Spike looked out the window and down at the Blacklands beneath him. It was far larger than Equestria ever could hope to be; spanning tens of thousands of miles. He could make out the mountains and fields through the clouds as they soared by in their massive airship.

Whilst Spike was in awe, something bothered him about his fight with Haki. While he remembered entering her realm and killing her, his memories seemed... incomplete, like a whole chunk of information, was robbed from him. In fact, the only thing he could remember was a feeling that he felt just then, adrift, like his conscious mind was wandering.

"Pretty amazing isn't it?" Draven interrupted Spike's train of thought; standing beside him and exhaling as he looked down at the massive world below.

"Yeah..." Spike sighed.

"Something's obviously bothering you, Spike. C'mon, out with it." Draven deduced.

"I barely remember my fight with Haki, even though it only happened a few hours ago," Spike recalled as he turned his head to face Draven.

"Oh?" Draven wondered as he looked down at Spike. "What do you remember?"

"I remember... entering her chamber, fighting her for a while, but the only thing I can remember after that is me defeating her," Spike explained as he shook his head. "It's weird, I've never felt this before. It feels so... odd. Do you have an explanation?"

"Can't say that I do," Draven admitted as he scratched his scaly chin. "Perhaps it'll sort itself out in time, I'm not sure. I'll have to think on it. Thanks for telling me."

"You're welcome," Spike muttered as he watched Draven walk back to the table to speak with Charles.

On the opposite side of the command center, Butch, Masami, Twilight, and Gin were all in a secluded room with a plethora of couches surrounding a large coffee table in the center. Masami blew a large bubble with her gum and popped it as she put her feet up on the table. She was dressed casually in a grey blouse that fit her curvaceous figure, and a simple red ascot around her collar. Butch, on the other hand, wore the same outfit from before, minus his veteran's cap which he threw onto the coffee table.

"Are you guys still thirsty? We've got rum if you're interested, pirates like rum right?" Masami asked as she looked over at Gin.

"I'm not one who likes to break down stereotypes, especially if that stereotype is true. Yeah, I'll have some rum!" Gin chuckled as Bensley set a fancy bottle of rum on the table. "Gee, I think I might put a dent in your wallet with these, this rum looks bloody expensive!"

"Yeah, this is the airship of the president of the richest nation in the world, I don't think you can..." Masami ate her words as she watched Gin down the whole bottle. "Nevermind."

"Bensley, can you get us some chips and dip too?" Masami asked as she spat her gum into a trash bin across the room. "Also, get Butch a Quantum-Kick Cola will ya?"

Butch grumbled as Bensley placed a tall bottle of soda on the table, and he picked it up quickly; underestimating his own strength and crushing it as he grabbed the bottle.

"Oh, you big baby look what you did! Bensley, cleanup on aisle Butch!" Masami shouted over to the butler as she swiped her hand across the couch in a desperate attempt to prevent a stain.

"You know, you could take off your armor Commander Stiehl," Twilight suggested as Bensley set chips and dip down on the table, and began cleaning up the mess.

"It's not armor, pal" Butch grunted as he removed his large metal chest-piece and trench coat. "Well, that was."

Twilight was in shock when she looked down at Butch's body and realized his situation. Everything but his head and torso was made of metal, and a large glowing blue circle was on his chest where his heart was.

"What in the bloody hell is this?" Gin uttered in shock as she looked at Butch's body up and down.

"Lost my limbs and heart a while back, my bones and muscles were also replaced with some crazy metal and polymer yarn." Butch gave a light laugh as he tapped on his chest. "Only stallion ever to get an arcanium core for a heart, right here. Same kind of power cell that runs that robot that fought with Masami here."

"That's incredible!" Twilight shouted eagerly as she got out her notepad and began jotting information down.

"You got a notepad too?" Masami laughed as she took a chip and dunked it in the dip; handing the butler another strange looking coin. "Heh, Evelyn will definitely like you!"

