A mocking smirk spread across Carn’s lips; his tone cruel and biting, “Bingo my boy!” He ran a pallid hand through Zephyr’s brown mane; the resurrected man seemed indifferent to the young pony’s soft sniffles as his hands combed through the thick brown hair in an almost tender manner. Black, soulless eyes regarded each of the rescue party in turn, seeming to stare into the minds of those who dared to look back into the bottomless pits. Finally the black eyes locked onto the young Colonel.

Seeing those eyes lock to him made the young man freeze with paralyzing terror. Everything about the older man gave Jaze shivers of fear. His throat felt like sand paper, and he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking to steady his aim as he brought his short-barreled weapon up to the corpselike man grinning at him. Despite his fear, he managed to keep his voice level and calm, “This isn’t possible. I know you’re dead; I killed you myself!”

The smirk on Carn’s face only grew, “As I said, you did kill me. A few of my loyal followers found me and brought me back here.” A single pale hand rose and clenched into a fist. His black eyes regarded the hand thoughtfully before he continued, “My eyes were destroyed, my heart stopped, and I was already beginning to grow cold.

“I was almost aware of my surroundings when the surgeries started. The useless lump of muscle in my chest had to be… removed.” Jaze could feel the hatred pouring out of the soulless orbs set deep into the other man’s ashen face. Carn’s mouth became a thin, angry line, and his voice deepened in rage, “I was awake and aware for the entire procedure. Do you know what that’s like?” He snickered, “No you don’t; how could you? Needless to say I have never felt pain like that.”

Shelby could no longer keep her mouth closed. She let out a derisive snicker and mocked, “It obviously wasn’t enough if you came back for more.” The corpselike man stared at the young woman with a look of someone regarding a fascinating insect. Having those eyes focused on her made the brash woman clam up; her brow became slicked with sweat the longer he looked. Several times she tried to continue speaking, but each time her jaws merely worked with no sound to show for her efforts. All she could do was stare back into the bottomless wells of black aimed at her.

Finally, Jaze could stand it no longer and stepped between the two, “Tell me what you want Carn. And let Zephyr go.”

Carn smiled gently at the filly in his lap, his hand continuing to stroke her mane, “Oh I don’t think so. See, she’s part of my plan for this world, and for all of the known galaxy.”

The Colonel’s voice darkened in anger, his fear all but forgotten; “I saw your plan for the fillies and colts you stole.”

The knowing smile that tugged at the corner of the older man’s lips infuriated Jaze to no end. The scarred soldier glared as Carn spoke, “I think you misunderstood that report you read. It was outdated, we had already gathered more than enough subjects by that time. So you’re well behind the times.”

“Care to bring me up to speed then?”

The black-eyed commander grinned, “I suppose I could.” He shifted the young pony in his lap into a more comfortable spot before continuing, “For a while, I had thought about my judgment on humanity,” He pointed at Trixie, “bearing in mind your words to be honest. I thought to myself, ‘why destroy what I could control’?”

A soft noise of deep thought drew Jaze’s eyes to Twilight. He could see that she was interested in spite of every part of her saying the man was wrong, and she asked, “Control? You plan on using your Cye troops to control humanity?”

Carn seemed ecstatic to have such an interested listener and continued with an almost boyish excitement, “Oh no, please. I would never use such a crass, ineffective method.” A single finger tapped his right temple as he spoke, “I wish to control the very mind itself.”

“That’s impossible old man! You’re crazy!” Shelby yelled.

“Am I? Or am I just the only one who is willing to pursue the potential?” The pallid man let his eyes roam over the group as he began to lecture, “Cybernetics. They are the future. They can make us stronger, faster, smart, and a whole host of other enhancements.” His right hand came away from the side of his head and clenched into a fist, “With those enhancements, humanity can reach beyond their current limits, and so much suffering can be eliminated. Imagine it; no more war, no more sickness, and I have proved you can even transcend death itself!”

“But at what cost?” Jaze fired back, “What will humanity have to lose?”

“Nothing important, and nothing that isn’t going to be freely given.” Carn stared hard at his own hand as if he could see through it to the future, “The only thing required is that every living human is implanted with the latest cybernetics. These will make humanity better in every way, including in how they get along.”

“But you’re asking humanity to give up their free will.” the Colonel stared at the older man across from him, “You’re trying to tell people how to live their lives, and trying to force people to leave their humanity behind.”

