“Fascinating,” Bunsen mused to himself as he studied the preliminary results of the external examination of the device carried by the deceased creature. Behind him, one of his assistants, Beaker, was playing around with the device. He rolled his eyes. So unprofessional. He only looked up from his work, along with everyone else, when a loud hissing noise rent the air and was followed by Beaker screaming in pain. “What in the name the Empress?!”

“My arm’s cut off!” Beaker screamed as he dropped the device, the green beam that had extended from it deactivating before it hit the floor and landed beside Beaker’s severed left arm.

Bunsen ignored Beaker’s screams and picked up the device, realizing now that it was a weapon. While everypony else fussed over Beaker, he looked the weapon over. “Beaker. What did you do to activate this weapon?”

“Dear Faust, my arm!” Beaker shouted, focused entirely on the searing pain.

“Yes, yes. We know you’re in pain,” Bunsen said dismissively. “Now how did you activate the weapon?”

“I’m in considerable pain, Doctor!.” Beaker screamed, tears pouring from his eyes as he clutched the now cauterized stump where his forearm used to be. “How can you ask me a question like that?! Get me a vial of Troporthalazine, please!”

Bunsen picked up Beaker’s severed arm and examined the cut. Having given up on getting straight answers through Beaker’s primitive biological needs, he tuned him out. Setting the arm aside for examination, he looked at cauterized stump for a moment before looking at the weapon. Pointing the open end away from himself, he noticed a button on the side. Pressing it, the green beam extended out again. “Fascinating.” The beam was a meter in length and constantly hummed as the weapon’s internal mechanisms worked. “The blade appears to be made of superheated plasma contained within a magnetic field. Finally. Something truly interesting after three days of study.”

Before he could continue his study, he heard the doors slide open and turned to gaze at who had distracted him from the vital research. Mikoda and Aysel entered first, making sure everything was in order before Celestia herself entered the room, followed lastly by Luna, who had Loki cradled in the crook of her arm. As they made their way inside, their collective attention turned to the sight of Beaker having the stump of his left arm injected.

“By the Empress, what happened here?” Celestia asked, her ordinarily motherly tone afflicted with worry.

“Apologies, my ladies,” the mint colored unicorn giving Beaker the painkiller replied. “Beaker here suffered a terrible accident.” Once the syringe was empty, she removed it from the burned stump and quickly wrapped some gauze strips over it. “There, that should kick in momentarily. You should go home, get some rest.”

“Can’t you reattach my arm Dr. Heartstrings?” Beaker asked, his voice cracking with pain and a hint of loss.

“I’m not sure we can, Beak,” she responded, looking over towards Bunsen’s station where the lost limb lay flat upon the table. “Seems your little toy has burned the wound shut, which means it may have also seared the nerve endings shut. Even we haven’t figured out how to repair those yet. I’m sorry buddy.” She wrapped her arms around Beaker, hugging him as he started to breakdown in tears, lamenting his lost limb.

Luna made her way over to Lyra and Beaker. “What exactly happened, Lyra?” She looked from Beaker to Bunsen. “And what is that thing you’re holding, Dr. Bunsen?”

“What? This little thing?” Bunsen asked, holding the device tightly in his hand. “Well I believe it’s some kind of handheld plasma torch. And as for Beaker over there, his own stupidity is what caused the loss of his forearm here.”

“Let me see that,” Mikoda demanded, making his way over to Bunsen. In what seemed to be a reflexive action, Bunsen tried hiding the device behind his back as he tried moving away from the powerhouse known as Mikoda.

“I’m not handing this over to the likes of you,” Bunsen replied as he continued to shrink away from Mikoda. As he made another couple of steps, he bumped into Aysel, who’d cut off his exit strategy. Aysel had gotten a good grip on the device and wrestled it away from Bunsen’s less muscled hands. He held it up to the light, turning it over at differing angles.

“What is this exactly?” Aysel asked as he passed it along to Mikoda, who did his own inspection of the device.

“I’m not sure,” Mikoda replied, carefully eyeing the device in his hand. “One thing is clear though. It caused somepony to lose their arm. Imagine if that creature had used this on us instead of it’s magic. Dr. Heartstrings, I suggest this weapon be placed in some kind of quarantine. It’s too dangerous to be kept in the open.”

Lyra nodded in agreement. “Definitely agree with you. Princess Celestia, would it be too much trouble to lock this weapon in one of your vaults?”

