"Assent"

UNSCOE HEADQUARTERS,

CANTERLOT CASTLE, CANTERLOT CITY,

PLANET EQUESTRIA

HEARTS WARMING EVE

Thank you, November Flare, for lending your aviator services and military experience to P.O.N.I. In return, you will be most welcomed to GREENHORN-II program as long as you keep it secret to the public. It is a P.O.N.I. program, after all.

You aren't going to be the only pony who may be questioned in the end.  It isn't just the instructors at CASTLE complex. It will be also the ponies who were trusted with the program's secrecy; the guards, our technicians, and even the griffons and ponies who built the complex.

Remember; when the game is over, the queen and her pawns go into the same box.

We'll meet at the orbital shuttle station later. I've got some funds to clear up.

H.S.

-------

After responding to November Flare, Halsey Sparkle presented her pass card to the royal guard.  

This level of the Canterlot castle was dark, cold, dimly lit in a turquoise hue, and barren of any decoration. Halsey had dressed herself in her signature lab coat and carried a black leather saddlebag on her back.  She had been here several times before.

The royal guard's golden armor was still in the same fashion as it had looked 2000 years ago, yet a red visor shielding the eyes and a bullet-proof grey under layer was added to suit. A suppressed pistol was strapped to his back thigh.

The guard used the scanner on the side of his helmet to verify Halsey's card. She knew he was only guard on this level, yet he was not one to mess with. Ever since the Elements went dark, the royal guard had to be trained to overcome dangers even beyond what the Elements of Harmony/Hope could eliminate. Celestia wasn't too keen on the decision to suddenly turn her bodyguards into soldiers but due to the rising innie threat, she did it anyway.

"All clear, Ma'am. You may proceed to the conference room." The guard replied in his concrete voice

Without a thank you, Halsey proceeded through the door into more hallways.  It felt like maze down here, with each room housing a different inside. Cameras pinned to wall never strayed away from eyeing her as she hoofed to the meeting room, unafraid.

Halsey Sparkle never forgot that the light and glory of Modern Equestria and Ponykind was dimmed in PONI's dark halls.

---

Without saying word though her expedition within hallways, she made it to the meeting room.

Past the enormouse, creaking door was a round table housing all the leaders who were still loyal to UNSCOE. Now what had once been ten proud races seated in a circle had now became six different figures eying Halsey warily.  The little lighting in the room didn't touch all of them, so their forms were concealed perfectly within the shadows, unless they leaned in from their seats.  

The head of the group leaned in from the dark and revealed herself.

"You're late, Doctor Halsey Sparkle."

Halsey didn't even bother to reply with words. She gave low bow to the voice she knew well.

The voice then gestured her white hoof, which was decorated with a golden and sparkling shoe, to a chair. Halsey personally refused to take the seat in front of her.

Celestia, Princess of the Sun, was the one who spoke from other end of the table.  Celestia's multicolored mane was waving as if there was a soft breeze in the room. Being a powerful alicorn, she stood larger than the other ponies, having massive pegasi wings, a strong earth pony body, and a sharp unicorn horn.  3500 years of ruling and after she had imprisoned Nightmare Moon couldn't wrinkle her white sparkling coat, remove the authority her crown presented, or weaken the voice of strong ruler.

A strong ruler who had changed so much inside yet still held the mantle of being Ruler of Equestria.  "I still don't like you training child soldiers, Doctor."

"Do you like you planets being overrun by the insurrectionists any better?" Halsey sharply questioned. "And the Greenhorns will start fighting on the frontlines when they come of age."

Halsey grasped that fact that she should have toned down a bit when talking to a princess yet she was too stubborn to be pushed by any other pony, even Celestia.

"You are already making them come of age from all the chemicals augmentations. This further makes me question your tactics." uttered Princess Luna, who stepped from behind her sister out from the darkness.

Luna was indigo-coated sister of Celestia, the Princess of the Moon. She was also known infamously as the terrifying Nightmare Moon before she was coaxed out of her brief madness. However, she was known famously for being more active with the Ponyville's community on personal level.

