Rewrite the Stars: A Voltron Love Story

by MaggiesHeartLove

You've heard the story of The Princess and the Paladin, now see what happens next. A paladin with a shadowy past. A princess with a dream for the future. New feelings among friends. Old faces join the fight. An ongoing war. A prince torn. A truth hidden waiting to be uncovered. It's the legend of Voltron... with a twist.

2. An Ember in the Ashes

All this time

From the first tear cry

To today's sunrise

And every single moment between

You were there

You were always there

It was You and I

You've been walking with me all this time

-All this time, by Britt Nicole

An Ember in the Ashes

"Faster! Wield faster!" The Galra soldier bellowed, loading his laser gun which prompted the starving, sweat stained alien to hammer the burning hot metal. Alongside him, more aliens of the same appearance, gray skinned with dark blue spots adorning their shoulders, forearms, legs and scalps, worked alongside him. They had no hair, yet the markings around their foreheads were different. No two were exactly alike. Their arms were long, and their legs resembled that of raptor's.

Men and women, young and old molded liquid metals into weapons for their oppressors. Some were formed into the base for a laser gun, others were elongated blades that could cut through skin with one swing. Knifes, guns, cannons, all sorts of deadly weapons built for war. The poor aliens wobbled as they went from place to place within their workshops, each one guarded by a sentry and their legs chained to the ground. The excruciatingly heavy, shackles making their movements even slower.

Their bodies began to wither. They had very little to eat, and rarely got any breaks, if ever. In the span of a couple days, they managed to create a massive number of weapons for the Galra. Since the Olkari had been freed from their rule, finding new workers to supply them with more weapons proved difficult until they doubled the workload on this one planet they had conquered a year ago.

"These blacksmiths aren't as quick as the Olkari. But, their work speaks for itself." said one Galra soldier, standing alongside his general. The general grinned, flashing his ferociously sharp fangs.

"Indeed. But we can make them work faster. They simply need some motivation." The general made his way through the crowd of ragged workers, spotting one of the young blacksmith children. The little one was hurrying to bring his tiresome father the supplies he had requested. The chains around his ankles made it harder for him to move faster. His frail arms gave way and everything he held fell to the ground.

His father turned, ready to rush to his son's side, but was stopped by the sentry. "Please, my son needs help!" he begged.

The little boy frantically picked the items from the ground, then gasped once a shadow loomed over him, blocking the scorching hot sun. The little boy trembled as the General grabbed him by the back of his shirt, the shackle weighing him down.

The father tumbled over as he tried to reach the doorway opening of his shack. "Please, spare him! He didn't mean any harm!"

"I've noticed you've been taking longer than you should have, old man." The General sneered, holding the child up higher. The little boy wanted to scream in pain, but his throat had gone dry. "Either you or your little helper pick up the pace…" the general took one of the already finished blades and held it up to the boy's almost bony neck. "Or I will be forced to take drastic measures."

"No! No, please, have mercy!"

"Then get back to work! Double time!"

A beam of light came shooting right near the general's head, causing him to tumble back in alarm. He inadvertently released the boy who fell to the ground. The general sharply turned around, his golden eyes scanning his soldiers, only to see one having his gun pointed directly at him. A perplexed look on his face as he looked from his gun then back at the general.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

"I-It wasn't me, General!" The soldier stammered, beams of sweat forming on the corner of his exposed cheek. "I don't know what happened!"

Another beam came at the general, narrowly missing him just above his helmet covered head. He spun around to see another of his soldiers wielding his gun at him. The same look of confusion was edged on his face as well, even with his eyes covered.

The soldier held his gun down, with one hand up in surrender. "General, I assure you, it wasn't-"

More beams were shot. One striking one of their robot sentries. Then another, this time taking down two to three in a row. One of the soldiers found his arms suddenly pull the trigger on his laser gun, against his own will, and a beam shot out, striking the ground beneath another fellow soldier, knocking him back down.

Before his comrade could explain what happened, the other began shooting back at him. Before long, the entire campsite erupted into a battle between fellow Galra soldiers. The blacksmiths ceased their work, hiding further within their huts, shielding their loved ones. Inside, one of the workers found the chain around her shackles melt due to an intense heat that seemed to have generated out of thin air. The heat broke the shackles, and proceeded to free the other workers one by one.

One of the elderly workers gasped when a strange creature on all fours with a curved horn and multicolored streaked mane manifested before her eyes. She held her wing thumb over her mouth, shushing everyone.

"There's a hidden refuge on the south side. They won't find you there, but you have to get out of here right now. Hurry!" the creature disappeared into nothingness. The workers did as she had instructed, not once questioning who or what she was. All that mattered was escaping these monsters.

More and more villagers were liberated, all the while the soldiers kept fighting one another. Lasers were being shot all around, even the general took part of the barbaric display of dominance. He wielded one of the weapons from the blacksmiths and attempted to bring down those who dared to attack him fist. He stopped upon seeing his slaves, now mysteriously freed, running off into the forest nearby.

"You idiots! They're escaping!" The General shouted, his voice being drowned out from all the madness. "They're getting a-AH!" The Galra general was pushed down to the ground by a beam which stunned him from the back. He landed on the ground, a pile of unused guns fell down upon him in a metallic heap, pinning him to the ground.

Several of the soldiers spotted the workers running off and rushed to apprehend them. A long stick floated up without them noticing, and in one go the entire group tripped. One soldier could have sworn he heard a girly giggle coming from thin air.

One final blacksmith was released as he quickly joined the others. "That's the last of them." said a voice.

"Go on without me."

"Where are you going? Ember!" the voice asked, but his friend was already off. The invisible creature unleashed a powerful beam from her mouth and aimed directly at one of the huts, setting it on fire. The flames spread out, engulfing the campsite. The soldiers stopped their fighting upon seeing the destruction of their slaves' workplaces. The general was assisted out of the pile by his men, his head foggy for a moment. Once he regained clarity, he angrily shoved his helmet off of him, horrified at the sight of the camp being destroyed.

"Grab the weapons!" he ordered. The soldiers scattered, risking getting burned as a result, in order to spare at least a decent amount of weapons that hadn't been lost in the fire. They fled the scene, returning to their ships and prepared to leave.

The General, his face bruised from his fall, and part of his helmet cracked, let out a furious roar at his humiliating defeat. He angrily turned to his soldiers, all of which straightened their posture, while gulping. Their general was known for many things in the Empire.

His mercy was not one of them.

(~)

The workers camp burned down, leaving no trace left. The workers watched from a far enough distance, hidden within the trees, the smoke masking the path. The little boy from before hugged his father, and he led the others to the south side, where the creature said they would find the others who managed to escape the Galra's enslavement. They would come back eventually, no doubt, but for now, they were free.

Behind a large trunk, the creature from before appeared. She watched as the workers fled deeper into the forest. Her eyes caught sight of the little boy looking around, no doubt for her. She was tempted to step out and wish him luck, but withheld herself. She had already risked exposure by revealing herself once already, if only to let them know she wasn't a threat. For now, it was enough that the little boy would be with his family.

The creature felt that oh, too familiar longing in her heart once more.

As she watched on, two more creatures appeared beside her. Like herself, they were four legged scaly creatures with clovern hooves, long lion-like tails, bat-like wings, long flowing manes and three horns sticking out from their skulls. One curved horn stuck from their foreheads.

"That… was… amazing!" The yellow and pink colored creature with a blue mane, adorned with a single pale streak running down, leaped for joy, her legs bucking as her wings flapped, taking her upwards and she did an air flip. "You were like-woosh!- first you're here, then you're there! And I was all like-shoot! shoot! Take down!-and then Comet swooped in and those metal thingies started sparking when he shot 'em with-!"

"Yeah, we know. We literally just lived it." the other creature, a male with a dark colored mane and blue, green and yellow coloring covered his friend's mouth with his wing. He turned to the red female creature, still observing the villagers disappear from sight.

"You're sure they won't run into the herd."

"Relax, Comet. The herd if located on the far east side, their camp is on the south. We'll be fine."

"Yeah, take a chill pill, cuz." The yellow female said.

"You don't even know what that means, Silver Star."

"Ember said her Uncle Lance used to say it to Coran whenever he got looney."

Comet groaned in exasperation. "Okay, okay, we got them out, mission accomplished. Can we please go now before those purple freaks come back? Or worse, my aunt and mother find out we're gone again?"

Ember nodded her head. "Yeah, let's head back. By the way Comet, you were pretty great back there." Ember patted Comet on the back with her wing before walking on ahead. Comet's cheeks turned a bright crimson.

"I-I was?"

Silver Star playfully pushed him with her side, giving him a knowing smirk. This only made Comet's face turn redder as they made their way back to the herd.

Silver Star giggled as she trotted happily down the forest path. "That was almost as fun as when we went to that planet a couple months ago and you saved that farmer's flock from a predator. Or that other time when you stole one of the Galra's laser things and pretended to be a ghost to scare them into letting this family of Shimmers free. Or that other time, when you got us to fly to that "Mountain of No Return" to find those healing berries to give to that sick lady. Or, or that other time when-"

"Okay, Sil, we get it." Comet interrupted. "This isn't the first time we've done something incredibly dangerous."

"If we hadn't done anything, those Shimmers would be dead now." Ember said with a flick of her ear. The single pink earring dangled, capturing the sunlight on its surface. "Their scales would have been used as armor for the Empire. And that little girl's mother needed that medicine because the Galra took all of their resources. And these poor villagers would have been worked to death. Literally."

"We know, Ember. The Galra are bad news." Comet said.

"They're more than bad news." Ember said, "Haven't you noticed that almost every planet we've been to in the past five months, there's been some kind of Galra influence? They're spreading more and more everyday, and more people are suffering for it. Including us."

"I understand, I do. But don't you think we're placing ourselves at risk by getting involved too?" Comet asked.

Ember became silent, turning her head. Ears pressed against her head. Comet sighed. He hated it when she got upset, especially when it came to her unorthodox ways of seeing the world around her. It's what made her different from other longma. How wide her thoughts seemed to go, almost as endless as space itself. Comet often saw the world restricted to the herd, while Ember saw the entire universe. It was both inspiring, and overwhelming all at once.

"I'm just trying to look out for you. I don't want to see you or anyone get hurt."

"I can take care of myself." Ember said in a monotone voice as she forcibly made her way pass Comet. The longma had her eyes glued to the ground, only to stop at the sight of a pair of familiar hooves. She gasped and took a step back, looking up she came face with face with a pair of stern aquamarine eyes.

"Nebula!"

"Mom!"

"Aunty Neb!"

"Off on another one of you're heroic escapades, Ember?" The older longma kept her posture straight. She radiated with the same discipline that was carried for every soldier out there.

"I-It's not what it looks like." Ember said, stuttering. She already knew she had lost the argument before it had even had the chance to start.

(~)

Ember had spent five months with the longma herd ever since Keith and Allura chose to let her be with her own kind. For a long while, Ember had delighted in being with creatures just like herself. They taught her so much the paladins wouldn't have been able to teach her.

They taught her how to shoot a variety of beams from her mouth and how to fly properly. She learned how to manipulate her scales to blend into her environment, making her invisible to everyone else. Ember was especially surprised when she learned her horn had the power of telekinesis. It would have come in handy when she was back at the castle ship.

While flying proved to be a bit of a challenge due to her artificial wing, something no longma had ever seen before, Ember was a plucky young soul and refused to give in so easily. The events of her mother's untimely death motivated her to be stronger, to fight her own battles rather than be afraid to face them. Just like the paladins, they didn't run from danger, they faced it to help others. Their lives mattered more than their own worries.

She also slowly grew out of her phobia of fire. Whenever she saw it, she would remember Uncle Lance's Red Lion's fire power, and how he used it for good. Some of the older longma taught her breathing techniques that greatly helped with her fear, as well as the occasional nightmare.

The best part was Ember made plenty of friends rather quickly. Silver Star was relatively easy to befriend, while Comet took a while due to his shyness. Over time, they grew to become almost inseparable. But, while there were some benefits, life with the herd was no paradise.

When Ember and the others returned to the herd, Nebula taking the lead, her head held erect as she walked with elegance and control. Several longma, primarily teen longma around Ember's age, stared down at her. Some whispered, while others straight up ignored her. Ember knew better, though. They were perfectly aware of her, they just acted like they didn't see her just to prove a point. The adults weren't any better. They would sometimes advice their children to watch their backs around Ember.

This bothered her for a couple of reasons. Number one was because it was hard to be among your own kind, and yet still feel different. The second was because what made her different was something she could never be ashamed of.