“Oh spare me that lecture, boy,” the black-eyed man growled, “I am a force for advancement, and betterment of the human race! I will cure humanity of their intrinsic hate; I will make them Homo sapiens superior!”

Trixie cleared her throat and managed to ask, “That is all well and good, but where do Equestria, and Gaia as a whole, fit in?”

“My sweet little pony, humans aren’t the only ones with a sickness.” His pallid hand went back to stroking Zephyr’s long mane, “You ponies prance about, hiding behind false goddesses. They use you, and you’re too blind to see it. But I will set you free, and the ponies shall stand at humanity’s side as we conquer the stars. I shall gather all of the children of this world here to begin their new lives. No longer will humans or ponies stand divided; they will be able to give their all to one true course. My course,” he looked down at the filly in his lap, “and my successor’s.”

“You plan to have Zephyr…” Jaze began.

“But of course.”

“Why?”

The graying man smirked, “Because the strongest leaders will come from the kindest hearts, and I can see what it does to you knowing this pony is in my hands.” Black eyes fixed on the scarred soldier, “I can see the anger in the way your heart beats, and the fear in the way blood has left your face.”

“How can you…”

“Cybernetics, my boy. Imagine the possibilities.” Carn stood, cradling Zephyr in his arms, “I have become stronger, faster, and better in every way possible. But I have no more time to make verbal jousts with you. I am a very busy man, with an appointment to keep. I shall take my leave of you.”

The cyborg commander turned back to his desk and hit a concealed button, making a door open in the back of the room. He started to walk towards the dark portal, only to have Jaze and Trixie rush to block his path. The dark-haired human had his weapon trained on the older man’s head, while the azure magician’s horn began to glow with seething, magical fury.

“If you think you may walk out of here with that filly,” Trixie asked with her eyes full of hate, “you are sorely mistaken.”

“I made a promise.” Jaze added, “A promise to take care of Zephyr. I won’t let you hurt her.”

“And I saw just what you did to my test subject.” Carn’s voice was calm, but dark anger showed in the lines of his face, “Don’t play the hero, boy. You’re just as willing to kill those who get in your way as I.”

The young mare turned her head to look at the man standing next to her, “Jaze, what is he talking about?”

“You haven’t told them?” The black eyed man smiled, “I can see why you wouldn’t want something like that getting out. But you should probably tell someone, or it will eat you up inside.”

“You’re assuming I regret what I did.” Jaze’s gaze was level and clear as he thought back to the pegasus mare he had found, “I couldn’t leave her like she was, and this is what she wanted.”

“So you say, but all I saw was you killing a defenseless pony.”

In spite of himself, the Colonel couldn’t help but let the words get under his skin. His jaw clenched in anger, and hate coursed through his body. He focused a deadly glare at the other man and spoke in a voice shaking from barely controlled rage, “Say what you wish Carn, but the fact remains that I am not letting you leave here with Zephyr! Hand her over, and I’ll let you leave alive.”

To everyone’s surprise, Carn merely shrugged and said, “Fine. Have it your way.” He set the young filly down and let her run into the assassin’s waiting arms.

Jaze knelt to catch the sobbing pony in a tight hug; despite the relief to have her back he couldn’t shake the feeling he was missing something. He looked the young pony over, but found no obvious markings or injuries. Zephyr looked as healthy as ever. The Colonel looked up to his most hated foe with a questioning look.

“Don’t you worry, I’ll be taking her back soon enough.” Carn assured, “In fact, you’ll be begging me to save her from the cleansing to come. Adult humans and ponies are too stuck in their ways to accept the implants completely. I need the subjects to be young. But the old ways must be purged to make room for the new.” He stared down his nose at the young Colonel, “Very soon, you and your pathetic defenders will be engulfed in the flames of progress. You’re outdated, and natural selection must take its course. All the parents will be throwing their children to me, just so that the younglings can live.”

The cruel cyborg’s eyes closed for a moment, before he opened them and gave a content smile, “I must leave now. I have some friends coming, and I must meet them. Have a good day.” He brushed past the pair, the young Colonel raising his hand in warning when Trixie looked about to give chase.

“Let him go, he’ll come back.” Jaze let his shoulders slump tiredly, “He always does.”