"Sorry for... changing the subject so suddenly, but what was that odd coin you just handed the butler?" Twilight asked politely as she jotted down more info on her notepad.

"Oh, these? These are called cogs. They're our currency!" Masami informed the curious young alicorn as she reached into her pocket and brought out seven coins. "They use different materials for different values! Steel-worth one, bronze- worth ten, silver- worth fifty, gold- worth one-hundred, platinum- worth two-fifty, arcanium- worth five hundred, and the legendary diamond coin- worth one thousand!"

Masami placed the seven different coins on the coffee table. Twilight examined them closely and took note of the engravings on each coin. All had what appeared to be an eagle flying through a large gear on one side, and on the other side was a side view of Charles' face along with the date in which the coin was manufactured.

"What do you Equestrian's have for currency?" Butch wondered as he took a sip from his fresh bottle of soda.

"We use bits!" Twilight grabbed a few bits out of her satchel and placed them on the table.

"Weird-ass coins you got here..." Masami joked as she analyzed the foreign coins; turning one of them over and spotting an image of Celestia on one side. "Who's this, your queen?"

"Princess." Twilight corrected her as she put the coins back in her satchel.

"Princess? I thought she was your ruler..." Masami scratched her head.

"She is, she's just called the princess," Twilight explained as she ate a chip dipped in hummus.

"Wait, but that doesn't make any sense. Shouldn't she be called a queen then? I mean, she seems to have a lot more veto than your average princess, so why stick with-. You know what, I'm just gonna stop questioning Equestrian logic." Masami threw her hands up in the air in defeat as she took another chip.

"To tell you the truth, I never really understood it either," Twilight admitted as she also grabbed a chip.

"Sir, we have a potential problem!" A worker shouted up to Charles, who was sitting at the large metal table with Draven.

"What kind of problem?" Charles asked as he stood up.

"We've got an incoming potential hostile on the radar. Whatever it is, it's moving fast!" The worker informed the president as he watched the monitor in his workspace.

"Interesting. What is this aircraft's trajectory?" Charles said as he jumped down to the lower floor and observed the approaching green dot on the monitor.

"Headed right for us, sir." The control room worker replied as he looked up at Charles with a serious expression.

"What's up?!" Masami shouted as she playfully hopped down to the lower level.

"It appears we have a hostile inbound," Charles announced in a cheerful yet worried tone of voice.

"Oh yeah? How fast is it movin'?" Butch called down from the upper level as he and the others exited the secluded lounging area into the control room.

"I would estimate it at around mach five maybe. Shouldn't be too hard to catch up with." Masami added as she jumped back up to the upper level and pressed a button on a nearby wall; revealing a hidden armory full of mechanized suits. "Chuck, prep the launch chamber."

"Are you going out there?" Spike questioned Masami as she put on a black aerodynamic-looking suit of armor.

"Hell yeah I am, gonna see what's cookin' out there!" Masami grinned as a helmet emerged from the suit and covered her face with a large visor.

Two metal wings sprouted from the back of the suit and the whole armor made a series of beeping noises before finally settling down. A glass chamber rose from the center of the lower level, and Masami stepped inside; pressing a few buttons on her gauntlet before giving one of the pilots a nod.

"Good luck, Masami." Charles encouraged the already confident mare.

"Who needs luck when you've got machines that can calculate probability for you?" Masami joked as she was dropped out of the sealed chamber into the clouds below.

Masami jettisoned from the aircraft and stretched out her wings to catch the wind. In a flash, she fell behind the Ambassador and began to survey the area with the various gadgets attached to her visor. She looked around the clouds for heat signatures and found a trail right below her. The path was odd for any aircraft she had seen, as it seemed to perform various aerial stunts such as loop-di-loops and aileron rolls, which was strange for even a military aerial-suit test. Another strange aspect about the flight path was that it was so small; confirming her theory that it was a single pony in a similar suit.

She moved closer to the pony flying just below her and eventually, she was flying right beside the pony. She was a mare, and unarmored, but Masami was travelling too fast to make out her entire form. She was definitely a pegasus, no doubt about it.

