Luna sat alone, enveloped by the silence of her reading room. The small table held a pile of books produced from the shelves set all around the chamber, as well as a candle, a cup of tea, and the holopad. The latter was subject to her never wavering gaze as she read through the words displayed by its bright screen. Their society, history, and customs. Hundreds of years worth of information held in something so small, and even after all these months, she had only scratched the surface.

A knock on the door, followed by a familiar voice, easily broke her entranced state. “Luna?”

“Come in!” she answered. Promptly, the set of doors to the room were gingerly pushed open, and the approaching clip-clop of hooves was heard as Luna returned her attention to the holopad. “What brings you here at this hour?”

The white alicorn sat down next to Luna, sighing. “I needed to catch my breath. We have political pressure coming from all sides... Becker is handling the riots, but not in a way I deem appropriate.”

“I cannot put the blame on him,” Luna said, looking over at Celestia. “It’s just the way they do it. They were trained to handle such types of situations in a certain manner. Besides, what matters is that he halts the riots, and you must admit it has proven effective.”

“That it has...” Celestia muttered. “I’m just... worried. I feel that the future is truly uncertain... Was joining the loyalists the right choice? We have exposed our ponies to a great danger by doing this. It is not our conflict.”

Luna sighed, “Sister, these are times of transition.” She lifted the cup of tea from the table and sipped on it. “No matter what, we had to pick a side. You heard the Admiral: Silverback will not stop for anything until they return to their home, which, at the moment, seems nearly impossible.

“Our ponies are strong, and they will adapt. We cannot simply go back to the way things were, it’s too late for that. We must embrace change, and build a new society based upon what we have learned.”

“What about the riots, little sister?” Celestia asked, looking at the floor. “It is a clear sign of unhappiness.”

Luna set down her cup of tea. “We must make a statement and tell our ponies exactly what is happening. They cannot be kept in the dark for too long, and we must prepare ourselves should conflict arise. They love us, and they will listen...”

A steady knock on the room’s door made them crane their necks towards it. “Your Highnesses,” came the voice of one of the guards. “You have visitors... It’s the Element of Loyalty, and... you might want to see for yourself.”

Luna raised an eyebrow and whispered, “What is Rainbow Dash doing here? This late?”

The elder sister nodded. “Please, come in!”

The set of doors slowly opened, and the rainbow-maned head of a pegasus peeked into the room. “Uhm... Hi?”

“Miss Rainbow Dash,” Luna said. “It is nice to see you.”

Slowly, the mare inched into the chamber, looking around. She pushed the door further open to allow a battered, scorched, and bloodied Gryphon to walk inside. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her body was covered by a broken set of armor.

Both of the Princesses craned their necks backwards. “Who is this, pray tell?” Luna said, looking over at Rainbow Dash.

“I-I’m Colonel Gilda Talos...” the Gryphon said as she shakily closed the door behind herself. “Rainbow Dash p-promised she would help me gain an audience with your Highnesses...”

Luna’s face contorted into a stern expression. “I see... do sit down.”

The two other occupants walked over to them and sat down, the Gryphon hen rubbing her claws together.

“What happened to you?” Celestia asked. “Why do you need our help?”

Rainbow Dash looked over at Gilda and nodded. The latter gave out a shaky sigh and began speaking, “The humans... they’ve enslaved our kingdom. What remained of our army was... massacred. I was one of the few to make it out alive.” She looked down at the floor in shame.

I was second in command of the remnants of our army... I don’t think the General survived. With what’s left of our government, I... may as well be Queen of what’s left of Gryphos.” She frowned and looked directly into the Princesses eyes. “P-Please! My people are dying and I—You can’t trust the humans! You can’t allow this to go on any longer!”

Luna and Celestia both sighed, and Luna spoke up. “She is right, we cannot let this go for any longer.” She stood up, a solemn expression upon her face. “Gilda Talos, Rainbow Dash...” The Princess began to pace around the room, all three sets of eyes locked onto her. “The humans are split between the loyalist forces and the rebels, who have taken control of Gryphos. We have allied with the loyalists, and now we can clearly see that we made the right choice.

“We must put an end to this. Silverback’s intentions might be clear, but his methods are unacceptable. Gryphos may have only been the first step, and Equestria may be next.

