Ponies rushed to see the great airship that had landed. It was, unlike many of the others, actually much more similar to their own. It had huge rotors that span, clearly producing lift to enable its movements. Without being told a thing, it seemed so much less alien than the others. While faster and made entirely of metal, it was still a thing that could exist with what they knew.

Why had the humans brought that one?

"Maybe it's a symbol," mused Twilight as she hurried alongside the others. "They're showing they're not as different as they seemed at first."

A ramp lowered from an opening on the back of the thing, rotating around until it touched the ground. A few sharply-dressed humans descended first, but they did not progress far beyond that, instead waiting for something.

"Home!" suddenly came a cry from inside. A harried unicorn mare galloped free of the metal airship, her footing far from certain as she fled the thing and went off like unleashed lightning.

Luna appeared in front of the fleeing unicorn, her wings spread wide. "You are safe," she spoke more gently. "Feel the ground beneath your hooves."

"Safe... yes... I'm sorry." She sank to her belly. "I'm so sorry. You must... hate this. I'm being so weak..." She wriggled on the ground, a little smile forming as she looked around. "We're really home..."

Celestia appeared in a shower of golden sparkles. "Lulu!" She did not hesitate as she grabbed her sister and hugged her close, nuzzling into her neck. "Tell me everything! Are you alright?"

Luna went stiff as a board for a moment before the surprise faded and she melted into the embrace. She was really in her sister's loving embrace. She was as safe as she was trying to impress on the more injured pony. "I am alright." She had teleported, she only then just realized. She would recover.

Unnoticed by any of them, their actions were being recorded. An emotional reunion of ponies and an addressing of wrongs; ripe for capture and later display.

The president emerged with the other former-captives. The brawler nudged the other warlock and they both veered off, looking ready to just depart.

Crane had no such intention, moving towards Celestia and that knot of ponies directly.

"Crane!" called out Twilight, smiling at him brightly. "Good to see you again under much better circumstances."

Ponies were filling the seats of the arena, filing in without much prompting to witness what was going on.

Shining Armor advanced on the humans directly. "Welcome to the Crystal Empire; in peace, I hope?"

"In peace," agreed Crane. "For future reference, American presidents do not typically visit what they think are active battle sites. I'm sorry, let's focus on introductions to start. I am President Crane."

"Shining Armor." He gestured to the pink alicorn that was closing up beside him. "Princess Cadance. I hear you've met Twilight, and the largest princess is Celestia." He pointed to each as he called them. "Wasn't there a... one more Warlock?"

Celestia separated from Luna quietly and rose up to her full height, approaching Crane. "You are their ruler, correct?"

"That word has meanings that don't properly explain things. I am the highest single person, but my word does not make laws. I am here to apologize for our side, for the damages caused, and to propose a start to better things."

Celestia took his measure quietly. She felt some tension ebb away when Luna stepped up to join her on one side, and Twilight on the other.

Twilight's eyes were on the airship. "This one doesn't share the basic shape of most of your other ones. I mean, the chassis has obvious similarities, but its propulsion systems are something else entirely! Can you tell me more about it?"

"My specialty lies more in governing and less in mechanics, I admit." Crane smiled a little at Twilight's excitement. "Let's focus on the matter at... hoof." He offered a hand towards them all. "And bury this unfortunate period of our history."

Cadance raised a hoof. "Do not think I don't welcome peace. I do... but there is a question that needs an answer. When you struck at us, you... killed so many... So... very many. Please tell me why."

"In truth, it was a combination of different wartime doctrines." Crane returned his hand to his side. "We would rarely have so many (soldiers) guards packed into such a small area. For the battle tactics you use, it's perfectly reasonable. If we sent them out so close together, we would be risking their lives against technology equal to ours, and we did have such opponents, in the past."

Cadance looked past him to the airship they had arrived in. "You had meant to destroy and kill, but did not expect so many to fall to your attack... We..." She took half a step back. "I'm sorry, this is unproductive. Both sides made mistakes. It is more important that it end."

Celestia waved back the way they came from. "If you'd like, we can discuss things further in the comfort of the palace. There is no need to stand here, as much as the ponies are enjoying the show."

There were countless eyes on them, watching and discussing it with all the eagerness of a sporting event, as if the rulers could be judged by their mannerisms, any words easily lost to the distance involved.

"I would be honored. My guards will accompany; I presume that's alright?" He waved them forward and soon they were underway. There were many things to discuss.

"You mentioned fighting other people with similar technology," asked Twilight as they went. "--what other people? I haven't seen technology like this out of human hands."