“Not at all, Dr. Heartstrings,” Celestia replied. “I’ll make the arrangements for it’s safe transfer to the vaults.”

“Princess let’s not be so hasty!” Bunsen protested. “We could reverse engineer this device. Figure out how it works. Imagine the benefits to Equestria’s military might. A weapon that can cut through armor and metal swords like a hot knife through butter. Equestria’s power would be unquestionable.”

“Absolutely not.” Celestia replied. “This device is far too dangerous for anypony to be near. Suppose somepony got their hands on one of these things? We couldn’t possibly defend ourselves from it, not to mention they could hurt themselves wielding it. It’s better for the sake of not just Equestria, but Equus as a whole if this weapon were to be sealed in one of our vaults.” Celestia reached down to her belt and removed a rectangular device clipped to it. With a flick of her wrist, the top half of the device sprang open. She rapidly dialed a series of numbers before bringing the top half of the device to her ear. “Captain, prepare a space in the vault for a code black.”

“Well spoken, my lady.” Mikoda replied as he returned to Luna’s side, watching as she gently rocked Loki.

Luna looked at Lyra with a smile. “You had some data you wanted to share with us, Lyra?”

Lyra nodded. “Aside from our little accident, this has truly been the most wonderful thing to ever happen here.” Her voice carried a hint of enthusiasm. “Come come, let me show you what we’ve learned from this alien.” She walked across the main lab into another room, the Princess and company following. This new room was much smaller than the central laboratory, the air was much colder and the walls were more sleek and chrome. In the center of the room lay a large metallic examination table upon which the alien corpse lay under a sheet.

“We did a preliminary scan of this creature to find out exactly how it died,” She spoke as she raced to a computer opposite the table and rapidly typed  some commands on it. The screen above it showed a computer model of the alien, which showed the wound inflicted on it’s stomach. “It appears she died from both a damaged liver and kidneys. We found some shrapnel within the wound, possibly caused by an explosion of some sort. But as our autopsy continued, we found something remarkable.” She type another command into the computer, the model was minimized and in its place appeared an x-ray slide, marked as Unknown. “This creature’s anatomy is astoundingly identical in every way. It’s all there; heart, lungs, everything. The skull however differs significantly in shape.”

“Do elaborate, Lyra,” Luna requested as she held Loki in her arms, giving him a smile as he drank from a bottle of milk. Lyra nodded and typed another series of commands into the computer. A secondary x-ray slide, marked Tellurian, appeared next to the primary slide.

“Well for starters, it’s more akin to the skull of a primate,” Lyra said as she magnified the skull x-rays. “Notice the less pronounced nose. This alien’s species has a much lower olfactory capacity than some of the species on this planet. The eyes however are incredibly sharp, which leads me to conclude that, like us, they are sight oriented in how they perceive the world. Also take note of the ear placement: not on the top, but on the sides. They also appear unable to move their outer ears to tune where they listen for sounds. Most fascinating to me however, is this.” She zoomed in further, focusing on the teeth. “Near every creature on our planet falls into one of two dietary groups. Herbivore or carnivore. This alien is like the very rare ones that fit both, the omnivores.” She picked up a pointer and indicated the teeth themselves. “Incisors and canines for cutting meat in the front, and molars behind them.”

“What’s this strange marking?” Celestia decided to speak out of curiosity, point to what appeared to be a strange eye shaped birthmark on the creature’s forehead.

“Ah yes, I was wondering that too,” Lyra responded. “We took a sample of it and after some tests, we discovered it to be flesh. Burned flesh. Further tests showed that the cells of that particular patch of skin are old, perhaps from the time of birth. We drew that conclusion when we tested the baby’s mark as well. His was recent.”

“But why burn a symbol into a newborn’s forehead?” Luna asked as she looked at Loki’s mark in curiosity. “Is he from a disgraced family? Or is it something cultural?”

“We can’t be certain, my lady,” Lyra responded. “For all we know his original parents could have been disturbing individuals and marked him for some kind of sick kicks. In any case, if it turns out to be apart of his original cultural heritage, then removing it would mean his kind wouldn’t accept him, much like a mother bird won’t take back her fledglings if you touch them.”

“What else have you learned?” Luna inquired as Loki finished the bottle and she started gently patting his back, smiling as he soon burped and let out a cute yawn. “He’s so adorable,” she quietly gushed as he fell asleep in her arms.