Luna added "I thought you only wanted to find the Elements of Harmony. Need I remind you that reenkinling the elements and training child soldiers are two different things doctor..."

"Hope; Elements of Hope." Doctor Halsey Sparkle corrected.  What difference did a name-change have for the elements? They were just a set of magically powerful golden pieces that beckoned users.  And they were used in times of conflict as the solde option for a solution.

"Harmony," Luna argued

"Hope," Halsey grunted

"Harmony, Doctor Sparkle, Har-"

"Hope" Hasley burlted out.

"HARMONY" Luna combated in her 'Royal Canterlot Voice.

"Luna, Doctor Sparkle!" Celestia boomed "The subject of the name change for the Elements is not the subject for this meeting. Sister, please take a seat."

Luna obediently took the seat next to Celestia, with an expression of dislike directed at Halsey.

Halsey knew that both Celestia and Luna loathed her for not being as dedicated to learning 'The Magic of Friendship' as Twilight Sparkle was. Halsey explained, "Our program has created flash clones to take their place. To the public eye, nothing will have changed. And all I just need is more funding"

"Doctor, change nothing you think? You are reaching your ethical limit's brink!"; said Eldora, the Zebra Mistress.

Eldora always spoke in terms of A-A-B-B rhyme. Her headdresses and garments came in exotic, cultural, and flourishing features from the Equestrian lands and colonies belonging to the Zebra.  Halsey knew Zebras were famed for their experiments in studying 'magic', even though it could be just be as much called science or medicine.

"Sparkle, in case you are hoping this will persuade us to support your position, you are mistaken.  Flash clones die only some years or months after they are alive!" Griffon Lord 'Leo' Leonidas added twirling an end of his thick, brown, feathery, moustache.

The Lord's species, Griffons, were a cross between an eagle and a lion with the body and claws of the former fused to the legs and the tail of the latter.  A fitting combo for a majority of the Everfree Forest War veterans, Halsey thought.  In addition to that, Griffons were the UNSCOE main source for non-pony engineers and warriors.

Around the table, that everyone nodded with Eldora's and Leonidas's claims. Halsey Sparkle had to keep clam, thinking of some way to show them that her position was justified.

"We all have to make sacrifices." Halsey bought up, though she doubted it would do anything."These children will be fighting for next generation's future. They will fight to end this war sooner with all your funds."

"All I want is more funding for our species colonial projects. I never cared about what the heck happened to the lot of you," Growled the Dragon Ambassador, Thorn, from the planet 'Cinder', within the Dragon star system of the Milky Way. He was speaking though a hologram since his actual form was much bigger that the room itself and he had no ships to travel there.

A set of three nasty scars ran across Thorn's face, over-lapping his glass eye. Thorn growled deeply "If you put your credits into us rather than your namby-pamby little ponies, this innie-problem of yours could be over already."

Everyone else knew better than to give the dragons more money or to let them out of the Dragon DMZ. The winged, fire-breathing, reptile, juggernauts were loosely attached to the UNCSOE, only barrowing funds, attending meetings, and participating in trade, while raiding any hostile intruders that had flown their ships into their sector.  

--------

LORE:

In 2017 ARL, dragons were held responsible for trying to conquering the other Equestrian races - and then losing to Twilight Sparkle and her group in their final hour of victory. It was also the last time her band of six used the Elements of Harmony before they passed away.

After that, the dragons were forced to demilitarize and their society had weakened.  The UNSCOE found a fitting place for them; a set of similar planets around a red giant sun (Cinder was one of them).  Those planets were barren of any other life and hot as Tartarus. Yet it had one thing that explorers would seek and dragoons would eat; Gems. So they would at least the the beasts wouldn't go hungry or have no company other than themselves.

But dragons gained an eternally shameful name for scorching more than half of the mystical and mysterious Everfree Forest, which had triggered the war in the first place.  Hence, that's why Cranklin Mendez's great-great-great-grandfather, General Mendoza, officially called it 'The Everfree Forest Wars'

But the war showed that the dragon's size, fiery breath, ambition, and ruthlessness was no match for the better - that 'better' was alliance from different equine species.

