what to make of Lieia, when Luna piped up.

“You’ve been through so much pain. How did you deal with it? Did you at least get a vacation?”

“Pfft. I’m an EXO. I don’t get vacations. I don’t live a normal life.” She sighed wistfully.

“These augmentations mean I can do things others can only dream about. I’m a lot stronger, faster, and tougher than the average human and I’ll probably live for another two hundred years unless I buy the farm someday. But it’s not the same.” She inspected her arm for a moment, and then rubbed her face.

“It’s not the same.” She stood up, walking over to the window and gazed out in the night, while the ponies looked at her, uncertain what to say, when Shining stood up, clearing his throat.

“I find it hard to believe that you had your heart replaced, I really don’t believe that.” Cadance turned to him shockedly, but everyone was frozen by the death glare Lieia gave Shining. She fiddled with her right shoulder, pulling out a small cylinder with a cable that snaked inside her.

“This proof good enough for ya? If you still don’t believe me, you can check that I don’t have a heartbeat.” Hesitantly, Celestia reached out with her magic, and was shocked. Indeed, Lieia had no heartbeat, just a barely audible thrum from the pump where her heart had once been.

“She’s not lying, Captain.” Shining’s face fell, and he stuttered as he tried to apologize to Lieia, but she cut him off.

“I don’t want to hear it. Look, if there’s nothing else, Celestia, I’ll be going now. Good night.” She put the reactor back in place, then left without saying anything else. The three alicorns looked at Shining accusingly. Celestia stood up, intent to find Lieia before she did something bad.

She found Lieia back in the throne room, where she was pacing restlessly, muttering quietly, before heading out on the balcony, with Celestia joining her moments later.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap like that, Celestia. These last few weeks have been trying for me.”

“No harm done. Captain Shining Armour takes it as a personal insult that you managed to evade his soldiers so easily, nothing more. Perhaps he’ll treat you nicer now.”

“Well, a woman can always hope, eh? I’ve never been a favourite among other officers. They always say I can’t keep my mouth shut, which is true. I always got myself in trouble by speaking out of turn. I would’ve gotten myself thrown outta the Corps if I wasn’t so good at my business.”

“If so, why not treat them with at least some respect?”

“The way I see it, they’ve got to earn my respect. I hate it when they demand it without reason.” Celestia looked at her, puzzled.

“Then what about me? Have I earned your respect?” Lieia found the magenta eyes a bit hard to look into.

“I’d say you have. You could’ve had me executed for all the shit I caused, but you didn’t. Takes real know-how to make decisions like that. I still have no idea what Coalition brass is going to do with me.”

“Because of what you did?”

“Bingo. They’re nowhere near as forgiving you are. Might be I’ll be sitting in a nice prison cell soon. After that, it’s the firing squad for me.”

“I’ll speak to your leaders on your behalf.” Celestia blurted out before she had even formulated the thought.

“Come again?”

“I… I’ll do what I can to reverse the sentence.” She blushed slightly at her outburst.

“Why?”

“I think I understand why you tried so hard to avoid capture. You were in unknown territory. You had no way back to your fleet. And I didn’t exactly try to reassure you, did I?”

“Heh. I guess that’s kinda true. But I’m one stubborn bitch, so I’m guiltier than you.”

“You really are stubborn, trying to carry all of the guilt on your shoulders. We’re both equally guilty and that’s that. Besides, I am the diarch of Equestria. My word carries weight.”

“Well, suit yourself. Have fun trying to talk sense in them.” She fidgeted with her necklace for a moment, before looking back at Celestia.

“Thanks. Most people-er, ponies wouldn’t do something like that for me. Truth be told, I didn’t exactly endear myself to them. Still, you have my gratitude.”

“Think nothing of it. When can we expect them to arrive?”

“I’ve no idea, actually. I guess Seventh Recon Fleet will send Arcovas ahead to scout out the space. We might be able to intercept them and get an exact date of arrival. Although, if they’re as good as everyone says, we won’t even know they’re here. Sneaky bastards, the lot of them.”

“Why do you curse so much, anyways?”

“It’s sort of a way of life, actually. Once you get into the habit, it’s impossible to stop.” She grinned crookedly.

“Luna, you can come out now. There’s nothing to worry about.”

The alicorn in question cursed quietly. She’d used her best invisibility spells, but Celestia had known all along.

Next Chapter: Chapter 10 Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 31 Minutes