The door into the dark room opened with a small hiss. A dark figure groped for the switch that would light up the buzzing lights at the ceiling. Finally, her hoof found it. “Ahh! Please don’t scare me like that!” Luna screamed as she noticed the visitor in her room.

“It was you who brought me here, so get used to it.” Echidna grinned, showing a row of long sharp teeth. “I can go and come back another time to give you my report.” She jumped off the large couch she was lying on and stepped over to the mirror next to the bed. “You should be thankful that I’m still here with my unfortunate state.” The changeling queen carefully rubbed over her significantly swollen stomach. Her long silver mane flowed as she sulkily looked over at Luna. It was just too much fun to play with her.

“Like this would be something new for you. How many daughters have you now?” Luna had overcome the first moment of shock now and stepped into her room. The door behind them closed, and she carefully took off her silvery shoes.

Echidna just grinned and tapped against her chin. “I think my fourth or fifth. You’ll lose the count so easily next to all these drones. Not that I don’t love them, but if you’d know what a burden these eggs are until you can lay them somewhere…”

“Really?” Luna raised a brow. “You’re mocking me about something you know I envy you of? I thought we were friends.”

“You think it’s a gift to get pregnant every time you’ve been with a stallion? No matter which species? The urge to feel forever like a mare that is caught up in her lust like she was in heat? Depending on the love of others? I haven’t chosen that life, others chose for me.” Luna remained silent. “Ah, I’m just joking. Sex is awesome, and I love all of my children.” She leaned over the bed between her and Luna. “And don’t tell me you hadn’t enjoyed the time we had together.”

“We were still almost foals, and I thought we had agreed to never speak of that again!” Echidna grinned as she saw Luna’s red face. The princess took a deep breath and calmed down. “So, who is the father?”

“Nice that you ask. A human.” Luna kept a straight face. “You’re not the only one who can get one, my dear. If I learned one thing in the last few years here, then it is that they are very interesting creatures. They seem to have a certain magical resistance. I can’t always take what I need.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, just that no one else on Albion has it as you know. Every species here has some magic. Even the griffons can walk on clouds thanks to it. They don’t have a magical body like you ponies but can still do it.” Usually it was more fun to squeeze the information out of her victims. “And then it can’t be that such a civilization just comes out of nothing. Undetected. Don’t you want to tell me something now?”

“I don’t know what I should tell you. You know the answers already.”

“Indeed, party pooper.” Echidna stopped for a second. “Oh, she kicked me. Even my unborn daughter agrees with me.”

“The report, Echidna. I’m not in the mood tonight.”

The queen let the smile disappear from her face and looked directly into Luna’s eyes. “Very well. I’ve followed some humans to a camp a bit outside of town. If you walked past it, it looks just like another normal apartment building, but underneath the earth, it goes down deep. Very deep. I would never let my children dig this deep; it’s too dangerous. It’s a wonder that Gaia hasn’t shown up yet. She would never allow someone to act this way with her element. Steel is being rammed into the ground. A dagger in her flesh. I don’t know what they are doing down there, but it is important enough that a small unit with heavy weapons is patrolling in the area, dressed as normal soldiers so that no one will suspect anything. Then, of course, there are their sensors and cameras.” The Princess of the Night was silent and rubbed her forehooves against each other in deep thought. “If you think Antheon has something to do with it, I have to disappoint you. He’s just as clueless as you are about what’s going on down there.”

“I think I know what is being built down there.” Luna went to her nightstand and opened to top drawer. Echidna saw her pulling out a small crystal between some clothes. “I hadn’t shown it to you at the time so that you would have approached it unbiased.” She levitated it between them and let the hologram appear in the room. For a few seconds, Echidna studied the war machine that levitated in front of her in full details.

“Nice toy. But with their energy shortage, they won’t have the means to run it. How many robot factories have been shut down in the last month? Ten? It would just be a big pile of scrap metal.”

“I have studied their technology over the last years, Echidna, starting from their little necklaces that let them speak our language up to their simple weapons like pistols. Also a bit of robotics. With only a few changes, most of what they create can be fueled by magic.”

“But your sister still denies them the access to it, right?”

Luna nodded. “Indeed. But we are not the only ones with knowledge of magic. Now, I am not saying that you would teach them.”

“A race with potential for violence and that can breed so fast would not be in my interest to be taught such knowledge. You know that I have to agree with your sister. It is better for the peace on Albion.”

“No. Two years ago, the humans started another expedition. They came in contact with the zebras.”

“That looks like them. For them, every creature is equal. They would teach anyone who wants to be taught. It’s in their blood.”

“Then you see what I was thinking. If some of them really learned how to channel magic, it would be enough for the human’s course. They can’t cast spells, but they don’t need to. I am sure they will find a way around it.”

“So, what now, Luna?”

