Peacemaking (Nebulous Finale Pt 2)

by Nebula the Starwing

After meeting with the Starwings, the gang races to make diplomatic meetings between Queens a possibility. The Starwings are starting to settle in, and the news of their arrival spreads rather fast. As they begin to settle, The Starwings try to piece together a mystery surrounding Pyrrhia's magical properties as well as a mysterious message emanating from the Claws of the Clouds.

1. Chapter 1 - Future Plans

(Chapter 1 - Future Plans)

-Prologue-

Fire. An inferno of color swept through the ship.

Flames of different colors licked up the sides of the ship's scarred walls, different chemicals being consumed by the tongues of fire already making their way towards the sources. Alarms and sirens blared through the half empty ship, the hull would breach soon whether the crew evacuated or not.

Through the flaming wall of heat, a black figure strode through, clad with sleek black modular body armor, an intimidating black cloak and similar helmet completed her menacing look. A few guards rushing around recognized her as the terrifying figure of the lost Princess Libra. They drew their pikes and charged her, easily being swept aside by her energy imbued strikes.

She pressed on through the damaged ship's halls, occasionally knocking a guard or other attacker aside with her wings. A few unconscious Starwing bodies littered the hallways, leaving more behind her. As she pressed on, she entered a hall crossing and stopped momentarily. Within seconds, each hall had three or so armed soldiers surrounding her. 12 in all, they drew a weapon and attempted to keep her trapped.

Libra forced her wings out and up. With them, her energy lifted the soldiers up suddenly to the ceiling. Another swift SLAM of her wings down to the floor brought them crashing against the cracked ship's hall. One final slam with her fist against the floor sent them flying back through the halls, all but knocked out.

The armored princess stalked through the halls to the data center, barely in one piece. Accessing the terminals with ease, she pulled together any and all data pertaining to their whereabouts. So far, very little. They had traced a few of their energy signatures to deeper parts of the galaxy, which would've lead them right to Stardust. Libra would make sure this wouldn't happen.

Iso, I've tapped into their data banks. They had our trail, despite our caution.

Libra's comm crackled to life within her helmet.

"Aye, they must be tracking our stellar remnants."

Indeed. I'm resetting their core, warp to Cygnus 5J, I'll meet you there.

"Yes my Queen."

Her comm silenced, leaving her with the boundless amount of thoughts that plagued her mind usually.

My Queen. What Libra always wanted… Now that she declared her splinter faction sovereign, she had claimed herself the only true heir of the FreeClan. No one in the small armada she split off with years ago dared question her.

A pallid rage tore through Libra's mind as she tore down the hall towards an airlock. The nearest one lay straight ahead. As she turned towards it, the doors were literally melted shut. Flames lapped through the cracks, not the best method of exit. This forced her to turn around completely, facing the nearby observation deck.

The deck consisted of a large glass dome covering nearly all the ceiling and walls, save for the back wall and the door. The glass was nonexistent at this point, only a forcefield keeping everything contained. Fire and smoke permeated the atmosphere, causing the room to be dimmed with ambient light from the corners.

Just as Libra prepared to shoot out into the stars, a voice stopped her.

"You haven't even said goodbye yet."

She need not turn around to know who it was.

You never said hello, Mother.

Aries, standing a few meters back and donning similar body armor without the helmet, gripped a Light Pike with a tremblingly intense stance.

"Don't you grow tired of running, little one?"

A Queen must never tire out. You told me that, remember?

"So that's what you think you've become to them? A Queen?" Aries stepped forwards, both in indignation and in seething anger. "What Queen attacks her own subjects?"

What kind of Queen would let them die? Neither of us are perfect, we've both made some unfavorable choices.

"So it seems…" Aries let down her pike, offering her hand instead. Her gaze pleading and firm, Aries stepped forwards cautiously. "But we can fix this… you and me-"

Libra whirled around and launched a furious wave of energy at her. Aries counterbalanced with a wave of her own and summoned the pike to her again.

THERE IS NO FIXING THIS ANYMORE.

Libra grabbed a hilt from her side mount. With the smallest of astral interfacing, the hilt sprang out into a lithe mechanical blade, both edges igniting with furious white energy.

NO ONE CAN, NOT YOU, OR ME, OR ANYONE ELSE.

Aries whirled the pike around, igniting it as well.

"I'm sorry you think that way… I don't want to do this again."

Libra readied herself into an attack position.

Then just LEAVE.

"YOU KNOW I CAN'T DO THAT EITHER!" Aries shouted towards Libra, readying herself.

"...I will never turn my back on my own daughter."

GrrrrRRRAAAAAAAH!

In an anger driven flurry of power, Libra dove at Aries blade first. The two met with their energy imbued weapons, exchanging blows and counters in perfect synchrony. Libra slashed low, Aries jumped up and swung high. Libra blocked high, slashing up as Aries used the pike to block again. The two predicted the other's moves like clockwork.

At first they were at a standstill, matched equally towards each other. But little by little, Aries faltered in her movements. Each block nearly shattered the pike, each counter was just a little too slow. Libra struck harder and harder, yelling out furiously. Finally with a stolid slash to the side, the pike snapped in two and deactivated. The fragments fell to the side, as Aries stumbled back with her head to the wall. Libra was in mid swing, aimed at her mother's head as time slowed.

The glowing edge was mere feet away, and traveling fast. Yet every nanosecond crawled by. Libra's keen awareness of time awarded her one precious moment to notice her mother's expression. Not terrified, not battle ready, not even angry.

Just… grieved. No amount of armor could ever shield Libra from such a blow. Her arm slowed mid swing, just enough for Libra to adjust her trajectory in guilt. Aries however caught on, preemptively grabbing Libra's arm to knock the blade out of her grasp. Within the next few milliseconds, Aries then launched a hard wave of her astral energy to one off guard Libra, who flew back into the middle of the deck.

Aries lunged at her daughter, Libra barely able to block her strike with the armored arm guards she wore. Aries' strikes nicked at her armor, taking off a few segments of Libra's tail armor. Next, her slashes caught onto her exposed tail and left a severe gash along its length. Libra fell back with a cry of agony, with one last blow from her mother that shattered a part of her helmet. She lay on the ground, as Aries pointed the blade at her; panting and still ready to fight, but desperate in tone and expression.

"Where… where is Nebula?"

Libra's exposed helmet let Aries see the lone multicolored eye of her daughter, watery and squinted with malice.

Out of your talons.

Aries nearly struck her daughter again with how close she threatened her.

"WHERE IS HE?!"

SAFE. He will be safe, as I promised.

Aries, realizing Libra's words, stepped back.

"...You don't have him… you dropped him off…"

He's safe… out of our reach. Libra looked up at Aries, determining her movements. The Queenly dragon slumped down however, onto the ground her head in her talons.

"My son… Libra… why…?"

Libra prodded forwards, curiously and cautiously. It was uncharacteristic of her to just give up like that, igniting Libra's instincts.

'What is she doing…?'

The fire and smoke around the rose higher, surreally so. Libra couldn't breathe in without smoke igniting her lungs.

'What's happening?'

"Libra…"

The voice was no longer her mothers, but coming from all around.

Libra.

The smoke dimmed her vision, and as she fell back the realization hit her almost as hard as the floor.

'Dream… This is a dream…'

Libra.

-X-

"Libra… wake up."

Libra's eyes finally cracked open, the room still spinning some from her dream world. The room was small, barren save for another similar dragon standing besides her.

Mother.

She attempted to sit up quickly, finally remembering where she was. Not in danger, no mission to complete, only reconciliation to seek. Libra let her tense breath go and shook herself off a bit.

"Hey…"

Aries sat besides her daughter and wrapped the princess in a tender hug.

"You were fighting something in your sleep. Any longer and you would have punched a hole through the ship."

Libra's gaze found the fist sized indentations in the walls, gashes of energy strikes up and down the cell interior. She grimaced at thinking what she might have said in her sleep.

"Sorry… Just having trouble sleeping lately."

Aries nodded and nosed her daughter's head affectionately. "Bad dreams?"

Libra, resignedly and seeking solace, nosed back and into her mother's arms.

"Worse... remembering."

"Ah…" Aries pressed her head against Libra's softly. "That's behind us, all of it."

The two exchanged their energies in a mental embrace, sharp flashes of her nightmare flashing through Libra's mind. She winced as Aries mind soothed her troubled memories, then pulled back and rubbed her head again.

"Yeah… But it's not behind me yet."

"Give it time." Aries offered her a hopefully kind smile. "Time heals all."

Time heals all. Libra initially had her doubts, but the more she thought about it, the more it didn't seem so impossible. Maybe it was just her eagerness for redemption, maybe she was deluding herself of what could be and what could never. She didn't know which was which anymore.

"...Mother…" Libra's worried gaze met Aries. "What's going to happen to me?"