“I will not allow that to happen,” Luna said as she turned to Gilda, Rainbow Dash, and Celestia. “We will not allow that to happen!” She walked over to the table, where the holopad lay. In complete silence, she prodded it with her hoof. After a few minutes of tampering, a holographic image was formed, depicting a man clad in a full suit of armor.

“Princess Luna, Celestia...” He looked over at Gilda and Rainbow Dash, who had stood up and were looking at the man. “What’s the purpose of this particular call?”

Celestia stood up. “It is time, Admiral.”

The man looked over his shoulder, muttering, “... It was inevitable, wasn’t it?” He sighed, “I need to know your stance on this, and what you’re going to do.”

“I will address our ponies,” Luna said. “They must know what is happening, and we will keep them safe.”

“No,” Rainbow Dash interrupted, causing every eye to turn to her. “No. You can’t leave us out of this! The whole fate of Equestria may be depending on this! I'm not going to sit back and watch, and neither would anypony I know! Whether you like it or not,” she said as she looked at the holographic rendition of the Admiral, “we’re fighting with you.”

“You have no idea of what risks you would be putting yourself into—”

“I don’t care!” Dash exclaimed. “We’ll do everything we can. Trust me, even if we’re not fighting directly, we’ll still help you.”

Celestia sighed, “Do you truly believe we could fight? Will our ponies want that?”

Rainbow Dash scoffed, “I’m the Element of Loyalty, and the fate of Equestria is hanging by a thread. How could we not want to fight? Besides, how will ya’ win without us?”

A moment of silence was spent, before Gilda broke it, “Whatever’s left of Gryphos will fight, too.” She looked at the Admiral, her eyes narrowing. “The enemy of my enemy... is my friend.”

Luna looked at the floor, then back to the Admiral. “I will go to Apex, and from there I will speak to Equestria.”

“I will join you,” Gilda said. “And I will speak to whatever’s left of my people.”

“And from the Vector will I speak to humanity... Becker out.”

“But why did’ya have to do this in the night?” the large, red stallion asked as he limped along the path to Apex, followed by three little fillies.

“It’s a surprise!”

“Yeah! This is gonna be awesome!”

“Trust me, Big Mac, this’ll be worth it!” the filly with a bow on her mane exclaimed, trying not to glance over at her brother’s missing leg. He sighed, continuing to trudge along the road.

He never liked Apex; something about it was just wrong. He was used to feeling the ground beneath his hooves, not metal, and the air, while it had stopped being dense and smoggy, had instead become stale and sterile. It reminded him of a hospital, and he didn't much care for hospitals.

The massive wall surrounding the city came into view as they walked over a hill. Had it gotten closer? He could not recall, but everypony said that it seemed to consume more and more land with each day, which he assumed was true. Just another thing that felt wrong.

“State your name and purp—” a voice boomed as the group reached the wall. “Oh, it’s lil’ Bloom and her friends. Let ‘em through!”

The gates to Apex parted, sliding with a low, fearsome growl. They allowed Macintosh and the crusaders through into the metallic city. Humans walked past from every direction, some even greeting Apple Bloom and her friends.

“Uh, exactly how much time do y’all spend here?” the stallion asked, following the crusaders into a large building.

“A lot!” Scootaloo piped up. The door behind them slid shut, and a set of blinding lights lit up, making Big Mac instinctively cover his eyes with one leg, only to fall as he lacked support. He shakily stood up as a red, holographic grid began to examine them.

“Hrrrrmph,” a disembodied voice growled, possessing a reverb to it. “Agh, Apple Bloom. I take it that this is your brother?”

“Eeyup!” the little filly exclaimed.

“Very well, you may pass.” The next set of doors opened, allowing Big Macintosh and the fillies into another room. Once adjusted to the light, he noticed he was inside some sort of lab, judging by all the equipment set around, which only made him grow even more worried.

“Uh, girls...”

“Don’t worry, Big Mac!” Sweetie Belle said.

A bipedal, insectoid creature almost as big as a human walked over to the stallion, accompanied by three smaller ones. The small set of arms on its chest reached over to him and rubbed his ears. “Macintosh, I presume?” it said, possessing a female voice.

“Eeyup...” He took a step backwards, away from the arms that tickled his ears. “I, uh—what are you?”