The other longma never had any experience with other aliens, nor had they ever formed any connection with them in generations. Any experiences they did have with other aliens weren't positive ones. They were either hunted for their horns and scales, skinned alive for decor, or kept as attractions for a circus or a zoo. Ember was by far the only longma who had anything positive to say about other aliens.

She had spent time with the creatures who called themselves the Paladins of Voltron. Ember would fascinate her friends with the tales they told her, describing each one of them in detail, and the amazing things their castle ship and lions could do. How they saved lives every day and were working day and night to defeat the Galra and free the universe. They inspired hope for those who couldn't fight for themselves.

Her time with them wasn't long, but for a longma, it felt like a lifetime. Longmas aged faster mentally than they would physically. While Ember was still very young in development, being almost a year old , her mentality was now similar to that of a ten to twelve-year-old earth child.

The longma were able to adapt to their surroundings become invisible to the naked eye by shifting their skills. They weren't on genius levels to know about mathematics or the specifics of how a ship would operate, but more so in adaptability, observation and creativity. Ember was able to figure out how the sentries activated their laser guns just by observing them pull the trigger. These skills were how they managed to survive and stay hidden most of the time, so long as they didn't stray from their herd.

As of now, they were the few remaining herds that still roamed the galaxy. Others either got separated, were killed by chance, or died of old age. The longma of Ember's herd left nothing to chance.

But by far, the longma that gave Ember the hardest time was now standing before her, alongside her sister Nebula. The longma herd leader was as captivating as she was fierce. Both sisters looked as different as night and day, with Celeste having more bright colors with a purple mane, yet Nebula had darker purple colors like the night and a mane as bright as a ruby in the sunlight, softly shaded with hues of violet.

Silver Star and Comet stood on opposite sides of Ember, all three looking up at the leader with remorse. Though, more so Comet and Silver Star, Ember simply looked drained. Tired before she even spoke.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourselves?" Celeste asked.

Ember spoke up first, though she didn't meet her gaze. "It was my idea. I talked them into it."

Celeste gave her sister a look. "Nebula, why don't you take Comet and Silver Star to the river. I'm sure they're thirsty from their little adventure."

"Actually, Mom, I'm fi-" Silver Star began, but was silenced when Comet covered her mouth with her wing.

"No problem, Aunt Celeste."

Nebula led the kids away, leaving her sister alone with Ember. The older longma gave Ember a sympathetic look before leaving. Silver Star and Comet too gave her their silent looks that read "good luck". She knew them well enough to understand their non verbal exchanges.

Celeste let Ember to a small hill, overlooking the herd, either eating, talking, sleeping, or the young ones playing around with each other.

"Ember, what do you see?"

"Here we go again." Ember muttered under her breath.

"What do you see?" Celeste repeated, more firmly this time.

"The herd."

"Yes. As leader, it is my job to protect them from any threat. Which is why is it crucial that we stay together as a unit, and away from danger. We don't go around looking for it."

Celeste's tone was strict, yet it never rose in volume. She inspired both respect and security to her followers. Her temper never flared, but it was never hard to know when she was angry or disappointed. Ember kept her eyes on the herd, eyes narrowed, not saying a word. Celeste knew this wasn't the first time this had happened. This little longma was very difficult, yet Celeste knew why.

"Ember… don't you think it's time to leave the past in the past?" her words made Ember's ear flick. She had her attention now, but Celeste knew that wasn't a victory. "I know they saved your life, and I will be forever grateful to them for having returned you to your kind. But whatever their battle is, it does not concern us. Nor does it concern you."

Ember finally dared to face her. "Haven't you noticed there's hardly any safe place for us anymore? We're constantly traveling from one planet to another, and so far almost all of them have been touched by the Galra. Even the places the herd had been years before are no longer safe. Meanwhile, innocent lives are suffering every single day, and here we are just hiding in plain sight doing nothing about it."

"What do you suggest, then?"

"Why can't we help? Maybe we won't be able to face an entire Galra fleet, but at least help the people who can't fight."

"I'm sure the paladins will reach them eventually. You keep saying they're doing all they can to defeat these Galra creatures, right?"

"Well, yeah, but it's not only them. They've got allies and friends who fight alongside them too. They're inspiring everyone to fight back, I just don't understand why we can't do the same thing."

"Ember, you need to un-"

"You didn't see what we did back there. We freed an entire campsite with just three of us. Imagine what our entire herd could be able to do together!"

"Are you suggesting we place our own lives on the line and risk all we've done to preserve what we have left? You'd allow children and families to risk their lives for a battle in which we may not even win? Just because we can fight, doesn't mean we'll survive. If anything, we'll die even faster! Is that what you want?!"

Ember backed away and hung her head in regret. She always hated arguing with Celeste about these things, and deep down she knew the leader made valid points. Still, the reality of the situation just wouldn't leave her.

"Ember, I admire your courage and your compassion. But if you keep trying to play the hero you'll be endangering your life and the lives of others. Our herd doesn't take risks. Risks cost lives and we can't afford to lose anyone else."

"But isn't all of this jumping around risky too? There are few planets where we can stay longer without being discovered, and when we wander through space we can't stay invisible for that long. We always have to stop to regain our strength, and when we're exposed we're at the mercy of any Galra fleet that could be passing by. I know fighting back is risky, but I don't think holding back is going to help us either."

"So far, it has. We're alive, and so long as we stay with one another, and never get involved with other species, we will find a way to thrive and live."

"I doubt hiding and living are the same thing." Ember said bluntly, earning a glare from Celeste. The young longma took a step back, remembering her boundaries.

Celeste breathed in deeply. "When you're older, you'll understand. If you still want to tell your Voltron stories, fine. But it's time for you to stop trying to emulate those paladins. You are not one of them, Ember. You are a longma. It's time you started acting like one."

With that, Celeste spread out her wings and glided down to the rest of the herd, leaving Ember alone to contemplate. Her wing thumb touched the tip of her earring. The only other accessory, aside from her artificial membrane, that linked her to her paladin family.

How Ember longed for the warm embrace of Princess Allura. Her angelic voice as she hummed a wordless lullaby that lured her to a dreamless sleep or comb her mane until it sparkled, adorning it with her own hair accessories. Keith's playful laugh as he ruffled her mane and the roughhousing they would do on the training deck. Even when she managed to knock him down, Keith would beam with pride.

She longed for Uncle Lance's affection, his love of taking pictures and videos of every moment Ember was with them. She longed for Pidge's laughs and hugs, and Hunk's mouth watering masterpieces. She even missed Coran's hyperactive ways, and the mice who would braid her mane or bounce on her wings for fun, sharing stories of the paladins adventures before she arrived. They certainly kept their tiny paws on the pulse of what went on inside the castle.

Ember would never give up those memories, even if her very life depended on it. They were a part of who she was, who she wanted to be. But, maybe that part of her just didn't belong with the longma. Maybe holding onto an impossible dream wasn't what was best for her. She was tired of Celeste's stressing over her well being, and it was risky to place her friends in danger. If anything happened to her best friends she would never forgive herself.

Deep down, she understood Celeste's reasoning. They have already lost a lot of good members of the herd over the years, and their experiences with other creatures wasn't always the best. Still, times were changing, and not for the better. The Galra were gaining more and more power, making it harder for them to find a stable place to live. Not to mention, the herd was growing smaller and smaller from what she gathered from the older generation. One elderly longma by the name of Buck had lost his mate and children during their travels. And he wasn't at his prime. He was getting slower and slower each day.

Celeste's words weighted down her thoughts. "Just because we can fight, doesn't mean we'll survive. If anything, we'll die even faster!"

Ember only told Celest these things because she didn't want to see any of them die. But, was she right after all? Was Ember simply being stupid and wanting to relive the days with the paladins?

It wasn't fair. To be torn between two families. A family you were born into, and a family that shaped you. But, maybe Celeste was right. At the end of the day, Ember would never be able to return to the paladins. The herd was her home now, but she never stopped longing for the others.

Ember sat on the grass, overlooking the herd. As usual, she had no idea where she now stood. Was she a longma who followed the herd? Or a paladin at heart?

Or would she forever be something in between?

(~)

Silver Star hummed a happy tune, her horn glowing. Several flowers around her became surrounded by a shimmering aura, completely under her control. With great care, she plucked the plants from the ground and carefully interwove the stems into a pattern she had learned to perfect in her spare time. Once finished, she levitated over Ember's head, who was laying on the grass. The floral creation hovered above Ember's head and once she sat up straight, the creation became wrapped around her neck.

"Ta-da! Do you like it? It took me weeks to finally get these twist things right. What did you call them again?"

"Knots?"

"Yeah, knots! Now I made um, uh, that thing aliens wear around their necks for some reason, but it looks really nice?"

"A necklace."

"A necklace! Right, I keep forgetting."

Ember laughed, marveling the gift her friend had just made her. Ember levitated the ends of her new gift, noticing the flowers were arranged in a way that complimented each of their respective colors. It was like a bouquet around her neck.

"Wow, this looks really cool."

"Really? I just thought the flowers's colors would look really pretty mixed together. I was worried it looked like a total mess."

"Not at all. I like the mix."

"I got the idea from that story you told me, about the Yellow Paladin mixing food together to make something different. I still don't know how you can make food taste different, but I liked the idea of mixing stuff. It sounds like fun."

When Ember first told Silver Star about Hunk's food, the yellow and pink, blue haired longma's jaw dropped. She had never heard of such a thing. Mixing foods together to transform into something else. It was strange, yet for Silver Star, anything out of the ordinary equals interest on her part. Ember noticed Silver Star had a creative side, kind of like Pidge with her computer, and Hunk with his food.

"This one time, I accidentally stepped on a berry and the juice got splattered all over this large boulder. Then, I stepped on another, a red one, and I started stepping on more berries, making the boulder into a rainbow!"

Silver Star galloped as she retold the memory of the first time she technically discovered "painting". Ember loved that about Silver Star. She was this irrepressible ball of energy that was just waiting to burst. She would find anything interesting, though that had more to do with her sheltered upbringing. Living with a herd of longma, while keeping away from literally anything that could be a threat, tended to limit the amount of activities a child could do to pass the time. Aside from friendly races, hide and seek, or see who could catch the most bugs.

Silver Star then stopped jumping, her head hung low. "But, Mom said it was dangerous to leave something like that laying around because some hunters might see it or something. Plus, she thinks playing with berries is a waste of perfectly good food."

Ember rolled her eyes. That was definitely something Celest would do. Ember looked at the flowers on her necklace and smiled. Her mind flashed to a moment where Ember curiously watched Hunk mixing foods together in the kitchen. She saw an assortment of items on the counter with strange labels on the side. Curious as she was, she sniffed one and immediately recoiled in disgust. It stung her nostrils and her loud sneeze caught Hunk's attention.

Rather than get upset, he happily demonstrated his process, allowing Ember to taste a few of the ingredients first, then once they mixed he scooped some of it with a wooden spoon, allowing Ember to taste it again. When she did, her taste buds did a backflip within her mouth. She could detect some hint of the individual ingredients, but mixed together, they created something new. Something different. Turns out, it was a new kind of sauce for him to pour onto her next meaty meal for dinner that night. The combination was heavenly.

Hunk always seemed to know what Ember liked, just as Silver Star always knew just when to cheer her up. It was a shame her friend couldn't be as free to express herself as Hunk was.

"You miss them, huh?" Silver Star said, noticing Ember's saddened eyes. Another thing about Silver Star, she was pretty good at reading others.

"I'm sorry, I really do like your present. It's just…"

"No, I totally get it. I think of my dad all the time, too. Sometimes the smallest thing reminds me of him. Whenever I hear a bug buzzing around I think it's him trying to prank me before tickling my belly with his tail." Silver Star laughed, though her eyes carried the same longing as Ember did whenever she thought about Keith or Allura.

"My mom hasn't been the same since he and my uncle died. All she has now is me, Comet and Aunt Nebula. I always figured that's why she's so strict, especially with you because she likes you so much."

"I'm sorry, Silver Star. You and Comet are always getting into trouble because of me."

Silver Star wrapped her wing around Ember's shoulder. "You're my best friend, Ember. Friends don't let friends do dangerous stuff alone. Besides, having you here has made things waaaaaay less boring. And I believe you that the Galra are bad news. I may be quirky, but I'm not blind."

"What about what your mom says? That we shouldn't get involved?"

