Apex: A fragment of the USC, right in the middle of Equestria. Its metallic constructions were intricate and solid. They aspired to an air of militarism and art, combined.

She had only volunteered to lead the caravan for the chance to see Apex, a routine that was repeated week after week. Every minute she spent with her hooves on the metallic floors, thousands of questions popped into her head. What she found to be the hardest thing to believe, was how the humans had managed all of this with their bare hands. There was just so much to learn from them.

Twilight Sparkle adjusted her sitting position by a small, metallic table that was near a bar, on the streets of Apex. On the table was a small cup of water, from which she sipped every once in awhile. She calmly looked around the colony, taking in the semi-industrial environment.

The mare froze up as she heard a low growl directly behind herself. She craned her neck backwards, discovering a bipedal creature as tall as Princess Celestia standing next to her. Its body was slim and its neck elongated, ending with a arthropod-like mandibles with four appendages, each of them with a tusk on the tip. She looked at both of its hands, which had only three fingers, each ending in a claw. Most of its body was covered in armor, leaving a few spots uncovered which revealed lizard-like scales.

Twilight remained frozen in place as the creature looked down and took in her smell, growling. It then stood back up, shaking its head. She was about to scream and gallop away when it interrupted her...

“Are thu vul, humanae uku...”

“You can...” she muttered, “speak?”

“Ogh,” the creature said as it nodded, its voice deep and with a sort of reverb to it. “Terran... Such an uncomfortable language for us Lakuran. You must have my forgiveness for smelling you, but consider it part of my research.” It crouched down on reverse-jointed knees. “I am Doctore Gakolak See’Korgolo, head of the USS Vector’s scientifical crew.”

Twilight stared blankly at Gakolak. Could this be? Was this one of the Lakuran that formed the USC? And to top it off, a scientist? She could not help but grin widely.

“YES—I mean,” she cleared her throat. “I am Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia, and representant of the Element of Magic!”

“A scholar?” the alien asked as he stood up. “I see... Come with me, little pon’e. I believe we would much benefit from each other.”

Twilight stood up and began following the Lakuran. “Oh, by the way, why did you smell me?”

“You have a scent of food,” he replied.

“Oh...” Twilight raised an eyebrow. The Lakuran led her into one of the many metallic buildings of Apex. Once inside, she found herself surrounded by scientific and medical equipment of all forms, most of which she had no clue as to what they did. What caught her eye were three bipedal, insect-like creatures that were working inside the building. Upon seeing her, they left their work-stations and walked over to her. On their chests were an extra pair of smaller arms, and a set of antennae hung down from their heads.

She froze up as they got closer. They leaned down and examined her, their antennae moving in sync. One of them nibbled on her ear, causing Twilight to jump and yelp. It then looked at the other two.

“Uhm...” Twilight muttered while desperately brushing her ear for any remnant secretions. “W-What are you?”

“We are Gektar,” one of them said. “You speak Terran.”

“It is hard to speak Terran.”

“Yes, we prefer pheromones.”

“Why does your kind speak Terran?”

“I... don’t exactly know,” Twilight replied, tilting her head to the side.

“Odd.”

“Yes, odd.”

“You are odd.”

The pony giggled awkwardly. “Oookay...”

“Atte, Gektar,” Gakolak said. “Lovatar ut jeb.”

“Yes, we will work,” one of the Gektar replied.

“We are workers.”

“We enjoy working.”

As the Gektar returned to their tasks, Twilight looked up at the Lakuran scientist, who chuckled, “They are excellent workers.”

“Yes...” came a female voice. Twilight turned to the building’s entrance, where another Gektar stood, this one much bigger and its chitinous plating even thicker. “Us females are both the brains and the warriors of the Gektar.” She walked over to the pony and crouched down. “I have never had the chance to speak with an Equestrian... Gako keeps us busy all the time.” She chuckled in monotone. “I suppose you have a name?”

Twilight smiled, clearing her throat and correcting her position. “I am Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia... And you are?”

“My name is... quite difficult to vocalize.” The pair of arms in her chest wiggled a bit. “The closest I can pronounce in Terran is ‘Lives Amongst The Stars’, but you may call me ‘Stars’.”

