Warning sirens blared their shrill cries at anyone who could hear them on the bridge. The starship rocked from the missiles slamming into its hull, and had Marcel been standing he would have been thrown to the deck. Several other members of the bridge crew were having trouble getting back on their feet as the Remembrance continued to be pelted by enemy fire. The few officers who were still at their consoles raced to assess the damage. Outside the viewport the empty black of space was filled with bright points of light flashing into existence, marking the appearance of yet another enemy ship to contend with.

“Someone give me a damage report!” Marcel called, “What the hell is going on?!”

“Several hits along the hull, structural integrity holding for now!” a crewman yelled. His eyes darted across the console as various stations throughout the ship reported in, each assessment more dire than the last. After several moments the young man continued, “Gunnery control reports direct hits to the cannon; it’s offline with no hope of repair outside a shipyard. We’ve still got our missile pods to fight back with, but the engines have taken major hits and their capabilities have been cut sixty-six percent so we’ve got no mobility.”

“Scans have over two hundred ships already in-system, with another huge group coming.” a member of the bridge crew called out before her voice became confused, “One group must be moving in a dense formation, they’re showing up as a single contact on the FTL scanners…”

Another thundering boom emanating from the lower decks shook the ship. The grizzled Captain scowled, this fight had turned ugly before it had begun. His crew, as well as his ship, was quickly falling apart under the stress of multiple direct hits. Everywhere he looked he saw the same, panicked expression as they worked to stop the ship from being torn asunder. His mind raced as he tried to find a solution before his frigate was reduced to molten metal.

“Sir!” an ensign called out, yanking him from his thoughts and back into reality, “Fire in decks F through D! Flame suppressants aren’t activating.”

Marcel shook his head sadly and answered in a voice even he found strangely calm, “Sound the decompression alarms, then vent those decks. At least we can hold up long enough to do something.”

The young man paused long enough to give his captain a pleading look before doing as he was told. Soft sounds could just be heard from below, a series of dull thumps as the atmosphere in the lower areas of the ship blasted out into space. The Captain could imagine the twinkling cloud of crystal that would have surrounded his ship like foggy breath. Before he could stop it, the image changed to one of great animal uttering a final gasp before the end.

“Dammit.” he growled. His eyes toured the bridge again, taking in each panicked face that turned to look at him. Every member of the crew was expecting, hoping, him to find some way to pull through this; some way to keep everyone safe and win against all the odds. Until then he hadn’t realized just how much the men and women aboard had idolized him. They all wanted him to pull some miracle from the air, and he knew there was no way to help. Anger at his own helplessness welled up inside his chest as he realized he was about to lose another ship with no way to salvage it.

He heaved a heavy sigh, trying to force away his frustration, before ordering in a calm, clear voice, “Scramble the fighters and tell’em to get planet-side; they’re gonna be handy really soon. Have all nonessential personnel get in the escape pods and leave.”

“Sir, Colonel Armand is hailing us.” the comms officer yelled.

“Put him on.” Marcel glanced around the bridge and noticed that there were still fire warnings on one of the consoles. His voice was a growl as he ordered, "Dammit, Jenkins! Get that fire out, vent decks E and D. Everyone there's already dead or had evaced already. But if you don't get that damn fire out, we're all dead." His orders delivered, Marcel finally turned his attention to the waiting assassin, "Colonel, shit hit the fan big time here. We've pinged more'n two hundred warships with more coming in every minute. A few already shot the living hell outta us, so if you got a plan, now would be a great…"

A massive hit rippled through the ship, and the grizzled old sailor was tossed around in his chair as the bridge lights flickered. Several consoles erupted into showers of sparks and shrapnel, including the comm station. The young ensign manning the console caught the blast and had his chest ripped open. He slumped against the console, unmoving and with small crimson steams running down the wrecked comm.

“GODDAMMIT!” Marcel screamed before yelling to his crew, “Everyone, get to the life pods! Go, go, GO!”