Silver Star thought for a moment, nose crinkling. "I don't know, really. I mean, Mom makes some good points, but so do you. It's kind of hard to pick just one side when there's so much in between, you know?"

Ember sighed. "Tell me about it." she took a few steps forward, only to accidentally trip and land flat on her stomach. Silver Star cringed at the hard fall, but Ember remained unfazed.

"Hey, Aura."

Another longma manifested in from where Ember had tripped. The longma had an aquamarine coat with a gray hue, and a lighter shade underbelly with a very light fuchsia color and tomato read mane with lighter streaks. Her eyes were violet, but her pupils were a light purple. Her bangs almost entirely covered up her eyes. She had been curled up into a ball this entire time and hadn't realized she was in Ember's way until she tripped.

"Oops. Sorry, Ember. I was trying to hide from the afternoon sun and I guess my mind was wandering."

Ember shook her body like a dog getting out of bath time, and shrugged. "Eh, no harm done. But, I don't think you have to worry about the sun anymore. It's already late in the afternoon, I'm sure you'll be fine now."

Aura took a closer look at Ember's new floral accessory. "Wow, this looks amazing. You really outdid yourself, Silver Star."

"Aww, thanks Aura! It took me forever to get those knots right."

Aura studied the "knots" Silver Star mentioned closely. Despite her sensitivity towards bright light, Aura could still see just as well as any normal longma, though a lot more in the dark and in lower lighting. Her silent nature made her very observant, more so than even Ember herself.

"Is this really how aliens tie stuff together? It's so simple, I thought they'd be way more more complex."

"Not always." Ember replied. "But, most of the time they do use metal and bolts to mend bigger things together."

"Like the Castle Ship? Or the lions?"

"I guess so. I couldn't get all the details at the time. I'm still blurry on exactly what Pidge did to make me my artificial membrane." Ember outreached her wing which had been punctured with holes during the forest fire that killed her mother. The membrane Pidge had made for Ember was one of the few physical things that made her stand out among the herd. It also greatly concerned Celeste, fearing it would attract attention. Thankfully, it never did.

"So cool." Aura said with a sigh. "Must be pretty awesome. Fixing anything that doesn't work right." Aura hung her head, only to realize what she just said, "N-Not that your wing is broken or anything, I meant was-I was only-I didn't-"

"Aura, it's okay." Ember smiled in reassurance. "I know exactly what you meant."

"Oh…" Aura's ears dropped, "Oh…"

"It's not that bad, you know. You can see just as well as any other longma."

"Only in low light. I can barely go out into the sun without going temporarily blind."

Aura was one of the prettiest longma in the herd, as well as the sweetest. But, she was also incredibly shy. She was born with a birth defect in her eyes, which made her very sensitive to bright sunlight. Hence why she always covered up her eyes with her bangs, and stay invisible with her wings covering her head to protect herself from the sun. At times, she gave her condition as bit more attention than needed. She just couldn't look up much, so often times she spent her days with her head down low.

Before Ember could say more comforting words, one of the boy longma of the herd came galloping about. "Hey, guys! Blaze just challenged Comet to another race! It's gonna be a good one!"

The longma galloped away, and Ember groaned. "Another race? Don't you guys ever get board of th-"

"Come on! I'm betting Comet leaves him in the dust this time!"

"Not if Blaze has anything to say about it." Aura murmured to herself apathetically as she galloped behind her friend, keeping her eyes low.

Ember stayed behind a while longer, pouting. "Nope. Just me, I guess."

(~)

For longma, especially young boy ones, races were pretty much one of their primary ways to entertain themselves. Around this age, female longmas would be interested as well, primarily to see the cute boys race. Silver Star, Aura and Ember arrived just as Comet and another longma of red and purple coloring galloped across the forest path. Comet was focused, while his competitor was grinning the entire time, even when Comet managed to get ahead of him a couple of times.

Longmas cheered either from above the trees, or down below, either chanting Comet's name or the other longma, Blaze. Ember didn't mind races all that much, she even partook in a few of them before, but she could never get into the excitement of them as much as the others did. Races were a dime a dozen, yet they treated them like some lifetime event.

Then she remembered who was racing. Comet panted as he and Blaze were now neck in neck. "Tired already, bro?"

"Not a chance, Blaze. Your winning streak ends today."

"We'll see about that." Blaze accelerated his speed, leaving Comet a tail behind. The longmas cheered, galloping their front hooves. Silver cheered for her cousin, while Aura quietly cheered on for her brother. Like Ember, she didn't see much thrill to these races. Especially when she had a hunch on who the winner would be in the end. That wasn't mere sibling favoritism, that was fact.

Another longma levitated a single stick in mid air as the two competing longmas came running. The stick was levitated in their path, and Blaze was the first to take it. Blaze had, yet again, won the race.

Silver Star groaned in disappointment, while Aura simply shrugged. "What did you expect. Blaze is the fastest longma around."

"Yeah, but Comet's gonna be leader of the herd one day, so at least he beat him in that."

Ember only smiled, watching Comet panting from the race, yet showed no signs of ill will. Comet didn't compete in these races to impress anyone, it was all in good fun for him. Besides, Blaze wouldn't hold it over his head… for that long.

Comet looked around, seeing Ember in the crowd. He saw her smile her signature "congratulations" smile, but he knew she didn't take the race too seriously. Unlike other girls who cheered like mad, Ember was calm and silent, yet he noticed her the most out of all of them.

Blaze, the winner, was already swarmed with female longmas congratulating him. The orange and purple colored longma with fiery red mane bowed his head, soaking in the praise. "Thank you, ladies. Thank you, you're too kind." He was just about to congratulate Comet on another good race, in spite of the inevitable outcome, but found him goggling at the longma with the artificial membrane and weird pink item that constantly dangled from her ear.

Blaze rolled his eyes, politely excused himself from his fans, and approach Comet. "Did you win something after all?"

"Huh? What?" Comet looked at his friend, then at Ember, then back at Blaze.

"Why do you even bother with her? Hasn't she gotten you into enough trouble already?"

"Don't start this again, Blaze."

"Seriously, Comet. There are plenty of other girls for you to like. Girls that aren't delusional about giant robots and magical rainbow lions."

"She's not delusional, they're real."

"Real or not, who cares. A girl who leaves the herd just to live some "paladin fantasy", and constantly putting you in harms way, is not worth it. Even if you do think she's cute."

"Since when are you in charge of my life? Look, you may be used to telling Aura what to do all the time, but you don't get to do that with me."

The two longma glared at each other for a few moments until the girls arrived. "Hey, great race, Cuz!" Silver Star said, the two cousin's nuzzled their heads together, a form of affection between longmas. Aura did the same with her brother.

"Congratulations again, Blaze."

"Thanks, sis. You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Eyes hurt?"

"No. I'm good."

"Great."

As competitive and flirtatious as Blaze was, he was still a wonderful older brother towards his little sister. Albeit, rather controlling at times. Blaze's friendly smile disappeared when he saw Ember. Neither said anything to the other for a few seconds.

Ever since Ember first dragged his childhood best friends Comet and Silver Star into one of her wild adventures, Blaze had resented their new addition. Blaze firmly believed in the safety and security of the herd, and Ember constantly risking her own life and the exposure of the herd did not suit well with him in the slightest. It especially didn't help that she had also invaded Aura's head with these crazy fantasies of flying castle ships and whatnot.

"Good race, Blaze." Ember said politely, though there was no masking the very blatant disinterest. Ember never liked Blaze's indifferent viewpoint towards other races. His close minded ways always managed to provoke her.

"I'm surprised to see you still alive. Heard about your latest suicide mission today."

"We freed a village of blacksmiths that were being forced to work against their will." Ember clarified. "Nobody died."

"Wasn't that your excuse last time? And the time before that? And the time before that?" Blaze took one step closer to Ember with each question, their noses inches apart. Within biting distance. "How much longer do you plan on keeping this up?"

"Blaze, please stop." Aura pleaded.

"It's none of your business." Ember said.

"Isn't it? I'm pretty sure you endangering the lives of the herd does make it my business."

"Okay, that's enough!" Comet came in between the two, using his wings to push them farther apart. "Look, we're all stressed out from traveling a lot lately, so let's just put this behind us for now, okay?"

"And why do you think we're traveling so much, huh Comet? Because she keeps running around trying to save aliens we shouldn't even care about!"

"You know that's not true!" Comet exclaimed. "Things aren't the same as they used to be, it's not Ember's fault."

"Even if that's the case, what's gonna stop her from doing it again?" He sneered at Ember, "You should really learn to mind your own business instead of caring about a bunch of stupid lazy aliens who can't fight their own battles."

"They're not stupid!" Ember exclaimed, pushing Comet out of her way to face Blaze again. "They've had families, friends, their very lives taken away from them, forced out of their homes, and left for dead! I am not going to apologize for helping someone in need."

"Yeah, yeah, just like your "paladin parents"." Blaze mocked, "If you love them so much, why don't you just fly on back to 'em? Oh, that's right, they're the ones who dumped you on us in the first place."

Ember's pupils became slits, her razor sharp teeth bare as she lunged aggressively onto Blaze, knocking on on his back, and sunk her teeth onto his wing. Blaze kicked Ember in the stomach, tossing her to the side with his telekinesis, but the female longma landed on her hooves, taking on a defensive stance. She kicked the ground beneath her and galloped full speed. Blaze and Ember locked horns, like to rams battling it out on the mountainside, while ignoring their friend's pleads to stop.

Several longmas ran or hid, while others were already placing their bets on who would be the victor. Ember pushed Blaze to the side, locking horns and hurling him into the air. He balanced himself by spreading his wings and spiraled downwards to strike Ember, only to be stopped when another longma, larger than the others, landed in between them. Blaze was caught in a telekinetic aura and forced down against his will.

Nebula had arrived on the scene, the late day sun cascading behind her. "Enough!" she bellowed, making all the other longma run from the scene in fear, not wishing to be witnesses to the event. Blaze looked at his wing, noticing the bite mark. It wasn't too deep, and it would fade away quickly, but the very fact that Ember had bitten and attacked one of her own was not something the longma took lightly. Especially amongst the young.

Nebula turned to Ember, then to her son. "All of you, return to your families. Comet, you stay with your aunt until I come back. Ember, you come with me."

She spread open her wings and took off. Ember gave her friends one last look before flying off. Their horrified expressions now tattooed on her mind. Blaze panted and shouted at the top of his lungs to the sky for Ember to hear him.

"You're a danger to this herd! Just because Celeste puts up with you doesn't mean I have to!"

Ember sucked in the inside of her mouth as she followed Nebula away from the scene. Once alone, Ember already knew she was in for another lecture. First Celeset, now Nebula. This was just not her day. And she couldn't blame anyone but herself.

"Are you hurt?" Nebula asked. Unlike her sister, who usually got right down to business, Nebula first would have Ember relax and be comfortable before addressing the issue at hand.

"No. But Blaze is."

"I saw the bite, nothing serious. Some cold river water and he'll be fine. I could tell you held back."

"Blaze may be a jerk, but I… I could never-"

"I know. He's your friend's brother, you could never truly harm him."

"But I still did." Ember said with regret.

"What happened?"

Ember hesitated. Nebula sat beside her, the two overlooking the sunset. She waited patiently for Ember to give her answer.

"It doesn't matter." she finally said. "Maybe he's right. Maybe I don't belong here."

"Of course you do. You're a longma. All longmas belong together. We're a herd, we look out for one another." Nebula paused for a moment before continuing. "But you always seem to care just as much for other creatures as well. You look like us, you eat like us, you have the same powers as we do. Yet, you don't think like us."

"Don't bother. Celeste already gave me the lecture." Ember said bitterly with her head low. "I get it, I'm the freak who was raised by aliens. I know things like what necklaces and laser guns are, I have a metal clasp over my wing and I still like to sleep inside caves because I like to feel like I'm back inside the castle." she sighed, resting her stomach on the grass and her head on her leg. "Everyone keeps telling me to just let it go, but… I can't. I can't go back to them, and I certainly can't be like them here. Sometimes I don't even know what I am anymore."

"Well, I know who you are." Nebula said, though Ember didn't react. She was probably saying this to try and lift her spirits, but words alone weren't going to help Ember right now. Still, she listened.

"You know what I see when I look at you? I see a very smart, clever, stubborn little longma who has seen things no other of our kind has. I've been traveling space my entire life, and all I've ever known is the herd. But you, you see beyond that. You see planets, and stars, and each one carries a life. You're different because your mind is vast."