“I am a Gektar female, namely ‘Stars’. It is a pleasure to meet you,” she said, making way for the other Gektar to step up.

“And we are males.”

“We have no names.”

“Yes. We do not like names.”

The three of them walked over to the fillies and leaned down, nibbling on their ears with their insect-like mouths. They smiled and giggled in return as the Gektar stood up. “We enjoy your company,” they said in perfect unison, while the stallion watched with a dumbfounded expression.

“Thank you, misters!” they replied back.

Big Mac shook his head, and two different voices chuckling made him turn around. He saw Twilight Sparkle, standing next to a slim, reptilian biped with a claw-like mouth. “Wha...”

“Hello, Big Mac,” Twilight said, smiling at him.

The reptilian creature stepped over to him and sniffed. “Agh, Macintosh Apple... I am Doctor Gakolak. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

The stallion sighed, looking around the lab. “And what am I here for?”

“This!” the unicorn mare exclaimed as she trotted over to a large glass tube. Foggy on the inside, he could not tell what was being held in it. Regardless, Twilight began to clumsily type with her hooves onto a small console next to it. “We’ve been working on this for a week, and well... Our knowledge on pony biology is still kinda dark, but we decided that it would be a fun experiment to do, and you’re going to be the test subject!”

“Test subject?” Big mac shuddered. “For what?”

“The ‘Landrex Munitions Annihilator Combat Exosuit Mark Three’! ‘Mustang’ variant!”

A stream of gas shot off from the tube, and it parted open, letting the smoke fill the room. The stallion took a few precautionary steps backwards, and waved his hoof around to clear the ghostly mist. Once he was again able to see, he looked up at the tube.

On it was a bipedal suit of armor almost completely similar to the one worn by the humans. The legs were jointed like the back legs of a pony, and the arms ended in three fingers instead of five. Instead of a helmet, there was a blue dome. Its chestplate was open, revealing a sort of cabin on the inside.

“What’re ya’ waiting for?” Apple Bloom said, nudging her brother with her hoof. “Try it on!”

“I, uh... I’m not too sure about this.”

“Big Mac,” Twilight said, her voice stern. “We spent weeks working on this and taking the exact measurements of your body while you slept, so you better try it on.”

The stallion looked at Twilight, then at Apple Bloom, who beamed up at him. He walked over to the suit and sighed, “Eeyup...”

After a few moments of trying to figure out how to get inside of it, the Gektar moved to him and lifted him up, helping him slide through the open chest and into the piece of armor. He stuffed his one and a half back legs into the suit, followed by his front legs. It appeared that most of the extra space in the limbs had been replaced with more mechanisms, as far as he could tell. He tried to move, but to no avail.

“Don’t move yet.” Twilight walked over to the console set up next to the suit. “You’re gonna feel a little pinch.”

The suit closed up, tightening itself around the stallion. He felt as a gel-like substance began to fill the gap between the suit and his fur, with the exception of his head. A stinging feeling shot throughout his body and he yelped as a set of needles pierced into his spinal cord. His body went numb, but rapidly regained feeling, and something else. He could feel the suit. The blue dome closed, displaying a vast amount of information, most of which he had no idea what it meant.

“Initializing...” a deep, cybernetic voice said within the cabin. “Fusion complete. Welcome, Guardsman.”

“Now, try to move,” Twilight said.

Recalling the few times in which he had stood on two legs, he took a step forward, the metallic foot of the suit landing with a loud thump. He lifted the suit’s arms up, flexing the three fingers of each hand one by one, and did not even notice when those around him began cheering.

“Alright!” Apple Bloom piped up, catching Big Mac’s attention. “Let’s take it for a test ride!”

Still not used to the current situation, the stallion decided to go with it. It was a refreshing experience, so he nodded behind the visor. “Eeyup.” He slowly followed the crusaders as they lead him out of the building, and into the metallic streets of Apex.

Just as he made his way out, alarms began to sound off...

Slowly, the hatch of the dropship touched the metallic surface of Apex control's landing pad. Taking a deep breath and filling herself with confidence, Luna walked out with her two guards flanking her, and a Gryphon hen. The cold air of her night washed over her: fitting, given what she was about to do.

Two figures walked out of the building, heading towards her. One human female, and the other a changeling, both stood up to her.