Aries sat besides her daughter comfortingly. "First, we have to let everyone else know you're alive. Until then I think it's safer for you to-"

"MOTHER." Libra turned to Aries and held her shoulders. "If they know I've turned myself in, the Council would order me to be executed. That much I know for sure." Her tensed mind forced her gaze to shift wildly around.

"I don't know how you expect this to go… And with how me and father have been the past two years, would you honestly expect him to stop them, or even let you stop them?"

"Libra," Aries keeps Libra's head in place firmly. "You know I am a Queen yes?"

"Yes but... even you can't keep me alive forever if everyone else wants me gone, or dead…" Libra again averted her eyes again, wanting anything else but to look at her mother." I won't… I can't make you do that for me."

Outside the shield, a pair of mismatched ice blue eyes peered in. Sheratan stood at the force field somewhat sleepily.

"Princess, the majority of people actually want you back. They don't agree with your actions, but at least 65% of the Starwing Populace would like to see you within the Clan once more."

Libra's head swiveled around to see her, curious and hopeful. "...They do?"

Aries brought her head back again. "Then how much more so would your own father want you back."

"But-" Libra reasoned back. "I've attacked our own dragons… I've killed some of my own citizens."

"Actually-" Another dragon prodded up besides Sheratan. Caelum sat besides her. "In all 17 attacks on our ships and territory, you haven't killed anyone. Injured, oh yeah. Lots of that, but… You've taken no lives. You've only crippled ships and forced others off."

"You were…" Sheratan piped up again. "Rather merciful, it seemed."

Libra, somewhat teary eyed, glanced back to her mother who hugged her tightly again.

"My daughter… There is hope. You will come back, I promise."

As her mother spoke it took all Libra had to not cry again, or find another reason they could be wrong. She resignedly nodded and nosed into her mother.

"Okay… I trust you, just tell me what I need to do."

Aries nosed her daughter's cheek. "Just hang on, things will look up soon. Do you want me to bring you anything?"

Libra wiped her eyes and sniffed her sadness away. "Just visit me sometimes… And maybe a status update on what's going on every so often?" The princess looked to Caelum who smiled and nodded.

"Yes, Princess."

Libra offered a smile in return, holding onto her mother. "I'll be here then." She cleared her throat some and shyly spoke up once more.

"When… When can I see Stardust…?"

Aries shifting expression didn't exactly convey hopefulness. "Soon… Let's let everyone know you're alive and well, and here, firstly. After that, then we'll see."

Libra nodded and glanced downwards. "Okay… In the meantime, what're you going to do?"

Aries, ever the excitable and ambitious Queen, clasped her talons together.

"Today… I will unite two worlds together in peace."

-X-

"Stardust… Rise and shine little one."

Stardust flopped over to his other side, avoiding the prodding at his stomach from a larger dragon he refused to open his eyes to see.

"Mmfh… I dun wanna go to class…"

A soft and deep chuckle rumbled from the other dragon, as they nosed Stardust's head again.

"Well today's class is called Life, and I'm afraid we're all forced to attend." The larger dragon curled up around Stardust and nudged his forehead again.

"It's sunrise on your planet, we must start our day as well."

'My planet… What…?'

The Prince's eyes suddenly shot open. Yesterday's events flooded back to him, and with it the giddy realization that it wasn't all a dream. Glancing up, he met Orion's proud and affectionate snout, with his intense yet wonderous multicolored eyes gazing back.

"Good morning, little Prince."

Stardust curled up into him and yawned. "Morning dad… I mean, my king?" He looked up at him admiringly.

"Which is more… Appropriate?"

Orion's grin deepened as he touched foreheads with his newfound son, sharing the bond of energy like usual. Stardust became so cozy, if he had stayed there much longer he'd have fallen asleep again.

"Both are appropriate, but…" Orion pulled away, only to plant an affectionate little kiss on Stardust's forehead.

"Call me dad, I have too many dragons already calling me King, and "My lord" and "My liege", and so on and so forth."

Stardust smiled in his dad's chill-like response. He sat up and leaned on him happily. "What does mom call you?"

"If she's happy with me," Orion laid back and held Stardust on his chest. "Orion, Darling, sometimes 'My Starcastle'. That's why we named this ship after it, because I'm her Starcastle, her refuge and shelter."

Stardust's smile would have reached the roof had it not been contained to his snout. Before he had a chance to reply, Orion continued.

"If she's NOT happy with me, I'm convinced she has this whole list of nicknames that she keeps somewhere and updates every so often. It's amazing really."

Through Stardust's giggling and soon uproarious laughter, Orion keeps counting off the names.

"Half Minded Binary, Absolute Dwarf Head, scatterbrained galaxy of a dragon, and she loves calling me a Pinhead Nebula, for reasons I cannot fathom."

Once Stardust regained composure he gathered himself off the floor and again laid atop his father.

"What did you do to get called a Pinhead Nebula?"

Orion smiled again and laid his head back. "Nothing actually. We were running a routine inspection of a star gone supernova, determining if it would cause reactions among the other stars that were nearby."

Stardust watched his father's gestures and listened intently.

"It turns out, the star had collapsed in on itself. Just big enough to stay a star and not turn into a black hole, but small enough to explode nonetheless. And as it exploded, it only released in one direction, which is exceedingly rare and an astonishing sight to behold."

Orion glanced out to the stars, along with Stardust.

"For your mother, I'd guess it looked like me. It had all my colors, it was shaped as a dragon might be, save for the head, which was the star itself. The helmsman asked what the designation for the nebula should be, and before I could say anything, she said:"

Orion spoke in a mock version of Aries: "Pinhead Nebula! Because it looks like Orion!"

Stardust fell off of Orion once again, this time rolling on the floor with laughter. Orion could barely continue without laughing himself.

"You should have seen the faces of the crew, they were mortified!"

Orion rolled with Stardust as they both cuddled together and eventually settled looking out the window.

"Mmm…" For Stardust, things couldn't have been better. This was everything he'd been looking for, more than he could've asked for. He only wished it could stay this way forever.

"Hey, dad?"

Orion nosed his cheek. "Mm?"

"Can I have a nickname?"

Orion paused, glancing down to Stardust thoughtfully. "Soon, little one. I need to get to know you better for that, it's barely been a few hours I've known you after all."

Stardust smiled to himself and cuddles closer. "Feels longer than that…"

"Yeah… It does." Orion planted one more kiss on Stardust's head, then stretched out with a yawn, unceremoniously and quite loudly, then forcefully snuggled back into Stardust.

"Mmmrh… C'mere you, snuggles."

Orion's snout prodded around Stardust's belly and chest tenderly, eliciting Stardust's surprised yelps and giggles.

"H-hey, wait a second I'm t-ticklish there!" He immediately covered his snout with his paws after revealing his weakness. Orion smirked to himself and pinned his son down gingerly.

"Is that so?" He bore down on Stardust with his snout and talons, doing his all to tickle the writhing and squirming Prince, the two laughing and rolling around the padded floor.

"EEP! AAAHAHAHA, NOSTOP! NOT THERE!"

The two continued without a care in the world, Orion enjoying time with his son at last. Stardust could barely breathe from laughing and rolling around, having the time of his life. With all this going on, Orion nearly didn't hear the tone beeping from the wall panel nearby.

He thwacked his tail against the pad in a controlled manner, sitting up some to listen through the laughing and panting. Tau's voice came through.

"My liege, could you report to the bridge at the earliest opportunity, there's something I think you should see."

Orion cleared his throat, still giggly and jovial with it being obvious from his voice.

"Aye, me and Stardust will be there in a minute!"

Stardust got up and leaned on Orion, somewhat loopy from all the wrestling. Orion held him and nosed his head with a grinning chuckle.

"I didn't… Interrupt anything did I?" Tau sounded just a bit curious, but it was obvious just as big a smile was plastered across her snout.

"Don't worry about it," Orion shook himself off and attempted to don his serious posture and manner again, practiced and authoritative. "We'll be there shortly."

"Aye sir. Take your time."

As the comm switched off, Stardust marvelled at his kingly father, who in turn marvelled at his son with the shining pride of a thousand suns. All royal posture and dignity flew out the window and Orion embraced his son again.

"Heavens above, I'm so glad to see you safe and sound…" His heavy sigh of relief and joy nearly swept Stardust away with it, Orion's energy seeping out with energized happiness. Stardust could only let his do the same as he nosed his dad's snout.

"I love you dad… I'm so glad to see you too."

Orion smiled down at Stardust. "I love you too, my son."

After hugging it out again, Orion took a nearby cape and attached it around his neck, regal appearance back in his stride. He gestured to Stardust.

"Now then, shall we see what Tau needs us for?"

-X-

"Where are they?"

Tsunami looked around with impatient eagerness. A total of 6 dragons were gathered around the stone table: Tsunami and Sunny, Clay and Peril, along with Glory and Deathbringer.

"Moon said she was taking care of Peacemaker, and Queen Aries said she'd meet us here when the sun comes up." Sunny glanced over to the energized Seawing. "They'll be here soon."