“I see... Does your name have a meaning? Sort of describes what you do?” Twilight asked, glancing over at her own cutie mark.

“Yes,” Stars replied. “I was hatched specifically to fill the role of construction overseer of the Vector. That was three years ago.”

“Three years?” Twilight tilted her head to the side. “How long is your lifespan?”

Stars produced what seemed to be a sigh. “Only five years for me. I shall then join our collective memory, if we ever make it back to the USC.”

“What do you mean?”

Gakolak growled. “We are unable to return, so far... It does not help that I am the only Laku on the entire ship... Apart from that female in Vector Overwatch...”

Stars stood up and placed her four hands on the Lakuran, gently scratching him. “We will endure.”

The scientist sighed, “I hope so.... It does not help that we have a severe lack of food.”

Twilight beamed. “Really? I-I could help with that!”

Apple Bloom watched intently as the old man worked on an enormous suit of armor, while her two friends were busy dozing off. She found it fascinating just how complex it was. All the wiring and cybernetic components, and not a single drop of magic could be found. The concepts seemed too natural to the humans, something that produced a nagging feeling in the back of her head, that constantly drew her closer and closer to the desire of learning. All in all, what little Smoky had taught her was more than everything she had learned in all her years at the Ponyville school.

“So,” Smoky began, “The HCE Mark Two, or just ‘Heavy Combat Exosuit’, was designed by the Landrex Corp, somewhere around two decades ago or so.” He brought out his holopad from a nearby table, and plugged a cable between it and the suit of armor. “The perfect mix of syntex muscle and good ol’ hydraulics! Even after all this years we still haven’t built a better suit!” he exclaimed as he began to type into the pad.

“Orbital drops, front-line duty, rear guard action, or a weekend with the in-laws, this suit can withstand almost anythin’.” He tapped the suit on its back. “How you doin’ in there, bud?”

“Sweating like a pig,” came a voice from inside the exosuit. “Can you at least turn on the ventilation?”

“Sure thing, we’re almost done, anyways.” Smoky stood up and brushed a bead of sweat off of his forehead. “Resetting the mainframe and powerin’ up!”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were both startled awake as the suit powered up. The cables and tubes connected to it shot off with a loud hiss, and the man inside took a couple steps that shook the floor under the crusaders’ hooves.

“Woah!” Apple Bloom giggled. She then turned to her friends, smiling. She was thoroughly interested by the suit and its inner workings, even if the other two fillies were not.

The man in the suit thanked Smoky before exiting the workshop, walking into the streets of the colony. Smoky then turned to the fillies, who tilted their heads to the side as his smile died out and he brought a finger to his ear.

“Is something wrong, mister?” Apple Bloom asked.

Smoky shook his head, frowning. “I, uh... I don’t suppose you sent another caravan here, right?” He looked through one of the workshop’s windows just as several men and women ran past it, all heading towards the main gate.

“Uh-oh...” he muttered, looking down at the fillies with a stern expression. “Girls, you oughta stay with me, all right?” He motioned for them to follow him as he began down a flight of stairs descending into the bowels of Apex.

The rolling hills of Equestria were washed over by the warm sunlight for the last time, as it was the moon’s turn to shine. A soft mist rolled in on the cool evening winds, the moisture turning to glittering dew on the leaves of the trees and the blades of the grass. Animals retreated to their homes in order to spend the night.

Arcturus Minerva walked proudly in front of the large line of changelings following the road. He had been chosen to lead his people’s caravan of offerings into “Apex”: the metallic city of the people who once shattered the skies with their marvelous vessel. If anyling were to ask him, he would say he was honoured to be the very first changeling to speak with a human when in true form, but in truth he was terrified.

Doubt had already begun to seep into his mind. What if the humans did not welcome them? What if they mistrusted the changelings as the ponies did? What if Celestia still bore his people ill will, and had turned the hearts of men against them? There were so many possible outcomes, so many that could possibly be fatal, but it was a risk that had to be taken.

“Be strong,” the changeling thought.