---------

Winning the Everfree Forest Wars wasn't enough for the revenge-hungry griffons, especially Lord Leonidas.  They wanted to have all dragoons dead, seeing them as pointless thugs with too much power.

"More money? Listen you backstabbing-winged-deewb! You take all you horde from the insurrection and UNSCOE trade routes, so you have more than enough!" The Griffon Lord Leonidas replied, leaning over the table.  Halsey remembered that 'Deewb' was common griffon term used to insult others, unless they themselves were griffons.

Thorn's hologram gave a deep, low chuckle while crossing his scaled arms, leaning in closer into the table. Because he was portrayed as a blue hologram, Halsey found it hard to belive Thron was actually bigger in real life "What a shame; us dragons are free to generously finish the job...if the price is right. Other than that, we'll be around to collect all the spoils of your war."

The Eldora slammed her striped leg onto the table. "Enough! Your rivalry has nothing to with this meeting. So have silence and take your seating's!"  Slowly, both the Leonidas and Thorn backed off and returned their attention to Halsey.

When all was quite again, the donkey representative, commonly addressed as Colonel Ackerson, questioned, "What I want to know is to why a minor PONI mare with a 'PHD-in-everything-I-don't-know' would ask the council to meet here and come disagree with her ongoing heartless plan and refuse further funding it."

Halsey Sparkle narrowed her eyes at him, A.K.A. her most hated rival.  "My plan? It's to save all of us, Colonel Lames Ackerson. And I'm going to need even your funding."

But Lames Ackerson wasn't going to take any plea any day. That's what sometimes earned him medals in the UNCSOE navy; Ruthlessness and stubbornness upon the Insurrectionists and his own troops.  

"Doctor Halsey Sparkle, you know it's obviously unethical to kidnap fillies and colts all just for revenge of one planet and the safety of the colonies." Ackerson shot out, like a dictator full of hot air.  "What if your project goes out of control and then you kidnap more children? Or if the augmentations you requested from the Zebras' labs backfire? What if they discover that you hid secrets from them-"

"I told them the truth" Halsey stated. Ackerson was about to speak out again, until Celestia held up her hoof, signaling for him to be silent.

"How much of the truth did you tell?" The Princess of the Sun demanded.

Halsey didn't lower her gaze, trying to avoid portraying any fear.

"Most of it, your highness" She couldn't risk saying 'All of it,' incase Celestia found something that seemed like a lie by her judgment.

"That right there is a damn lie!" Ackerson shouted. Halsey turned red, gritting her teeth.

Ackerson turned to Celestia, "Princess Celestia, will you really believe this insane pony? You should deprive her of her position, banish her somewhere, and then lock her rump up!"

Celestia held up a hoof to silence him again "For you information, Colonel Asskerson, I trust her because great minds think alike. You, for one, are a disgrace to you own spices, more that Doctor Sparkle will ever be to ours.  Remember that top-secret black operation you were on? The one were used up the many to save such unnecessary intelligence?

Halsey couldn';t resist smirking when the Donkey Colonel retreated back into his seat, now with his face reddening. He was embarrassed that Celestia had called him by his real surname and bringing up a set of bad memories.

You poor little ass the doctor chimed to herself

Then Celestia turned to Halsey, preserving same hard look she gave the Donkey Colonel. "What did you tell the children? And how are they being tested?"

With her snout, Halsey fished for a memory card in her saddle bag that had the CASTLE Complex's entire set of camera recordings. Hopefully, she wouldn't run into any concern until she had to show their arduous and brutal training they started upon recruitment.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"See that! See that!" Ackerson leapt out of his seat and pointed at the hologram in front of all of them.  They were only about ten minutes into the presentation, where The greenhorn canidates were psuhed out of dropships by drill sergants to hear Halsey's speech.