“Well we’ve taken some tissue and blood samples,” Lyra started. “And we’ve identified some...abnormal cells.”

“Abnormal cells, Lyra?” Luna asked with an arched eyebrow as she gently rocked Loki. Lyra nodded as she typed on the keyboard, pulling up a scan of the alien tissue. “All cells have various pieces to them, called organelles, that serve a purpose within the cell, akin to a multicelled organism’s organs. But within each of this creature’s cells, we’ve found concentrations of an unknown organelle in vast quantities, over 8000 per cell. While this unknown organelle is known to exist in all cells, and to this day serves no known function, we’ve never seen them in such high quantities. These cells, to be frank my lady, are quite baffling.”

“Could they be a virus of some kind?” Luna asked, her voice filled with worry.

“We’ve been running every possible test and haven’t gotten any clear results,” Lyra responded. “It’s also very likely that your ‘son’ has these cells as well.” Luna’s eyes went wide with shock and fear.

“What’ll happen to him?!” She almost screamed.

“Calm down, my lady,” Lyra calmly responded. “We’ll just have to keep an eye on him as he matures.”

“I demand you run a test on him immediately!” Luna shouted, causing Loki to cry awake. Luna gasped and started rocking Loki. “Shh. It’s okay, sweetie. Mommy didn’t mean to startle you.” She planted a kiss on his forehead and kept rocking him, gently lulling him back to sleep.

“Alright,” Lyra responded. “We’ll have to draw a little of his blood.” She quickly went to a nearby drawer and picked up a sterile needle and disinfectant patch. “This might sting him a little bit, so you’ll need to keep him as relaxed as possible.” Luna nodded and outstretched one of Loki’s feet as Lyra quietly approached him. She wiped the patch across his foot, then carefully proceeded to check for a vein before driving the needle in, drawing a small bit of blood. Loki again cried awake, throwing his hands up and down. As he did, a few objects around the lab seemed to move with them. He threw one of his hands sideways and Lyra was tossed aside.

Luna gasped at what her son was apparently causing and worked to calm him again, gently rocking the wailing boy and softly singing him a lullaby. Slowly but surely, her efforts bore fruit, and Loki fell back to sleep, the objects around stopping their movement. “What was that?”

“Dear Faust,” Mikoda gasped. “That...that thing uses magic, just like the big one!” The room went silent for a moment, everypony present taking a little time to digest the event unfurled before their eyes.

Luna however, glared at Mikoda. “Loki. Is not. A thing,” she snarled as she cradled the boy protectively against possible threats.

“Well, excuse me, Princess,” he retorted against his better judgement.

“Ok, everypony calm down,” Lyra spoke up, trying to diffuse the situation as she got up. “Now we can’t know for sure what that was. We can’t just jump to conclusions and tear each other apart, we’re not animals.”

“If I may?” Bunsen spoke up as he approached them and looked at Loki “Based on Lyra’s analysis of the cells, and the power this young one just exhibited, I propose that there is a connection to be found between them.”

“And you’re sure about that?” a voice questioned from across the room. Everypony turned to look, and standing in the doorway of the next room was a lavender unicorn. Bunsen huffed at her appearance.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s little pet,” he replied snarkily.

“Always a pleasure, Dr. Bunsen,” she replied in a dry witted tone, as she strode into the room, the gazes of the stallions and even one or two mares following her for more than just her being one of the foremost scientific authorities on the planet. She noticed the looks and chuckled. “I’m flattered, but I’m taken.”

“What do you want now?” Bunsen asked, some venom marked into his words. Twilight took off her glasses, wiping them off with a corner of her lab coat before she continued.

“What makes you so sure there’s a connection between this creature and this… phenomenon at all? Is it the same certainty you had with your little...growth hormone experiment?” Bunsen’s face turned a deep shade of red, his eyes went bloodshot and steam seemed to geyser out of his eyes.

“That was merely a fluke and you know it,” he barked. “How was I to know that the apple would grow that large?!”

“Not to mention cause 100,000 bits in damages,” she calmly replied. “My point still stands. Your egocentricity has caused problems on more than one occasion, Dr. Bunsen. So tell us. Why do you see a connection between this child’s apparent ability to use magic and the odd cells that Lyra discovered?”