"But I don't want to WAIT! This is exciting and new, and it's exactly what I've been waiting for!" Tsunami bounded across the room to Clay and Glory.

"Remember when we saved all of Pyrrhia? Stopped a war? Brought peace to the tribes?"

Clay nodded in agreement while rubbing his and Peril's egg, albeit unsure. "That was… Fun?"

Glory turned to Tsunami. "As exciting as that was, lots of innocent dragons died, Tsunami."

"Well, yeah but it-" Tsunami bounced in place. "IT WAS EXCITING! It gave me a sense of purpose and made me feel like I was MEANT to do something, and don't get me wrong I like being a principal and all…"

The Seawing Princess gazed longingly out the window.

"But I wanna be out there! I wanna go explore seas, and fight bad guys, and DEFEAT EVIL AND UNITE TRIBES! I WANNA BRING QUEEN SCARLET BACK FROM THE DEAD AND KICK HER IN HER MELTY FACE AGAIN, DANG IT."

"Tsunami," Peril piped up over the enthusiastic Tsunami. "No one wants to kick Scarlet's melty face more than I do. Believe me. But…"

She motioned around to everyone else.

"Some of us just want to settle. Leave the adventure to the others, make a home for others to come back to. I just want to preserve what I have… I guess I have too much to lose now."

Clay wrapped his tail around hers tenderly. Peril in turn smiled and nudged his snout.

"Well of course you would," Tsunami, in a teasing yet sisterly tone, replied. "You're the one who has the hunky Mudwing for a mate."

"Tsunami!" Glory admonished her somewhat sternly, while Clay just turned around.

"You think I'm hunky?"

"Clay," Sunny giggled in her words. "I'm pretty sure every dragon in Jade Mountain thinks you're hunky."

Deathbringer shrugged and leaned against the table.

"I think you're hunky."

The moment he noticed Glory's displeased and confused expression, he put his paws up defensively.

"Well he is!"

The group erupted in laughter, Clay's face bright red as the sparkling egg he cradled.

"Good to know everyone thinks I'm handsome, makes me feel better about myself."

Peril nosed his snout again. "You're the most handsome dragon I've seen, and I've seen quite a bit of them.~"

Clay nosed back lovingly, Tsunami languishing by the window and smiling.

"Moons you two, get a room!"

"Tsunami," Sunny spoke up again. "We're in their room."

After another round of laughter, Moonwatcher and Anemone finally arrived to see the gang rolling in laughter.

Moon looked to the group curiously. "Did we miss something?"

The small flock of friends promptly quieted up, even though Moon could obviously tell they were keeping quiet on purpose. Without purposefully prodding in, Moon could hear a few snippets of what everyone was thinking.

'Those two are so cute together… Maybe I should find a mate… Ew, no Sunny, snap out of it!'

'I should just JUMP out this window right now, dang it. I don't wanna talk anymore! There's no TIME to talk about things, we should just go!'

'Ah, these idiots whom I call family. I miss them so much. Maybe I should get out of the rainforest more often.'

'Oh moons he IS hunky… wonder if he swings both ways… Oh what am I saying? Stop looking at his handsome mug! Stop it! So what if his muscular chest is nice to look at… So what if he has a cute-' Moonwatcher blocked Deathbringer's mind quickly after that.

'He really didn't know he was hot? Clay, my mudbrain who I love and adore, you can be so dense sometimes. I wouldn't have you any other way.~'

'I really am handsome? Wow... I wonder if I can use that to my advantage… No, that's dishonest! But what if our kid is a boy, and he's handsome too? I'd have to teach him not to be dishonest, that sounds hard… And I haven't even had breakfast yet...'

"Moon?" Anemone snapped her out of her listening. "You alright?"

"Yes! Yes, sorry." The two stepped to the table, Moon clearing her head of the… fascinating thoughts she heard in her friends' heads.

"Ahem… So has uh, the queen mentioned when she'd be here?"

The group's heads collectively shook no.

"She said she'd meet us here this morning," Sunny pointed out helpfully. "We don't know where she is."

"So then," Anemone prodded up to the table and planted herself at the table. "We just wait."

"rrrRRAAARGH" Tsunami flopped back and grumbled. "Stupid waiting…"

Anemone's stifled giggling prompted Tsunami to lift her head, staring down her sister.

"You know how impatient I am!"

The smaller Seawing Princess smirked back. Having spent a good amount of time together, they felt comfortable riffing with each other and egging one another on. It seemed to run in the family, apparently.

"I think all of Jade Mountain knows by now.~"

Tsunami leaned against the table, between Clay and Glory.

"And does all of Jade Mountain know you have a crush on your Clawmate?"

"So what if I do?! It's not like I'm obsessed with her."

"Is that so, Miss 'Leader of the Tamarin Fan Club' Anemone?"

"At least I can talk to her! How far away is Riptide again?"

Tsunami slammed her talons to the stone table, pouncing into her sister.

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW!"

Anemone and Tsunami rolled about the room, wrestling and tussling around while pelting each other with insults and names. The two continued to bicker back and forth all the while, their fighting more in good nature than anything else.

Meanwhile the rest of the group sat around, mostly ignoring this as a common occurrence. Sunny and Moon watched in ever so slightly worried fascination. Glory propped her head on her talons, Clay and Peril shrugging it all off in each other's wings.

And Deathbringer, unsurprisingly, was still ogling Clay.

All this until a pair of rather colorful dragons stepped into the room, Queen Aries and Hamal. Aries, upon seeing the two fighting Seawings, looked concernedly to Hamal, who returned the gesture. Tsunami and Anemone stood wrestling with each other, then turning to see the Starwings in the entrance.

"Have we, um…" Aries glanced around the room. "Disturbed something?

The Seawing Princesses resumed their seat at the table, attempting to resume their dignified stance.

"No, nothing at all!" Tsunami's excitement bled through her voice. "Now we can begin, yes?"

"Certainly! But I would like to introduce another of my esteemed Guards." Aries motioned to Hamal. "This is Hamal, head of my Elite Troupe."

Hamal kneeled to the group. "I am honored to meet you all."

The group politely waved back, Sunny with the faintest of blushy smiles.

"Queen Aries," Peril spoke after the introduction. "Is Stardust with you?"

Aries' expression contorted into concern. "He isn't here?"

She inspected the room worriedly. "He knows we were supposed to meet here this morning…"

Peril and Clay immediately glanced to each other, then towards the Queen. "You think he's ok?"

Hamal nudged her shoulder with his wing. "My liege, it's his first time aboard a Starship. An unexpected delay would be… Well, expected. If anything serious had happened, we would be notified."

Hamal's words immediately seemed to calm Aries a substantial amount. She nodded in agreement.

"True, thank you. I suppose I'm just a bit giddy and excitable recently!"

Tsunami bounced in place ever so slightly. "I know the feeling, your majesty."

Aries and Hamal sat in place between Moonwatcher and Clay, laying out a few pieces of fascinating tech.

"Well…" Aries sighed to herself. "Since Stardust isn't here yet… Perhaps we better wait for him. I don't want to start without him, he should be an integral part of all this."

Tsunami nearly burst out in objection, only stopped by Peril and Glory both shooting her a stern glance. She strained herself and sat back down.

"Yes. Good idea. Wait for Stardust. Let's… Wait..."

Leaning on the table with her talons in the stone, she planted her forehead firmly into the table with a solid THUNK.

Hamal leaned over to Anemone and whispered:

"Is she okay?"

Anemone just shrugged in response.

-X-

Stardust still couldn't get over the marvel of these automatic sliding doors, inspecting them up and down each time he passed through one. The duo arrived on the bridge despite the detours through more fascinating doors, Tau quite chipper and smiley.

"Morning your highnesses!"

Stardust waved happily. "Hi again!"

Orion stepped forwards, glancing at the screens some. "You are acquainted already?"

"We met when he was wandering by his lonesome." Tau looked Stardust up and down again, before anxious and hesitant, now proud and uplifted.

"A pleasure to see you again, my prince."

Tau honored Stardust by bowing some, which Stardust returned. Orion smiled to himself and pat Stardust's side with his wing.

"Normally, royalty doesn't bow in return. But in your case I will encourage it."

Stardust beamed proudly and huddled besides his father. Orion looked to Tau again.

"You mentioned there was something we should be made aware of?"

"Ah! Right, that." Tau pressed a single button on a panel, two different dragons coming out of a separate door and taking up two stations in different places.

"We've encountered another odd signal on the planet. This is… Definitely not terrestrial, nowhere on that planet should there be the capability to produce something like this."

The two other crew members brought up a map of a particular peak along the Claw of the Clouds mountains, data flashing across from it's one peak. This drew Orion's attention keenly, leaving Stardust rather confused. The overall mood of the bridge darkened into mysterious curiosity.

"Wait, that's coming directly from the peak? Have we done Deep Geoscans?"