Nebula wasn't only referring to how she herself saw Ember, but also by how her son often described her. Longma, by nature, were observant beings, so it didn't take much for mother and son to see the beauty of what made Ember stand out. But, with a herd that has been on the run and in hiding for generations, anything different was a danger to their survival. They tolerated Ember, many even loved her, but they also feared for her, and for themselves.

"And look where that's gotten me." Ember said once Nebula had finished. "Almost everyone hates me." She felt the older longma's wing drape over her like a blanket.

"They don't hate you. They're just scared. We've lived a life of order for so long, anything different just worries us."

Ember looked up with a cautious, worried look. "Do I worry you?"

"I always worry about you. About my son, about my niece, my sister. It's my job to."

"That wasn't what I meant."

"I know." Nebula smiled. "And no, you don't. I just think you need to learn a little more self control. Just because you have good intentions, doesn't mean everything will go your way."

Ember took the words to heart. Out of everyone, Nebula was the only other older longma who tried to really understand her. While Celeste was commanding, firm, yet even-tempered, she was still somewhat emotionally closed up. Both sisters also grew up without parents and had to rely on each other their entire lives. They both mated with brothers, one of which was the herd's leader, and chose his nephew to become his successor as the eldest in their bloodline. Sadly, both mates were killed at once, leaving the sisters with their children to remember them by. The events shaped them both in different ways, with Celeste carrying more of the burden due to her position as the new leader of the herd.

Nebula was second in command, and was the muscle while Celeste was the brains. But, in private, Celeste was more the voice, while Nebula was the heart. This was why Ember felt more at ease with Nebula than with Celeste most of the time.

"We should get some sleep, we leave before dawn."

"What? Why?"

"Some of our scouts overheard the Galra will be returning with reinforcements tomorrow to try and locate the escapes. My sister says we can't-"

"Can't take any changes." Ember finished.

"Exactly." Nebula nuzzled the child. "Come on. We saved a spot for you."

"Actually, can I sleep here for tonight. I promise I won't run off."

Nebula smiled kindly and nodded before leaving to her family. Ember stayed by a boulder, and levitated a few leafs over to give the impression of a roof, held with sticks. Once done, she curled up underneath, letting the semi closed space engulf her mind.

Where she was back inside the castle. Back in Keith's arms while Allura brushed her mane and hummed a lovely tune.

(~)

Ember's night was filled with nothing but beautiful images of her paladin family. Everything from Lance's affectionate nicknames, Pidge's sparkly eyes, to Hunk's eye catching home cooked spicy jerky smothered in that creamy sauce that made her lick the plate clean until it sparkled. In her sleep, Ember curled up tighter, trying to manifest the warmth of Allura's touch into existence.

Her beautiful dream became distorted bit by bit when sleep slowly seeped away from her grasp. Silver Star nudged her awake with her wing. Knowing the herd, they were most likely up and about already. Ember forced the dream back into the back of her mind and dragged herself up to follow Silver Star and the rest of her family. The entire herd huddled together, and at Celest's command, each and every one of them turned invisible. The rules were straightforward; stay hidden, stay close. That's it.

The herd took off into the sky, going by the planet's atmosphere and into space. Their horns glowed, manifesting the auras that provided them with the oxygen they needed. Manes and tails billowed like ocean waves, and their shimmering scales helped keep them invisible.

Sadly, this power took up a lot of willpower and energy. At some point, they would have to rest and regain their strength in order to turn invisible again. Much like a dolphin or a whale needing to return to the surface for air. Over the centuries, they evolved to hold this ability longer. But, with constant movement, and the energy it takes to travel long distances, it tended to drain them even more. For the elder longma, it was especially more difficult.

While flying close to Celest and Nebula and their children, Ember noticed poor old Buck heaving as he flapped his wings. She glided closer to the old timer. He was almost drifting apart from the herd.

"Buck, you okay there?"

"Oh, yes. I'm fine, Timber."

"It's Ember."

"Right, right." he heaved again. "My apologies."

"Here, let me help."

"No, my dear. I'll be alright."

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't asking." Ember positioned herself underneath him, and with the strength she had, guided Buck further ahead towards two young adult longmas. Buck's invisibility was flickering faintly. "Fang, Ocean Flow, would you mind shading Buck, please? I don't know how much longer he can hold up."

The two longmas nodded and complied by draping one of their wings over him to hide Buck, much like an invisibility cloak. Ember was just about to head back to her place, until she spotted Aura. In spite of her bangs, she was still able to see what was right in front of her. Ember bit her bottom lip nervously as made her way towards her friend. Aura's ear flicked once Ember closed in.

"Hey, Aura. Is your brother doing okay?"

"He's fine. The bite wasn't that bad."

Ember's ear dropped. "Aura, I want to apologize for yesterday. It was uncalled for. I know you're upset with me, so I'll understand if-"

"Actually Ember, I can't be seen talking to you right now." Aura said, looking more discouraged than upset.

"Oh…" Ember hung her head in shame.

"It's nothing personal, it's just, my family-"

"Aura!" both females flinched when Blaze called out to his sister from ahead. His eyes narrowed at Ember, but she didn't glare back. Instead, she kept her mouth shut, her posture now self-effacing. Blaze nodded his head towards their parents demandingly.

"I'm sorry. I have to go." Aura opened her mouth again to say something else, but stopped herself before reluctantly going back to her brother. She dared to give Ember one last apologetic look before flying ahead. Comet came by and took Ember back with their side of the group.

From Aura's tone and mannerisms, Ember had a hunch she wasn't angry with her. But, her brother still was, and no doubt so were their parents. They would most likely never let Ember play with Aura ever again.

"It's gonna be okay. Aura never holds a grudge. She'll smooth this over with her folks, I'm sure of it." Comet said, smiling sweetly. "I can't say the same for her brother, but that's old news for you."

Ember found herself somewhat laughing at Comet's subtle sarcasm. No matter how difficult she could be, or how much trouble she seemed to cause for him, Comet never seemed to like her any less. So many times she wondered why he would still put up with her, a longma as responsible as he was. Silver Star, sure, but Comet was as collected and renewed by the herd as his mother was.

"Thanks, Comet. Sometimes I really don't understand why you and your cousin still put up with me."

"Well, it's like you always say. Never leave a friend behind."

Ember smiled at Comet quoting her own words back at her. While Silver Star always managed to make Ember laugh, somehow Comet always managed to make her genuinely smile. Maybe not of full happiness, but relief in knowing he didn't hate her. Still, that didn't entirely make the guilt go away.

Maybe the paladin's philosophy worked for them, but it just didn't work for her now with the herd. She glanced over at poor old Buck, then at her artificial wings, before finally tugging at the tiny earring. She tapped it, picking up only a very faint static only she could hear. She couldn't hear their voices. Perhaps she never would again. Ember closed her eyes shut, lips quivering and tears stung her eyes. She lifted her wing thumb close to her ear, about to tear the jewelry off.

Ember stopped herself when her nostrils began to twitch. She sniffed, then inhaled deeply. Their auras allowed them to still smell incoming ships or hear their thrusters from afar. Yet, this scent was different. It was difficult to describe it. One part hot, another part cold. Like liquid molding into metal, and metal molding into plants, then molding into dirt before molding back into water, then evaporating into wind.

What a strange description, yet these were the very thoughts that came to her mind. Ember noticed the other longma around her had also detected the scent. Their noses twitching, lifting them up to get a better whiff. But, rather than question it, they simply carried on without giving it a second thought.

"Do you guys smell that?"

Silver Star inhaled dramatically. "Mmmm. Smells like bubbles popping from dry mud that got stuck on a tree trunk. Then fell into a volcano and swam in lava, but the lava smells like-" she sniffed again, "-a yelmors stomach. Yuck! I hate yelmors! They always get stuck in my teeth."

"Nebula, are you smelling this?" Ember asked. The older longma politely shushed her.

"Be still everyone." Celeste said to the rest of the herd. "A ship is approaching. Stay in formation, fly low, and don't make a sound."

They had been out here for only a few minutes and already a ship was heading their way. In a flash, the massive ship manifested. Ember had seen theses ships before. More than she would have liked. The purple glowing windows and sharp surface made her stomach turn.

A Galra ship. No doubt on its way to the planet they had just left.

The herd did as Celeste instructed. As a unit, following Celeste and Nebula's lead, they flew downwards underneath the ship. Their invisibility would prevent them from being seen and detected by any heat signature on their ships. At least, so Ember hoped.

As they dove under the ship the smell grew stronger. The herd hurried past as quickly as they could, silent as the void. Ember stuck close to Comet and Silver Star, but something didn't feel right. That scent grew stronger, to the point it smelled almost… familiar?

She remembered the Castle Ship and even the Lions having somewhat of a similar scent. She even detected it from the paladins themselves, more so from Allura, and even Keith to an extent. An energy that naturally radiated from them. Ember assumed this was just their natural scent, but this one was different. It was raw, unstable, wildly in a way. Different yet similar all at once. She couldn't stop thinking about it, and as she looked over at the other longmas, she realized they thought the same thing. This smell was not normal, but the herd ignored their suspicion.

They were close to escaping safely, then Ember gasped when she noticed Buck's invisibility was wavering. Fang and Ocean Flow tried to cover him, but the old timer was becoming even slower. His wings weren't flapping as strongly as before and both longma tried to lift him up with their wings. In the process, they couldn't shield them properly.

Once Buck was completely exposed for a few moments, he lost his balance, causing himself and Fang to go off course. The terror made the younger longma blink in and out of his invisibility, and they were stirring dangerously close to the ships. From the control room, one of the soldiers spotted something on the monitor. "Sir, you should see this." the head Galra in charge of the vessel saw the two creatures. One flickering, and the other, old and worn, barely able to keep up. The general smirked.

"Looks like a couple of longma. I've read about these beasts. I thought they had gone extinct years ago."

"They shouldn't be a bother, sir."

"Perhaps. But I'm sure the Empire will benefit from their horns and scales. They would make fine weapons after the fiasco of yesterday. And if these two are here, then the herd should be close by." The Galra smiled wickedly. "Let's scare em out."

Buck was taken back to the herd, which got back in proper formation. "Keep moving, everyone." Celeste said. "As quickly as posse-AH!" the longma screamed when a laser came shooting at them. It blew them off course, scaring them to the point their couldn't keep up their invisibility anymore. Celeste spiraled in mid air, only to stop halfway. Fighter ships came out and began shooting at the herd.

"They've spotted us!" Nebula exclaimed, "Go!"

The herd picked up the speed in an attempt to get away, but the lasers were already shooting. Longma one by one were scattered, loosing formation. Spiraling out of control, some almost lost consciousness, only to have a friend or family member catch them. Nebula kept Comet, Silver Star and Ember close, shielding them from the incoming blasts.

Several of the longma hunters, those who were responsible for hunting their meals and keeping watch at night, huddled together. Opening their mouths, their energy beams converged to fight back the ship. While their beams were powerful, they weren't as powerful as the lion's energy beams, which could slice right through them with ease.

Ember and her friends spotted a younger longma, having been separated from his parents during the madness. Seeing a beam about to strike, Ember took action and flew towards the child, snatching him with her mouth just as the laser struck. The child's mother hurried and grabbed her child, thanking Ember with a nod before flying off to try and get back into formation with the others. While Nebula and the hunters defended themselves, Celeste rallied the others with the help of Blaze and Aura's parents. The children themselves were tasked with retrieving the younger generation, those who had been separated from their parents.

Aura's ear twitched. A laser was about to fire. Thinking fast, she pushed her brother out of the way just as the beam struck. "Aura, what are you doing?!"

"I want to help!"

"No, you stay with mom and dad. It's too dangerous."

"But-" Aura never got a word out once her mother hurried and retrieved her, leaving Blaze to work with the other teen longmas. Aura hung her head, penalizing herself for foolishly believing she could have done something.

Ember watched as Nebula and the rest of the hunters fought off the ships, but there were too many, and many of the longma just couldn't keep up. Comet spotted his mother flying across the battlefield, attempting to rally up the herd back into line, while trying to outmaneuver the beams. All the while maintaining a stoic look on her face.

"We have to help them!" Ember said with fiercely. Adrenaline boiled from within, intermixed with ambition and and rage.

"How?"

Ember didn't know what to do, everyone was in a panic. They didn't have experience fighting a fleet of Galra battle ships. Admittedly, Ember didn't either, but she was good at coming up with plans. Looking at her surroundings, and seeing just where the ships were firing from, she got an idea.

