The chapter begins with a flashback to a diplomatic meeting between Princess Celestia and the Queen of Dragons. The two species form a non-aggression pact while it is clear that both the Alicorn and the Dragon Goddess are very disappointed by the path the Hooviet Empire has taken. Then they do discuss the dragon migration route over Ponyville and where the dragons could rest. It is not only beneficial to the dragons but the tourism of the ponies does profit as well. Queen Tiamat knows that Celestia is an important ally that allowed the dragons to be accepted as individuals and not just being reduced to be seen as monsters. The world became a better and safer place thanks to this peace betweens dragons and ponies. This time Shining awakens rather normally from his dream and he points out that it is mostly a non-aggression pact but because of the friendship between Celestia and Tiamat, the Dragon Goddess would arrive to aid the Alicorn and her ponies in times of need.
And the unicorn is not alone. Cadence’s songbird is with him and they have a nice one-sided conversation. After Shining manages to talk his way out of the sickbay, he hears Cadence and her hoofmaidens scream. But it turns out that nothing too dangerous did happen. Twinkle Shine just pulled out a giant bug out of Cadence’s mane. It turns out that Celestia’s warning about life evolving close to the Alicorns is quite correct. But after all the strange events of the recent hours, days and weeks this does hardly shock Shining anymore. This is a job for the Royal Pet Handler who does recognise the insect and actually it is not that big, only about twenty percent larger then normal. This means that the normal one is already pretty big.
Shining does actually not look that horrible considering what he went through but then again he could use his shield for the majority of the battle and didn’t have to fight against Makarov directly this time. Their original schedule is completely ruined by the fact that they had to leave the country so suddenly. But they are not the only ones that had to leave so now their flotilla has three additional ships. The main problem is that two of the flags these new ships fly under are often used to conceal more questionable actions while the third one still hasn’t a good reputation. So the Equestrians are already planning to pass these ships over friendly forces for escort. Their next target is the isolationistic Maasailand but because they are a bit too early, they have to stay at their diplomatic island until it is time for the official visit. On the bright side this time they don’t have to do extended investigations if the Princess declares that this time the protection of innocent life could only be accomplished by using all means without restriction. The troops will be more then happy to have escaped this additional tension.
On the other side they still need to take care of the psychological stress the last battle did cause to the soldiers. They had to witness a brutal battle and the death and injury of countless innocents. Shining himself had killed the cyborg in battle but after Mother Deer’s explanation they do agree that death was the only salvation for the victim. They have also gotten the permission to search for the Defiant. If the Hooviets were clever, then they have just scraped the entire ship and used the metal in some nearby factory to build more war machines. The Princess will also give a speech to support her subjects and the fact that the Goddess of Harmony fought alongside them will likely assure them that they did fight for a good cause. There will also be a funeral for one body this very evening: the earth pony that Makarov forced to become a cyborg.
Celestia also sent a letter that the SEALS didn’t find anything suspicious in Ponyville anymore. Now it is a good time to inform her who was really there but it would do no harm to leave a few guards in Ponyville. After all if the rebels could get in so easily, other groups might be able to do so as well. Cadence also wants to talk with Celestia about her recent experience and that she is afraid of changing forever once she completely awakens as an Alicorn. Not as a subject or a guard but as a friend Shining does hug her and lets her know that she is not alone. He will do his best to protect her from having to rely on that power again. The unicorn also advices her to take some counselling herself, just like everybody else she just had to experience a battlefield.
Eventually it is time for the funeral and Equestrians, reformed Hooviets and rebels attend it side by side. Normally earth ponies get buried but in this case they can’t risk letting this rather disturbing technology being rediscovered. Unlike the other funerals Shining did experience so far this one is rather short and to the point. There are no friends and family members left to say something about the victim. So Mother Deer gives her blessings while the Hooviets apologise for their part in this suffering. Afterwards the Nature Goddess thanks the Equestrians for their aid and they will evacuate the villagers to a safe location. She also encountered Luna in her very first court and the Goddess of the Night is still rather awkward from having to catch up to the changes in the last 1000 years. On the other side her power does recover much quicker then that of Mother Deer whose concept is still desecrated by the Hooviets. For now she doesn’t reveal the details about the relationship between herself and the Alicorns.