Following the group into the castle was the teleporter. She was walking on her own hooves, holding her head upright and her eyes forward. Her composure was back, at least she could force it back for a time and she seemed quite ready to do just that.

Celestia had an ear turned to Crane, but her eyes were forward. "You are all not from this world," she echoed a previous sentiment. "That explains a great deal... I had wondered how such a powerful force could exist without being noticed." She glanced side at him. "You realize, you could be a force of terrible disorder, without that much effort. Your people could claim ownership of this, new to you, world and it would be the start of a troubled time."

Twilight was trotting along with a smile, seemingly untroubled by the political issues being lobbied around. "But why would they do that? Misunderstandings aside, they seem like nice people."

"Ideally, our military is for defensive uses. One of our staunchest allies was once the country that 'owned' us and we warred with for freedom. People prefer peace, and being a democracy, that will influence upwards."

Celestia raised a fine brow. "You have a true democracy, with so many people? How is that remotely feasible?"

Cadance shook her head at that. "Just imagining consulting every pony in this one city before taking any action makes me shudder at the idea."

"Wrong word. It is not that, but close? You decide who will argue for you."

"Oh," breathed out Celestia, her confusion fading. "You have a parliament, decided by your people? How lovely."

"Close enough." It did not feel like the time to get into an educational explanation of the differences between a congress or a house of representatives and a parliament. "Are you..." Absolute dictators would be a terrible way to phrase that. "True monarchs?"

Luna tossed her head towards Celestia. "Diarch."

"Like you," spoke Celestia gently as they walked. "--I am the highest voice, but for many, the laws they follow come not from me. Local governments handle local problems that I am too distant and removed to resolve. Many run entirely independently, but do follow the laws that bind us. They trust me to look at the larger picture, such as diplomacy as we are doing now."

Cadance gestured to herself. "I am the leader of the people of this city and region. They come to me for guidance and follow the laws that I set and obey the orders I give; but I would never give an order that..." She looked him over. "You are judging us, but we are not power hungry despots. I manage my people with love and care, not a want for power."

Shining pressed against her side. "She's the literal princess of love."

Crane's movements faltered a moment. "Does that... have more meaning than I initially imagine?"

Cadance huffed a little sigh. "Celestia is a princess of the sun. She raises and lowers it. Luna is the princess of the night, doing the same with the moon and watches over the dreams of ponies."

"And you, the princess of love?" Things were promising to be interesting, and awkward.

"I do not manage the love lives of my people," she squeaked. "But I can feel it, and influence it, to a degree. A degree I typically keep very gentle... Reaffirming frayed bonds or playing a little matchmaking if the opportunity arises... I should apologize; there was a human guard here that we held captive. Before we captured them, I used my magic to still his murderous intent."

An american soldier had been captured?! How had he not been informed?! "Where is this guard now?"

"He escaped."

Shining Armor shook his head. "In an explosive display. We never saw him again and assumed he fled home."

Cadance softly nodded as she spoke, "We treated him gently and well. We did not expect that at all... Luna, did they return the favor?"

"No!" squeaked out the teleporter, still following. "I mean, no... no they did not."

All eyes turned on her, but she did not shrink from them. "They made me wear a torture ring on my horn. They kept all of my hooves bound together so I could barely walk, and I was secured to the wall as if that wasn't insulting enough! And... I'd rather not talk about the rest." She huffed and looked away with a scowl.

Luna inclined her head. "What she says is truth. I was treated in the same way. What she does not mention is that it was also solitary. Even the guards would not speak to me."

Celestia's carefully managed expression showed cracks, fury rising within her dangerously. "Why did you treat them so cruelly? Are your people not social animals? Ponies cannot live in isolation!"

Crane turned to them, stopping the walking entirely. "I have extended apologies for the actions taken, but I was not in power at that time. The moment I became aware of things, I began to undo this... mistake. Speaking of that, we would like to secure some of the devices I'm told you have that can more (humanely) stop the magic of a unicorn without hurting them."

"We will speak of such things at a later time." Celestia did not turn towards him. She took a step, bidding the progression continue. "For now, should a unicorn misbehave in your borders, I would have you return them to us with a full accounting, that they can be disciplined by others of their kind."

Crane decided that pressing the matter with Celestia at that specific moment would be unwise. He let it drop for later. "I want to build something to remember this whole ugly affair by, as a promise from both sides to never see it repeated."

Luna's ears perked. "A statue? Now you are speaking mine sister's language." She had a wry smile on her equine face.

Celestia rolled her eyes. "Statues are not my favorite thing, but I do enjoy them, and a solemn piece for so much lost... I can see the appeal in that. Let us build this, together."