“It’s called a working theory, Professor,” he replied in an almost juvenile tone.

“What you have is a hypothesis,” Twilight corrected with an almost condescending look on her face, as though it left a bad taste in her mouth to even consider Bunsen a scientist if he couldn’t even use proper terminology. “It won’t be a theory until more of our colleagues agree with it. So do tell. How do you propose we test this hypothesis?”

“Simple,” he started, a hint of pride in his tone. “We just put him through tests as he matures. Test his reflexes and responses to various stimuli and so on in a series of controlled experiments.”

“What sort of tests?” Luna inquired, focusing her gaze on Bunsen with suspicion clear to see in her eyes. She was disinclined to immediately trust her son’s safety to Bunsen, her motherly instincts having a bad feeling about him.

“Simple tests like with building blocks, memory puzzles, etc.” Bunsen replied. “Also these unusual cells Lyra has found do warrant a further investigation” He turned to look at the scan of the cells still up on Lyra’s monitor. “Who knows what secrets these hold? What marvels we can accomplish by unlocking their genetic code.” Bunsen smiled, his mind racing with thoughts of praise and recognition. “My dear Luna, your child is perhaps the greatest scientific find of the century. Who knows what good we can accomplish from this...beautiful little boy.” He walked over and almost pat Loki on the head.

Loki awoke with a wail and waved his arm, flinging Bunsen into a wall at the stallion’s approach. He was quick to calm down for Luna, but he clearly didn’t want Bunsen anywhere near him. Bunsen laughed as he got back up from the floor.

“Marvelous!” he exclaimed. “Simply marvelous! This child is a gateway to unimaginable possibilities!” He ran over to Lyra and snatched the syringe from her hand. He then drained the contents into a vial and placed it in a centrifuge. After a while, he removed the vial and placed it into another machine. The monitor displayed the sample and a monochromatic voice spoke.

“Analysis of unknown blood sample complete. High concentration of  unknown cells.”

Lyra looked at the read out and gasped in shock. “He has over 10,000 of those unknown organelles per cell!”

“Amazing,” Bunsen spoke. “Somehow these cells must be related to his ‘magic abilities.’ Incredible. If we could find a way to transfuse these cells into a pony’s blood stream…” Before he could elaborate further, Twilight voiced her opinion.

“Aside from the fact that the boy obviously doesn’t like you on an instinctive level, which to me personally raises all kinds of red flags, there’s also the simple fact that we have little to no data on those cells at all.” Twilight looked at the screen while adjusting her glasses. “Besides. We have no way of knowing what effect introducing them in such massive quantities to a person’s bloodstream would do. They could do nothing. They could endow the same abilities he’s exhibited. Or, worst case scenario, they could cause the subject to die a horrible death.”

“That’s why it’s called an experiment,” Bunsen replied. “Besides, we’d have to start our testing on animals before moving up to pony trials anyway.”

“Good to see you at least have the common sense to test on animals first, Doctor,” Twilight condescendingly replied, smirking at Bunsen. Before Bunsen could answer and start another infamous argument session, Mikoda interjected.

“Look whatever is going on, none of this information leaves this lab. We can’t reveal the existence of this...child’s strange abilities to the world at large.” Lyra turned to look at Mikoda, crossing her arms and nodded in agreement.

“Are you insane?!” Bunsen asked in disbelief. “Magic has died on our planet, and now this child has it. We can harness that power to give Equestria an edge over the other races on Equus!”

“No. Mikoda’s right,” Lyra said. “This child is an unknown. Until we know more about what he’s capable of, we have to keep this under wraps. As far as the general public is concerned, he’s an extraterrestrial orphan that Luna adopted as her own. Once we have a firmer grasp of his capabilities, then, and only then, can we safely divulge this knowledge to the public.”

“Everypony’s already going to be up in arms about that idea,” Mikoda responded. “But like I said, his powers are to be kept secret. Agreed?” Many of those present in the room nodded in consent. “Good.” The door’s opened again and another thestral raced in, panting heavily.

“Cap..cap...Captain…” he heaved, trying to catch his breath. Mikoda turned, arms crossed.

“For Goddess’ sake man, catch your breath then speak!” He barked.

“Captain...reports are coming in from...Ponyville. Something about a...a meteor or something hitting the Everfree Forest.” He handed Mikoda a slip of paper.