"We have to strike there!" Ember pointed with her hoof. "Where the lasers are coming from, on the left and right of the cockpit."

"I don't know how you know that, but let's do it!" Silver Star said, she and Ember taking off, with Comet hesitating for a brief moment.

"Here we go again." He said before catching up. The three friends got into position, with Ember on the left side, Silver Star on the right, and Comet right above the ship.

"Now!"

On Ember's command, they all fired their mouth beams at once, striking in the spot where Ember had directed. Sure enough, the ship's laser guns exploded from the impact of the three blasts, along with the cockpit, which resulted in the ship itself exploding.

Nebula and the hunters stared in awe at the display. "You have to strike at the top." Ember instructed them, "At the cockpit, on all sides at the same time."

The hunters were unsure, for they had never attempted to fire at where the ships were shooting. But Nebula didn't hesitate. "You heard her. Move!" at her command, despite their uncertainty, the hunters did as Ember had instructed. Splitting into groups of three, with Nebula using herself as a decoy, the hunters shot at the ships right on the cockpit and on the sides, making them explode.

Celeste and the other adults managed to rally up the herd while her sister and the others helped. Blaze, who had just gathered more children to safety, stared in shock and wonder at Ember, Comet and Silver Star actually fighting back the ships with a well thought out plan. What's even stranger, is the other hunters actually listened and were able to hold their own for as long as they could.

Did Ember's crazy ideas actually come in handy for once?

The longma fighting back were able to hold off the ships, but more were coming at them. Silver Star panted, her throat was sore from using so much energy. "There's too many!" she said, right before coughing.

"Everyone, fall back!" Nebula ordered, rallying up the hunters with the rest of the herd now gathered together, turning invisible and ready to escape. It was then, Ember noticed someone way far behind them.

It was Buck! Still alive, but barely able to keep up.

Without thinking, Ember turned to reach for him, only to have her tail be yanked by Celeste. "No! Let me go! Buck, he won't make it!" Ember let out a horrified cry when Celeste forcibly yanked her back, holding her in place with her wings. Ember wiggled in her grasp.

"We have to go."

"We can't leave him!"

Celeste didn't respond. She clenched her jaw tightly, fighting back the tears that stung her eyes. The ships were still coming, they had very little time. Celeste shielded Ember's eyes just as the laser struck the elderly longma down. Ember wanted to bite Celeste, to roar and kick her, but her body became cold. Her vision blurry from the tears as the herd made its escape.

Silver Star was crying a river, Comet held her close, while Nebula held them both. She turned to her sister, who refused to look back. Her face was more stone cold than even Nebula's. A single tear escaped her eye. Ember managed to free herself from Celeste's grasp, but rather than return to her friends, Ember tore away, flying ahead.

She didn't speak to anyone the entire way. The ships stop firing, and the Galra commander inside slammed his fists onto the control panel. "What a waste."

(~)

After a long travel, the herd finally found refuge on another planet. It was night by the time they arrived, and finding an unoccupied spot was easy. The relief of finding a new place to rest was brief. The herd was still mourning the death of their fallen comrade. Unlike with the Blades of Marmora, the herd actually took a moment to acknowledge their loss. Celeste and Nebula stood before the herd, holding a small eulogy.

Celeste held herself with moderation, yet her eyes carried great sadness. Leaving Buck behind was not a decision Celeste took pleasure in. It tore her apart just as it did Ember, even if she would not display such range of emotion out in the open.

After the speech, and giving friends and families time to remorse, Celeste took the time to personally apologize for their loss. Ember kept her distance, sitting on the edge of a cliffside, watching the planet's waters crashing upon the shoreline. The thrust of the waves reflecting her current mood, wishing she could unleash it onto the rocks just as the current could.

Celeste landed beside the young one, for the first time, looking hesitant. Though Ember could not tell given her back was turned. "I'm sorry, Ember." Celeste said, her voice partly cracking before she regained her control. "I didn't want to leave him, but we had no choice. Sometimes as a leader, you need to make hard choices. Even if you don't personally like them."

"I get it." Ember said, still unable to look back at the leader. "But, you saw what happened back there. We hiding away isn't going to save us anymore. We may have only lost one of our own today, but this could just be the beginning."

Celeste sighed, slowly shaking her head, "Ember, please. Not this again."

"Why not?" Ember sprung back on all fours, wings partly flapping, and one hove stomping the ground. "We saw what we did back there. We fought back against a Galra fleet. Imagine what we would be able to do if we joined the Coalition."

"Ember, we've discussed this. It's best to leave the past in the past."

"Are you serious right now? Our kind is in more danger now than ever, and you still want to run and hide like we always do?"

"We got lucky this time."

"It was more than just luck. It was teamwork. It was the will to survive and the will to stand up for ourselves. Don't you see? We can fight back against the Galra, we just need-"

"Enough!" Celeste shouted, her voice booming at the same time another powerful wave crashed against the shoreline. Silence filled the cold ocean air, and the two longmas stared sharply at one another.

"Buck died because he was old. He couldn't fight anymore. Our hunters protect us, and fend off danger. We do not participate in war."

Ember narrowed her eyes, ears pressed hard against her head. "You won't fight because you think it will keep us safe. You won't fight because just you're scared."

"I'm only scared of losing those I care about."

"News flash, we just did! You might be content with hiding away forever while the Galra Empire keeps destroying lives, but I'm not!" Ember forcibly moved past Celeste, eyes to the ground and tear stained cheeks as she galloped along. Celeste was left alone, with nothing but the restless sea as company.

She wouldn't' admit it out loud, but a part of her began to wonder if Ember was right. Would her people be safe from now on? Or would they be at even more risk? Should she dare to join forces with another species? Would they truly be safer, or would they only be killed off faster by willingly jumping into battle. Battling was what took her mate from her, leaving her to lead their kind. Would this be what he wanted?

Celeste looked up into the sky, the stars shined brighter, as if conveying some kind of message. "She's a lot like you." she whispered, speaking with the spirit of her deceased beloved. "You always believed you could make a difference… and it took you away from me." she shed a single tear. "What should I do?

Nebula landed beside her sister, wrapping her wing around her sister's back. Her silence brought Celeste more comfort than the ocean sounds ever could.

(~)

Ember ran across the forest, tears staining the ground. She slowly stopped in front of a large tree with an opening on the base of the trunk. She needed to crunch down when she entered, but from inside it was cozier than the cold outside. She curled up into a ball as she continued to cry, mourning poor old Buck. More than ever, she wished she had Keith and Allura with her right now.

….

"It's okay, kiddo." Keith stroked Ember's mane softly, taking notice of the soft fabric of his black gloves. "Nothing's going to hurt you."

Allura hummed her lovely tune once more, only this time, she sung the words for the first time. It was the second to last night Ember would ever spend with them, even if she didn't know it at the time.

I know you, you're a special one

Some see crazy where I see love

You fall so low but shoot so high

Big dreamers shoot for open skies

So much life in those open eyes

So much depth you look for the light

When your wounds open you will cry

You cry out now and you'll question why

I can see a rainbow

In your tears as they fall on down

I can see your soul grow, through the pain as they hit the ground

I can see a rainbow

In your tears as the some comes out

As the sun comes out

….

Ember hummed the tune and sung the words in her mind. It was only sung to her once, but the words never left her. Every moment, no matter how small, was forever stored into her memory as if it were an engraving carved in stone. It was then Ember knew she could never let go of the paladins, nor would she ever wish to. They were such a huge part of who she was, who she had become. She loved them more than all the stars in the galaxy. Even if Celest didn't always approve of what she had learned from them, Ember knew she would rather have her own horn ripped off than ever abandon their memory. They've gotten her this far, and she had faith their teachings would get her even farther.

"Ember!"

"Ember! You out here?"

She crawled out from her spot around the tree when she heard her friends calling her. Comet and Silver Star poked their heads from behind the bushes. "There you are! We've been looking for you." Silver Sat nuzzled Ember affectionately, happy to see her friend was in one piece.

"Sorry about that. I just needed some time to myself."

"Hey, we're really sorry about Buck. It was hard on all of us." Comet said sadly, "It's been a while since we've lost one of our own to another creature."

"I'll be okay. Really. Come on, let's head back." Ember and her friends turned in the opposite direction towards the herd, then the wind picked up and the three stopped in their tracks. They sniffed the air. Silver Star stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"Eyuck! That yelmor stomach smell again."

That scent. The same smell from the Galra ship. How could it still be here. The ship didn't follow them. Comet sniffed the air. "It's coming from the east. At least it's away from the herd."

There was some good news, but if that smell was nearby, then that could only mean Galra were too. There was no way Ember was going to lose anyone else today.

"Let's go check it out."

"Wait, what?! Are you crazy? That smell could be the Galra."

"The smell came from their ship. It wasn't just a scent, it was something else. Something inside." Ember carried onwards, with Silver Star and Comet hesitating. The two cousins looked at one another, then at Ember. After a few seconds, they followed their friend towards the smell.

"Okay, we take a small look, then turn back and warn the others. Deal?" Comet negotiated.

"Fine." Ember replied, keeping her sights in the direction of the smell. It was getting stronger, which made Silver Star even more sick.

"Anyone else feel like they're about to lose their lunch?" Silver Star as they carried onwards. "No? Just me? Whoa!" Silver Star tripped and landed face first into the ground. Ember and Comet both looked surprised.

"Aura?"

The female aquamarine colored longma reappeared, helping Silver Star back to her hooves. "I'm sorry, I thought I was alone out here."

"What are you doing here?" Comet asked.

Aura blushed in embarrassment. "I was, um, j-just gazing. Gazing at the stars."

Ember arched an eyebrow. The meek were usually pretty bad liars. Then she gasped in realization. "You smelled it too?"

Aura's first reaction was to deny any claims, but seeing as they were apparently following the same thing, she nodded her head. "I was hunting down a snack when all of the sudden I caught whiff of that smell from earlier today."

"I should have known. You've got the best nose out of all of us." Ember said, making Aura blush even more. "You probably smelled it long before we did."

"It just wanted to make sure it was far away enough. It's unlike anything I've ever smelled."

"Whatever it is, it reeks." Silver Star said with a cringe.

"I should probably go." Aura said, ready to make her leave. "My brother will flip if he finds out I'm out here."

"Wait!" Ember stopped her friend halfway. "We're doing some investigating. We could use a nose like yours. And you're hearing is far more sensitive than ours, so you can let us know if there's any trouble coming our way."

"M-Me? No, no, I can't." Aura recoiled, head and neck hunched. "I shouldn't even be here."

"But, you're here now. Please, Aura? We could really use your help."

Aura hesitated. She had no idea why she even dared to follow that scent. It was dangerous and reckless, yet she still followed it. Her highly sensitive sense of smell and hearing were what allowed her to hear and smell things that other longmas would otherwise ignore. Yet, she couldn't. Ember gave her a reassuring smile, one of hope and confidence in her friend's skills. Most longma doubted Aura because of her condition, yet Ember always believed in her.

The smart thing would be to turn back, but when will she ever have a chance to do more than just be a defective longma who needs constant protection?

(~)

The four friends followed the scent, which grew stronger by the minute. Aura took the lead, much to her own surprise, when she detected the exact location to where it was coming from. She gasped and hid in the bushes, signaling to the others with her tail to also crunch down. Tall silver humanoids standing guards stood by in what appeared to be some mundane part of the forest while holding laser guns.

"What are those things?" Aura asked.

"Galra sentries." Ember replied, keeping her voice low. "They're not actually "alive" but they can detect danger. So keep a low profile."

"Right, totally quiet." Silver Star whispered, then giggled lightly. "This is actually kind of cool."

"Sil, shush."

"Sorry."

"What are they doing?" Comet asked in a whisper. "Don't sentries usually guard a base, or a ship?"

Aura's ear began to twitch. "Someone's coming." the four friends stayed low, observing a tall, bulky Galra approaching the sentries. Behind him were a couple of soldiers, and another Galra which looked highly distinctive from the others.

For starters, this Galra was female and unlike the pupil-less yellow eyes that normally was seen in most Galra, she had pupils and irises. A beautiful shade of purple that made her look far less menacing than she actually was. Yet, her scowl and sharp dominant features proved otherwise. She had a mess of dark purple hair with a lighter hue underneath, and markings across her face, and her skin was a light purple.