“What was he talking about Jaze?” Trixie whispered to the young Colonel, “What did he mean by ‘test subject’?”

“Can’t I tell you later?” he nearly pleaded. He gave a pointed glance to the filly sobbing in his arms, “We need to get her out of here.”

The azure mare could see the pain evident in her love’s eyes and she merely nodded. They turned back to Twilight and Shelby, the young woman looking as if she would disobey her commander’s orders and take off after the older man. A quick shake of the head from the raven-haired soldier brought her back to task however, and soon the four made ready to leave with their precious cargo tucked safely into Jaze’s arms.

Well outside of the gravitational pull of the planet with an orbiting star, a small starship of human design fizzled into existence accompanied by flashes of bright blue light. It was a frigate, a smaller vessel that was roughly one kilometer in length from stem to stern. The ship was gunmetal gray unmarked from the ravages of battle, and boxy, giving it a look like a rifle with no magazine. Adding to that illusion was the single long cannon running most of its length along its bottom relative to the decks. Finishing out its armaments were multitudes of missile pods tucked away into the sides of the ship like old time cannons on water-based ships and several point defense guns.

Light shone out from a bubble of glass at the fore of the ship. The transparent material allowed a bald man in his fifties with brown eyes to glare out at the strange planet hanging before him in the inky blackness of space. His face was sun browned and weathered; speaking for a life of hardship that had been conquered out of sheer spite. Around him on the ship’s bridge were the haggard sailors needed to keep his ship swimming. Consoles flashed along the walls; signaling warnings needing tended that had men and women rushing about.

A grimace was fixed on the Captain’s face as he watched his crew run about madly. Not one of them was out of their thirties, and most of those were fresh out of naval academy. Between them, only he and two others of the bridge crew had seen combat. Phantom pain from the fire that had engulfed his last ship seared his leg and side. Screams from the crew he couldn’t save filled his ears again no matter how much he tried to force them away.

A female ensign sitting in front of a scanning console called out, bringing the Captain out of his reverie, “Captain Marcel, scans are complete.” She regarded the console nervously as she felt her commander’s gaze land on her neck, “We’ve got two Cye cruisers in orbit above the world that Colonel Armand and one thousand StarSide Marines are supposed to be stationed on. As best we can tell sir, they’ve driven all ground forces back for now.”

Marcel glared out the window at the pair of objects. Even without the scans, he could have told his crew that they were facing Cye ships; he knew their profile all too well. He glanced at the ensign for a brief second before returning his gaze out the window.

“Then why haven’t they started bombing the planet? Or at least sent in more damned troops?” the Captain wondered out loud to no one in particular. He stared at the pair of ship, wishing for the hundredth time that he was still in command of a destroyer. There was no way he could take on two ships with only a single frigate. Each of the enemy’s ships were nearly twice his size and better armed. Having the Cye starships so close yet being unable to do anything about them frustrated the Captain to no end.

He had been forming various plans on how he could take them both down without losing his ship, a young man working furiously at another console along the walls gave a cry of triumph and called, “Sir, planetside communications have been reestablished! They say that the Colonel is unavailable at the moment, but give them a few minutes and they can patch you into his comm.”

A relieved sigh escaped Captain Marcel’s lips, the only sign of relief he allowed himself before calling back, “Then tell them to make it so, and as fast as possible.”

While the communications officer began issuing orders on his behalf the Captain turned his attention back to the pair of cruisers. Sooner or later they would take offense at his presence and attack, unless he could get out of their minds. His eyes were drawn to the far side of the planet.

“Perhaps,” he whispered to himself before calling out to the woman at the helm, “Lieutenant Fosters, bring us to the far side of the planet at best speed. Give those ships a wide berth for now, maybe we can avoid a fight until we know if this Colonel has a plan. And Stevens, get me those gorram comms! I wanna know just what the hell is going on before everything goes to my favorite vacation spot.”

“Aye sir!” the sailors called out in unison. The helmsman began carefully plotting her course through space while the officer working comms quickly spoke into the microphone hanging before his lips. Eyes furtively watched the grizzled Captain while the ship burned through space. Having the eyes on him made a slight grin touch the bald man’s face; he may not like the limelight, but he could feel the crew’s confidence grow. Ignoring their age, the group gathered in the bridge were some of the best and brightest that the Earth Coalition Navy had to offer. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Failing sunlight fell on the faces of the five finally leaving the base. Jaze still cradled sleeping Zephyr in his arms, with Trixie right by his side to reassure the young filly. Shelby’s eyes continuously darted around looking for trouble while Twilight hung her head tiredly and just managed to avoid bumping into anything. A dropship that had been circling above the base coasted towards them. As it touched down, its troop bay ramp opened invitingly. The group trudged up the ramp and practically fell to the deck, as there had been no time to refit the seats.