“That could be the vessel these creatures arrived in.” Twilight said. “If it’s in the Everfree, then I’ll be part of the team that looks into it, after all I lived near that forest for years.”

“I want to go with you, Twilight!” Lyra spoke up, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

“There’s no way you’re leaving me out of this find.” Bunsen spoke up. Many other voices eagerly chimed in, each one wanting to be in on this discovery.

“I’ll gather a security team to escort you,” Luna spoke up. “We can’t risk you going into the forest without a little protection. In the meantime, Celestia and I will have to ease the collective minds of Parliament. It’s going to be a long day explaining this incredible story to them.”

Twilight stepped over to Luna, her smug air from dealing with Bunsen dropping. “Luna? If it isn’t too much trouble, there’s one stallion in particular that I’d like to be part of the security team.” Luna raised a brow.

“Oh? And who is this stallion you wish to accompany you and your team?”

Twilight couldn’t stop a small blush from rising to her cheeks as she made her request. “Facet Orichalcum.”

“Facet...Facet,” Luna replied, trying to recall the name. “Oh yes. One of Tia’s guards.”

Celestia gave Twilight a knowing smile. “And if I’m not mistaken, he’s also Twilight’s new paramour.”

“You are sure about this decision, young Twilight?” Luna asked.

Twilight nodded. “I’m sure. I have a lot of faith in his talents. Shining Armor spoke highly of him during his time as Captain of the Guard.”

“Very well,” Luna replied. “I’ve learned to trust in your judgments. He and several of each guard shall accompany you and your team, with strict orders to only safeguard you. Under no circumstances will they get in the way of your research. Aysel, send word to both guard barracks that five of each of their best men are to be selected for this mission at once.” Aysel nodded and raced to find a phone.

“No one else is at all concerned by Professor Sparkle specifically requesting the presence of a Guard who, while no doubt highly skilled if the previous Captain spoke highly of him, also happens to be her lover?” Bunsen snidely pointed out. Twilight merely rolled her eyes, and chose to ignore Bunsen’s juvenile attempt at a smear campaign.

“What he and I do in our personal lives frankly is none of your concern,” she replied. “The fact remains he’s a capable soldier and I trust him with not only my safety but the safety of my team, which if you want to stay a part of, Dr. Bunsen, then I suggest you shape up or ship out.”

Lyra couldn’t help laughing as she leaned on a table to steady herself. “She burned you, Doctor!”

“I’d hardly call that a burn, Dr. Heartstrings,” Bunsen replied, trying to swallow his pride. “However, for the sake of this find, I will try and be on my best behavior, Professor.”

“Good,” Twilight answered. “Now if you’ll all excuse me, I need to make my preparations for the trip.” With that, she strode out of the lab.

“This forest gives me the creeps,” Lyra muttered as the team and their guards made their way through the feared Everfree forest.

“I don’t know what you’re complaining about Lyra,” Bunsen spoke in a bold vigor. “This forest has its...charms to it.”

“This forest has many dangerous creatures that won’t hesitate to make a meal of us given the chance,” Twilight said. “Ursa, timberwolves, a dragon, manticores, and pray we don’t encounter a cockatrice.”

“Ha,” Bunsen laughed loudly. “A cockatrice, Professor? I believe they went the way of the dodo sometime ago.” A howl pierced through the dense forest. A few of the Solar guards raised their swords on high, scanning in multiple directions for the source of the noise.

“It’s alright. That howl came from a mile east of us,” Facet said calmly. “That wasn’t a hunting call anyway. Besides, a group as large as this will deter them. Timberwolves prefer lone prey that they can gang up on as a pack.”

“Sorry sir,” a Solar guard replied, sheathing his sword. “Just nervous you know.” The other guards followed suit, but kept their hands on the pommels, ready to draw at a moment's notice. “Timberwolves just give me the willies.”

“You think they’re bad,” A thestral replied. “Try fending off one of those Ursa creatures. Thick fur, powerful muscles, strong bite.  They’re like tanks with teeth and claws. Only way to kill one is stab it in the soft flesh, like it’s eyes.”

“Lock down the chatter. We’re here,” Facet ordered as they reached the crash site. Kneeling down, Facet saw a single set of footprints leading into the site. “Someone might be here,” he said as he stood up. “Lunar Guards, fan out and secure a perimeter. Solar Guards, keep close to the scientists. Let them work and don’t interfere unless something becomes dangerous.”