Yet Ackerson was the only pointing it out.  "That's was you call justice, Doctor Sparkle? I call it being a war criminal! A war criminal!"

"Colonel Ackerson...Shut. The hell. Up." Leonidas ordered, groaning.  

Eldora added "Oh mules' master, you are not making this three-hour-long meeting end any faster!"

Ackerson was only breifly silenced, only to start up again, pointing to the part where Chief Cranklin Mendez was forcing them to do jumping jacks to one-hundred.  "Leaders of the Zebras and the Griffins...are both of you are supporting this?"

"If it doesn't mean giving one bit of my credits to the dragons just to see insurrectionist blood spill...then yes." Leonidas replied. "My children have to fly five hundred laps anyway just to pass an adulthood test."

"The same goes for me. Our future has a chance to change at least I see." Eldora added, shrugging. "But I doubt these warrior-ponies could return to being the colts and fillies they used to be."

Halsey Sparkle interrupted "For your information, Zebra Mistress...they actually are still their old normal selves." Even teh doctor herself expected the greenhorns to evolve into cold-hearted killers - instead they seemed to become one big family.

The only represenative to not give out his opinion was Thorn, for he had already cut his hologram transmission from Cinder - like all dragons, he was unimpressed at how ponies tried to act as tough a dragon did.   But no one cared that what the dragon representative did, as long as it wasn't another war.

------

Halsey had paused the recording of 'playground race' at day one, because the Zebra Mistress, the Griffon Lord, and the jackass colonel were arguing too loudly.  

Princess Celestia couldn't take it anymore and with her magic turned their three sets teeth into zippers, finally sealing them up.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzp!

As Eldora, Leo, and Ackerson reddened in embarrassment of their immaturity, only Halsey and the princesses at opposite ends were left to talk. Or so it seemed....

"I think Halsey is doing the right thing."

All the heads in the room tuned to a dark corner of the table where no light touched. There sat Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings.  After their failed attack on Canterlot, it took decades for changelings to fix their infamous reputation.  Chrysalis's acid green pupils illuminated the darkness of her corner. However, her wicked ebon body consisting of insect wings, a crooked horn, and holed hooves, was obscured in the darkness, not wanting to reveal itself to the light.

Chrysalis oozed out her aged voice while the tip of her fangs outlined her mouth saying, "Everything is changing, like uncontrollable newborn Changeling. Everything.We are no longer in times of peace or progression. Everyone who was at this table when the UNSCOE was formed has built an army and conquered planets.  And they all have the ability to crush any foe by staying united.  But we have not done anything together to stop this insurrection and division is in our unity. We are too weak and too separated to stand together.  If there was anything I learned from the invasion on Canterlot, it's that if you do something and keep to it united, success embraces you in the end."

"But you didn't succeed.  You never conquered Canterlot as you thought you would on that day. You literally had an army and you failed" Halsey Sparkle pointed out.

Chrysalis's acid eyes stared at Halsey. "I didn't learn from my failures, Doctor. I learned from your ancestor's success that what I was doing was a suicide mission. And I want to add to this discussion that, this insurrection of extremist ponyfolk will be our undoing if it is not stopped - they call themselves 'The United Rebel Front'...they think they even more united than the United Nations Space Command Of Equestria. They have spies, they have bombs, they have warships...how soon is it until they have our seats in this meeting room?"

"Anything else, Chrysalis?" Celestia asked, in a partly-hostile voice.

"Nothing else, Princess of the Light...other that Halsey has my vote to join her cause. Even if few must be in harm's way to save the many." finished Chrysalis, partly hostile in return.

Luna asked, "Does everyone else agree with a vote to continue funding for Doctor Sparkle's project?"

Still having their mouths literally zipped, Leonidas and Eldora nodded.  As predicted, Ackerson shook his head, angered.  Yet Princess Celestia pondered her choice.

Although the votes were leaning towards her side, Halsey had to win Celestia's dominating choice otherwise she would lose more funding and support for the project within the future. And they couldn't turn back and dump the program with three-hundred-and-three ponies that have now been drilled for months. The greenhorns must get what they need.