Ember had to admit, out of all the Galra she had seen (excluding Keith who was only half-Galra), she was by far the most beautiful. Intimidating, yes, yet there was something almost familiar about her. Ember found herself staring for longer than she should have, only to flinch when the ground in front of the Galra group began to light up. A sentry tapped on a screen that extended from the ground and placed its hand on the surface. Two lines formed on the ground, interconnecting to create a rectangle shape, which then rose up. The ground was metal underneath, and the hole was the opening to some kind of ship interior or perhaps a base. The group followed the taller Galra, who Ember assumed was the one in charge, enter the opening. The computer screen too retracted back to the ground.

"Whoa…" Silver Star's jaw dropped. "You guys saw that too, right? The ground was… it just… how?"

"It's got to be a secret underground base." Ember said.

"The Galra sure do like their bases, don't they?" Comet said, asking no one in particular.

"Why do they even need a base?" Aura asked.

"I'm not sure, but the smell is stronger down there."

"You don't think whatever they have will harm the herd, do you?" Aura trembled at the thought.

Ember sprung up on all fours. "I'm not waiting around to find out." just then, she heard a noise behind her. On instinct, she leaped on and tackled whoever was behind her and hid behind the tree. The sentries turned their heads but found nothing and returned to their post. Whoever had followed them had his mouth covered by Ember, with the rest of her friends hiding alongside her. The captive released himself and stepped away from the others.

"What was that for?"

Ember held her wing thumb close to her mouth, "Blaze, keep quiet or they'll hear you."

"What are you doing out here?" Comet asked.

"What am I doing out here? What are you doing out here? More importantly, what are you doing out this late?" Blaze pointed his wing to his sister, who cowered behind Ember and Silver Star. "Did they put you up to this?"

"No! I-I-I was just, I didn't-"

"No excuses. You're coming with me right now."

"Blaze, just wait a second." Ember spoke, but was silenced by Blaze, who's voice grew louder.

"You stay out of this! We barely survived today, and now you're dragging my little sister on another one of your paladin field trips?"

"It's nothing like that, just let me explain."

"I don't need your explanations!"

"Blaze, keep it down." Aura urged her brother, but he ignored her, still yelling at Ember.

"No excuses, Aura. We're going back to the herd and that's fin-" Blaze was silenced when one of the sentries aimed a laser gun at him. Ember jumped in front of the siblings and shot the laser gun right through the sentry. It fell to the ground and when the other came over, Ember did the same, leaping out from her hiding place and slicing the robot in two with her mouth beam. Both robots laid on the ground motionless.

Blaze blinked in surprise, and Ember turned to look at him. "See? This is why you had to keep your mouth shut."

Comet then proceeded to remove one of the sentry's hands then walked to where he had seen one of them tap his foot to activate the computer thing. Levitating the hand, the computer reacted and the ground opened up once again.

"Nice, Comet." Ember said with a smile, her green eyes sparkling. Seems she wasn't the only one paying close attention.

Blaze stared with his jaw dropped, then shook his head in bewilderment. "How? When? What? What is that?!"

"A Galra base, from the looks of it." Ember said as she poked her head into the opening. Aura took a whiff of what was inside.

"The scent is definitely coming from somewhere down there." Aura smelled again and started to move around, eyes still closed, as if trying to find something in the dark. "If I have to guess, it's maybe… twelve to fourteen feet away. It's a little hard to tell. I mean this place has got to be really big to contain the whole scent in one spot, especially with it being so thick. The spot where it's the thickest has got to be its pinpoint."

"How do you know that?" Blaze asked, flabbergasted.

"I… smelled it." Aura said, looking somewhat bashful. "I've gotten pretty good at smelling stuff since, you know, I can barely see during the day."

"Your sister's pretty awesome, Blaze." Comet said, making Aura blush. She wasn't used to compliments,

"Do you think you can help us track its pinpoint, Aura?" Ember asked.

"I… I'm not sure. Maybe."

Blaze stepped in between the two females. "Whoa, whoa, hold it! You're not seriously going down there, are you?"

"Well, we've come this far already."

"Aura, if it doesn't concern us then we shouldn't get involved."

"Actually, I think it might. You smelled it too, back when we were attacked." Blaze tried to protest, but said nothing instead. Then, all of a sudden, Aura took in a deep breath and stood as straight as she could possibly could, in spite of her still crippling confidence. "I'm going, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Once the words left her mouth, Aura sucked on the inside of her mouth, looking repentant at her brother's silence. Silver Star poked her head in between them. "Um, guys, the ground's closing."

The door was slowly sliding down. Ember didn't hesitate to gave everyone the order to jump in fast. Everyone, even Blaze, caught up in the rush of the moment jumped in after his sister. Once inside, the door slammed shut, with only the purple lights illuminating their path. Blaze was in a haze over what just happened. He just jumped into some Galra base without thinking.

"Great, now we have no way out! Nice going, Ember."

Rather than dignify him with a response, Ember sniffed the air. The scent was all over, it was hard to make a clear decision on where it was coming from. "Okay Aura, where's it coming from?"

Aura sniffed the air, eyes closed, primarily to keep herself from being blinded by the bright lights, yet with the darkness she was able to focus on where the thickest part of the scent was coming from.

"This way." Aura said, taking the lead with everyone close behind. Even Blaze, though he was unsure exactly what else to do. If he started arguing, those metal monstrosities would come back. At the same time, he had never seen his sister take charge like this before. Ember and Silver Star stayed close on opposite sides, knowing Aura was leading them with her eyes closed.

The two followed behind, keeping watch of any sentries. Comet noticed the distressed look on his best friend's face. "It's gonna be okay. Ember usually has a plan for these kinds of things."

"I still don't get why you trust her so much. What if we don't make it out of here? Ever thought of that?"

"Honestly, I don't know anymore. I've thought about it a lot, actually."

Blaze sighed. "Fantastic."

"Just, hear me out. If we hide, there's a high chance we could get caught, like what happened today. But, if we fight, there's also the chance we might get hurt. I'm starting to think neither side is completely flawless. I mean, I understand why you're so protective of Aura, but you never knew she could smell things most of us can't, did you?"

Blaze didn't say a word. All his life he spent it keeping Aura safe from danger, following Celest's orders to the letter for her safety, and for the safety of the herd. And yet, he had no idea Aura had this skill, or that the longma could actually fight against a flying space contraption as a unit.

Nothing made any sense anymore.

"My mom usually says, just because you have good intentions, doesn't mean things won't always go your way."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"I wasn't sure at first, but I think I'm starting to get it."

"Are you?"

"Maybe. I'm hoping. If I'm wrong, you have my permission to say "I told you so"."

For the first since since he'd been here, Blaze actually chuckled. The tension of their situation lifted thanks to Comet. He was going to be a good leader someday. He was definitely someone who listened, though perhaps too much in Blaze's honest opinion. Still, he was his best friend, so he could never stay angry at him forever.

Aura stopped midway, her ears twitching. The same went for the other longmas. The steps of the sentries echoed in the halls. They quickly turned invisible and flew up, crunching down onto the ceiling as the sentry passed by. They maintained their invisibility all throughout, gliding across the hallways with Aura leading the way, in spite of her closed eyes. They stopped in front of a metallic door.

"This is it. This is where the scent is coming from."

"How do we get in?" Silver Star asked, turning to Ember. "Got any spare sentry arms?"

"Sadly, no."

Comet heard someone coming. "I think I have an idea." they all hid on the ceiling like before, seeing the female Galra from before opening the door. With a nod, Comet got everyone to follow him into the room, gliding silently inside before the door closed.

"I really hope you have a plan B on how to get us out." Blaze whispered. "Because so far, I'm not seeing a lot of good options."

The female Galra disappeared into another part of the room, which was far more massive than the team originally imagined. It was a two story room, with stairs and rows of shelves all stocked with metallic containers. Within was a strange glowing substance. Silver Star took a whiff and, once again, recoiled in disgust.

"I think we found the stomach." she said before covering her mouth with her wing, swallowing her puke.

"This is where the smell is coming from?" Blaze asked his sister.

"Looks that way."

"What is this stuff?" Comet asked, studying the containers up close. "Is it some kind of weapon the Galra use? Ember?"

Ember flew up to the top shelf, sniffing the containers, also noticing a few smaller vials nearby. Tiny tubes which she levitated with her horn before landing back to the others.

"This liquid has a similar scent as the paladins and the Castle Ship."

Silver Star gasped in alarm "Did they steal it from the paladins?"

"I said it smells similar, not that it's the same. On them it was completely natural, like the scent of a flower. But this… this smells like something from the inside out. Like, blood or vomit being spilled."

"Or a yelmor's stomach." Silver Star muttered bitterly. Comet groaned.

"Would you get off that already?"

"I do not wish to."

"So, what are we gonna do about it now?" Blaze asked.

Ember pondered for a moment, studying the substance within the tiny tube. "I don't know. Whatever this is, if it's in the hands of the Galra, it can't be good."

"Um, guys…" Aura hid behind her brother when she heard someone coming. Before the longma could react, it was too late.

"How did you get in here?" The female Galra stood before them, pointing her laser gun. Ember dropped the vile in shock, spilling the substance all over her hooves.

"We're busted!" Silver Star exclaimed.

"I knew this was a bad idea!" Blaze exclaimed. The female Galra aimed her gun at the creatures, but Ember refused to go down so easily. Her horn glowed, using her telekinesis she willed one of the metal containers from its spot and hurled it at the female Galran. The heavy metal collided with her body, knocking her to the ground, with the large container rolling off of her.

"Go, go!" Ember shouted. Everyone turned invisible, with Blaze keeping Aura close to him, and took flight. "We have to break down those doors. Everyone together!"

The five long longma shot at the doors, creating a hold which allowed them to fly safely out. The female Galran growled in anger as the alarm went off. But, rather than look angry, she looked distressed.

The team flew across the hallway, completely invisible, shooting at the unsuspecting sentries as they went in the opposite direction of the hallway from which they had arrived. Once they reached the end, they shot at the surface entrance with their beams, creating their own escape and flew out, running into the forest, away from the base.

The Galra commander arrived at the scene, his sentries all beaten on the grown. His fists clenched once the female Galran arrived. "What happened? Who broke into the base?"

"I'm not sure, Commander." the female replied. "They appeared to have been in possession of some form of cloaking device. I couldn't get a good look at them."

"No matter." the Commander said, earning a weary look from his female counterpart. He crunched down, taking notice of the illuminating droplets on the floor, which aligned the hallway.

"Whoever they were, they won't be difficult to track."

(~)

The five friends galloped as fast as their legs could take them, every once in a while looking back to make sure they weren't being followed. Comet was the first to screech to a halt, the others following his example… which caused them all to crash into one another and tumble down a small hill, landing on a several bushes.

"I think I hit my head on something hard." Silver Star said with a groan.

"Yeah. My head!" Blaze said from underneath everyone.

The five managed to shake the leafs and twigs stuck to them off of their bodies, finally taking a breather after running for several miles. Blaze inspected his little sister. "Aura, you okay?"

"I'm fine. A little dazed, but I'll live."

"Good." Blaze sighed in relief. The others flinched when Blaze started yelling at Ember. "What were you thinking?! I mean, all of that and for what? Ember, are you even listening to me?"

Ember was silent. She didn't even flinch when Blaze yelled at her. Her mind was still on that strange substance. She wished she knew what it was and what it did. Did Keith and Allura know about this? Was this some kind of master plan from the Galra? Why did it smell so familiar? What did any of this mean?

"Hello! I'm yelling at you!"

"Huh, what? Sorry, I was thinking."

"About what? About how we almost got killed? And all for some nasty glowing urine in a jar? See, this is exactly why I don't want my sister around you. You're a death sentence waiting to happen."

"At least I'm actually doing something! The Galra are going to continue threatening us unless we do something about it."

"And what do you suggest we do, huh? What, you're gonna call on your paladins for help?" Blaze waiting for Ember's reply, to which she only turned around and headed onwards.

"Exactly."

Blaze and the others blinked in shock. "I was being sarcastic!" he yelled as he galloped after her and the others. When did he become the only sane one here?

Comet caught up with her. "Ember, are you sure? I mean, how will you even find them?"

"I don't know. But we can't just ignore this. If the Galra have this one base, who knows how many others are out there. Or if Keith and Allura have even found them."

"Man, that brain of yours is always kicking." said Silver Star. "There's only one tiny, itsy, bitsy problem with your plan. There is no possible way my mom gonna let you do this."

"And I doubt she'll change her mind." Comet said.

"No. But your mother might. Maybe she can help us out."

"Help you out with what?"

The five longmas screamed when they were halted by none other than Nebula herself… and Celeste… and Blaze and Aura's parents… and the rest of the hunters.