Tau shook her head. "No good. They bounced back."

"They… bounced back?" Orion's incredulous tone of voice brought a tension in the room. "We have at least 15 different emission types and none of them penetrated the material?"

"Sir," The dragon at the data console to the far right spoke up. "Of what we've scanned of the material, we can't even figure out what it is." The helmsman brought up a very complex atomic model, displayed on the large screen.

Orion padded up a bit towards the screen curiously, Stardust following with absolutely no idea what's going on.

"It's been quite a while since I've studied physical models, but… Shouldn't this be impossible?"

"This atomic configuration breaks at least 4 physical laws." Tau rubbed her chin in curiosity. "We can't really make heads or tails of it."

Orion rubbed his maw and face with a frustrated curiousness. "Oh good. Another mystery."

"That's not all." Tau then brought back the emission source to the screen. "This data stream doesn't register on any known languages, however it's symbolic usage is similar to ours within a 68% margin."

Tau drew the information to the data pad Orion held, as a copy of the data flashed across the screen. Orion scrolled through the massive content, equally confused.

"There's so much… Any repeat in transmission yet?"

"No sir," Another Ensign answered across the bridge. "All data transmitted has been continuous, it doesn't look like we have the whole thing yet."

Scrolling through a bit more, Orion noticed how much data had been transmitted so far.

"Stars above…"

Tau stepped up once more. "At this rate of continuous transmission, we'll reach maximum computer capacity within 7 hours."

Orion put the tablet down. Expression stern and serious, his attention glued itself to the main viewer.

"Relay data stream to Home Ship, set up continual cyclic encoding." He pushed a few buttons on the nearest dragon's console. "Have we anyone on deciphering any of it yet?"

Stardust nosed up to Orion in bewilderment.

"Dad, listen if you need to-"

And suddenly, all ears and eyes moved to the screen. The data streamed ceased, having transmitted the last of the code onto the ship's main computer.

"...Belay that order, Tau. How much space has our mystery code taken up?"

Tau's eyes flicked to another screen. "87 percent. Our operating systems only occupy 6%, the other 396 thousand Petabytes are being taken up entirely by this-"

"Sir," One of the science officers spoke up. "At the tail end of the code, there's this line. It's using entirely different characters, formatting, everything."

The officer flicked up the information globule onto the screen. A simple three lines:

START

RUN

KEYCHK_{HAZDCMJTGEYTI}

Tau and Orion glanced to each other first, then to the other two.

"That's a rather basic command for such a massive file…" Tau scrolled through the nearby console pad. "Strange that none of this code is organized like it or even in the same symbolic set."

"General," The other officer piped up. "The signal has cut off, but a different one is now transmitting… a rather simple message."

Another panel presented itself on the main screen besides the other with the simple command. The new screen displayed a single five letter word:

START

As the crew and royal members all glanced to the others, evident expressions of understanding upon each one, they all looked back up to the screen once more.

"Well," Orion sighed and plopped himself in the middle console spot. "What're we waiting for? Let's see what this is all about."

"My liege," Tau interrupted and stood besides Stardust and Orion.

"I must advise caution here. We've just downloaded a massive piece of alien code onto our systems without inspecting or decoding it at all, we haven't the slightest idea what this could do and neither does anyone down there…" If Orion didn't know any better, he and Stardust would've thought Tau was a tad nervous. "We could be setting up our own demise."

Orion nodded in contemplation, then glanced to the other two officers.

"What do you two think?"

The left officer simply shrugged. "Why not?"

"Why not?" The right looked at him incredulously. "You've studied manipulative coding! You know what a single line can do, much less alien monoliths of code we don't even understand!"

"Yes but," The left retorted passionately. "What's the point of going through all this if we don't find out! They intentionally gave us the code, key, and are now asking us to activate it! Why would they go through that if not to build a bridge!"

"Which is exactly what makes it suspect!" The right officer turned to Tau and Orion. "I recommend studying the code intently, running simulations in secure virtual environments before we do anything."

"And I say we don't have time for that, sifting through Petabytes of data will take months! We should just be cautious, and take the plunge while they're still giving us the opportunity."

"BUT-"

Orion held his hand up, and the two stopped finally.

"Well… two against two. Hmmm…"

With an idea flashing across his snout, he glanced back to Stardust.

"Stardust… what do you think?"

Stardust didn't respond, slightly mortified having no idea what to say or do.

"...Uuhhh… I uhm..."

He seemed to sink into the floor he sat on.

"I… I barely even know what's going on…"

Orion, taking pity on him, sat beside him and nudged his shoulder with his wing.

"Here's what we know. We have an alien piece of code that we don't understand, and a signal asking us to activate it with a starting command. It might tamper with our operating systems, but it might give us incredible insight! What do you think, should we give it a go?"

Stardust squinted at his father. "I know all that, but I'm still unsure about what any of that means."

Orion sighs and closes his eyes for a second.

"Okay… how about this. An alien being is… extending their hand to us. We understand that they're asking us to grasp their hand, but we don't know what it will do. It could hurt us, it could bring us closer, we have no idea."

Stardust, seeing the situation with a new light glanced to the flashing letters "START".

Orion spoke one last time before letting him think.

"Do we accept?"

The young Prince's mind fluttered, now feeling the mounting pressure on him.

'C'mon Stardust, your first big decision. You have to think fast here…'

What would the chances be? What would the smart choice be? What would make him seem like a good leader, a future king to believe in? Did it matter?

'Just… think about it…'

Stardust tried to put himself in the alien's position. If he'd set this up, what would his purpose be for it?

'Why give us something if they wanted to harm us? There's no one down there like us who could've done this, so whoever did this is long gone. We could learn amazing things if we accepted…'

Stardust exhaled deeply, and glanced to everyone again.

"W-well… if I would've done this… I would have nothing but good intentions. I don't think anyone would go to this length if they wanted to harm us, whoever they were."

Stardust could see the faces on his crew members slowly shift, agreeing with his logic.

"I think we should try," Stardust continued with a renewed vigor. "Whatever happens will happen. But have to find out, don't we?"

The young Prince glanced up to Orion, his father's smile gleaming as the stars with pride. He turned around to Tau.

"Tau, you have your Prince's orders. Let's see what this is all about."

The smaller commanding dragon nodded. "Aye sir."

She flicked up a simple command, the three lines from the end of the massive code, and sent it on a transmission signal to the base of the request.

A faint echoing tone rang out as the command was received, and for a long period of anxious waiting, there was but silence.

The start signal ceased, and for a short while nothing happened.

"Well…" Orion finally broke the silence. "That was rather anticlimactic."

As if on cue, a warning tone emerged from the console nearest to Tau.

"The signal is back, except…" As she scrolled through her console, her snout contorted with vehement confusion, impressed and slightly terrified.

"My liege, it's interfacing with the code. The code itself is starting to integrate with our system software."

More tonal warnings and visual alarms manifested, soon petering out again. Tau and the officer monitored the screens closely to watch the transformation with astonishment.

"Sir," The dragon on the left console commented. "The code is creating a sort of interface, between the surface data stream and our operating system design… I don't even know how that's possible but it just installed 17 different protocols within the last few seconds."

"18," The right interjected momentarily. "and counting. It's working at speeds I can't even keep track of, sir."

"It's probing our systems!" Tau spoke back up again.

Orion immediately stood beside her, monitoring everything she was. Stardust could only sit there helplessly as the pit in his stomach grew deeper.

"Are we transmitting anything?" Orion soon had his own screen open, monitoring ship functions. "Has it attempted to tamper with ship controls?"

"No, not yet, but I recommend we don't find out."

Tau's hand hovered over the control pad, specifically the system override section. Orion preemptively placed his hand besides hers.

"Until it shows hostile intent, we do no such thing. A bit of transformation might be necessary for it to work with us."

Tau visibly disliked her superiors command. "But sir-"

"Bridge functions are being accessed by the data stream sir," The dragon on the right console spoke up, a tinge of anxiety lining his voice. "I can't activate any security protocols."

"It seems to be overriding all our system's interactions with the code… Code isn't even the right word, it's now an operating system of its own." The right dragon turned to Orion and Tau again. "Recommend full system shut down."

"No!" The left dragon turned back as well. "My liege we can repair the ship and it's systems, we can't repair whatever this program is trying to do."

"Well, what IS it trying to do?! So far it's tried taking our ship over!"

As if on cue, the bridge panels and lights flickered in power, various humming and alarms glitching out.

"My liege, I INSIST we stop this before it's too late!" Tau marched up to Orion, as did the other two dragons.

"Just give it a minute more sir!"

"We need to stop this now!"

The four became lost in a circle of arguments, leaving Stardust to watch in a haze of confusion and worry.