“Sir, yes sir!” All the guards barked in unison. The Lunar regiment quickly drew their swords and fanned out, checking behind every tree, rock and shadow for any potential dangers. One of the guards gave the all clear signal. The Solar guards, wasting no time, quickly made way to the downed craft, with the scientists following close behind.

Facet signaled to stop at the hole that served as an entry into the craft. “I’ll go in first.” Holding his flashlight steady, he slowly entered the craft with sword drawn, keeping a sharp eye out for dangers. After a thorough check, he stepped back to the opening. “All clear.” He reached down, grabbing Twilight by her hand first and pulled her up into the craft, followed by Lyra and the others.

Twilight and her team switched on their flashlights and began their exploration of the craft’s interior. She pulled out a tape recorder and pressed the red button.

“Log Date 7-11-25. My team and I have just entered a rather remarkable yet strange alien vessel. The cabin area allows enough room for all of us to comfortably move about. Damage to the interior is medium at best. Some exposed wires and liquids are strewn about. There also seems to be an abundance of strange...cubes.” Twilight shined her light towards the center of the room. Bathed in the light were strange metallic cube like objects, quite a few of which were in pieces.

As she explored another part of the ship, Lyra shined her light on the pilot seat and couldn’t suppress a small scream as she saw what sat in it.

“Possible hostile!” a Solar Guard shouted, rushing in towards Lyra’s location, drawing his sword like lightning. When they got to her, she stood there, jumping hyperactively up and down. “Dr. Heartstrings, are you ok?”

“Okay?! I’m ecstatic!” Lyra exclaimed as she looked at the hunk of vaguely humanoid metal seated in the pilot’s chair. “Do you know what that is? Do you?!” The guards moved in closer to examine what was in the seat.

“What in Tartarus is that?” One guard asked.

“It must be some kind of metallic pony,” a Lunar guard answered.

“Get real,” a Solar guard rebuttled. “It’s obviously some kind of metal ape.”

“Maybe it’s some kind of weird sex toy,” Another Solar guard replied.

“Well whatever it is, is sure as Tartarus isn’t moving,” a Lunar guard spoke.

“Twilight! I think this is the ship that brought Princess Luna’s baby to our planet! Those aliens are from a civilization advanced enough to not only achieve space travel, but also build droids!” Lyra called across the ship.

“Well it was kind of obvious that the ship brought him here,” Bunsen snarkily responded from across another section of the ship. “But I must say, this technology is quite impressive. I wonder what kind of fuel this thing ran on? Maybe we can find a way to synthesize it. Perhaps even use it as an alternative to our dependence on those snobby Saddle Arabian sheiks’ supply of oil.”

“I want to know how this thing travels faster than light,” Lyra said. “It would have to since there are no visible means of preserving the crew for long periods of time.”

“Maybe the answer could be on one of these cubes,” Twilight shouted back. “Maybe there’s some kind of blueprint on one of these.” As they each explored more of the ship, Bunsen stumbled into another room. Smoke was very present here. He coughed loudly as he tried to navigate through it. Suddenly, he bumped into a strange object.

“Dr. Bunsen! Have you found something?” Twilight called out.

“Yeah!” He shouted back. “I think I might have found what appears to be the engine room!”

Lyra’s squee echoed across the ship as she noisily rushed to the engine room and entered. “What do we have here?” she asked in an excited tone. “The means of FTL travel is here somewhere!” She excitedly searched through the room, looking for the device to make travel of that scale possible. After a few minutes, she came across an unusual rectangular object in the center of the room. “I think I found its engine!” Lyra shouted excitedly.

“Well this is certainly an enlightening trip,” Twilight commented as she started gathering up the intact cubes and a few of the broken ones for study.

“We must take the droid and this engine back for study!” Lyra shouted again. “Could you guards give us a hand with this stuff? Thank you!” Some of the guards gave each other bewildered looks.

“They seriously expect us to carry this stuff back?” A Solar guard asked.

“Apparently,” a Lunar guard replied.

“No way,” another Solar guard replied. “I ain’t touching none of this freaky alien stuff. What if it turns us into mutants or infects us with some kind of alien disease?”

“I think somepony’s been watching way too many late night features again,” a Solar guard snarkily replied.

“Screw you!” the mocked guard replied.  