"Busted twice on the same night. That's a first." said Silver Star. It didn't help their situation.

(~)

Ember was used to being schooled by Celeste and Nebula. This time, however, she was far beyond just mere grounding. After having explained everything to the two sisters, Ember prepared herself for the worst.

"Of all things you've done. Of all the ludicrous, foolish schemes, this is unacceptable!"

"Celeste, I know this looks bad, but-"

"Not only did you, once again, drag my daughter and nephew into it, you also placed poor Aura in needless danger, knowing full well what you were getting into!" Celeste bared her teeth, something she had never done before. Ember was right, she would not be receiving a merciful punishment this time around. In Celeste's eyes, she had crossed the line. A line from which there was no going back from.

"I have done everything in my power to give you exactly what you needed. I gave you a home, a place in my family, taught you everything you needed to know about your powers, and this is how you repay me. By continuously going off on these idiotic pursuits of adventure!"

"It's not about the adventure, Celeste!"

"Silence!" Ember flinched, and even Comet and Silver Star gasped. They hid behind Nebula, looking terrified, with Nebula looking worried.

"I've been patient with you long enough."

Ember gasped when she felt her earring being forcibly tugged right off from her ear. "No! No, no, please!" Ember begged, using her own aura to try and grab it back, but Celeste pushed her back with her wing.

"Mom, don't do this!" Silver Star pleaded, "That belongs to Ember!"

"It belongs to the paladins, which she is not!" with a whip of her head, Celeste tossed the earring far from the herd, ignoring Ember's desperate cries.

"NO!" Ember spread her wings open and took off after the earring, only to be stopped by Celeste, who levitated her back to the ground. "No!" Ember cried, sobbing and twisting in Celeste's grasp. That earring was the only piece she had of Allura. Wearing it felt as if she were close to her. She felt so foolish for ever considering taking it off before. Now, it was gone. Trying to find a tiny earring like that would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. It was pointless.

Ember gave into her grief and stopped struggling, allowing Celeste to let her go. Comet and Silver Star watched horrified at their broken friend. Even Blaze himself felt an ache in his chest watching Ember suffer like this. He always wished for the day that she would see the consequences of her actions, but this? This was not nearly as enjoyable as he had expected it to be. Aura had her eyes closed, unable to watch poor Ember like this. Tears rolled down her eyes while listening to Ember's sobbing.

Celeste stood straight, looking unapologetic at her actions. Ember needed to wake up and realize exactly what she was. She was a longma, not a paladin.

Aura's ear began to twitch in alarm. "Blaze, I hear something."

The entire herd gasped and screamed when Galra sentries appeared from the bushes and behind the trees. Ember stopped her crying and looked up to see the Galra general and the female Galra standing before the herd.

"Everyone, stay together!" Nebula ordered, while she and the rest of the hunters took defensive position. The Galra general laughed.

"They speak? Well, it would appear ten thousand years have given your kind time to evolve."

"Please, let us leave." Celeste pleaded, "We don't want to get involved."

"That's just it, longma. When your children broke into my base, you did become involved."

Ember gasped. The substance from before. It was all over her hooves. Looking down, she noticed there were still bits of it underneath. She had unintentionally led them straight to the group. This was her fault. Celest and many others constantly warned her something like this would happen, and now it has. Blaze was right, she had endangered the herd, and all because she wanted to live up to the paladins' legacy.

What would a paladin do at this moment?

"Leave them out of this!" Ember said, holding her head up high and wings spread out. She stood in between the two Galrans and the herd. "I'm the one who snuck into your base. I broke the vile. Your grudge is with me. Take me and let the herd go free."

"Ember, don't!" Comet tried to reach her, but was stopped by his mother.

The commander tilted his head back in laughter. "How adorable. A small thing like you wouldn't be worth the scrapes from underneath my ship. But a couple of beauties like them, now that's a prize." he said, his golden eye fixated on Nebula and Celeste.

Ember's anger boiled, her pupils becoming slits and she opened her mouth, unleashing a powerful beam at the commander, knocking him and his female counterpart along with him. "Take them!"

The sentries obeyed his orders and started shooting at the longma. Only, instead of lasers, they shot nets, capturing them one by one as they scattered. The hunters attacked, led by Nebula, in an effort to protect the herd, and their leader. Comet joined in the fight by firing his beams, but one sentry came up from behind him. Before he could attack, the gun fired. Rather than strike him, the laser bounced right off of Ember's artificial membrane, striking another sentry in the process.

Ember blinked in surprise, then smiled. "Thank you, Pidge." she whispered and joined Comet and Silver Star against the sentries. The hunters fought as valiantly as they could, but many of them were captured, leaving Nebula to protect her family. Children cried in fear, with Blaze shooting several sentries away from them.

"Blaze, to your left!" Aura called out. Blaze followed her instructions and blasted at another sentry, saving one of the older female longma. "How did you know?"

"I heard him coming." Aura said, while having her eyes closed. The bright lights of the lasers didn't help her sight, but even without it, she could still see better than Blaze could.

Nebula sliced through the sentries with her beams, and stabbed them with her horn, using her powerful wings to smash their heads together. Celeste was not too far behind. While she wasn't much of a hunter like her sister, she was more than capable of defending herself, and her herd. The Commander aimed his gun, ready to capture her.

"Mom!" Silver Star jumped right in the line of fire, getting captured in the place of her mother.

"Silver Star!"

Hearing his aunt's voice, Comet raced to help, only to get captured as well, Nebula rushed to her son. The commander growled. This one proved to be the most troublesome. Such fire would be welcomed in the Empire. Perhaps he would keep her as a pet. Then again, taming wild animals was too much of a chore. He would have to weaken her.

Pulling out a different gun, he shot at Nebula right on the leg. The longma let out a pain stricken roar and fell to the ground. Comet cried out for her, which caught Ember's attention. She had been trying defend some children, and stopped shooting when she saw Nebula on the ground, her leg horribly injured.

Flashes of her mother manifested in place of the fallen Nebula. The flames that had engulfed her long ago now engulfed Ember's very heart. She lost one mother, and had to be torn apart from another. She refused to stand by and watch anyone else die.

Several sentries down, but those still remaining held the nets in place while capturing those that remained. Celeste hurried to her sister's side, snarling at the commander as he approached her. "At ease, little longma. It will all be over, soon enough."

"Leave her alone!" Ember came flying, jaws wide open, and sunk her teeth onto the commander's hands. The Galra screamed in pain at the razor sharp jaws piercing his skin almost to his bones. He waved his arm once, throwing Ember aside. She flapped her wings and regained balance in mid flight, then unleashed a beam from her mouth directly at him. It struck him right at his chest, pushing him back. While in flight, Ember kicked him right in the face with her back legs, whipped him with her tail, and scared him with the edges of her bat-like wings, before striking him down again with another beam.

The Commander, with a bloody hand, bruised and scarred face, he still stood back up. "I refused to be beaten by a little vermin!" he growled, Ember, still with cat-like slits, panted, teeth bared and ready to attack once again.

He readied his gun, just as Ember readied her beam. When she fired, she realized her beam has grown in size, overpowering the Commander and throwing him farther than expected. Like the bounty hunter from before, he crashed into several trees, knocked out cold.

Ember blinked, her eyes reverting to normal once she saw that it was Celeste who merged her own beam with Ember's at the very last second. Celeste looked at Ember with remorse. The sound of another gun readying to fire pierced their ears. The female Galra pointed at the two. Ember and Celeste shielded an injured Nebula, mouths open and ready to fire. The Galra woman fired… but it wasn't at the longmas.

She fired at the last remanding sentries, destroying them all at once. Ember and Celest stared in confusion, yet with caution as the Galran picked up one of the sentries' disabled arms. Pressing a few buttons on the arm, the net trapping the longma released, shrinking in size on the ground. The herd was free.

The others stared at the woman in bewilderment. Why was she helping them?

Her eyes landed on Ember, then tossed something at her hooves. It was her earring. "Get out of here." the woman said. "Before he wakes up."

"Why are you-"

"Don't ask questions. Just leave."

Ember wanted to ask why she helped them. But then she was reminded of Kolivan, the Galran who was part of a rebellion against Zarkon. And of course, Keith was half-Galra himself. All this time she had been talking nothing but ill things about this species, almost completely forgetting there were still some good out there.

The rest of the herd didn't hesitate and took flight. Celeste and another hunter carried Nebula out of scene, but Ember stayed a bit longer. "Thank you." she said. She secretly vowed not to forget the woman's face. Even if she didn't smile back, Ember had a hunch she was smiling on the inside.

Placing her earring right where it belonged, Ember followed the rest of the herd away from the scene, as the Galran woman watched on. Her eyes gazed up longingly at the stars.

(~)

The herd arrived at the farthest corner of the planet, where Nebula laid on the ground. She was alive, but her wounded leg made it near impossible for her to stand, or fly on her own without feeling the weight of the pain. Comet stayed by her side the entire time, with Celest feeling even more remorse over her refusal to fight back.

"I'm sorry I led them to us." Ember said, hanging her head. Celest then gently lifted up her chin with her wing.

"I'm the one who should be sorry. You were right, our herd isn't safe anymore. I was so blinded by my loss I didn't stop to reconsider a different option."

"It's okay. I get it."

Celeste sighed. "Now, because of me, my sister will be-"

Ember flickered her ear when she heard something. Like a faint buzzing, followed by static and… words? She tapped her earring once, getting another word, followed by another, separated by static noises. Someone was speaking. A voice… a warm voice. A voice she could never forget.

"Um, Celeste, could you give me a second, please? I'll be right back!" Ember took off to the sky, flapping fast towards the sky. The static on the earring began to clear, then she reached past the planet's atmosphere into space, tapping the jewelry several times, even moving left and right to get a good reading. Then, she heard it.

"Allura?" Ember whispered. She listened attentively. There was no mistaking it. It was Allura's voice! But, how was it possible she could hear her now when she couldn't before? As she listened, she heard they were somewhere near the Finn System. The longma had been there a couple months ago. It wasn't too far away from Olkarion.

She now knew what she had to do. Flying back down, she landed before Celeste. "I know someone who can help. That is, if you trust me."

(~)

"Hey, what's that?" Shiro looked up into the sky. Strange objects came into view, descending towards Olkarion. From afar, their shapes were difficult to distinguish. The objects were creatures with wings. Large wings that, as they drew even closer, resembled the wings of a bat of a pterodactyl.

Instantly, Coran and the four paladins recognized these creatures. They had seen them once before. One in particular caught their attention the most.

"Ember?"

As the herd made their descend, Ember saw them. They looked like white colored sticks from above, but as she drew closer, their shapes became clear. From the messy black hair, to the silvery locks held up in a bun, everything about them remained exactly as they did in her memories. For a moment, Ember wondered if she were dreaming, and at any moment she will wake up.

But this wasn't a dream. This was reality. Tears of joy filled her eyes when they shouted her name in delight and hurried to greet her. Ember flapped her wings even faster, not wanting to waste another second apart from them. Upon landing, she galloped full speed into their waiting arms.

"Mama! Papa!" Ember shouted, calling them exactly as they have always been to her. Longma or not, they would forever be her parents. Keith and Allura got down on their knees and wrapped their arms around her. The rest of the paladins, and Coran, all swarmed around her, all the while crying with untold happiness. Even Coran calling her "Little Beastie", but in an affectionate way.

"We missed you so much!" Keith said, cupping Ember's face, tears running down his cheeks.

"I missed you guys, too!" Ember nuzzled his cheek before nuzzling Allura's.

"Look at you. You've grown so big." Allura said, marveling at Ember's new size.

"Well, it has been months."

"How did you find us?" Keith asked.

"Allura's earring." Ember flicked her right ear, revealing the dangling purple accessory. "I've kind of keeping tabs on you guys ever since. Last I heard you were located on Olkarion, and the herd has been through this quadrant before."

Keith chuckled with pride. "Clever girl."

Lance then started ruffling Ember's mane. Hey fun-loving, comedic, warm-hearted Uncle Lance. "Wow, you're so grown up. Guess you're too old to call me Uncle Lance, huh?"

Ember scoffed. "Please, you will always be Uncle Lance to me. No matter how old I get." Lance's lower lip started to tremble. Ember rolled her eyes playfully. "Let me guess. Something in your eye, again?"

"Yeah… they're call tears of joy!" Lance brawled as he hugged Ember, who hugged him with her wings. The mice came out and crawled up Ember's wings, peppering her cheeks with nose kisses.

"I missed you guys, too."