As the ship's lights and panels flickered and glitched out, he noted one panel stayed static with an otherworldly glow to it. Upon closer inspection, the panel presented a dark screen with simple green lettering displaying a list:

ACCEPTED: START COMMAND

ACCEPTED: 13 UNIT KEY

ACCEPTED: INTERFACE PACKAGE DELIVERY

WORKING: INTERFACE OS COMPATIBILITY

REQUIRE: LIFEFORM SIGNATURE ANALYSIS

Stardust didn't have a clue what any of the first four meant, but the last one intrigued him.

'Lifeform Signature Analysis required? It needs to... analyze a lifeform?'

Looking back at the arguing four, he hesitantly put his hand to the screen instinctively. It flashed for a second as Stardust felt a minor jolt through his body.

He jumped back some, then noticed the screen changed.

ACCEPTED: START COMMAND

ACCEPTED: 13 UNIT KEY

ACCEPTED: INTERFACE PACKAGE DELIVERY

ACCEPTED: INTERFACE OS COMPATIBILITY

ACCEPTED: LIFEFORM SIGNATURE ANALYSIS

COMMENCE DATABANK INTERFACE?

Y/N

The y/n letters flashed, waiting for an answer. Stardust prodded back up curiously, seeing as the panel was waiting for an answer.

'Well… Why not?'

The young Prince pressed the Y button, then the screen went black.

In fact, the entire bridge went dark. The arguing dragons went silent again, looking around in surprise.

"Stardust?" Orion's attention immediately snapped back to his son worriedly. Stardust shrank back some, then pounced back to his father.

"The screen said something and I- uh… I just- It was…"

Orion listened intently, waiting for Stardust to finish. He just shrugged.

"You guys seemed kinda busy, and it was asking for something, so… I improvised."

Before Orion had the chance to ask what that meant, the bridge power thrummed back to life. Screens returned to normal, diagnostic panels lit up as usual. Tau moved back to her panel, scrolling through the new information.

"All systems nominal, bridge functions are back to normal."

Orion moved to the screen where Stardust was at, opening up a panel to see the command history. He then looked back at Stardust with an intrigued yet impressed smile.

"You're full of surprises aren't you?"

Stardust smiled bashfully. "I try.~"

"My liege," As the two dragon officers took their places again, the right one turned back around. "The program is now completely erased from our banks, but it modified our operating system with an intricate interface capability."

The left dragon, teeming with awe, turned to the right.

"So… It was like an installer, of sorts! A universal compatibility patch!"

"Dude… That's insane."

"Ahem," Tau spoke up over them. "Status report."

The two dragons went back to their screens as Tau spoke in technical lingo with them that Stardust didn't understand. As Orion and Tau were too busy with ship functions, Stardust was the only to point out the main screen having changed.

"Um… Guys?"

He pointed to the new screen, a simple black screen with a line of text:

| DATABANK INTERFACE INITIALIZED|

| AWAITING INPUT |

:_

The other four glanced to Stardust, then following his pointing to the screen. The two dragons up front promptly scrambled through their screens at their stations.

"I have no method of interaction… No keyboard or symbolic chart."

"Neither do I. General, my King, anything over there?"

Tau and Orion quickly checked the screens lining the consoles behind them, as well as all around.

"Nothing," Tau prodded up behind the right dragon at the console. "Oddly…"

Orion stood behind the dragon to the left.

"I don't imagine they would give us an interface but leave out a method of using it." He stood between the two helm-dragons.

"You two, you seem to have a more advanced knowledge of coding and software… Your names?"

The two dragons stood at attention, bowing just a tad. The left revealed his back scales to flow a ghostly blue/violet/purple spectrum, the right contrasting with red, orange, and hints of pink.

"My name is Xenon." The left spoke up, prompting the right to follow suit.

"Neon, sir. We're brothers."

"Xenon and Neon, fitting." Orion gestured to the screen. "Well, you two's new assignment is figuring out a method of communication with this… Interface. And find out anything you can about what sent it, any information at all will help."

The brothers Xenon and Neon saluted.

"Yes sir!"

"Aye, my liege."

With that, the two paced out the door to the right, leaving Orion, Tau and Stardust.

"Tau," Orion turned to her next. "Place a 17 series monitor on this mystery signal, notify me if there's any changes whatsoever."

Tau bowed respectfully. "Yes, my King."

As she raced off to the other comm stations, Orion whirled around to Stardust, waiting and eager to help.

"Stardust!"

He perked up with shining eyes. "Yes?"

Orion wrapped his arms and wings around the dragonet lovingly. "You did well. It's a lot to get used to, I know…" He looks down and tilts his son's head up to meet his.

"But considering what just happened, whatever DID just happen… You did extraordinary."

Stardust nosed up to his father's chest. "Thank you! You did good too, I think? I mean it seemed like you did, I don't know for sure?"

Tau perked her head up again. "I think you did marvelously, my King."

Orion shot her a gaze that conveyed quite a few messages. 'Thank you', 'Hush', and 'This is the best day of my life' were just a few. Turning back to his son, Orion let out a happy chortle and nosed Stardust's head.

"Thank you, Little One. Now," He turned himself and Stardust to the door. "Your mother is expecting you."

He checked his wrist comm and winced. "Actually she's been expecting you for half an hour longer than planned. I'd get moving if I were you, she doesn't like waiting.~"

Stardust's smile seemed confused on what to do; perk up? Drop entirely? Stay the same? He was saddened to be leaving his father he very much enjoyed being with, but at the same time the stress of being a Prince with such a weighty position started sinking in.

The thought of seeing his mother again made his heart aflutter as well, nervous and ecstatic. Stardust drew in a breath that leveled into a sigh, looking to his father for comfort.

"Okay, I'll go back down. Um… Where do I go…?"

Tau poked her head above Orion's shoulder.

"I can have an escort take him to the surface if-"

"No," Orion cut her off. "I want him to find it himself."

"M-m…" Stardust stuttered and shifted in his place, the very concept startling him. "M… Myself?"

"Yes, on your own." Orion drew a nearby data pad, input a dizzying combination of interactions and button presses at once, until an androgynous synthesized voice spoke from the pad.

"Royal Access Profile Creation has been Initialized."

He turned the pad around and offered it to Stardust. The screen now had a glowing outline of a paw print, the voice now saying:

"Please place paw to the outline, and hold until complete."

Stardust, hesitant but willing to cooperate mostly out of curiosity, followed instructions and placed his paw to the outline. Once he did, the entire screen emanated a very familiar otherworldly glow, a single line scanning up and down beneath his paw. After another few seconds, the screen returned to normal and the print disappeared. A box then appeared at the top of the pad, listing off four names at once that flashed by too fast for anyone to read.

"Direct ancestry calculated, Genetic Evidence of Royal Lineage confirmed."

Another few lines passed by, before a file of Stardust's new profile took up the screen. Lines of genetic traits and complex code littered the spaces, a few empty spaces highlighted yellow.

"Please face the screen in a uniform fashion."

These particular instructions threw Stardust off.

"Wait what? Why?"

And before he could get an answer, the screen flashed for a moment. A seriously unflattering picture of one squinting, ill-posed Stardust with his snout way too close to the screen placed itself in the top left corner. Stardust didn't even have time to react before it became permanent.

"EXCUSE ME, WHAT?"

Orion, doing his best to contain his chuckling, pushed on to the next segment.

"We'll fix that later, don't worry."

Even still, Stardust had about a dozen different questions, but at this point he hadn't the time to ask them all. The pad again spoke:

"Genetic Sample calculates Astral Energy capabilities are present. Active levels unspecified. Genetic Sample calculates subject as Male. Royal Position determined to be: Prince. Is this correct?"

Orion spoke up, placing his thumb digit to the screen.

"Correct."

"Royal Confirmation accepted."

The screen displayed a loading symbol, the same dragon symbol as on the side of the ship, except a background of galaxies and space-like entities flowing past. Finally it faded out, the screen reading "Success" as a pleasant tri-tone hummed through the pad.

"Royal Profile successfully initialized, access parameters will take effect immediately."

The screen changed once more back to the file, highlighting the name.

"Input name, Title name first followed by Personal."

"Title name…?" Stardust looked to his father again, side by side. Orion put a paw to his chest.

"The most important Starwing Royalty have two names, one that is given at birth, and one that is chosen by them. I chose Orion, a constellation spanned across an entire galaxy that I was born in. My Title Name was Galaxy. Thusly," Orion posed in a regal manner.

"King Orion Galaxy."

"Name taken, please use a valid Title Name and Personal Name."

Stardust let out a soft giggle, then cleared his throat.

"Title Name, Nebula. Personal Name, Stardust."

The pad filled in the name in it's space.

"Nebula, Stardust. Rank, Prince. Access privilege, Major Royalty. Would you like to continue profile construction?"

There was a certain satisfaction for Stardust in hearing those words, reaffirming him about his role and making his heart pump just a little faster. Before he could respond, Orion put his thumb to the screen and spoke firmly.

"No, save file and activate access protocols, full authorization."