No...my Greenhorns...must get what they need

"Princess...can we make a deal?" Halsey Sparkle Requested.

Celestia gave sly smile in response.  It had been long time since the Princess gave such an expression; usually she was in a grim mood these days of science and machines.

"What are your terms, Doctor? I want the ponies to not only undo the insurrection but also be as much of their normal selves as possible when it's over. And I want to bring back the Elements of Harmony." The Princess of the Sun said.

Halsey took a deep breath, eyes locked on Celestia "If you get all members of the UNSCOE to lend all they can into the Greenhorn-II program and keep funding, it I will make sure as many candidates as possible will have something to live for when it is all over, after the insurrection is undone. But I cannot guarantee that this project will rekindle the elements."

Now that Halsey thought about it, the elements probably would never be bestowed on random six out of three-hundred-and-three ponies.

*POOF!*

Instantaneously as Halsey finished, Celestia materialized a scroll out of thin air in front of Halsey's snout so no one at the table else could see it.

"This is what I want you to be punished with if aren't able to do as you say. Sivereness of your failure will also depend on how many ponies pass augmentation." The Princess of the Sun demanded

Halsey opened the scroll with her own magenta magic, reading the text to herself, trembling. When she looked up Celestia's smile faded, now replaced with the returning coldness.

"Let's also raise the stakes, my little scientist," The Princess of the Sun added serntly "If you do end up finding which ponies hold the Elements of Harmony, or Hope, as you call them, I'll keep supporting your trainees, workers, and you for as long as they live, providing housing and jobs after our galactic problems are solved..."

Halsey glanced at Celestica eyes wide and then back at the contract "But your majesty, this contract doesn't have a fair..."

"We all have to make sacrifices, Halsey."Celestia smirked, interupting "And Asskerson is right; you'll either be a war criminal if you fail, or hero if you actually are able to save a good amount of your trainees form being brutalized or dead when this is over. But now you are just one more little scientist. You are dismissed from this hearing."

Halsey levitated the scroll into her saddle bag and trotted back into the dark hallways. She didn't want to bid farewell to the faces of representatives trying to study her next move.

Halsey Sparkle needed a place to think...and maybe some time to decide if signing the contract was worth it.

'my little scientist'...how dare she call me that!  Halsey thought she was anything but little. Anything, she was working on was but little.

---

After Halsey left, Ackerson (with his mouth still literally zipped) peeked under his desk and texted to his own Artificial Intelligence in his datapad.

< Halsey's project is planned to carry on. Augmentations materials are going to be shipped in.  You know what to do, Discord > Ackerson typed into the data pad. He got a response in a few moments.

The AI, whom took the form based off of the spirit of chaos, responded < With pleasure, sir; the project will not succeed and Halsey will definitely be put into custody even before the war is over. >

< Do not fail me; we only have one chance at this. >

< I have one chance - and if I fail, you still have many; I'm just a rampant AI nearing death. Lolololololololol.... > the Discord AI responded.

Lames Ackerson couldn't understand the last part. But his ''Discord AI' was starting to get crazier these days...

---

Meanwhile, Chrysalis's fangs gleamed in hope.  She was reading all about the GREENHORN-II program on her data pad; Griffons had become engineers of CASTLE complex as well as arranging the training scenarios, The Zebra shipped medical supplies and even took the role as doctors and scientists at the complex.

A united summit was starting to form - it was just the full dedication of dragoons, changelings, and donkeys were missing.

But both Asskerson and Thorn were jealous that only ponies could become bearers of the Elements of Harmoney.  And they also envied the ponies' progressive history.

Chrysalis felt she had to convince Halsey to allow her changelings aboard, too.  The queen just had to find a way.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

After some time and 1 week of augmentations and still going

----------------------------------------------------------------

CHIEF PETTY OFFICER CRANKLIN MENDEZ'S OFFICE

CASTLE complex

PLANET SIGMA CLOPODIA

"With all due respect ma'am...What the hay were you thinking back then, Sparkle?!"   Chief Mendez roared shifting his eyes between Halsey and Celestia's contract. After some time Sparkle had just given it to the cheif to look at; she didn't anticipate Mendez to become so enraged.