“Cut the chatter and get lifting!” Facet ordered. “We’ve got a lot to pack up. Radio in for air pickup of the heavier salvage.”

“Yes sir,” the guards replied. One of them made his way to the pilot’s seat and tried to move the droid, but as he lifted, it tilted towards him, causing him to fall backwards with it on top of him. He let out a sharp cry, causing the other guards to rush towards him. Most of them laughed at the sight.

“Ha ha ha,” he snarkily replied in a slightly pained tone. “Very funny. Now could one of you lend a hand and get this damn thing off me?!”

“Aw, what’s the matter?” A solar guard mockingly replied. “Too heavy for the little baby?”

“That’s enough chatter!” Facet snapped. “Next one that starts some up again is walking back to Canterlot carrying everypony else's gear!”

“Aw we don’t mean nothing by it, sir.” A Solar guard replied. “Just having a little friendly ribbing is all.”

“Keep your ribbing to off duty,” Facet said in a tone that brooked no argument. “Not here. We’re here to guard scientists that are studying an unknown, potentially dangerous, alien spacecraft in the middle of a forest teeming with death and hostility. I want absolute focus on the task at hand. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir,” the guard replied. “Come on boys, let’s help him up.” The three guards each grabbed a section of the droid and started to lift, grunting and straining.

“By the Empress!” A guard strained. “This son of a bitch is heavier than it looks!”

“No shit, you bastard!” The pinned guard barked back as the other strained to lift the metallic being. After some effort they managed to remove it off their comrade. After picking himself up and dusting off his armor, he quickly socked the guard to his left in the gut. The guard clenched his stomach, having the wind briefly knocked out of him. “Now we’re even, Disher.” He then proceeded to help the other carry the droid out of the ship.

Facet sighed in annoyance as he helped Twilight gather the cubes. “Why was I given rookies instead of seasoned soldiers?”

“Don’t be too hard on them, babe.” Twilight replied, patting him on the back. “Those boys will become the best guards under your watch, eventually.”

“Hopefully they will,” Facet said as he gave her a smile. “I’d be fully invested in protecting your team even if you weren’t a part of it, dear.” Twilight chuckled and playfully shoved him as she picked up another cube.

“You’d be bored without me if I weren’t with you, admit it.” Twilight responded in a playful tone.

“Terribly bored,” Facet admitted. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Plus you being here under my protection gives me plenty of chances to look at you. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t stolen a few glances at your fine flank while we’ve been out here.”

“You and practically every other stallion from here to Manehattan,” Twilight responded.

“Easier to list the ones that haven’t,” Facet quipped. “Bunsen.” Twilight chuckled a bit as she managed to top off the bag with the cubes.

“Alright, I think that’s enough of these. I can’t wait to get back to the lab and study these.” Her voice was filled with excitement as she tied off the bag.

“I love it when you sound so excited,” Facet said. “I’ve got a couple days of leave saved up. We could take a little vacation somewhere. A nice romantic getaway.”

“Sounds great,” Twilight replied, a slight hint of sadness. “But I’m really going to be needed at the lab to decode these devices. We’ll need everypony we can spare to figure these out.” As she slung the bag over her shoulder, she turned her attention to a couple of guards trying to remove the alien engine. “Careful with that, boys!” She shouted.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got it!” A guard shouted back as he tried to keep his grip tight on the device. “Easy!”

“Hey we’re...all...trying,” the Lunar guard next to him spoke, trying to hold up the device. “This...mother...is...heavy…”

Facet sighed and looked at Twilight. “I know you’ll be needed a lot for the foreseeable future, but try not to work too hard, Twilight. I worry when you start losing sleep over a project or study.”

“Don’t worry about me, my captain.” She replied, planting a little kiss on his cheek. “I’ll be fine. What could possibly go wrong.”

“Why did you say that, honey?” Facet asked with a groan. “When somepony says that, whatever can go wrong will go wrong at the worst possible time in the worst possible way.”

“Only if you give that old superstition the power,” Twilight replied, tapping her finger on his nose.

“It has another form: no plan survives contact with the enemy,” Facet answered as he took her hand in his. “Just don’t work too hard. And please be careful.” He planted an affectionate peck on her lips. “Promise?”

“Always,” Twilight affectionately responded. As she turned to leave, the guards removing the engine continued bickering.

“Watch what you’re doing, sausage fingers!” Disher cried out.