Jaze’s arms were shaking with the effort of carrying Zephyr through the long walk back to fresh air, but he couldn’t make himself set her down. He sat cross-legged and laid the exhausted filly in his lap. Trixie tucked her legs under her and lay next to him with her head on his shoulder. He couldn’t care less about appearances right then and simply enjoyed her company. His arm slipped around her azure shoulders while Shelby and Twilight collapsed across from them.

Thrums of power from the craft’s engines propelled them into the sky. Save for the hum of thrusters, the troop bay was silent. The Colonel’s gloved hand softly stroked the young filly’s mane while she softly snored into his lap. He could just see a sliver of Trixie’s beautiful eyes peeking out from behind mostly closed eyelids as she stared at the tiny pony. For that moment, everything seemed right in the world, and a peaceful smile spread across Jaze’s lips.

“Colonel sir,” a voice broke in over the comm unit in his ear and brought the scarred man back to reality, “We have received a transmission from an ECN vessel holding orbit on the dark side of the planet, would you like me to patch it through sir?”

Jaze couldn’t hold back a slight sigh as the illusion of peace was shattered, and he put a finger to the comm and asked, “First, did the foals make it home safe?”

“Yes sir, they are all back and accounted for. We’ve been reuniting them with their parents for some time now, sir.”

“Good, you can patch the ship in now.”

The line went silent for a moment, before a new, gravelly voice wreathed in static spoke up, “Colonel Armand, I am Captain Marcel of the ECN Remembrance; I understand you’re in command of this sector.”

“That’s me,” the dark-haired assassin replied, “mind telling me what you’re doing here, and why I wasn’t told you were coming?”

“No time for that, shit’s brewing up here. You realize there are two Cye cruisers waiting in orbit right?”

“Of course.” The scarred soldier locked eyes with Shelby, who had perked up when he had started speaking with the Captain. Questions burned in her eyes, though she kept them tightly locked behind her lips. Even Trixie opened her eyes to stare at him in confusion as he spoke with the Captain.

“Do you have a plan to get rid of ‘em?”

“Uh, not… exactly…” the Colonel admitted lamely before adding, “If possible, can you wait until I can set up a conference between us, and the rulers of this country?”

A sigh came back over the comm as a rush of static, “If you must, but don’t dilly-dally! Any minute those cruisers could go hostile and rip us apart.” The line suddenly went dead as the Captain cut the connection.

Jaze heaved a heavy sigh before he called to the pilot of the dropship, “Get us back to base pilot, and don’t spare the engines.”

“Sir yes sir!” the pilot yelled over his shoulder, and the thrum of power from the engines suddenly increased.

The scarred young man spared a nod for the pilot before he put a finger to the comm unit in his ear once more, “Control, I want some Marines, as many as it will take, to sweep and clear the base located in the Everfree Forest, cleared.”

The voice that answered was hesitant, and almost fearful, “Yes sir, I’ll send a detachment right away sir. It should only take an hour to get it done.”

“Give them two hours and let them be extra through; I don’t want anything missed.” The Colonel thought for a moment before adding, “And send in anyone we have that’s got some experience in code-cracking to break into the encrypted computers. I want any and all files, both computer and hardcopy, saved and brought to me.”

“Sir yes sir! I’ll get on that right away sir.”

“And one more thing,”

“Sir?”

“Have a conference room set up, and get Princesses Celestia and Luna brought there. Tell them I said it was urgent.”

“Yes sir, is that all sir?”

“I think so; I’ll let you know if anything else comes up.” Again the line was cut off from afar, and Jaze leaned his head back against the wall of the transport. He couldn’t help but think of all that had happened in the traitors’ base, and most importantly of the mare he had found. The hand running through Zephyr’s mane twitched at the memory of the pistol’s discharge; every part of him silently wished that he had been able to give the young filly her mother back. Tension eased back into his shoulders as he began to realize that this fight was far from over.