The pad beeped again, shutting off right after. Orion took the pad back and gestured to a nearby wall panel. Stardust recognized it as one similar to yesterday, when the Ascella twins interacted with it.

"This is a NavPanel. Simply touch it, wait for it to respond, and then either input your command or use voice commands. Since we just input your profile, you can now interact with it."

Orion pressed a single digit to the pad, eliciting a soft tone and a single stripe of light across the width of it.

"There's a screen built in, if you ever want to try out navigating the commands, but they all respond to voice commands. Try asking a question."

Stardust prodded up to the screen and exhaled sharply.

"Okay… Where is the nearest ship exit?"

Another smooth double tone rang out, the white line turning yellow.

"Specification required: Bridge Exit, Hall Exit, Shuttle Bay, Airlock, Docking Bay.

Stardust thought to himself for a second, then spoke up again: "Airlock."

The screen then brought up a diagram of the immediate area from a top down view, placing a red flowing path to a nearby airlock.

"Directions illustrated. Proceed with live mapping?"

Before Stardust could respond, Orion interrupted again.

"Hang on, you wanted to fly down there on your own, yes?

Stardust, unsure of the other alternatives, nodded along.

Orion, with a smile, presses his finger to the wall panel just below the main screen, revealing a sliding hatch with a space behind it surrounded by four, glowing white panels.

"In that case, I would like to gift you with something special."

He input a few different commands into the main screen, then prompting the glowing panels inside to respond with a more intense light. Each of the panels four corners shimmered and drew in energy, then erupted with an intense laser aimed at the center of the bottom black panel. All 16 beams in total tracked on the same path, and the immediate space it left behind seemed to have created a black sheen out of nowhere, almost as if the energy had brought matter into existence.

Stardust had his eyes glued on the whole process with endless fascination as in just a few seconds, an intricate arm plate of black, carbonized material had simply been lasered into existence; complete with fascinating ornamentation across its length, and the Royal Insignia dead center in the middle of it all.

Orion picked it up, a faint sizzling accompanying his holding it, and puffed a firm breath across its surface.

"Never should a Prince should be unadorned, especially in the vastness of space."

He brought Stardust's arm up, placed the arm plate onto his son's forearm (fitting nearly exactly to be comfortable and protective), then letting a flow of his energy into the interface. A wash of colors flowed through the engravings, activating the mesmerising tech inside.

A soft whir of energy pulsed through the armor plate, slowly generating a miniature sort of scale-tight forcefield around Stardust. The new screen around Stardust's body gave his form a shimmering intensity, the flow of his multicolored scales refracting all down his body. For Stardust, it almost felt like being bathed in sunlight.

"Well?" Orion inspected his son up and down. "How's it feel?"

Stardust could only look all up and down himself in total awe, speechless and stunned.

"This forcefield around you helps absorb more energy to use in space travel, reflect cosmic radiation, protect from overheating, and it can even stop most physical attacks."

He guides Stardust's paw to the symbol on the arm guard. "In order to use it, all you need to do is think. Your astral energy can interface with it."

Stardust presses a finger to the insignia, gathering mental energy to think of the arm plate turning off. Almost instantly, the arm plate deactivated and the forcefield fades out. Stardust looks up at his father with a few tears welling up, then embraces him with everything he had.

"I love it! It's amazing and you're amazing, and I don't know what to say!" He hops around and nearly tackles his father in a tight and tender hug.

Orion squeezes his son tight and lets out a contented sigh, nosing his head. Nothing in a long time had been as rewarding as these small moments, nothing had brought so much joy to his heart for years.

"Anything for you little one. I love you with the intensity of the all the stars in the galaxy."

Stardust sniffs and wipes his eyes.

"Wow… *Sniff* That's a lot of love!"

Orion's maw would've frozen in place had he smiled much longer.

"Well I love you even more, little one. Now go, your mother is waiting!"

Stardust nods eagerly, looking at the directions still being displayed.

"Yes dad! I'll see you soon! Love youuuuuuuuuuu-"

Stardust held the last word as he sprinted down the hall out of sight.

And as Orion stood there, his head swooned with a faint dizziness. It all still felt like a dream, one he'd never wish to wake from.

"My King?"

Tau approached from behind, standing besides him and snapping him out of his contemplative stance. She offered a warm and sincere smile.

"He's going to fit in amazingly. I just know it."

Orion puffed up a bit with pride and admiration.

"He will bring about change in our clan, his very presence will bring about peace! Tau, this is just the beginning, magnificent things are coming."

He and Tau turned to the view screen of the planet below.

"We must do everything in our power to keep him safe, and let him thrive." Orion then turned to Tau with a thoughtful grin.

"He does seem to like you… Might you include him and teach him a few things when he's around?"

Tau nodded and bowed just a bit, obviously overjoyed at the recommendation.

"I'd be honored, my king.~"

"He'll need help, seeing as he's coming into a brand new world with new ideas and technology." Orion padded towards the main screen, marvelling at the planet below with optimistic happiness.

"Then again… he'll teach us a few things as well, won't he?"

Tau placed herself besides Orion.

"He's already shown me a new point of view… perhaps naïve, but optimistic." She turned to the king and nudged his shoulder some.

"Something I think we sorely need."

Orion nodded with an appreciative glance.

"Something I've needed too. But whatever may happen, it's going to irreparably change both our cultures."

And with a hearty swing around, Orion turned to the door.

"And I get the feeling it's going to be more amazing than we can even hope."

-X-

Stardust hurriedly scampered into Clay and Peril's room, seeing the dragons gathered around the table.

"Hey!"

Upon his startling entry, everyone nearly jumped for joy, Tsunami and Aries literally jumping towards him.

"STARDUST!"

Aries was first to embrace her son, squeezing him tenderly.

"Good morning little one! What happened, you slept in I'm assuming?"

"Well yes, but..." Stardust rubbed the back of his head. "There was an… interesting event that dad will tell you about soon."

Aries brow arched in response.

"Interesting event, you say? Considering what's been happening since yesterday that's nothing new. I'll get the details from Orion, but more importantly," She put a paw on Stardust's cheek.

"You're okay…?"

He nodded happily and nuzzled into her paw in return. "I'm okay, promise."

The Queen's smile lit up the whole room, causing everyone else's emotions to get all sappy. Aries let go finally, leaving Stardust to be hugged by the others in the room as he then was bombarded by question after question by the group.

"Guys, guys! We can talk about that later, don't we have work to do?" Stardust motioned to Aries and the table again.

"YES I AGREE" Tsunami planted herself at the table. "Let's get started!"

"I agree," Aries and Hamal unpacked a few more pieces of equipment from their packs, littering the table with devices. The group oohed and aahed with wonder. "We have quite a bit of work ahead of us, but we need to start with diplomatic relations first. Without good relations between heads of state, we can't do much."

As she speaks, her glance lands on Glory. She pads over and bows to her in regality and grace.

"Therefore… Queen Glory of The Rainwing Tribe-"

Deathbringer cleared his throat some. "AHEMand the nightwingsAHEM"

"AND the Nightwing Tribe… I, Queen of the Starwings, offer our allegiance and assistance to your world, and to your tribe as the first we have contacted. I ask your permission to let our cultures unite, bringing the best of our worlds together."

Glory, completely unprepared for any of this, flushes a shade of yellow and pink, then to green and finally resting back on her usual pallette. She cleared her throat and responded in as dignified a manner as she could.

"Well, Queen Aries of the Starwings, your offer sounds to be a beneficial cause for us both and I would very graciously accept."

Before the room had a chance to burst into cheer, Glory expounded on her thought.

"HOWEVER, before I do, I must see the opinion of my tribes and how they stand on this. It is my firm belief they will agree, but I must let them know first."

Stardust poked up to her gently. "But Glory, you already know this is good for everyone, why would you wait?"

"As much as I like it, I'm still a Queen." Glory rubbed his head.

"I must take my subjects wishes into consideration. I mean no disrespect or malice."

Aries rubs up to Stardust. "Remember Stardust, being royalty doesn't mean you make big decisions and be done with it, you work in the interest of your people."

She then nods graciously to Glory. "Thank you, Queen Glory."

Glory's proud and satisfied expression lightens up the cave room with her bright orange hue. Aries then picks up a holographic pad that displays the continent on the table.

"Alright, so that's two tribes. That leaves four more, the Seawings, Skywings, Mudwings, and Sandwings."

"And the Icewings." Another voice echoes from the cave entrance. One Starflight saunters inside, following the Queen's voice.

"I apologize for the intrusion, but I thought I might lend my brain. Politics between tribes is something I enjoy."

Aries, unsure of how to respond, introduced herself.

"Lovely to meet you, I am Queen Aries of the Starwings. You are… Starflight yes? Sunny spoke of you."

Sunny rubbed against Starflight to sort of guide him, which Starflight appreciated for a number of reasons.

