"What happened?" Twilight asked.
"Mriya's nightmare, in a place called Baikonur Cosmodrome, a hangar containing the only Buran shuttle in my world collapsed and destroyed it along with a rocket mockup. Pity really. Had so much unused potential, here I get to see that potential used." You say as you crawl from Buran's insides after securing everything you've removed and replaced.
"That's a tragedy, what of Challenger and Columbia?" Twilight asked.
"Boom going up, and boom returning. Order you said, that's the order of how I gave the answer." You say as you forget you've got to go back in and turn Buran on.
"Wake up buddy, how you feeling?" You say after flipping the switch on.
"Feel ok, not different, but want you out of me."
"Understandable. I'm on my way out as we speak Buran." You say as you climb out of his entry hatch and close it.
"Buran, can you run an analysis on the new periphery processors?" Twilight asked.
"Da, but don't see good in it. Seems like waste of power." Buran said as you smile as he seems to be the same Buran that arrived.
"I would like a readout of their function." Twilight said again asking for technical data.
"Nyet, is pointless for me to tell you that processors are running at nominal efficiency. Fact that you want readout is waste of processor power. Thought you knew." Buran said as he gave a pretty good assessment of his new processors.
"There you have it Twilight, you got your assessment of his new computing power. Now leave him alone would you? How would you like it if I put you on the spot with a test about a pony you've never seen before." You say getting her to quiet down and allow the two of you to leave the clean room.
"Glad that's over." You say as you tear the flimsy suit off of yourself after leaving the clean room.
"Those aren't cheap."
"They're less expensive than yours." You say estimating the costs
"So what are you doing for lunch Anon?" Twilight asked
"Eat with Morgan and Thunderbolt, oh and Princess Luna" you say
"Oh, do you always eat with them?" Twilight asks.
"Yea, I usually eat with Morgan and Thunderbolt. I'm sure Morgan would be a bit disappointed if I missed it." You say as you continue your walk back towards home.
"Oh, May I come along?" Twilight asks.
"Wouldn't your friends miss you?" You say trying to keep things as normal as possible for you, but then again "normal" here is anything but.
"They'd understand that I have Princessly duties." Twilight said as you sigh and continue to walk back to your home.
"I guess you can." You say as trying to argue against her would bring you nothing but trouble.
"Is there anything I should bring?" Twilight asked.
"Just yourself, I wouldn't worry too much about it." You say as you get home.
"Oh Anon, what's your take on surprises?" Twilight asked as you placed your hand on the doorknob.
"Eh, depends on the surprise." You say as you open the door and walk into a darkened hangar.
"Morgan, Thunder, I'm home." You call out as the lights flip on and nearly blind you.
"SURPRISE!" a fair amount of the ponies yell as the main hangar doors open up and leave you standing there in a very shocked state.
"Umm, what?" Is all you manage to say in response to them.
"Dad, this one wanted to throw a party, but didn't have a reason. KC, Brezhnev and even the Ops ponies decided since you have the biggest say in what goes on here to make you the commander of Avalon's Shadow." Morgan says as you're now dumbstruck with what just happened.
"What?" You ask with a bit of confusion and frustration in your voice.
"Many of us decide you deserve to run Avalon's Shadow. Feel you do much better than Ops." Brezhnev said as he poked his head into your hangar, due to his size he was stuck outside with the larger ponies.
"Oh, alright then." You say as you look for a place to sit.
"Isn't this great dad? You've already done soo much for them and now they're doing something for you." Morgan said as you sat on the couch and tried to clear your overloaded brain
"Yea, it's..... It's something." You say not sure how you should be feeling about all this.
"Anon did you not want this?" Echo asked rather concerned that you'd decline them all.
"I can't say no to you all. You've got your new Commander." You say and smile, for them, as it's just more weight added to your shoulders.
"Great! Now let's PARTY!" a pink pony says as she sets your mp3 to shuffle.
"Oh shit." you say as doing that could range from heavy metal to some hard core trance and EDM.
Sure enough your sound system is blasting For Whom The Bell Tolls at a deafening volume.
Rainbow seemed to be enjoying the music while it was blasting Metal. Twilight and a few of the other plane ponies couldn't stand it. Though most of the older NATO aircraft seemed to enjoy it, along with the Hornets who were headbanging and holding a hoof up making you laugh. Though you hoped they didn't break anything in their necks.
Morgan was either blocking out the music or very happily in her own world, which you just let her be.