Celestia took in her surroundings while she waited for her young Knight-General to arrive. In the center of the otherwise unfurnished room was a long, low table with a communication screen set up on one end. By her side stood Luna; the younger alicorn seemed exhausted by all that had happened. The navy-blue princess’ starry mane had sunk around her shoulders and almost ceased to blow in a nonexistent wind like her sister’s; the very ends of her mane only fluttered weakly to give the appearance of trying.

The older ruler watched her sister with worried eyes. Even without speaking about it, Celestia knew what had the younger pony so tired. The smaller alicorn had lost a thousand years of learning to cope with the evils that would beset the ones they were supposed to rule. Having a war thrown upon her like this had been a shock to the poor mare; young though she was she had handled it as if she had been expecting and readying herself for it for years, but only in the presence of others. Alone, however, the navy blue pony’s façade dropped and she was once more showed the fear for her subjects that was now etched into her very being.

Just as Celestia was about to give comfort to her sister, Jaze walked through the door and quickly shut it behind him. The human looked just as haggard and browbeaten as Luna, and a tormented look had settled behind his eyes, hidden to all save the elder Princess’ searching gaze. He gave the pair a brief nod and a false smile before he moved towards the table.

Every bit of the young human was covered with sweat, dirt, or any number of other substances that didn’t bear thinking on. At his waist hung the ever present-Sairugi, while a small weapon hung from a sling off his shoulders. As he approached the table, he quickly unbelted the sword from his hip and leaned it against the table. The gun’s sling went over the dark-haired soldier’s head and soon the weapon was laid on the tabletop.

Jaze took off his helmet and shook out his sweat soaked hair. His eyes locked with the white alicorn’s before he spoke in a low, tired voice, “I hope you’re ready for a story, because I’ve got one hell of a tale to tell.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow suspiciously before saying, “I fear that we may not like what you have to tell us.”

“We get much the same feeling,” Luna spoke through her yawn, “but as we have been told, even bad news must be given an ear. What have you to say?”

The human nodded towards the view screen, “We need to wait for one last person, but I can tell you not all of my news is bad.”

The pair of alicorns nodded at his words. Celestia studied him as he turned mostly away from them to lean against the table on the other side of her from her sister. Worry showed through his armor and despite his back being turned. The Solar Princess could feel her own anxiety growing the longer she watched him. Her mind slowly turned over everything that could have happened to make him so nervous, and each situation seemed to get worse than the last.

A loud beep from the machine across from them startled the princess out of her thoughts and drew her attention to the blank screen. She watched as it slowly warmed to show an older human male’s grizzled face. The man’s face was new to her, and from the screen she could hear the faint sounds of other humans moving around hard at work.

His eyes took in the trio looking at him; the brown orbs gliding past the other human in the room to fix on the elder ruler, more specifically her crown. Seeing those eyes aimed at her made the tall pony realize how much strife he had been through, both recently and throughout his hard life. Little emotion showed on his face, but there was more than enough for her to tell he was not a man used to being afraid. But he was afraid now.

His face continued to be a blank mask as he asked in a gruff voice, “Mind telling me what a pair of animals are doing in this conference, Colonel?”

Luna’s face darkened and her mouth opened to deliver a retort, but a raised hand from the gold-armored human silenced her. Jaze’s stoic gaze fixed on the screen as he spoke slowly, “Captain Marcel, may I introduce Princesses Celestia and Luna, rulers of the Day and Night, leaders of the land of Equestria, and the ones who have helped me to defend this world against the Cye’s advances.”

Indignation flashed in Luna’s eyes from the human’s words. The navy blue alicorn gave a curt nod and spoke in a voice that didn’t quite show contempt, “Welcome to our planet, human. We have fought your greatest enemy to a standstill, and lost many brave ponies along the way, both warrior and civilian. We would like to know who you are that you can talk down to us.”

Celestia just managed to stop a scowl from spreading across her face at her sister’s tone. Another thing that Luna seemed not to have learned was how to control her temper. The same resentment burned in the taller alicorn’s breast, though she managed to keep most of it from her face. Now traces of her ire migrated to her sibling; it was the duty of a Princess to hear out everyone with a fair ear after all, and taking out your anger on someone you had just met was as sure as any to have a partnership get out of hoof.