The crew wasted no time in turning and running from the room under the Captain’s urging. But before they could take more than a few steps, another devastating explosion ripped through the ship and plunged the entire frigate into darkness. Emergency lights flickered on, casting their ghostly green glow over the ship.

Marcel and his crew had trouble staying on their feet as they made their way towards the door that slid open welcomely as they approached. The combined explosions had sent the ship spinning through space, and the Captain couldn’t stop himself from glancing out the forward view screen before he left his bridge for the last time. Stars swirled past the thick glass in a view he could only think of as beautiful, until it swung to show the enemy fleet.

And at the head of the Cye ships was an utterly massive mobile space station. The station was almost half the size of the moon; it roughly hemispherical with a long tower extending from the relative bottom of the main body of the structure. The entire thing was black as space, rendering it invisible in the darkness of the void; if it hadn’t been for the bright sun shining directly on it the Captain would never have seen it.

His mind failed to make sense of the mind bogglingly huge structure. Never had he known the Cye to build structures of this scale. They never took any resources from any planets they conquered, nor did they ever do more than recycle their dead into more troops or ships. Nothing seemed to add up to this station, but the impossibility didn’t seem to stop the thing from hanging ominously in space.

A pinprick of bright, red light appeared near the bottom of the dome. The light quickly grew brighter, and it took a moment what he was seeing to register with the grizzled old Captain. For the first time since this slaughter had started, his palms began to sweat and his pulse quicken. His eyes bugged wide, and he turned to scream at his crew, “Get yer asses MOVING!”

The crew somehow managed to make their way to the door with Marcel at the back of the pack. His eyes were fixed on the forward viewport as the younger crewmen went ahead of him. They seemed to take forever as time slowed to a crawl; he could see the light growing brighter with every second. Even though it only took a few seconds for them to get out ahead of him, it still felt like an eternity when he finally stepped through the door and slammed his hand against the control to seal it. Bu before he could take a step, a liquid steam of glowing metal passed through the bridge they had just occupied.

Everything whirled around him as the gravity generators for the ship finally failed, and the bridge crew was tossed around inside the hall. Marcel felt as if he had been picked up and thrown against the wall. His head slammed against a bulkhead and he slumped bonelessly to the floor. Fuzz filled his head and a fog settled over his vision. All thought was obliterated along with knowledge of who and where he was. He was simply floating along, gently bumping against things that were sometimes hard and unforgiving, other times soft and yielding.

Blurry shapes passed in front of his eyes, shapes that spoke in garbled words he couldn’t understand. Something took hold of the shoulders of his uniform, and he felt a gentle sensation of movement. Soft though it was, the motion made him feel violently ill. Digging deep into his mind, he managed to bring up the memory of being someone important. He refused to allow whoever was tugging him along to see him get sick; he had to look strong. So he closed his eyes and focused on his need to not lose the last thing he had eaten.

Finally, the motion halted and his stomach stopped trying to turn inside out. A solid but still giving object pressed to his back, followed by something tightening uncomfortably around his chest and holding him firmly against whatever was at his back. He was too weak to fight, but he opened his eyes to try and make sense of what he was feeling.

Again he could see the blurry shapes, but now they were a little more defined. He could see faces, faces he knew. One seemed to be talking to him, but the words were lost to the ringing in his ears. Soon, his head was too heavy to lift and his chin fell to his chest. Black straps encircled his torso, a harness. Seeing the harness started bringing back more memories; of who he was, and what had happened. His hand pressed to his face as he forced the thoughts to form and tell him what was going on.

It all came back to him in a rush. His vision cleared, and suddenly realized he was sitting in one of the ship’s cramped, windowless escape pods surrounded by the bridge crew. Pain radiated from the back of skull where it had struck a bulkhead; he knew he must have cracked it and probably had a concussion. But despite the pain he forced himself to stay focused.