Much to your surprise there was a very large table of foodstuffs arranged for this apparently surprise celebration. Since there is a very large amount of food, and there's things only you can eat, you decide it's better to not let it go to waste. Initiate chowdown.exe
While you eat you watch everything going on, the music shifts to something a little more acceptable for every pony, sort of a mix of pop and punk rock, and it's apparently now one big dance party with your house as the damned center of it all.
Looks like your nickname of Rex Tremendae wasn't a complete waste of a nickname, as you ended up as a commander of a bunch of plane ponies with a place you already call your own.
"Oi Rex, are ya just gonna sit there and stuff your face or are ya gonna join us mate?" Blue called out as your mouth is full of food and it's just bad timing.
"Blue, I haven't had lunch, can you give me a second to at least finish what I've put on this plate?" You say
"Yea sure mate, just rememba to come an join in on the fun." Blue said as she goes back to the party as you now literally stuff everything on the plate into your mouth to get it down quickly. Though you did pile your plate, it only took you a few minutes to get it all down.
When you started to head back, you heard the start of something you'd rather not be associated with your return, as all the Russian designed ponies were singing along to it. You turned to walk away only to be cut off by Morgan.
"You're not walking out on them are you?" Morgan asked.
"No, bad song, can't return not now." You say as you start to sweat a little from the nerves of the potential of Morgan pushing you back.
"Hmm, I guess you're right. It is the Soviet anthem after all." Morgan said as you hoped to not hear what she preferred.
"Great. So give it like another three minutes and hope it goes towards something neutral, or hell go and pause it." You say as you snake your way under Morgan.
"Can't you use the remote for the system?" Morgan asked as you were an idiot for forgetting about that.
"Oh, right. The remote." You say as you pull your phone from your pocket and kill the music.
There was a very large groan of disappointment from the crowd as you stopped the music which had now shifted towards light EDM.
"What? I can't have it quiet when I come back to the party?" You ask as you change the music to something a little more "classic" like the Beach Boys' Surfin Safari.
"Well, I thought this was supposed to be a party?" You say as you kick the music back on and everypony goes back to having a good time after you interrupt it slightly.
You guess it took some food to help clear up your head, but you start to believe they actually made a good choice in picking a de facto leader of Avalon's Shadow, as you did tend to run the defenses and knew what was on everypony's mind.
Twilight had introduced you to the rest of her group, and apparently Pinkie Pie had the sound all over Avalon's Shadow
So the entirety of Avalon's Shadow was blanketed in your music because Pinkie Pie set up the sound system to work that way.
Basically the town was one big dance party. It took you a little while, but then you started to enjoy the surprise.
The party went on all day, and when it ended around your normal closing time for the shop, everyone in Avalon's Shadow was either out at the runway or gathered around your home enjoying themselves. Even the shuttles were out, despite having a barrier around them because nobody wanted to be responsible for breaking one of them.
All in all, today was a good day. You got acknowledged for how much you do for everyone, and this means you've got a little more (a fucking metric shit ton) of sway in the political world of this place. That may or may not pay off in your favor for a while.
"So Anon, how's it feel to be in a position of power?" Princess Luna asked.
"It's a little odd, considering I've started at the bottom here." You say as you're cleaning up a little inside of your home.
"Started at the bottom?" Luna asked.
"When I got here, I begged borrowed and had to plead for a place to live, work and tools. I was nothing, and I built my way to where I was, lot of that was building their trust. Made a whole bunch of friends many of which I've paid back. Hell I've helped to build half of this place." You say as you throw some of the decorations in a dumpster.
"You've helped to build what?" Luna asked.
"He helped KC build his Bar, the ops building, most of the internals of his shop, and he's filled in every pothole in the taxiways and runways." Thunderbolt said as she too was helping with the clean up.
"Really?"
"Yes really. He's done a lot for our community, almost as if he's the pillar of it." Thunderbolt said as you laugh a little.
"I am the pillar of the community. I've learned that from work, though to me it's not work. I get to do what I love, fixing ponies and making sure they're airworthy. So I hear a lot, and I may or may not make suggestions based on what I hear. Since I run the place now, the communities voice will almost always be heard by the one in charge." You say as you continue to sweep your hangar.
"Almost kinda like a damned fairy tale." You say as you laugh a little.
"Rising up from the bottom to claim the highest honor of the land." Morgan said as you smile and pat her on the side as you sweep by.