"An honor to meet you, your highness. I offer my knowledge at your discretion." He sits besides Sunny, going over a mental list in his head. "But I must bring up the fact that the Icewing Tribe is heavily fortified, and they normally aren't prone to visitors, not to mention the freezing temperatures there."

"That and the fact no one's heard much of them in years…" Sunny added to Starflight's statement. "Not since Queen Snowfall threatened to close their kingdom off entirely."

"Ah… So, we must find a representative, then." Aries glanced around the room. "And since we have no Icewings among us, are there any other suggestions?"

The room stayed silent, until Moon dutifully spoke again.

"I have an idea… But he won't like it."

Peril's gaze fell to Moon.

"You don't mean Winter do you?"

"Winter?" Stardust's head whirled around between the two dragons speaking. "Who's Winter?"

Moon looked back to Stardust. "You never did meet him, did you?"

Deathbringer sat sharpening his claws casually. "Real charmer, that one."

"Hey," Moon interrupted him in a hopeful tone. "Maybe he's changed. It's been what, two years since we've last seen him?"

"Four." Starflight corrected her, not so matter-of-factly more than setting the record straight. "Two for you, since you've last visited him. Last time any of us has seen him was when he came to the academy."

"What if he won't help us?" Peril's expression wasn't exactly the most optimistic. "I remember distinctly he hated his home tribe… Most of his family tried to betray him and flat out kill him in general."

"Then does anyone else have any other suggestions?"

Moon retorted in kind. Again, a brief moment of silence.

"Okay, It's settled," Moon seemed determined on this matter. "We need to find Winter."

"There is another way," Starflight piped up again. "The Gift Of Diplomacy."

"That's true but…" Moon faced Starflight. "We still need Winter to find the bracelets, I don't think anyone else outside the Icewing Kingdom would have them, or even know how to find them."

"Plus," Surprisingly, Sunny added in her two cents."If he can get in and talk to Snowfall with his brother, maybe she'll be more prone to listening."

Peril nodded, hesitantly but in agreement.

"I still think we need a backup plan just in case."

"Not that we don't trust Winter," Starflight spoke tactfully. "But the Icewing Royal Family haven't been that reliable."

"...or trustworthy AHEMAHEM"

Anemone coughed rather loudly. "Eack, excuse me."

Moon shot her a semi dirty look. "It wasn't Winter that did any of that, in fact he helped us capture Icicle."

"Yeah but-"

"CAN WE GET ON WITH IT PLEASE" Tsunami again dug her claws in the table.

"OKAY," Moon settled the table down. "I'll go to the Talons of Peace and find Winter, I'll find Qibli and bring him along too. Us two together should convince him."

Aries seemed wholly confused, looking to Moon. "So…You'll handle it then?"

Moon's nod of confirmation held determination and a tinge of joy.

"Good. That's the Icewings, what about the Sandwings?"

Sunny popped right up. "That's me! I'll convince my mother, she's the queen, so that makes it easier."

Aries smiled heartily. "Indeed it does. Speaking of which, Tsunami-"

"I'LL GO TO THE SEA KINGDOM"

"Me too!" Anemone plopped besides Tsunami. "Mother will need some convincing, I'll help."

Tsunami excitedly turned to her sister.

"Think we should take Turtle too? The more the merrier?"

"Sure!"

"THEN ONWARDS" Tsunami leapt onto the table, posing heroically. Had the room been silent the gang could've sword they heard adventurous music playing.

"TO THE KINGDOM OF SEA, AWAY-"

"Can you perhaps wait until we're finished here Tsunami?" Clay tapped her leg. Tsunami threw her head back in guttural groan.

"uuuuugh… fine…"

Once more she slumped back into her seat. Aries blinked a few times, unsure of what to think. She shook it off and pointed back to the map.

"So then, that just leaves the Mudwings and Skywings."

"I'll handle Queen Ruby," Peril stood up with a smile. "She'll want to see Stardust, and I imagine she'll want to see the egg too."

Clay stood next. "And I can talk to Queen Moorhen. My sibs are part of her royal guard, gives me time to talk to them too." There was a mild tension in his voice, something no one could place. Everyone simply excused it.

"Wonderful!" Aries picks up a few of the tech pieces on the table. "So we are set on the plan?"

The gang nods, Tsunami a bit more vigorously than normal.

"Excellent. One more question… Stardust, are you content going with Peril, or would you like to help me and Hamal set up supplies and a base for our long term stay?"

Stardust, still remembering the excitement that morning, leaned towards Peril.

"I'll stick with Peril. You mentioned one of your guards was trapped in the Skywing Kingdom, we can get him out."

"As you wish. And honestly you have my permission to take your time, Mesar is always getting into trouble."

Hamal snickered to himself, quickly shutting up after receiving a glare from Aries.

"Now then… I would like to send you all with one of these." Aries hands out plate like devices similar to the projector that the map was being displayed on.

"What for?" Peril abstained from touching the machine. "And how heat resistant is it, because I'm pretty sure I'd melt it."

Aries' smile to herself catches everyone off guard. She takes the machine, applies her digit to the pad in the center, then lays it down on the ground in front of her.

"This machine creates holographic projections of complex creatures, creating pre-recorded messages very similar to real life."

She presses the button once more, as it creates a holographic image in front of her, saying the exact same thing. The hologram was in near exact color, only failing to produce fine details that made the image seem a bit more flat and unrealistic. The group nearly fell back in amazement.

"This machine creates holographic projections of complex creatures, creating pre-recorded messages very similar to real life."

Clay inspected the hologram up and down.

"That's… amazing!"

"That is SO COOL!" Stardust hopped around his mother excitedly. Starflight glanced around.

"I couldn't see anything but that sounds incredible."

His comment elicited a few chortles, and Aries set the machine on the table.

"I want to record messages for each of the queens, personalizing them as a sort of invitation to them all. Each of you will take one to present to their respective queens. Are we in agreement?"

A round of agreement reverberated through the room. Aries again smiled, this time with excitement and energy.

"Let's get started then!"

-X-

'You really like this waterfall don't you?'

'Don't you?'

Peacemaker sat in a meditative pose by the familiar and calming waterfall near his mother's home. It always seemed to soothe his mind, and whatever lurked inside.

'It's nice, but it makes it hard to think. And lest you forget, I'm currently made of thought entirely.'

'Almost as if that's the point.'

Darkstalker laid himself in a quiet spot in Peacemaker's head, although no place existed in his consciousness.

'I see… I'll hush then.'

'Thank you…'

Peacemaker drew in deep breaths, slowing his heart rate and relaxing his body. At last, he had felt a bit more at ease for the first time in months. Admittedly, having Darkstalker's consciousness in his mind was more preferable than having his memories flash through his mind every night. He dwelled on which he preferred.

'I'd much rather have someone else in my mind… Having night flashes sounds awful.'

Peacemaker sighed once more.

'No duh.'

'I would apologize for your going through it, but I didn't have anything to do with that, so…'

'Excuse you, you had everything to do with that! You could've just... not done that!'

'At that point, I wasn't even conscious. I existed in purely unconscious memories, suppressed by the dominant consciousness in this body, namely you. Somehow Stardust activated me, so if there's anyone to blame it's him.'

Peacemaker clenched his fists, the ground swirling around him as the dust spiralled with his magical energy.

'Don't you dare blame him for any of this… he's been the most helpful dragon in my life, he's helped me through what YOU put me through.'

'Again, I'm sorry but that wasn't me! Contrary to belief… I don't wish to cause any harm.'

'Lies.'

'Okay… There's a few dragons I'd harm, granted. But the general population I'd protect.'

'You just want power… Power because you feel helpless.'

Darkstalker attempted to speak back in retaliation, but his words failed him.

'...That's…'

Peacemaker did his best to glare inwardly. Darkstalker seemed to wince a bit.

'...You got me there… I guess what burns me the most is having to rely on others so much… Since most of them tried to kill me.'

'I know… Some of them were justified, some were just cruel… Not all dragons are bad, Darkstalker. There is good in all of us.'

As if on cue, Hope peered out her window.

"PEACEMAKER, PIE IS READY!"

Darkstalker had been interrupted by Hope, about to say such a sentiment was foolish to believe in. But the example of Foeslayer spoke to him, having turned around from such a dark past. He stayed quiet for a time.

'And if I may be so bold to say… There's good in you too, I know that much.'

Peacemaker's addendum forced a self introspection onto Darkstalker, calling into account his own actions.

'...Perhaps.'

He quickly changed the subject.

'Are you going to tell mother what happened?'

Peacemaker still hadn't come with an answer to this, coming out to the waterfall to meditate on the answer didn't seem to help.

'Eventually I think I have to…'

He stood up and hopped down to his house.

'But not yet.'

He entered inside, where Hope prepared another strawberry pie on the table.

"You feeling better?" Hope came around and nosed Peacemaker's head gingerly. Peacemaker nosed back and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm okay." He sat at the table with his mother, only a wingtip apart. "Thanks for the pie mom, you make the best Strawberry Pie.~"

Peacemaker could feel Darkstalker at the front of his mind, watching intently. 'She really does.'