The successful mare flopped over onto her human engineer, her drunken eyes half-closed. "Well, hello there, handshum," she slurred out. "Do you have all the things in the right places?"

The human was tipsy, but not nearly as sloshed as his employer. "Uh... yes, but there are a few problems with what you're doing."

"Huh?" She slid up against him, her belly pressed to his, her tail wagging above her. "Yer kinda cute in a freaky alien way. Letsh have some fun!"

"One: You are literally my boss." He held up a lone finger.

"You want me to order you?" She tilted her head. "We're not even on the boat, sheesh. C'mon!"

"Two: You're drunk. Really drunk." A second finger extended.

"Drunk sex is the best sex," argued the mare with a snort.

"Captain, goodnight."

"Goodnight." She suddenly slumped on top of him, out like a light and the argument forgotten.

He gently stroked her mane and back. She was pretty in his eyes, but in an entirely different way. She was a precious innocent little creature, even if she had just propositioned him. He felt protective of his equine boss, and wanted her safe and happy.

For that night, he would make sure she didn't choke on her own vomit. Could ponies do that? Horses couldn't, to his dim recalling. Either way, he decided to keep her safe until her senses returned.

"Sea? Captain Sea Flower?" A soft knocking came from the door, a hoof striking wood.

And there he was, pinned under said captain. "She's sleeping," he harshly whispered.

"What?" came a muffled male voice. "Ohhh. Uh, congratulations." Hoofsteps withdrew away, a pony having formed the wrong assumption.

"My little human," she mumbled in her sleep, cuddling her captive human engineer.

"They have so many feelings." She ran her sharp feline claws along the armrest of the chair she was perched in. "Each one bleeding into the next. They can love what brings them pain. They can adore what they hate in the same breath. They wield the power of gods... but think little of it. They imagine they are safe..." Her brows came down in a sinister sneer. "But are they?"

"No," hissed a figure in the dark. "My queen, are we done with the others?"

"Mostly." She licked over her lips. "They are boring, and unproductive. We have what we need to begin." Green flames rushed over the she-cat, revealing a great insectoid figure that laughed as she reverted to her true form. "I will make the new creatures worship me as their rightful god, and our people will never go hungry again."

"Mistress, you're making me drool with the future you envision. How can I help you achieve it?"

She advanced on the darkness, bringing up a holed hoof under the chin of her faithful. "You were wise to remain at my side. Hmmph, becoming so garishly colorful and pathetically weak... They will know nothing of the feast that quickly approaches us. They need the ponies to protect them. The ponies will not save them from us when we are done."

"My queen, I have been practicing!"

That caught her attention. "Show me."

With a rush of flames, her loyal stepped forward wearing the form of a senator. "They're all so similar in color, but it makes the specific shade all the more important."

"This is true," agreed Chrysalis, queen of the changelings. "Mmmm." Her horn glowed, grabbing a portrait of the same human from the wall to float beside the imitation. "Very good... But just a hair too light. We need perfection."

"Yes, your highness!" With a rush of flames, they became a male scientist. "With the right voice and face, we can go anywhere." His voice was different in the form he wore. "They will be helpless as we take what we want and do what we want."

Chrysalis gave a fanged grin. "Have the others progressed as well as you have?"

"We are all working. I ensure it! Simulacra has even managed to secure a love source that dotes on her every word. She is well fed and has sent precious supplies from the extra. I recommend she be... rewarded."

"Has she?" Chrysalis raised a brow. "How delightful... yes, the next time she can be away from her stupid love source, bring her to me." She drove a hoof to the ground. "Excellent! Nothing stands between us and our goals. We will rule this world, starting with the most powerful things on it."

That had once been the ponies, even if none of the other species seemed to fully grasp how much power the ponies wielded. The humans were clearly superior in Chrysalis' eyes. She had seen their bombs, and almost fell victim to them, and that was but a token effort on their part.

"With their power behind our hooves, none will even dare to consider acting against us..." She rubbed her fore hooves together with a manic grin on her face, imagining the world under changeling control. With a fresh wave of flames, she resumed her feline form. "For now, those saps still have lingering use to us. Ensure the drones continue training. Our day of victory comes closer, and swiftly. Don't mess it up."

"Of course not, Your Highness." He bowed in a human way, gesturing to the door with a hand. "I will see that your will is obeyed."

There was so much work to be done.

Author's Notes:

This extra long episode was brought to us (the extra bit at least) by Kiki, a loyal patron who wanted EVEN MORE!

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