“Commander Feros, Counciling Arcturus” Luna said, nodding at the fully armored Raider. “Is everything ready?”

“Yes, indeed,” the woman replied. “The reporter ‘News Flash’ is here with her radio equipment to broadcast your part... And this is?” She pointed at the Gryphon standing behind Luna, who stepped from between the guards to face the human.

“Colonel Gilda Talos.” She extended her claw at the woman, expecting a shake in return. “Representative of Gryphos.”

Kira raised an eyebrow, then slowly leaned down and shook the Gryphon’s claw. “Why, may I ask, are you here?”

“I need to talk to my people. What remains of us will fight alongside you.”

“Very well,” Arcturus said after a few moments of silence. “Shall we proceed?”

Without saying a word, Commander Kira turned on her heels and walked into the building. Arcturus, Luna, Gilda, and the guards followed suit, entering the metallic halls of Apex tower, where militarism was the law and aesthetic was left behind. Soon, they found themselves in a balcony overlooking the vast colony of Apex, surrounded by crowds of Changelings, Humans, and even some ponies.

“Princess Luna!” a brown-coated, blonde mare wearing a trenchcoat called out for her as she was looking at the massive crowd. “My name’s News Flash!” She extended her hoof at the Princess and gestured towards various other ponies managing radio equipment. “My team’s set and ready to broadcast!”

With her heart filled with confidence and determination, Luna stepped forth, onto the edge of Apex. A microphone was on a stand right in front of her. The whole, massive crowd grew quiet, waiting for her words, and with a last deep breath, she spoke:

“Ponies of Equestria... My very dear subjects.” She paused, looking over the hushed crowd. “This night, I am here, speaking to every single one of you,” her voice, complete with a motherly tone, washed over the crowd. “I beg for your attention, as what I have to say is of the utmost importance.

“I know that many of you wish for the humans to be banished from our planet,” she sighed, “and that many also want them to stay. As of now, I beg for you to set aside such concerns, for our true conflict and tests are on the horizon.”

She looked over her shoulder, glancing at Kira Feros, who stood silently behind her. “The humans are, sadly, lost... They are stranded on our planet, and as such, they have been split.

“Infantry Commander Jack Silverback, second-in-command of the USS Vector, has divided them. This all happened several weeks ago, during the night of the million stars. He took control of the Gryphons, and enslaved them, all for the single purpose of finding a way back to his home.

“His purpose may be noble,” she continued, her face twisting into a frown as she gazed upon the night, “but his methods are not! Already, he has massacred what remained of the Gryphon army, whose remnants had come to Equestria for aid...” Luna tapped her chest with her hoof.

“In their memory, and for the for the good of everypony, everyling, and everyone, we shall give it.”

What was once a riot had slowed down into a mass of ponies, who did nothing but listen as the voice of their Princess was broadcast through a dropship flying overhead. For the briefest of moments, the animosity, fear, doubt, and despair that had wracked the crowd ceased as they joined together to listen to her powerful words.

Luna flared her wings open. “But they were our enemies, you say! They earned their reward, you say! I agree! I feel your every loss, your every cut and bruise at Gryphon claws!” she exclaimed, her eyes turning a bright white. “But I say this to you: if Gryphos was first, what will be next?! Silverback will never be content until he achieves his goal, not even if he turns every blade of grass in Equestria to ash! We cannot allow him to do this, even to the Gryphons!” She flapped her wings and took flight, ominously hovering in place. “We must fight!”

The Princess lit up her horn, casting a spell that caused a cluster of dark clouds to form overhead, shooting lightning at the tip of Apex. “We control lightning!” The crowd stared at her in disbelief, even the humans. She swung her head to the side, and the clouds began to rain down. “Water!” Luna swung her head to the other side, the clouds turning into masses of hell-born heat. “Fire!” She took a deep breath and blew air out of her mouth with all of her strength, causing a small tornado to form. “Wind!” She suddenly clasped her wings shut, dropping back down to the balcony and landing with a force that bent the metal and caused a small earthquake. “Earth!”

“We control the world, we control destiny itself!”

She grinned and extended one of her hooves to the crowd. “No matter what Silverback throws at us, we will fight, we will save Gryphos, and the whole planet!”