Hope wrapped a wing around her son tenderly and planted a tender kiss on his cheek.

"Well, mama makes the best pie for the best son."

As Peacemaker looked internally once more, he didn't need a mind reader to see that Darkstalker was yearning for more than freedom. He glanced up at his mother.

"Hey mom, I have a hypothetical question…"

She leaned her head atop Peacemaker's gently.

"Mm?"

He laid in her arms snugly.

"If you could say something to Darkstalker again… Not me, but him… What would you say?"

Peacemaker could've sworn that Darkstalker was tilting his head. 'What're you doing…?'

Hope paused for a moment, taking a serious look at Peacemaker.

"Peace… Is everything ok?"

"Yes, I promise. I was just curious…"

Hope seemed satisfied by the answer, nodding.

"Okay… Well, If I had the chance…"

Darkstalker stood behind Peacemaker's metaphorical eyes, watching as Peacemaker looked to Hope's thoughtful and reminiscent expression.

"I would tell him that I forgive him, and that he is still my son. I still love him, no matter how far gone he may be…"

Even as Darkstalker knew that Peacemaker planned this all along, he still met her eyes intently. These words struck a familiar chord that hadn't been struck for years. Gazing into her eyes brought back a feeling of comfort and safety.

"If he were somehow listening, I just want him to know he still has my care and love."

And with that, Darkstalker sat on the floor of the prison he was trapped in, staring out through the bars and wishing for a second chance.

-X-

"YOU'RE STILL NOT PACKED YET?!"

Tsunami yelled down the hall at Turtle, who was frantically putting things in his satchel.

"No I'm not packed! You told me two minutes ago we're leaving, and you haven't even told me what's going on!"

"WELL HURRY UP!"

Anemone rushed to Turtle and helped him gather his things, alongside Moon.

"Can you at least tell me what's going on?"

"In short," Anemone kept up with handing Turtle objects he pointed out. "We're going to see mother to ask her to meet with Queen Aries. So, we need all the help we can get."

"But why?! You and Tsunami are her precious daughters, you can just go tell her, right?"

Tsunami poked her head in briefly.

"You really don't know our mother at all, do you?"

Moon then turned around, slinging a small pack on her back between her wings. "I'm sure she'll agree, since this is kind of a huge deal. I mean, what possible reason could she have for saying no?"

"I mean," Anemone shrugged. "That is true. She's hard to convince on things she's set on, but of things she's unsure of, she's pretty open minded."

"She's a good queen!" Turtle finally closed his pack. "I think she'll make the best decision for her tribe."

"Which is saying yes to the pretty space queen's offer, which I have my doubts on." Tsunami gestured to the nearby outside entrance. "But wHO KNOWS WHAT SHE THINKS, WE NEED TO G E T THERE FIRST!"

"OKAY, Okay! Jeez, I'm coming!" Turtle pounced after her with Anemone behind him. He rushed by Moon and Sunny.

"Bye guys, stay safe!" He waved along with Anemone, as the trio of Seawings thrust into the sky towards the Kingdom of Sea in the northeast. Moon and Sunny watched them disappear into the horizon, then heading into Clay and Peril's cave where Stardust, Aries and Hamal, and Clay and Peril were all packing and unpacking respectively.

"Hey," The duo peered inside, Sunny addressing the room. "Me and Moon are ready, we're gonna head out."

Clay padded on over to give the two both hugs.

"Be safe guys," He squeezed Sunny a bit as she hugged back with a smile. "We're gonna change the world!"

"Woo! Yeah, back in action!" Sunny bounced around and waved to everyone else. Moon followed suit and walked backwards through the door still waving.

"Byyyye!"

Peril and Stardust waved back, Aries as well.

A collective "Byye!" rang through the room as Moon and Sunny leapt into the air outside.

Peril looked to Stardust and Clay. "Well… I think we're about ready to head out too."

Stardust nodded, gathering his pack and padding up to Peril. "I'm ready when you are."

Aries nosed up to Stardust and planted a tender kiss on his forehead. "My little prince… making me so proud.~"

Peril followed suit, hugging Stardust tightly. "Mama too."

Clay wrapped the whole group in a giant hug with his wings. "Daddy too! Don't forget me, I'm proud of him too!"

"I can't breathe!" Stardust wriggles a bit between all three guardian's bodies. They let go as he gasps a bit.

"Too much love! Too much love!"

Clay gently hugged him one last time. "Nonsense, no such thing."

Stardust giggled and hugged him back, planting a peck on his cheek. "Hehe. Love you!"

He next went to Peril. "Mwa, love you too!"

He pounced up to Aries next. "Mwa, love you too!"

Finally he looked to Hamal. "Hamal!"

He stood at attention. "Yes my Prince?"

Stardust quickly planted a peck on his cheek, to Hamal's surprise.

"Love ya.~"

He rubbed his cheek with the brightest smile in the room.

"Thank you, Stardust! I have fond affection towards you as well."

Aries chortled to herself, watching Hamal's blush intensify. Peril nosed up to Stardust.

"Shall we go then? The Skywing kingdom isn't close by, the sooner the better."

Stardust nodded, Peril turning to Clay who seemed just a tad anxious.

"You gonna be okay? I know it's been awhile since you've seen your sibs, it's okay to be nervous."

Clay presented himself in a brave and assured manner. "Yeah, of course I got this! I'm a Mudwing after all, it's my home tribe. You and Stardust go have fun with Ruby, don't you worry about me."

"I always worry about you, my big strong hunky Mudwing.~" Peril nosed Clay with a chuckle, who laughed in return and met her snout with a short kiss.

"Well your hunky Mudwing will be back before you know it.~"

"Oh come onnnn, you guys can talk mushy to each other when we get back!"

Peril nosed Stardust out the cave, following him out. "Alright, alright. Love you dear!"

Clay waved and blew a kiss as the two set off into the distance. He sat there and turned to Aries.

"Aries… Can I be honest with you?"

Aries, still taken with her setting up, responded but didn't look over.

"Certainly, what's the matter?"

"I'm not scared or nervous." Clay flopped on the floor and rested his paws on his snout and eyes.

"I'm terrified…"

Aries noted Clay's tone, and set her pad down to turn to him. "Why is that, is something wrong? I can send Hamal with you if you'd like."

Clay simply flopped over onto his back on the stone cave floor.

"It's not the Queen I'm worried about. I can talk to her all day long, probably. My sibs, my brothers and sisters, are part of the royal guard… I love them, and they're amazing, don't get me wrong but…"

He sat back up and paced the floor.

"I haven't seen any of them in a while… I promised I'd come back and at least talk to them, but then Stardust came into our lives and I became a dad, and I haven't even had time to write a letter to them or anything… I kinda feel like I've betrayed them, they probably think that anyways… If they started to hate me, I don't think I could take it..."

Aries prodded up beside him. "Clay, as long as you might leave them or stay away, they're still your family, aren't they?"

He nodded somberly. "They are… But I still feel responsible…" Clay turned to Aries as he explained himself.

"In the Mudwing culture, there's not a lot of parenting involved. Mother's have clutches of eggs, and leave them be until they hatch. The first one to hatch is the largest, and they're called the Bigwings of the group. They're supposed to be the big strong leader, taking care of everyone, basically being the dad of the bunch."

"I was supposed to be the bigwings of my group, but due to some prophecy propaganda and warring tribes and other political nonsense, I was kidnapped from my clutch before I even hatched… They never knew about me, and I never knew about them for years! It's only after I visited the Mudwing tribe that I learned about where I came from, and learned that I had a family I never knew about…"

"But I had my own family already, and I couldn't be what I needed to for both, so I left them because they had their own big wings already… And I just…"

Clay by this point nearly had tears in his eyes.

"I feel bad for not making them a part of my life… They deserve more family for all they've gone through."

Aries wrapped a wing around the distraught Mudwing affectionately.

"Clay, you are the most tender hearted dragon I've had the pleasure to meet. Anyone who has you as family of any sorts is incredibly lucky, and I can only imagine how they feel about you. If you care about them…"

Aries offered a sincere and compassionate smile.

"Let them know. Clay, they might not be hurt at all, you could be worrying about something that's not even a problem! But please don't let that stop you from trying."

"As someone who has seen the effects first hand of not showing your family love, I know it can damage your relationship potentially, but since you are already family there is a greater chance at healing what was broken, you have to try."

Clay, now absolutely tearing up, sniffled and wiped his nose.

"You think so?"

Clay wasn't sure what about Aries made her so assuring. He could've sworn she had the kind of knowing expression of someone who had more knowledge and experience of what they were talking about than they let on.

The more Clay pondered it, perhaps she was, seeing as Stardust had been without his birth parents all this time. Perhaps she did know what Clay was going through.

Aries' smiled seemed happier than before, Clay couldn't place why.

"I genuinely do."

-X-