The young helmsman was sitting at the controls of the craft, running a quick check of the systems before they left. Across from him sat more of the crew, strapped in similarly to him. Relief showed on their faces at seeing him aware, and one young woman even offered a brief, confident smile. They still seemed to think he was in control, even if he had spent the whole journey through the ship being tugged along half-dead.

A jolt shook the craft as it was blown clear of the dying vessel; the jolt sending another wave of pain coursing through the Captain’s head. The helmsman triggered the pod’s engines and began to power towards the planet. Marcel’s heart ached at the destruction of his ship, and at how many crewmen were probably lost. He stared at the ceiling and whispered, “Now would be a great time for a miracle.”

Soldiers shouted back and forth along the trench line as they hurried about, making final preparations before the coming storm. Desperation hung heavily in the air, so much so that Jaze could nearly taste it while he watched his troops work. An assault rifle hung from its sling on his shoulder, his sword was secured at his hip, and his helm was once more securely fastened to his head. He was ready for the fight, or at least as ready as he felt he could be.

The young Colonel couldn’t stop himself from pacing slightly as he watched the sky. Sweat slicked his hair, not all of it from being encased in metal, and poured uncomfortably down his back. His heart thundered in his chest loud enough he feared it would be heard. Everything seemed to take on a more vibrant, energetic feel. Despite this odd vigor infusing everything, weariness settled in on his limbs. He couldn’t remember being this tired before, both physically and mentally.

Unsteady hoofsteps sounded behind him, and he turned to see Rainbow Dash tottering towards him. She looked horrible, worse than when she had been rescued. Her eyes had become sunken slightly and bloodshot, and more bruises were starting to show on all across her body. Every step looked like it took massive effort to keep from falling over, and a plaster cast encased her broken wing. But in spite of it all she still wore a confident smile.

He couldn’t help but feel a hint of admiration for the cyan mare. She had gone through more in a few hours than most did in a few lifetimes, and yet she could still retain her cocksure attitude. Even so, a flare of annoyance flashed in his eyes. Her rashness had nearly gotten him and almost all of his friends killed. Worse, she had completely ignored his orders, and he couldn’t let her off too easy, despite what she had been through.

The speedy pegasus stopped a few steps away and raised her forehoof in a salute, “I’m ready to fight; where do I need to be?” He was ramrod straight as he stared down at the rainbow-maned pony. His eyes flashed a deadly glare at her, and she seemed visibly taken aback.

Somehow his voice came across as coldly flat, which even took him by surprise, “I can’t even begin to tell you how much trouble you are in now.”

“Wh-what? What do you…?”

“For starters,” he hissed, cutting her off midsentence, “you disobeyed direct orders from your commanding officer. I told you to wait, and you charged in anyway. Did you think about what would have happened if those men had decided to cut and run? They wouldn’t have just let the foals walk away, you know that right?”

Confusion registered on her face that slowly turned to realization. Horror and revulsion etched onto her face, and she spoke in a disgusted whisper, “Ya mean they woulda… Why would somepony do that?”

“To make us mad, get us to act stupid.” A finger pointed at her nose accusingly, “You’re proof of that. And then did you not think about what would happen to you or those around you by rushing in like that? What if those bullets had pierced your armor? What if you had died, what would that have done to all your friends? You put everybody at risk; Dmitri got shot and nearly died looking for you. Not to mention all the fights that broke out while we searched.”

Jaze could see the words hammering his friend’s mind. She looked ready to rebel, to shout at him, and he silently dared her to defend her actions. Instead, her confidence crumbled, and she looked ready to cry. Her voice became a stutter as she tried to explain, “I-I didn’t think…”

“And that was your problem.” he cut in again, “You didn’t think. You let your own confidence and brashness lead you into doing something stupid and nearly killed more of your friends than I care to name.” He forced himself to talk a deep, calming breath before he stated flatly, “In light of what you went through, I won’t give you anymore punishment. However, you are confined to either the medical tents or Ponyville General until further notice. You’re still hurt; you need rest and medical attention.”