“What now?”

“This is your problem, not mine. I’m just helping a good old friend.” Luna smiled at her and let the hologram disappear. “I will have to go back soon to see if everything is alright with my children.”

“If the facility is as large as you say, they must be getting resources from Heaven Tower. If we can’t find out who it is, they will just start over again if we stop them there.”

“You really want to send in an intervention team?” Luna didn’t reply; she instead just pushed the crystal back into her drawer and casted a spell over it. “Fine, if you want to be this way, I will be on my way then.” Echidna left the room through the door and changed her appearance. “Where did I put that stupid necklace?” She searched through the pockets of her clothes that she had created with the transformation. “Ah, here.” Carefully, she placed the universal translator over her chest. Not that she needed it. She spoke each of the three languages on this planet nearly perfectly without accent. “But I gotta hand it to the humans,” she said to herself as she looked down her body. “I can understand their fixation on breasts.”

A quiet knocking at the cabin door woke Blue Light from his light sleep. “Your Majesty, we will arrive in Amissa Heaven shortly.”

He rubbed his eyes and pushed the book aside that had fallen out of his magical grip when he was lying on his bed and reading it. Strange how he preferred this position for reading while most other ponies preferred to lie on their stomachs. But that was something the young stallion rarely thought about. “Thanks, Lieutenant,” he answered through the closed door of his little room on the Sunny Ray, the largest airship the Equestrian fleet had to offer. Sure, he could have taken one of the suites, but sleeping in the bed of his mother or aunt seemed strange to him. He could hold it out here for a week as well.

It was over now. Accompanied by a yawn, he packed together the few things he took with him on the journey. Ever since his aunt Luna had begun residing in the city of the humans, he had wanted to see it. But the political situation was delicate, as his mother put it, and it was enough that Luna was ignoring that. But now she could no longer deny him that. He had gotten his cutie mark, two crescents that formed a circle with a magical bolt in between. His talent was similar to his father’s, he was told. Transformation magic was the rough word he knew to describe it. However, a cutie mark was deeper than that. It was basically a portrait of a personality. One could try as much as they wished, they simply could not describe a pony, a personality, in one word. His interest for technology had always been present, and he was now following this call after gaining his cutie mark by transforming an apple into a banana.

Of course his mother was still against it, but Blue Light had used her own words against her. “Everypony has to find his place in the big picture.” That was easier said than done. He had packed everything he could fit into his small saddlebags and ordered the Sunny Ray to leave the harbour. He ignored his mother’s thoughts about that order.

Carefully, he placed his books in his bags, together with his toothbrush and the stupid circlet with Equestria’s sigil, something his mother had made for him when he was a bit younger. He had removed the tracking spell on it years ago already. Not that he was doing something forbidden, but from time to time, his mother just needed to trust him. At least he hadn’t noticed anything so far that showed that she was watching him again.

Now that everything was packing in the bags, he levitated it onto his back, careful not to clamp his wings under it. Blue Light loved to fly… about five meters over the ground. Vertigo was rare for pegasi; even more so for alicorns, simply because there were only four of them. Cadence loved to fly, but on the other hoof, she was much worse in magic. When he was younger, she had to watch over him a few times, and sometimes he had to open a door for her. She had just started learning magic then despite being a few years older than him.

The ship came to a sudden stop that almost made Blue Light lose his balance. “I think we’ve arrived,” he mumbled and risked a peek out of the porthole. Unfortunately, he was only greeted by a grey wall. He would have loved to see the city from above, but that could wait until later. From what he had heard, Heaven Tower reached up into the clouds.

Quickly, he left his cabin and rushed through the corridors. At the last moment, he stopped again and adjusted his sleep-rumpled hair. If he had learned one thing from living in the castle, then it was to wear a mask. His mother had always done it. She seemed so stern and authoritative, but sometimes was just a little foal as he was if she wanted to. He hadn’t seen his aunt personally in a while. Only through letters and dreams did he talk with her. Humans only lived for about hundred and fifty years, and she wanted to spend all this time at the side of Antheon. He looked one last time over his appearance in a mirror before entering the deck where the crew was busy arranging everything for stopover before they would fly back to Equestria. Without him.

“Your Majesty!” the captain saluted as he saw him. “I report that we arrived in Amissa Heaven without complications. We will collect water and supplies, give the crew some shore leave, and will return back to the hailing port tomorrow. We expect to set sail early in the morning.”

Light nodded at him and smiled, just as he had learned. “Thanks, captain. However, that won’t be necessary. As you know, I will stay here for a while.”