The reunion came to a brief half when Celest stepped forward, "Excuse me. I hate to interrupt, but Ember told me you would be able to help my sister." she turned to her sister, who was being supported by two other hunters. Her leg had turned black and blue during their travels.

"Guys, this is Nebula." Ember said, "She's been hurt, and I know you guys had doctors around here from last time, so I was hoping you could help."

A man Ember had never seen before stepped forward. Ember cocked her head in confusion, until she remembered the mice mentioned there was another Black Paladin before Keith by the name of Shiro. That he had gone missing during her stay. It would appear he managed to return. He was taller than Keith, much more muscular, and admittedly handsome, by humans standards. He had kind looking eyes, and for a moment she wondered if he and Keith were related somehow.

"Hang on, mind of I take a look?" she asked. Nebula was hesitant. She never had another creature inspect her before. Ember nodded her head in reassurance. She had a feeling she could trust Shiro. Nebula gave in and allowed Shiro to help. He led her and the other two longma's helping her somewhere he could tend to her wounds. Comet followed, giving Ember a nod in gratitude. She smiled wider when she felt Keith's hand on her mane again.

"I have so much to tell you guys! I don't even know where to begin."

"Whoa!" Silver Star popped in, flapping her wings while startling the paladins. She was inches apart from Allura's face. "So, you're Princess Allura, right? Ember's told me so much about you. How do you get your hair so white? Has it always been like that? Are those pink things birthmarks or painted on?"

"Everyone, this is Silver Star." Ember said, intruding them to her friend.

"Hi! I'm really excited to meet you all. I've never been this close to another creature before." Silver Star said, now hovering inches away from Lance's face. His eyes darted back and forth twice before smiling awkwardly.

"Uh, is that so? Couldn't tell." Lance said sarcastically, which made Silver Star laugh.

"Ember was right, you are the funny one!" Silver Star's eyes then widened, her hooves pressing down on Lance's head, much to his surprise and chagrin. "WHOA! Is that the Red Lion?!" Silver Star flew up to see the massive beast up close to the mechanical beast, while Lance rubbed the back of his head.

"Somebody's had too much caffeine." Hunk said, staring at the hyperactive yellow longma admiring the lions.

"Sorry about that, she's just really curious." Ember said. "Which kind of happens a lot." Then Silver Star flew back down, rather quickly.

"This place is amazing! Also, you were right Ember. It does kind of smell like that scent we found at that Galra base. Though, waaaaaaay more pleasant." she flew towards Hunk, sniffing his hair. "You don't smell like a yelmor's stomach!"

"That's good. Right?" Hunk asked.

"Better than good! Have you ever had yelmor? Word of advice; Never. Just, never. Big mistake, don't do it."

Hunk blinked in confusion. "Oooookay. Good to know?"

"Wait, what Galra base?" Allura asked, arching an eyebrow.

Ember chuckled nervously, rubbing her leg with her hoof. "Yeah, well, you see, a couple days ago, we kind snuck into a secret Galra base and found something."

"W-What did you find?" Keith asked, then realizing what Ember had just wait. "Wait, how did you sneak into a Galra base? Who told you you could sneak into one? What were you even doing inside a base? What did you do?!"

"You weren't hurt, were you?" Allura asked.

"No, I'm okay. But for real, my friends and I found this base where they had this weird liquid stuff stocked on a bunch of shelves."

"And it had this really weird smell." Silver Star said, recoiling in disgust at the memory. "Something like lava molding into air, or vomit or something. I don't know, bottom line, it smelled fishy. Not like a literal fish, but maybe, you get the idea."

"What did this liquid look like?" Keith asked.

"It was glowing." Ember explained, recalling the events from a couple days ago. "It was kind of yellowish, but also kind of blue. When It got near it was like it had some kind of energy."

"As if it were alive?" Allura asked, placing the pieces together.

"Exactly. And, now that I think about it, it radiated with some kind of heat. Not intense heat, but more like body heat. I know it sounds weird, but I knew if the Galra had it, it couldn't be good. Right?" Keith, Allura, Coran and the rest of the paladins all shared the same shocked expression. "Do you guys know what it is?"

"We do." Keith said, still in a state of shock. "Ember, you found a hidden quintessence base."

"Quin-what-now?"

"Quintessence." Coran corrected. "It's basically the life force of everything in the universe."

"That's why it also smelled familiar. You guys, the castle, and the lions all have traces of it."

"Quintessence is natural for many creatures." Allura said. "However, the Galra have been extracting raw quintessence from other planets, and we suspect they're somehow producing more of it. In the wrong hands, it could be incredibly dangerous. It was originally used by Zarkon to keep himself alive for so long. It was also what corrupted him. It's rather difficult to explain."

"Does that mean we have quintessence too?" Silver Star asked.

"Yes. It's basically our energy." Coran explained. "Of course, there is a difference between the quintessence that radiates naturally from every creature, and the type of quintessence the Galra are harvesting."

"So, it's like stolen?" Ember asked.

"We're still not entirely sure how the Empire is still managing to get their hands on it." Allura said, "In fact, The Blade of Marmora have been inspecting a secret quintessence supply line for a while now."

"Ember, where did you say you found this base?" Keith asked.

"On a planet, two days away from the Finn system."

"We were there a few days ago." Keith said in alarm.

Lance shook his head in disbelief, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, hold the phone! You mean to tell me the Blades have spent weeks trying to find just one secret Galra base storing this quintessence, but a few longmas find it in one day just by smelling it?"

"From the looks of it, the longmas can… smell quintessence!" Pidge concluded, already intrigued.

"We do have very sensitive nostrils." Silver Star said, twitching her nose to emphasize her point.

Allura gripped her boyfriend's arm, smiling excitedly. "Keith, do you know what this means?"

Ember cocked her head. "Is something wrong?"

Keith smiled. "Actually Ember, I believe you just did us a solid."

"Uh, I'm kind of lost." Hunk said.

Silver Star shrugged. "Join the club."

(~)

"Let me see if I understand this. These longma were able to detect quintessence from a secret base we didn't know about by sheer scent." Kolivan said, summarizing everything the paladins had just informed him. He, Team Voltron, Ember and her friends, Shiro, Celeste and most of the herd had gathered in the control room, having requested an audience with Kolivan himself.

"Pretty much, yeah." Ember said. She remembered Kolivan well enough. That scowl was not one she would easily forget. "So, we came to you today with an offer."

"An offer?" Kolivan asked suspiciously.

"Like a business deal, sort of."

Keith spoke next, holding his head erect with Allura standing beside him, hand in hand. "The longma have been living in hiding for generations. With the Galra controlling more planets, they're struggling to find a safe place to raise their families. Aside from their intelligence, they're also skilled hunters and masters of stealth. Ember and her friends were able to get into the base all on their own. If a few kids could do that, imagine what a team of fully grown trained longmas could do."

"We suggest an alliance between the Blades and the longma." Allura said, "They can be of great assistance in tracking down these hidden supply lines, much faster than you ever could on your own. In return, you offer them training on the field, while families and children will remain safe here with the Coalition."

Kolivan was silent as he looked over at the gold and white female longma. The two have been narrowing their eyes at each other almost throughout the entire meeting.

"I understand this is rather unorthodox, but if we are going to defeat Lotor, we must all learn to work together. To use our strengths to better equip ourselves for the battles to come."

"Plus, we're fast learners." Ember chimed in with confidence. Kolivan wanted to groan. Just what he needed, another hot-blooded teenager. A four legged one, but still a teenager.

"How do you feel about this?" Kolivan asked Celeste, who slightly lifted her chin up.

"Working with the very creatures that tried to murder us? Hard to say."

Ember chuckled nervously, "Okay, I know I haven't really been painting the Galra in a very positive light all this time, but I can guarantee that not all of them are bad. I mean, Kolivan leading a rebel group against the Empire. Keith is half-Galra and he saved my life. Don't forget that other Galran who spared us."

"What?" Kolivan asked.

"Yeah. This lady Galra let us go. She never told me her name, but she had dark purple hair and… purple eyes… yeah, not a very distinct description, I know, but I remember her face. Maybe she was one of your spies."

"Perhaps." Kolivan replied before going silent. Everyone else waited anxiously for his responce. After a few seconds, which for some may have felt like an eternity, the Blade's leader approached Celeste. "I would need to inform the others, and if you are in agreement, the hunters will receive specific training for these missions. If they're up for the task."

Celeste too was silent, and Silver Star looked up at her mother with pleading eyes. "Please, Mom? For the herd?"

Celeste looked down at her daughter and then at Ember. "Do you trust him, Ember?"

Ember nodded. "I do."

Celeste took in a deep breath before giving her answer. "My herd and I would be willing to assist you in locating this quintessence you speak of. I do, however, have only one condition."

"Which condition would that be?" Kolivan asked, his monotone mirroring Celeste's.

"That I supervise the missions and training alongside you. Also, if you ever make me wear anything that black, I will add another scar to that face."

"Deal." Kolivan didn't flinch at the threat, which already suited well with Celeste. It just meant he was no stranger to discipline. Neither was she. Perhaps this partnership would work. It would not be smooth sailing, but it was something. Celeste handed him her wing to shake. Once the deal was set, Ember and her friends all galloped and cheered in delight. Even Blaze himself was happy with the news.

"I was wrong about you. Completely wrong." Blaze said, surprising Ember and the others. When he wouldn't' say anything else, Aura nudged him with her wing. "I'm… sorry for all the harsh things I said."

"It's okay. I get it. And, I'm sorry for biting your wing before."

"Eh. I kind of deserved it for talking ill about your family."

"Mm, yeah you kinda did." Ember laughed, which was even shared by Blaze. She knew Blaze wasn't the most sentimental longma, so a long detailed apology just wasn't his thing. Still, it was better than nothing.

"I was wrong too, Ember." Celest said, "You may be a longma by birth. But by heart, you will always be a paladin."

Ember blushed, "I wouldn't be so sure. You technically need a lion to be an actual paladin."

Lance scoffed. "Who says?"

Keith lifted Ember's chin, beaming with pride and joy. "Even when things were hard, you never stopped fighting. You never stopped believing things could be better. Lion or not, so long as you fight for what's right, you're every bit a paladin as the rest of us."

"It wasn't just me." Ember began to tear up. "I had some pretty awesome teachers." she opened her wings and welcomed both her parents and fellow paladins in a warm embrace. The embrace she missed every single night, and now she could have once again.

How foolish she was to think she needed to choose between them. She was a longma, a part of a herd. But she was also a paladin, a part of a team. Both sides were an important part of who she was.

As Regris had taught Keith before, together they brought out the best one another. It would appear the paladins's influence on Ember brought out her best. If Keith hadn't chosen to spare Ember's life, she wouldn't have inspired this change in her own kind. And in turn, she only reaffirmed Keith he made the right choice in staying with Voltron. This was exactly where they both belonged.

"Welcome home, kiddo."

(~)

Summary for next chapter:

After many struggles, set backs and inevitable battles, Keith and Allura are finally getting married! A day of celebration for sure, and some unexpected revelations.

Lance and Pidge must learn to place aside their differences as they plan together for the ceremony. Hunk makes an unexpected connection, and while tending to an ailing Nebula, Shiro finally confronts a dark secret from his past. Will Keith and Allura's big day be a happy one?

Or a complete disaster?

(~)

By the time this comes out, season 7 will have most likely premiered. Just in case some may be wondering, yes I am still keeping to my original plan of this story ending on a different take of season 6. I've already given my reasons why, so I won't repeat them here. Although, while I haven't watched the season completely yet (and I don't plan to anytime too soon), given ALL the spoilers I've been seeing left and right… I think I dodged a bullet.

Besides, Alternate Realities, remember? The sky's the limit! Anything is possible! Literally, ANYTHING!

I hope to finish this story sometime around possibly October, November or at the very least early December. This story is, believe it or not, LONG due to the new material I'm incorporating, and because I only write on weekends because weekdays I work on both at my job and at home with my Comic Con and stuff. Not to mention developing my own projects in my down time.

I would like to give a warm shout out to my friend MiraculousWolf for proof reading this chapter. You're awesome girl!

Until next time, comment, critic, and bring tissues. There may be tears… and fluff… you have been warned. Oh, and another thing, the tittle is referencing a fantasy trilogy of the same name. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. It's also where Ember got her name. (No, she wasn't named after the dragon from MLP:FiM, sorry to disappoint)

Until next time, keep on watering your Plance and sharpening your Juniblades! God bless, *kiss, kiss*