Remnants of her confidence mixed with anger, and she glared up at him to begin saying, “But I can…”

“Do what? Your wing is broken; can you fight on the ground?” His voice was nearly a yell, and he could see his words’ affects in the mare’s eyes. She stared at the dirt under her hooves with her good wing held high in fury. Resentment and hurt radiated from her, so much that Jaze wanted desperately to apologize.

Magenta orbs brimming with bitter tears whipped up to meet his, and the flyer growled, “Yes sir.”

That last word was loaded with so much acid that Jaze was mildly surprised he wasn’t killed. His friend turned away with her head held low. Light glinted from a tear near her chin, and he suddenly realized just how cruel he had been. Necessary or not, he had done more to hurt her than the entire time she had been held prisoner. His heart ached for her, and he couldn’t stop himself from calling out, “Hey, Dash?”

She turned, fixing him with the weariest glare he had ever seen, and asked, “Is there more, sir?”

“Yeah, there is.” Her eyes made him feel all the more horrible, so full of pain of every sort. He tried to give her a confident smile, but the best he could manage could only be called a grimace. Still, his tone was sincere as he said, “I’m sorry, but things need to be said. I doubt anyone would have done differently, even me. You did what you thought you had to, without hesitation. That’s not always a bad thing, and I know you didn’t intend for any of that to happen. Rest and get well, you’re still needed.”

A ghost of a smile played across the young mare’s lips, a hint of her confidence returning. She nodded, her injured wing twitching in pain, and spoke tiredly, “I guess you’re right. But make sure ya give those metal morons one from me, okay? Can I at least have that?”

“Not one, several.” he agreed with a grin, “Now get some…” Darkness engulfed the pair, causing Jaze to fall silent. He turned and looked towards the sun, expecting a rogue cloud or perhaps a storm. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of an overwhelmingly huge object blotting out the sun. Exactly what it could be was hard to discern, but he intrinsically knew it to be trouble. Quiet fell over the defenders as they watched the sun become engulfed by the massive, inky blot.

Jaze stared up at the sun-eating with a look of weary concern. All traces of weariness fled from his limbs and his heart pounded painfully in his chest. After giving his rifle a quick check to make sure it was fully loaded, he hopped into the trench to find either one of the Princesses. Whispered words of encouragement from both Marines and Royal Guards reached his ears, not to mention more than a few curses.

Several soldiers, human and pony alike, turned to look at him with questions in their eyes before he had even set foot in the ditch. He gave each one the only thing he could offer; a quick, hopefully encouraging smile and a nod. They at least seemed calmer, but the tension was still palpable. He watched as the shadow of the object swallowing the sun encroached on the land behind the trench. Soon everything would be swallowed by the darkness and an unnatural night would fall.

Static crackled across the comm in his ear, and a panic-stricken, female voice asked, “Can you hear me Colonel, sir? This is Control, come in Colonel Armand.”

It seemed like the woman was nearly ready to crack, and her terror lanced through the airwaves to try to inflict him with mind-breaking fear. He knew that he was just passing the blame for his own anxiousness onto someone, anyone, else; and he refused to allow himself to lose his mind over a simple eclipse.

“Yes, I can hear you.” he replied with a forced smile, and an attempted laugh, “What’s going on, what is eating the sun up there? Should I start some kind of pagan ritual, or do you have a better explanation for me?”

He heard a quiet, quickly stifled laugh across the comm. For several seconds there was no response, but when it finally came the Control operator sounded more assured of herself, “Sir, I do sir. Scans show that the structure is made of the same alloys as typically used in Cye vessels; if I had to hazard a guess, I’d say it was a mobile fortress or space station.” She paused before adding almost as an afterthought, “Or a massive weapons platform.”

Nervousness crept into the Colonel’s voice as he said, “Uh… thanks. That’s… reassuring.” His mind raced faster than his heart as he ran through all the possibilities, each more worrying than the last. If it were a station, then there was no telling how many troops they could spit out onto the planet. But if it were a weapons platform… suddenly the entirety of his combined forces seemed woefully overmatched.