"And to think Celestia believes that you now equal her in status. To think those envoy meetings that Thunderbolt runs were just meaningless meetings to you. She, Brezhnev, Echo and KC have been lobbying for you for some time now, and now, it all pays off for them Commander." Luna said as she bowed before you.
"Don't, not to me." you say
"But are you not?" Luna asked as you cut her off
"I might be the "commander" of Avalon's Shadow, but I'd prefer it if you, and everyone here saw me as a friend, don't get me wrong, over certain ponies I'll lord it all over them, but not you." You say as she stands back up.
"You would prefer it if we saw you as a friend rather than a ruler?" Princess Luna asked.
"Well, it's what I'd prefer. Then again I'm not going to stop you from acknowledging that fact, though I'd prefer the name Rex over Commander any day." You say as you are still cleaning your home.
"Don't you have ponies for this?" Luna asks as you Thunderbolt and Morgan burst out laughing.
"They'd have to be no bigger than Thunderbolt." You say as you sweep the latest pile into a trashcan.
"What about those you call "Smiths"?" Luna asked.
"Yea, I'd prefer not to have OCD drones inside of my hangar, sure they do a great job at keeping everything clean and organized, but you can't move a damned thing without them having a tantrum." You say having dealt with them directly when they've needed maintenance.
"What about the little planes?" Luna asked.
"We're not making anyone clean our mess. We make it we clean it, it's kind of a general rule, you make the mess you clean it up." Thunderbolt said as it would appear she's become very motherly towards Morgan.
"True, when they've trashed my shop I've made them clean it up. And that's happened more than a few times. So you say Sunbutt may see me as a potential equal?" You say partially interested in ruining her day.
"That is what she believes and she also believes you will try to exact revenge for her wrongdoings to you." Luna said.
"No, her people will do that. They just need to know the truth." You say as you've cleaned an acceptable amount of your home before sitting down exhausted on your couch.
"A truth that by her own will shall never see the light of day Anon." Luna said as you try and relax.
"Eh, let sleeping dogs lie I guess" you say
"I am unfamiliar with that phrase." Luna said as now it was Morgan's turn to say something.
"It means that the status quot stays the same. She's not going to budge on how she feels about Dad, and he's just going to suck it up and deal with it like he always has. Sorry dad, I may have had to pry for that." Morgan said as you do have a slight headache.
"Guess that's a two way street now isn't it Morgan?" You say as she smiles half asleep on the couch again.
"MMhmm." Morgan said as she was half asleep.
"Guess this means I've got duties outside of Avalon's Shadow now doesn't it? Would explain why your sister's been bugging me with those letters." You say as you point to a small stack of mixed letters from her.
"Yes, it would explain those, and why I'm here. Yes I am here to be with my friend, but when they got the go ahead from Celestia, they wanted to make you their leader as soon as possible. Which was today." Luna said.
"And your second purpose?" You ask
"Is to see if we can leave you alone here without interfering with anypony's lives." Luna said.
"Princess, that won't be a problem, how things have been going is how it's going to stay. I like the way things work here, hopefully running Avalon's Shadow won't get in the way of what I love, making sure they all can fly." You say as Luna nods a smile on her face.
"But, it's been one hell of a day. Pinkie can sure throw a party. I'll be going to bed. Thunder, could you take Morgan to her room for me? I'd try, but probably would hurt myself." You say as you walk to your room.
"Ok, but one of these days you're going to have to carry her there yourself Anon." Thunderbolt said as you laugh a little and go pass out on your bed from how tired you are
 
2200 hrs. Shuttle facility
"Well, that was one heck of a party wasn't it Mriya?" Sadie said as they were sitting in the commons that were built between the two respective hangars.
"Da, was big happy party. Did not know Anon was to be leader of Avalon's Shadow." Mriya said
"Well, it was awful nice of those Equestrian folks to come out an celebrate that with us. They came out a long way to come an visit. Ahm surprised they haven't gone home yet. Then again, that purple one is mah contact with the space agencies around these parts, perhaps afta the launch they'll be gone an we'll have business as normal." Sadie said
"Da, but do not mind visitors, give us reason to clean house. If remembering correct, your shuttles very messy. Buran, neat, tidy, me, not so much." Mriya said pointing to a small assortment of rocket parts lying around the commons.
"Yea, about that, ah don't mind all the spare parts for them rockets of yours, but can ya keep them elsewheres? Soon enough Endeavor, Discovery an Atlantis 'll be comin here. Ah just want this place tidy." Sadie said as Mriya began to laugh.