Arcturus took over the spotlight as Luna confidently backed down away from the balcony. Changelings, Humans, Ponies, all looking directly at him, from all corners of the world. They were ready to listen, and he was ready to speak. His horn glowed green as connected himself to the hivemind, uniting himself with everyling across the planet.

Once done, he closed his eyes, speaking, “Changelings... My fellow brothers and sisters...”

He fluttered his wings and hovered upwards, eyes still closed. “Fruitful... that would be one way to describe these last weeks. We have earned the respect of the humans: the strongest warriors to ever touch our planet, and are on our way to earn their love, and that of the rest of the world.”

With sudden intensity, the changeling opened his eyes “And yet our path has been filled with tremendous danger and obstacles of immeasurable scale. Now we reach the end of our journey, and one obstacle remains to stay our motion.”

In the deep mines of the hive, every single changeling stopped working for a moment, hearing the voice of their representative inside their heads. They knew what was going to happen, what he was asking for. They each closed their eyes and focused, their horns glowing with pure magic.

His body began to glow. Transformation from worker, he became larger, chitinous plating growing thicker, his horn growing larger. He took a deep breath as the evolution was completed, and yelled out, the voice of a million souls forming together, signing him as his people’s mightiest warrior,

“That last obstacle... is... Silverback!!!”

Arcturus slowly fluttered back to the floor, landing with a loud thump. “Can you feel the hatred and suffering the Gryphons are experiencing!? Will we be able to thrive on a world like that, devoid of love!?” He growled. “I do understand him, and so do you! But is it worth stepping on entire species for one greedy goal!? That... that is what Chrysalis wanted! She thought only for Changelings, and no one else! That is not the way to earn love!”

“We have not come this far to be stopped like this!” he yelled out. “We must fight together, not only for ourselves, but for everyone! I can hear you now...” He extended his leg and reached out into the night’s sky. “Calling out one name... ‘Adam Becker’!”

"Oh my stars,” News Flash said as she adjusted her hat and brought her microphone close to her face. “This is unprecedented! A Gryphon is approaching the podium! In all my years I have never witnessed such.... unprecedented solidarity! I wish you could all see this!

Gilda stood silently at the edge of Apex tower, earning gasps from the audience as she puffed her chest in pride. At long last: the moment of truth. She did not know how many of her people would be able to listen to her, but she knew that every bit counted. A glance to the side, a nod from News Flash, and she knew that the radio set was ready, set to the frequency used by the remnants of the Gryphon army.

“This is it...” she thought, drawing in a last breath.

“My name...” she paused, closing her eyes. “Is Colonel Gilda Talos, representative of the Gryphos Insurgency... I don’t know how many of you are listening to this right now, but to whoever is, just know this: there is still hope.” She clenched her right claw and looked at the crowd.

“I know it may sound weird,” she continued, taking off her damaged helmet. “But trust me, the humans that controlled us do not speak for all of them. They’re split between two sides: the loyalists and the rebels, the latter which have enslaved us for their own purposes.”

Gilda leaned over the balcony railing, holding her helmet tightly. “What matters is that they’re not all the same, and the loyalists will help us!” She gritted her beak, and her feathers puffed up. “Even if some of you may think of them as enemies, then just think of this as a chance. Set aside your hate for all of them, and focus it on the dweeb that thought it would be fun to use us!

Inside the sewers of Gryphus, the human-controlled capital of the Gryphon Kingdom, a single torch stood lit, giving light to a group of Gryphons sitting in a circle, listening to a small, battered radio. The voice of their only representant, Gilda Talos, brought hope to their hearts. They each stood up, placing every ounce of their attention into the radio.

“Delay his plans, refuse to work, cut his supply lines... resist!” she yelled out, flaring her wings open. “We may not be able to fight him up front, but we can still make an effort to make it easier for the others to push him outta Gryphos, and let us take back what’s rightfully ours!” Her tail flicked frantically as she growled.

“They may have hit us hard, but we will not fall!” She pointed at the silent crowd with her claw. “We are not letting this brewing war be decided without our claws taking part!” Gilda closed her claw, forming a fist that shook with intensity. “Make Silverback and his grunts rue the day they decided to use us!