As the night began to settle in, he finally walked over the final hill separating the caravan from Apex. His jaw dropped as he saw the massive, metallic wall that surrounded it fade into view. The reports from the covert changelings were true, as it really seemed that the city slowly transformed the land around it, changing it. The ground was replaced by metallic plates, the trees were soon gone, and the air got thicker. Arcturus had underestimated just how much they could alter their surroundings, and he was yet to even go past the walls.

It was beautiful.

He turned to the rest of the caravan, whom had frozen in place upon seeing the city. “Let us continue!” he yelled, motioning towards Apex. “We did not come this far for nothing!” The caravan cheered after his words and started moving again.

The only thing they had was hope. He knew that, and so did everyling else. As the column approached the massive metallic wall that stood between them and Apex, they clung to that hope: it was the last thing they had after weeks of travelling.

Arcturus gulped. The caravan slowed to a stop in front of the wall, and silence reigned supreme for those long seconds. The swiveling machines by the watchtowers were locked onto them, tracking every single movement. The stars watched the changelings from above, and the ground waited to receive their victorious march, or their spilled blood.

The changeling leading the caravan slowly craned his neck backwards, a sad expression on his face. It seemed as if all the weeks of travelling had been for naught, until a deep, mechanical sound tore down the silence, and the gates to Apex parted. He looked expectantly at the gates, watching as they revealed what lay beyond.

He marvelled at the enormous, bipedal figures that stood behind the gates. Their armor was even more imposing than what he had imagined: they brought into him a sense of fear, but more than anything, curiosity. In their hands were their weapons, perhaps possessing destructive capabilities far beyond what he could imagine, but it was the armored ponies that stood before them that truly worried him.

“Changelings!” one of the ponies, armored in a purple set of armor, snarled at Arcturus and his people. “What are you doing here?!”

Arcturus dropped to his knees, and so did everyling else. The action took the ponies by surprise, who blinked in confusion upon seeing the display.

“We mean no harm!” he called out, looking at the ground.

“And what about Canterlot?!” another pony yelled.

“Hold it!” came a commanding, female voice. Arcturus opened his eyes and looked ahead, seeing one of the humans—a female—break through the line of ponies. She walked over to the changeling, who shrunk under the gaze of the great biped.

“What are you here for?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Arcturus drew in a deep breath, building up some confidence. “I am Arturus Minerva, representing the Changeling Republic. We seek to redeem ourselves...”

“Redeem yourselves for what?”

The changeling looked at the ponies, giving off a shaky sigh. “Thanks to the false queen, we... have had difficult relations with the other species, especially with Equestria. Your appearance here has changed many things... including us. We want to thank you...” He craned his neck, looking at the caravan. “We brought food... we want to help you.”

One of the armored ponies broke away from the line. She dropped her set of armor and closed her eyes, causing the other ponies to gasp as her fur began to turn into black, chitinous plating. “He speaks with truth, oh, great bipeds,” she said, followed by a couple more ponies who repeated the same action.

“Please,” Arcturus muttered. “We have learned so much from you. The least we can do is to help with your supply problems.”

The woman sighed, looking at the rest of the changelings, then back down at the counciling. “Can we trust you?”

“Some of us are... part of the ‘School Evolutis’,” the changeling said. “You are our teachers. We broke away from our insectoid behaviour and learned to each live as an individual, special being.... thanks to you.”

The human motioned for Arcturus to stand up. He followed her instructions and looked up into her eyes, a weak smile spreading across his face.

“My name is Kira Feros, Divisional Commander of the USS Vector. I should mention that you will be terminated should you try anything out of your narrow boundaries, but otherwise...” She leaned down and offered her hand to the changeling. “Welcome to Apex.”

Cookie coiled around Father’s neck, gently rubbing her head against his chin. He smiled in return, and gently patted the rest of her body.

A hiss coming from the door distracted them, making them turn their attention to it. They both saw a man standing right in the entrance, who saluted Father. “Everything’s ready, sir.”

“Good...” he sighed out. “Start it up, but avoid Apex... Too many innocent lives would be put at risk otherwise.”