"Asking me to clean when your shuttles make bigger mess than me? I think not." Mriya said giggling.
"What are ya sayin? My shuttles are cleaner than you, leavin oily parts lyin around." Sadie said trying to combat Mriya and her laughter at the absurdness of her comment.
"Is just pokings of fun. Do I make mess? Da, I can be messy, but I try and clean." Mriya said trying to communicate that it was a joke.
"Ah never did understand you very well. Then again, it's that damned language barrier between us." Sadie said as that barrier did cause some issues in relaying useful information
"Da, causes issues, but Buran understand shuttles, and shuttles understand Buran. So where it matter, it good." Mriya said as that ironed out the really big issue.
"Well, if I recall, they at least speak a language they understand, an I would butcher your language worse than you do to mine." Sadie said as she had a giggle at it.
"Da, have words you not able to pronounce. Since you have accent already, make worse to try and learn my language." Mriya said as Sadie nodded in agreement.
"Yea, sometimes mah accent's a little too thick for some ponies." Sadie said with a light smile
"Da, but doesn't owner of Edge of Space speak like you?" Mriya asked as KC did have an accent similar to Sadie's.
"Ah reckon you're right Mriya. He is awful friendly with the new ponies in town. Either that, or he just does it because he's gotta run his establishment." Sadie said as she let her mind wander a little.
"I may still believe in old ways, but he seems good. Running own place, making money hard way. But he gets good business. Many fly throughs stop for rest here. Reason I hear about Avalon's Shadow, many ponies have talked about how nice it is. Spoke very highly of Anon, though he charge them more than the ones who live here. From moment we arrived, this place felt like home. Where we supposed to be. This is why I wanted us moved here." Mriya said making Sadie smile with such a thoughtful thing to do for two friends who were former competitors in their younger days, though Mriya still has Sadie beat for cargo capacity.
"That's awful thoughtful of ya to move us like that. Ah know where we were was getting a little unsavory, an ah'm jus glad yer lookin out for the little ones. Mriya, ya always do think of the littlest things to make us happy. Ah just neva understood why you can be so sad sometimes." Sadie said bringing the money issue back up again unintentionally. This of course wiped the joy and cheer from Mriya.
"Sadie, it because Buran and I are poor. When you have very little it the little things that make whole world. There were days I worried I would not be able to feed Buran. Some days I had to skip all food to keep Buran healthy. There reason my repairs are more frequent than yours." Mriya said in a mix of shame and endurance. If there's one thing Mriya understands it's how to endure with very little supplies.
"Mriya, ah know you have problems with money, but afta my arrangement with Twilight, yer problems should dissapea." Sadie said
"Sadie, not arrangement. I make very little just transporting rockets. What I make was going towards launching Buran. Was very close, then all spent moving here. I spend all on moving everyone here. You, your shuttles, me and Buran. All move here on our expense. Very thankful I am for you finding Buran opportunity to go back, but I am disappointed. Wanted to pay myself to see him launch." Mriya said as she hung her head in shame.
"Sweetie, ya did, ya brought us here. Without that, ah never would have been able to talk Twilight into giving Buran that Satellite ta carry on up. Ya may not have paid for a launch, but ya paid for the opportunity to make him happy Mriya. An there ain't anythin else you coulda done to do that hon." Sadie said as tears filled Mriya's eyes.
"Mriya, don you cry." Sadie said as there was a knock on their door, it was you by the way. Those pesky drones may spy on everyone but you, but it did have it's advantages.
"Who is it?" Sadie asked as Mriya was laying on the floor covering her face in case Buran was locked out.
"Anon. You mind if I come in? A little drone told me there was a big sad An-225 in here." You say as Mriya responds.
"Anon. Do not want talk about it."
"Mriya, there's no need to be so gloomy. What's got you down?" You ask as Sadie let you in.
"Anon leave." Mriya said trying to sound very angry, but you didn't buy it.
"Mriya, if you've got a problem it's fine to tell me. I've solved more problems here than anyone else, and I'm not just talking repairs." You say as you smile a little as you put a hand on her massive hoof.
"Problem like what?" Mriya asked as Sadie left leaving the two of you alone.
"Lots of emotional problems, I've done more than my fair share of cheering ponies up. My most frequent taker on that offer is Osprey." You say as you're trying to find a way into it without repeating what the Smith told you.
"But Osprey seem so happy." Mriya said confused.
"She wasn't always so happy." You say