A thick trail of dark grey smoke came from a Sweet Apple Cigar hanging under Mendez's newly grown moustache. Halsey had to wipe away the aroma of smoke from the cigar tip in order to avoid collapsing from lack of oxygen.  All the time, Mendez's colorless office smelled like Sweet Apple Cigars from dawn till dusk.

In his booming drill sergeant voice, Cranklin Mendez read Celestial's scroll aloud:

"In exchange for continuous support and blah, blah, blah, for the GREEHORN-II program no matter what and blah, blah, blah, If Doctor Halsey T. Sparkle is unsuccessful in retaining as much of the greenhorns candidates individuality and sociality to our standards, she will be sentenced to life-in-confinement with PONI prison facility on-

"Luna's Moon." Halsey exhaled dryly.

Luna's Moon was Equestria's primary satellite other than the sun and was named after Princess Luna, yet in reminder of the punished she went though there was a the gulag for the worst criminals PONI had set up on the dark side of the moon.

"Doctor, you are insane in your head just as sane as you look." Mendez lectured, attempting to talk Halsey out of signing the contract. "You absolutely are no good to anypony if they find you as a dead unicorn in prison."

Halsey Sparkle took a deep breath of whatever clean air there was in the room while trying to hold a stern face. She knew that Corncob Keyes would be depressed for the rest of his life if she was jailed. The Greenhorns would be demoralized, for they lost her - the only possible motherly figure at the complex - and they were beyond returning to their original families now.

"Chief, there is no going back now. We have kidnapped them, drilled them, and now they are currently being augmented. Then in a couple months, I am planning to put them into MUSTANG mark-4 armor.  We have come too far to go back."

Mendez seemed to be taken aback by what Halsey said, to the extent the sweet apple cigar fell out of his mouth. "The griffons are already working on their armor? This early, ma'am?"

Halsey nodded "By the time its complete, the Greenhorns will be able to use effectively without-"

Lyra's mini hologram popped up on a projector on Mendez's desk. She was also emitting a high pitched beeping sound, like a siren.  The cyan artificial intelligence's face looked pretty grave.  She seemed to trembling, while still in her  bipedal stance.

"Report Lyra," Mendez demanded, picking up his fallen cigar with his mouth and then spitting it in the trash.

Lyra couldn't speak at first but the beans spilled out anyway "Sir...Augmentations have been sabotaged. Several Candidates are reported dead or disabl-"

"What?! By who?! How many trainees are still alive?!" Halsey shrieked in the snout of the AI's Avatar.  She knew not every trainee was going to pass or survive the augmentations...but if the program had been sabotaged, then there was going to more blood on Halsey's hooves than expected.

Lyra trembled then uttered silently "...one hundred and forty nine out of three hundred and three random ponies are completely functional, except for some minor side effects."

Mendez then shouted at the top of his lungs "What the hell? Who could breach this facility's network, and start killing MY TRAINIEES?!"  At the last two words, the room vibrated and a window shattered next to Halsey.

She saw for first time the battle-hardened, forest-camouflage-coated unicorn go into a meltdown; they were, after all, his kids too.

"Discord..." Halsey whispered, realizing that Lames Asskerson was still trying to bring her project down.  She remembered the donkey colonel had Artificial intelligence of his own; it was based off of Discord, a spirit of disharmony with the body consisting of parts from too many creatures for anypony to remember.  

"Huh?" Mendez wondered.

"...Dammit!" the doctor cursed under her breath. She stormed out of Mendez's office, galloping to the augmentation labs.

---------------------------------

LORE:

The real Discord (who was redeemed for his wickedness in 3 ARL and 'fell' during the Everfree Forest Wars) could unleash a chaos that was far greater than Equestria had ever seen - Until the invention of the HAVOC nuke.