Facet sighed and facepalmed. “It’s gonna be a long night. I can already tell.”

Back in Canterlot, Celestia was with Luna in the nursery her sister had prepared for her eventual child. At present, she was doing what any excited aunt would be doing: spoiling her nephew. “Oh isn’t he just adorable?” Celestia cooed as she gently rubbed the sleeping Loki’s cheek.

“He is indeed,” Luna cooed back as she gingerly pulled a blanket over Loki’s sleeping form. She then gently planted a little kiss upon his tiny forehead. “Sweet dreams, my little prince.”

Standing vigil in the doorway, Mikoda huffed deeply, crossing his arms. Aysel stood next to him, quietly pondering the events that have unfolded.

“Careful, Mikoda,” Celestia teased. “If you keep that up, Lulu might exile you to the couch.” Mikoda simply snorted, a gentle cloud of steam emerging from his nostrils.

“You think this is a joke?” he sternly replied. “You’ve seen what this child is capable of. Who knows how powerful he is or how dangerous he might become.We need a system in place to contain him should his powers become unstable or he decides to turn his powers on us.”

Aysel remained silent, not wanting to find himself caught in the middle of a dangerous argument between guard and princess. He quickly shuffled a couple steps back.

“Aysel, what do you think?” Mikoda asked him. Aysel tugged at the collar of his breastplate, trying to loosen himself up.

“I...I..I..uh,” he stammered, trying to find the right words. “I..I’d...I’d rather not say, sir.”

“Speak, boy.” Mikoda sternly responded. Aysel started to sweat nervously. He felt like a hot light was being cast on him.

“Well, sir,” he started. “Maybe we should at least take some precautions with the child. Have some kind of failsafe should he end up a danger to himself and everypony around him.”

“And what manner of failsafe are you thinking of, Aysel?” Luna asked in a dangerous tone that clearly said, ‘choose your next words extremely carefully.’

Aysel gulped, trying to gather his thoughts without putting himself in the electric chair. “Per…” he started. “Perhaps...some kind...of...containment...field? One that...that would be able to withstand his powers while keeping the rest of us safe.” He stood perfectly straight and still, as if he were facing a firing squad and they were just about ready to loose the arrows.

“That might not be a bad idea, Lulu,” Celestia voiced. “A way to not only protect others, but also keep him from possibly hurting himself. We can have the lab team work on something that can suppress his powers temporarily.”

Aysel felt a wave of relief as Celestia backed up his idea. He felt like he could relax and breath a little easier. Mikoda however, evaporated that wave of calm.

“And suppose if he were to escape from the containment field, what then?!” He barked. “We need a system in place that, should all other plans fail, take him out!” Aysel, as if responding reflexively, made a dive for the hall, anticipating the emotional bomb that was about to erupt.  

Luna seethed in quiet, well contained fury as she glared at Mikoda. “Mikoda. You’re sleeping on the couch for the next year.”

“You don’t seem to be taking this seriously, my lady!” He barked a little louder. “He may just a child now, but what’ll happen when he grows? What’ll happen if he can’t control his abilities? He could become a walking disaster that would destroy Equestria and possibly the entire planet!”

The negativity and raised voice woke Loki, who started wailing. Luna picked him up and started rocking him even as she glared at Mikoda. “Get out.”

“As. You. Wish.” Mikoda responded, growling through his teeth as he turned to leave. “But mark my words, when that child becomes a threat to our way of life, I won’t hesitate to end the threat by any means possible.”

“Take your things with you!” Luna finally snapped. “I never want to see you again!”

Mikoda stormed out, slamming his fist into the hard wall, which left a small break in one of the bricks. Aysel reentered the room, checking on the damage the storm of emotion left behind.

“I...I...I’m sorry, my lady.” Aysel responded in an almost meek tone.  Loki continued to bawl and wail very loudly.

Celestia took Loki from her sister’s arms and rocked him. “Lulu, go calm down. We already know Loki can sense negativity, and you’re only upsetting him right now.” Luna quietly, but angrily stormed out of the room. She made it about halfway down the hallway before she fell to her knees, a flood of tears streaming down her face.

Mikoda had made his way back to his private quarters, angrily slamming the door and loudly cursing at the events that transpired. After his tantrum died down a little, he sat on his bed, burying his head in his hands, muffling a scream of rage. After releasing his scream, he fell back on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, wondering how this rift could be fixed.