“Orders of her Majesty, Princess Celestia, your Highness.” He leaned forward a bit. “Just in case.” Again he nodded at the older pony and stepped on the plank that led off-board. He hadn’t looked at it until now, but it seemed like they were in a large hall. The dock behind the Sunny Ray was open, and he saw more airships in all sizes that were coming and going. Some wore the banner of the few remaining free cities from the Leylands, others the banner of a griffon’s clan. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see anything from the city from here unless he was to fly out into the air traffic. This would not just be completely against him, but it was also very dangerous. Pegasi collided with ships from time to time. It never went well for them.

Light’s eyes wandered back into the hangar. Everything seemed to be made out of some kind of metal: the floor, walls, and ceiling. Everything was grey. The only thing that stuck out was the supporting pillars even if they were only slightly brighter than the rest. The gangway, as he thought was the wider path that led towards the ship was called, was overflowing with crates and barrels. Probably the supplies the captain was talking about.

A buzzing that came from a door he noticed a second later carried his attention away from the crates. Various human soldiers entered the dock. In the middle was his aunt and another human in formal clothing. His appearance led him to the conclusion that this was Antheon. “Blue Light, nephew! It is so nice to see you,” Luna’s voice sounded through the room. She didn’t even need her magic for that. “I hope you had a good trip?” The soldiers formed a semicircle next to both of them and stood at attention, long strange weapons hanging over their shoulders.

Before Light could answer, however, the human he suspected to be Antheon stepped forward. “I am happy to welcome you here, Prince. I hope you pardon our small delay. We came here as soon as we heard the Sunny Ray has arrived. My name is Antheon, current General Field Marshal of Amissa Heaven.” He got on his knees and reached out a hand.

Eagerly, the young alicorn placed its hoof into the open hand and let the human do the shaking. It was a bit different than the usual pony greeting, but his teacher had explained to him that the hands of humans were sensitive. Giving your hand into another was a sign of trust and respect. “Thank you for welcoming me, General Field Marshal. And of course you too, Aunt Luna. This wasn’t necessary.” Etiquette. He probably would have been lost after five minutes. Or rather two. “The travel was calm, and I read through some books.” His horn glowed as he pulled one out. “Your First Computer and You. It’s a bit simple but explains the technology rather well. But without having one of these computers around, it is hard to practice what I have learned.” Antheon grabbed the book out of the air and skimmed through it. Then he laughed.

“Sorry. I didn’t want to be rude, but this is a book for kids. They get it when they start to go to school.”

“Yes, that would explain a lot of things,” Light admitted and turned slightly red. “But you have to start at the beginning if you want to learn something, right?” In the corners of his eyes, he saw his aunt trying not to laugh about his little faux pas. Surely he would have understood a more advanced book as well, but he had to save face.

“Sure. Shall we?” Antheon pointed at the door they had just came through and let the soldiers lead the way. Luna walked next to him and quickly nudged his wing.

“Nice save, nephew.” She grinned and winked at him. Light didn’t know why exactly, but Luna was far more open to him since he had his cutie mark. She even entered his dreams more often to play with him for a bit.

The hallway behind the door was a completely different world. Carpeted floor instead of metal, lamps that glowed without magic or fire shone at the walls, and more of those strange doors in a row. One hissed behind them, and a human stepped out of them. They all wore some robust clothing, so they must have been in the workers quarters of the docks now. Then he collided with something.

“Maybe you should keep an eye out on where you are walking?” Antheon asked, against whose legs he walked. Confused, Light looked around saw that they were all squeezing into a small room. One of the soldiers pushed with a finger on a button, and in the next moment, the door closed behind him. Panicked, he looked up to Luna, but she only grinned. Then everything began to move, and he screamed, startled. Would there have been enough room, he would have unfolded his wings and have turned around.

“Sorry, but the reaction of ponies to our elevators never gets old. You should have seen your aunt on her first day here.” Luna’s giggling died. “So, tell me a bit about yourself. How old are you?”

“Umm…” Light had caught himself again and adjusted his wings at his side. “I will turn fourteen soon, General Field Marshal.”

“I think we can drop the formalities, right? One could think we all had a stick up our ass.” Some of the soldiers grinned briefly and nodded.

“Pardon?”

“Ah, sorry. Just a saying here.”

“Antheon wants to say that we don’t have to follow any etiquette here, nephew. We are among friends.”

“So, Blue Light, what exactly do you want to learn here?”

“What do you meant, Antheon, sir?” The human looked down at Luna.

She just slightly shook her head. “My sister’s parenting is just too deep in his bones. I think he will loosen up over time.”

“Which subjects do you want to study? We have robotics, computer technology…” the human began to list, but didn’t get very far.

“Everything.”

“Come again?”

“I want to learn everything.”

Author's Notes:

Well, well, well. Does the names Echidna or Blue Light ring a bell?
Both were mentioned earlier in the story. Who remembered when?
(And like I said, even some off comments can hold valuable information)

Thanks to Gron for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

And give their story a try too:
Contact