“Mark my words: We are not going to stand still and let someone take advantage of us, you hear!? It doesn’t matter that I’m standing next to humans right now, for the enemy of my enemy is my friend! It doesn’t matter that I’m gonna be fighting along with them, because I and every Gryphon that’s still free will do the same! Keep resisting, because in these next days, we take Gryphos back!” She threw her fist into the air, and released the cry of a thousand eagles that echoed through Apex.

“Never surrender!”

“Troopers,” the voice of Adam Becker boomed across the Vector. Atlas leaned against one of the many dropships on the hangar, surrounded by a conglomeration of heavy troopers who were preparing themselves for deployment. “Brothers and sisters...”

“It seems like an eternity at this point, but for months now we have tried everything humanly possible to re-establish contact with the USC. And for months all we have received back is static. We have travelled and looked with a fleeting sense of hope that we would find the way home. And yet, here I am... standing before you, asking only for you to understand what I say is the terrible truth. I want to go home, troopers, but we need more time to find that way home.

“But you all know the truth, even if it pains to admit it. We will keep trying, but for now, there are other immediate things to attend to.

“We’ve brought war to this once peaceful planet, and now there is no escaping it. No matter how hard Silverback and his men want to go back home, they have no excuse for the methods they are using, and it is time for us to intervene. There is no going back now...

“We have united almost every known race of this planet for a common goal, let us not waste our effort! When the time comes, we will fight together, just as the USC has done for decades. We are doing what we were meant to do from the start: fight as one, live as one, under a single banner.

“We cannot let this planet be oppressed in this way, for we alone have hindered them enough. It is time, my fellow Guardsmen, to make it right. We will continue our efforts to reunite with the USC, but that must happen after we unite this planet...”

“Remember: peace through unity, peace through strength... Becker out.”

The Admiral looked away from the bridge’s main viewscreen as a technician walked over to him. “Sir... the blueprints are uploaded. Are you sure...”

“Yes, I’m sure. Forward the data to Apex and start building them.”

“But they need a Commander to be fully functional-”

“We already have one, ensign.”

Jack Silverback stood away from one of the many consoles in his colony’s control center. He had heard enough: the old man and his followers were acting up. The Infantry Commander looked at the technician managing the console and nodded. “Send word to everyone: tomorrow we attack, for Becker has taken the bait.”

After an acknowledging gesture from the woman at the console, Jack began walking. He organized his thoughts, setting away any form of doubt or fear. He had to be strong, not for himself, but for everyone. And so he walked out onto his tower’s balcony, leaning off the edge and looking at the busy colony that was below. He turned on his helmet’s integrated radio, and tuned it to the general frequency of his troops.

“Guardsmen... I beg for you to hear me.” He placed his hands upon the railings of the balcony, looking over the pseudo-city.

“Becker has begun to mobilize the remaining forces against us. Their foolishness is only underscored by their blind allegiance to the man who has seen to it we all be damned for his mistakes. This planet we have been forced to rot on may be under his shadow, and he may have united the natives against us. But I will make this explicitly clear;” he said as he raised his fist into the air, “we will not falter to meet destiny.”

“During the mutiny, we took almost everything the Vector had, and now it’s time to use it. We have both air and ground superiority, even if the primitive races of this planet are with Becker... We have ships, walkers, tanks... We will take back the Vector, and leave for our homes once again.

“As many of you by now know, and those of you who don’t, I too have a family waiting for me. The thought of having to be away from them any longer leaves a deep wound in my heart. We will heal this wound, and all of us will see our loved ones again very soon.” Silverback brought a hand to his chest, sighing.

“Understand this much, troopers,” he continued, “what we stand for now is of the greatest of importance to all of our lives. Our cause is of far too great a significance to be denied. I fear for all of your safety, but know that everything that makes you the finest forces in the galaxy will see us all through. The sacrifices will be great, but this mission above all others, demands our finest performance. Know now, that whatever the outcome is, we will all be made immortal by the stand we make here.” He closed his eyes, saying his final words before cutting off the transmission, “Gather hope and courage in your hearts... We are so close now. “

With a great heaving sigh, Silverback walked away from the comms station and walked to the balcony overlooking the backwater that was his temporary prison. With great dignity, he put his helmet back on. Several Gryphon collaborators and other guardsmen looked on.

“A storm is brewing Becker, and you will feel all of its might.”