On their way to the next location Shining gets a bit bored and even the radio seems harmless this time. So he begins to write his own story but doesn’t seem to make much progress until the paperclip begins to talk. It is Pandora who took the advice of “hit him over the head with the tip” a bit too literal the last time but now she is just here for fun. The Draconequus is here to help him with his manly science fiction story. Shining for some strange reason would prefer not to talk with a paperclip anymore so she takes on her normal form wearing a sci-fi cosplay. Then she explains how to write a story and how not to but in the end the best method depends on what you want to write. Shining decides to use what he knows as a basis for the design for his aliens while Pandora tries her best to inspire him. In the end he is able to have ideas for the main attack craft as well for the walking tanks the aliens would use. Before she can inspire him further he is woken up by Thunderchild. The pegasus is not only here to check up on the unicorn but also to suggest to be inserted into the book as a hero with Fluttershy as his girlfriend. But Pandora did already warn Shining about how to avoid writing Mary Sues.
Soon enough they reach Maasailand and the three civilian ships are handed over into the care of the Neighpnese flotilla. It has been a long time since diplomats were invited into the capital, 50 years had passed after the rise of the Brotherhood of the Scorpion. Apparently the ancient Brotherhood did outmaneuver the pro-Hooviet forces while doing so. Afterward they have ended most of their diplomatic activity and located the other diplomats to this island. The capital looks like a beautiful gothic nightmare with towers shaped like scorpion tails and a mysterious red glow at night. Unsurprisingly this design choice and isolated activities led to countless rumors of EVIL activity. Shining is a bit unnerved as well, especially since one of the rumors sounds strangely similar to something that could describe Makarov.
The next evening they are ready to meet the Emissary and everybody is pretty nervous about it. They have no idea what to expect, they don’t even know which species will greet them. Then zebra guards in frightening armor with an intimidating presence enter (it sounds like something Havoc would adore) and the colors both of their armor and symbol are black and red. Their leader is a bald donkey clad in leather with similar colors. He even has a goatee! His name is Inquisitor-Cardinal Vectron and the Brotherhood surely likes to add the word “peace” to many titles. After the Hooviets such wording is a bit tainted.. The interviewers are quick to point out that long and intimidating sounding titles are not necessary evil. Spike’s full name is quite long and all of Shining’s titles combined are even longer.
After a diplomatic greeting the Brotherhood is willing to open up to Equestria but first Cadence needs to answer three questions. She has to say her name, her favourite color and the intention of her quest. Amusingly she quickly adds that while purple is her favourite color, red is wonderful too. Her quest to bring more peace to the world gets his attention as he claims that this is exactly what KANE is about. It turns out that KANE is no person or god but the ideal of peace and kindness. According to their beliefs a messiah will show them which god or goddess they should worship and whose influence they should spread. After some aid by Running Gag they do realise that the Equestrian word for their ideal would be Harmony.
It gets even more hilarious when Shining dryly points out that Cadence is literally the Alicorn of Harmony. Now the Inquisitor-Cardinal wonders if Shining is the promised messiah and the prophecy does even mention “white horses” and “shining prosperity.” Now Shining gets three questions, which means seven questions. Eventually the Inquisitor-Cardinal decides that he is not the messiah and Shining couldn’t be happier. The Brotherhood certainly likes Cadence and her views but believes that only the messiah could tell them if she is truly their Goddess. The red light actually stands for love and peace and the nightly glow is meant as a message to everybody that this is a peaceful country. On the other side gold is considered an aggressive color which meant that ironically Cadence’s troops did look frightening to them.
In fact the Brotherhood gave all of their own gold to their neighbors while Shining muses that even the way they gave gold away for free must have been threatening for everybody else. But colors can have very different meanings in other countries. White can be the color of purity and goodness and it can be the color of death. Pretty soon Shining begins to enjoy this country more and more. The only downside is that all this black makes it hard to see where you go. They even have a small and docile Manticore named Aaargh.
The next target is the first Hooviet Ally with an even stranger name then the little Manticore: Djelibeybi. Its backstory is pretty sad when the good intentions of the Pharaoh to terraform the deserts began a civil war with the desert nomads. Soon the Hooviets entered the battle as well. This drove the body count even higher and the war resulted in two governments being replaced.
The country is in a mood to celebrate since the Children of the Sphinx were defeated recently. It is a conservative group that wanted to protect the habitat of the national animal, the Desert Sphinx. The government claims that they found a peaceful solution and even went through the trouble of using countless actors to convince the Equestrians that this is the case. But both their own intelligence agency and Mother Deer’s agents can confirm that Hooviet forces were the ones that brought “peace” and their activities were always close to leylines. So Makarov still got his chance to commit mass murder multiple times. Having to use a plural for mass murder is always sad. But Shining did archive two impressive victories so far, saved a lot of lives and destroyed enough of Makarov’s military equipment to ruin a small country. At this time being on a diplomatic mission means that they have to act happy about these mass murders and act friendly towards the people that tried to deceive them and apparently think that they are maroons.