The operator’s voice broke in on his thoughts, calmly asking, “Excuse me, sir? Are you still there?”

“Yeah, still here. Is there more?”

“Yessir, Captain Marcel’s life boat has been recovered, which accounts for all of the ones launched from the Remembrance. The Captain is in the ponies’ hospital right now, as he received a serious head wound.”

“Good to hear.” He cast his eyes quickly up and down the trench before asking, “Do you happen to have a location on the Princesses? I need to speak with them.”

“Give me a moment, Colonel.” The line went silent for a time; she must have been talking with someone on her side. Time ticked slowly by as he waited, and he couldn’t help but begin to feel agitated. Just before he began to pace irritably, he heard the sound of movement on the other end of the line and the operator finally responded, “Yes sir, I know Princess Celestia is currently near the center of the trench line, while Princess Luna with a few Guards and Marines are currently in the hospital finding out what happened in orbit.”

“Okay, let her know to pass word along when she finds out. Armand out.” The line went silent once more, and Jaze set off towards where the Princess of the Sun was supposed to be. He couldn’t help but feel like she would have a better grasp of what could be done, and he hoped she might be able to use the sun against the construct.

He set off in a jog, passing hundreds of soldiers with expressions ranging from near-panic to excitement. Most of the Guards offered him a quick salute with their hooves over their hearts, while the Marines gave respectful nods as he passed. A smile touched his lips at the humans’ adherence to age-old protocols; with the bright gold armor he was wearing there was no way he wasn’t going to be recognized. Still, he felt that each of them were ready to lay down their lives in the horribly lopsided battle to come, but he had to ask himself the same question.

As he trotted down the line, his mind turned back to everything he had seen and done. All the places he had been, the people he had met, and more importantly the people he had killed. Their faces swam before his vision, each taunting and calling to him in shrill voices. Many he didn’t even have a name for, but each was burned into his memory. Each life he had taken added another bit of weight to his mind until he felt weighed down by a layer of lead around his heart.

There was no guarantee that he, or anyone, would make it through the coming fight alive. His mind slowly let each face fall away to be replaced by one of the people he loved. Each of his friends brought a measure of calm and lifted his mind from the place it had begun falling to. He finally banished all thoughts of the past, and instead focused on his future.

Trixie. Her face was the one that most filled his mind. She would seem to look at him and smile, a smile of promise for better things to come. A smile of his own touched his lips as he left her warmth surround him. He could see her standing with Zephyr held tight in her forelegs. Both ponies looked overjoyed, warm and safe. Everything else fell away, replaced by that image. Warm, bright feelings suffused his body, strengthening his resolve. He made a promise to himself, a promise to see that thought become reality; he owed them that much at least.

Celestia was right were Control had said she would be, surrounded by a crowd of soldiers hanging onto her every word. Her clear, soft voice carried over the din and drew the young Colonel out of his mind. He hadn’t even realized he had still been walking. A Guardspony spotted him and called out to the Princess, pointing with a forehoof.

She turned and quickly motioned him over with a wing before turning her eyes back to her sun being engulfed. He spared a moment to look up and saw the sun half hidden behind the Cye construct. His pace increased to a sprint; he needed to speak with Celestia before darkness fell. If nothing else they had to think of a way to keep the battle area lit after the sun was hidden. He wished they could get the thing in the sky away from the sun as he could see it hurting morale, but he just hoped they could still fight when the time came.

The Solar Princess smiled sadly as he drew near. She still looked weak and tired, and he couldn’t blame her after seeing her turn the very sun against her enemies. Even now he still couldn’t believe he had seen that. But this weariness seemed to go deeper somehow, deeper than he had ever seen before. Almost as if she had just lost her child. But her smile seemed sincere, and her voice was calm and even as she spoke, “Good of you to join me; now can you tell me what is covering up m… the sun?”