Jaze flinched at the younger alicorn’s reaction, and finished the introductions with a pained voice, “And this is Captain Marcel of the ECN Remembrance, the human ship currently in orbit somewhere over our heads. He’s going to be helping us roust the Cye from this system completely, if we can get a workable plan.”

Luna’s face colored bright red under her navy fur as realization sunk in. She somehow managed to stammer out, “W-we are sorry, we had no idea…”

“Eh, don’t worry ‘bout it.” the gruff Captain replied, “I know what fighting a long battle’s like. It gets to ya.” He fixed his eyes on Jaze again and added in a tired voice, “Speaking of long fights, I’ve got bad news. Earth’s been hit, it’s gone.”

The Colonel tried to hide his reaction, but to no avail. His eyes took on a pained look and his face twisted into a grimace. He turned his head away from the screen for a moment and let his eyes close before nearly whispering, “How, when?”

“They got hit a few days ago; Admiral Gaston was leading the Earth’s defense fleet when they reported a massive Cye fleet dropping in out of nowhere an’ started ripping our ships a new one. The message we got was garbled, but we understood that we were to report to Earth immediately. Before we arrived, we received another message from Admiral Gaston himself that Earth was lost, an’ for all Earth Coalition vessels to leave the Sol system before we lost anymore ships. I decided to carry out my original mission, an’ came to give you aid.” Marcel raised a brow, and added, “Helluva story huh?”

“Are there any survivors on Earth?” Jaze asked quietly, “What about the defense fleet, did anyone make it out?”

“Unknown right now,” Seeing the young commander’s face fall even more, the Captain added, “But Gaston’s a wily old bastard, he’ll figure something out. And Earth’s tough, nearly everyone there will have picked up a weapon to fight back an invasion, so don’t count her out either.”

The dark-haired assassin heaved a heavy sigh and said to no one in particular, “I’ve got to let the troops know, it’s going to kill them.”

Celestia finally spoke up to ask, “Are many of the Marines here from Earth?”

“I highly doubt it, Your Majesty.” Captain Marcel said respectfully, “Most men and women that enlist from Earth are stationed there, let’s ‘em keep the home-field advantage.”

“Then why will it be so detrimental to your troops moral?” Luna asked, “If few if any have any connection to Earth, what would make them hurt?”

Anger flashed in the old man’s eyes as he began “Looky here missy…” A raised hand from the young Colonel brought him up short, though anger still resided on his face.

Jaze locked eyes with the older man and spoke calmly, “Captain, remember that she’s not grown up with humanity’s history; this is all new to her, and every Equestrian.” He turned his eyes to the Princesses and added, “And for humanity, Earth is like a beacon. It’s humanity’s birthplace, a place of freedom and equality, and a testament to humanity’s power and will; the one place all humans prize. Earth is the seat of power, and the location of our government. It would be like if Canterlot was taken; every single pony would ache with sorrow, without exception.”

“Then many shall be heartbroken.” Celestia commented knowingly, “But they must be told, it is their right to know.”

Marcel loudly cleared his throat to call for attention, “Not now, we got a more immediate problem. We’ve still got a pair of Cye cruisers hanging high in orbit over this ball, gotta get them outta the way first.”

The scarred Colonel ran a hand through his hair in frustration before he spoke, “You say you could only take one ship, right?” When the older man nodded, the gold-armored soldier continued, “Then we’re gonna have to launch a joint attack, do you have any fighters?”

Marcel nodded again, “We’ve got one wing, ready and able to be in the void in a moment’s notice.”

“Good, I’ll take my fighters out and meet up to hopefully distract one ship while you take the other down.” Jaze straightened with a derisive laugh, “Maybe we’ll even be able land inside and fight our way to the reactor core. It’s not much of a plan, but it’s the best I’ve got.”

“Knight-General,” Celestia called to get the young man’s attention. When he looked towards her, she continued, “I may know of a way to destroy the other ship without having to take unnecessary risks.” Her lavender eyes turned towards the man on the screen and she asked, “Do you think you could spare one hour for preparation?”

“Maybe,” he replied quickly, “But any longer and they’re gonna get pissed about us floating on the dark side of this rock, and they can turn my ship into a tin can anytime they want. So hurry.”

“Then follow me little sister,” the taller alicorn called as she made her way towards the door, “we have much to do and little time to do it.”