“It’s some kind of Cye space station.” he explained as he stepped next to her.

She turned to stare at him in blank disbelief, as she might a two-headed pony. At first her stare confused him, until he realized she had never seen any form of space station. All this was still new to her, and newer to the ponies around her. He remembered what it was like the first time he had seen a ship, and how life changing it had been. Sadness filled his heart for a moment at the thought of how an entire race had lost its innocence at once, but he buried it and explained.

“A space station, basically it is a place for starships to go and get refueled, resupplied, and even small repairs.” His finger tapped his lips in thought for a second before he added, “Think of it as a small, moveable moon. With guns. Lots of guns.”

“I… I see.” Celestia replied shakily. She seemed ready to crack; the most fear he had ever seen her show since they had meet.

Seeing fear in the normally composed alicorn’s eyes made him truly understand just how much trouble they were in. He took a chance and stepped next to the pony to put his hand on her shoulder in a warm, friendly gesture. She was shivering underneath his hand, as though from cold. Worry filled the dark-haired man at her quakes, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she were sick. Before he could ask, she shrugged his hand away but gave him a brief smile.

Celestia’s voice was soft, but he could still hear a hint of pain as she nearly pleaded, “Don’t worry about me; I will be fine. I am just a little shaken, but…” She turned her head upwards again, “I haven’t seen the sun go dark in the sky in over a thousand years. And on that day I made the biggest mistake of my life.”

At first, Jaze didn’t understand. Sad tears began to flow from the Princess’s eyes, and after a moment he finally began to realize. He nodded, looking to the sun as well. It was three-quarters hidden behind the Cye’s construct. Twinges of heart-ache for the alicorn rolled over him in waves; he couldn’t even begin to understand how such a powerful, heart-breaking memory would feel being drudged up by the single greatest threat her people had ever faced.

His voice was low and reassuring, and he tried to keep a comforting smile on his face, “Don’t worry about anything like that. Nothing like that will happen again, and in the end it turned out for the best right?”

“My head knows that.” she assured, “But my heart is not so sure.”

“You and everyone else.” Jaze mumbled darkly.

They watched the sun shrink to just a bare sliver peeking from behind the station. He wished that this had been a natural occurrence, in a time of peace. Ever since hearing about them he had wanted to watch an eclipse; his home-world had no moon. For the briefest of moments, he allowed himself to believe that everything was right in the world. He wasn’t sitting in a trench in hot, sweaty armor, he wasn’t watching an enemy move their space station into a strategic location; he was just another young man watching an eclipse amongst friends.

Before the sun could fully disappear, he turned to Celestia and growled, “Dammit, I forgot why I came here in the first place. We need some way to keep the battlefield lit after that thing hides the sun. They want to throw us into confusion, and they’re going to get just that really quick.”

The tall pony turned to look at him with a simple smile, “You have asked for the easiest thing we could give.” Seeing his confused stare, she explained, “Luna and I decided at the beginning of this conflict to keep the sun high so your Marines and our Royal Guards would have the light needed for the battle ahead. It has been ‘night’ for over an hour now.”

Jaze glared at her, though he managed to keep his voice mostly civil, “Why didn’t you tell me about this decision?”

She seemed more amused than contrite as she apologized, “I am sorry, but did it never occur to you when the sun didn’t seem to move?”

“Yeah well…” He did his best to ignore the ridicule, though he could feel his cheeks heating up embarrassedly, “Time has a tendency to be strange when you’re fighting for your life.”

“A fair point.” the Solar Princess laughed, “However, it does mean we have a plan. As long as the soldiers do not mind having their battle by moonlight.”

“That’ll work I think. So long as it’s the brightest moon in history. We need the light, as far as we know Cye don’t.”

“Worry not,” she assured with a smile, “You shall find no want of light tonight.”

He nodded, “Good. But you don’t think you could take out that station the same way you did that cruiser do you?” She shook her head sadly, and Jaze’s shoulders fell as a small measure of hope left, “I was afraid of that.”

He turned his eyes skyward just in time to watch the sun finally disappear fully. Darkness fell completely, turning the day into night. After a brief moment of disorientation, his surgically-altered eyes adjusted to the inky gloom. Everything had lost its color and became varying shades of grey, but lines and motion stood out in great detail. Any spot of light glared brightly, nearly blinding him. He could no longer look up at eclipse, as the corona of light was still painfully bright.

For several moments he stared out over darkened, broken field until a light flared next to him. His hands flew to cover his burning eyes, and he turned to glare at the Princess standing next to him from between his armored fingers. Her horn was glowing with a deep golden light, almost like her usual magical aura but it seemed thicker somehow. As if it was nearly tangible.

“I have set the sun in motion, and Luna has begun to raise the moon.” Celestia offered in explanation as the rich light from her horn faded, “Soon there will at least be that in the sky.”

Jaze carefully looked up, still hiding his eyes, and sure enough the sun was visibly moving. The Cye station followed its path for a time, up to the point the orbiting star began to sink below the horizon. After that, both were lost to view as the moon peeked out over the edge of the world. Soothing light eased across the land, and a collective sigh of relief went out of the defenders manning the trench.

“Celestia,” Jaze sighed as he turned back to look at her, “I am going to hand out any weapons we have left in the armory to any Guard that wants one. It may be against regulations, but they can hang me if we survive.”

She nodded, though her features were set in a confused grimace, “Why would they punish you for arming the Royal Guards? Does that not make this fight easier on your soldiers?”

“Technically, the Guard isn’t part of the StarSide Marines forces.” he explained softly, “Handing out weapons from an SSM armory can be considered weapons trafficking at best, treason at worst.”

Resentment colored in the Princess’s soulful eyes, and her tone became poisonously hurt, “But we are allied against your enemies! Why would they withhold something that would give us, and by extension their Marines, a better chance of survival?”

“Equestria is our ally in this,” he assured, knowing that what he had to say next would surely only make her anger grow, “unofficially. But there has been no formal acknowledgement between our governments, so I could still fall under the illegal distribution of ordinance technicality.”

Celestia’s voice was barely a whisper, but the rage in it was as loud as gunfire, “But you are only doing what you think is best to help everypony succeed!”

She was practically shaking with indignation, and at that moment Jaze was truly aware of how powerful a being she was. Even ignoring her magical abilities and power over the sun itself, her form rippled with muscle now quaking with unbridled rage. She could easily crush him beneath a single, booted hoof. As he watched the white alicorn fight to regain control of her emotions, he was silently thankful that she was his friend. Or at least ally.

He kept his voice low and soothing, like he was talking to wild creature he didn’t want to spook; in many ways, he was, “Princess, don’t worry about it. I doubt they will punish me for this. There is precedent for a similar situation, and from what I understand all of the Earth Coalition Government is either dead or in hiding.” He faked a light-hearted smile and added, “Besides, if they wanted to hang me they have plenty of other reasons; what’s one more death sentence between friends?”

This managed to bring a smile to her face, a brief flash of teeth before it was gone. She drew in a great breath of air, holding it for a moment before letting it go and taking another. This continued for a few moments until she seemed to have calmed down. Finally, she looked to him solemnly and asked, “Do you really think we can do this? Knowing full well that,” she pointed towards where the Cye space station had disappeared, “is up there; do you still believe we can win?”

“The only thing we can do is try.” he answered quietly.

A cool breeze caressed his cheek almost lovingly, leaving him feeling a little fresher than before. For a moment, he could actually see them pulling through this. He saw them being victorious, standing atop a mountain of Cye bodies as the space station broke apart and starships turned into brief balls of fire. Before long reality set in again, but he quickly added that image to the growing pile of thoughts to give him hope.

He looked straight into the tall pony’s eyes and smiled peacefully, this time his smile came naturally, “What do you say we show these metallic monsters what we can do?”