"Beautiful day for a flight, huh?!" Masami shouted through a speaker in her helmet.

"Who the hell are you?!" The odd looking mare yelled at Masami as she sped forward.

"Your friendly neighborhood air-traffic controller!" Masami laughed as she scratched the mare under her chin. "These are my skies, baby!"

"Ha! Dream on metal-head! I do what I want!" The cocky mare grinned as she zoomed past Masami with a careless expression on her face.

The mare thought she had left Masami in the dust, but before she could even relax, Masami was right in front of her; using two jets attached to her metal wings to propel her forward.

"You know it's rude to walk away from a conversation!" Masami teased the stunned mare as she blocked her from escaping again and again.

"Hey! Let me get to that ship!" The frustrated mare whined as she tried looping under Masami.

"And why would you want to do that?" Masami asked as she blocked her again.

"None of your business!" The angered mare grunted as she finally evaded Masami and sped towards the Ambassador.

"Why do they always run?" Masami sighed as she chased the stubborn pegasus.

Masami caught up to the supersonic pegasus in seconds, and when she reached her, Masami reached into her armor's pocket and tossed a disc at the mare. The pegasus caught the disc and chuckled to herself.

"What is this thing?" The mare giggled as she looked as the small disc.

"Toss it back and I'll show ya!" Masami replied as she reached out towards the pegasus.

"Ha! I ain't fallin' for that!" The confident pegasus laughed as she tried to throw the disc away, but failed; realizing it was stuck to her hand like glue. "What the..."

"For shame, trying to break my toys! Someone didn't teach you proper manners!" Masami mocked the confused mare who desperately tried to remove the disc embedded in her palm. "Sorry, it had to come to this!"

Before the pegasus could pull it off, however, her wings suddenly gave out, and she plummeted almost instantly. Masami laughed as she caught the falling mare in her arms and blasted upwards back to the Ambassador.

"What did you do to me?! I can't feel my wings!" The pegasus shouted in outrage as she began punching Masami, but it had little effect.

"Just a little party trick for an extra special pegasus." Masami sarcastically coddled the mare as she raised her gauntlet to her face. "Yo, Chuck, open the hatch again!"

"Would you stop calling me that?! You sound like bloody Butch!" Charles yelled through Masami's helmet-earpiece.

Masami and her flightless guest entered the hole in the bottom of the ship that sealed off as they made their way inside the confined glass chamber. Masami clicked a button on the back of her armor, and in a millisecond, the mechanized suit collapsed into a suitcase that Masami grabbed off the glass floor of the chamber.

It was at this moment that Masami truly looked at the pegasus for the first time. She hummed to herself as her eyes walked up the pegasus' body all the way up to her piercing red eyes.

"Hmm... you're a cutie-pie!" Masami purred seductively as she eyed the athletic mare. "What's your name sweetie?"

"It's uh... Rainbow Dash?" The shocked mare uttered slowly as she tried to process the situation.

Rainbow Dash felt her heart beat as she glanced briefly at the attractive mare before her; trying not to suggest that she too was eyeing Masami up as well. She went from, stunned, to excited, to confused as she began to assess what was going on around her, and the strange feelings that made her tingle when she looked at Masami.

"Hey! My eyes are up here, kitty! Can I call you Kitten?" Masami joked as she flicked Rainbow Dash on the forehead and growled like a tiger.

"What is happening right now?!" Rainbow Dash screamed in her mind.

"Hey, listen! I didn't come here to mess around alright! I just came here to see Twilight! I only followed some directions I got from Princess Celestia!" Rainbow Dash cried in a confused-outrage as she clenched her fists.

"That's all you wanted? Well, you could've just asked!" Masami burst out laughing as she set her suitcase down on the glass floor and punched Rainbow Dash on the shoulder; pressing a button on her gauntlet as she made another growling noise. "Hey Charles, she's cool. You can bring us up now!"

"Are you certain she's okay?" Charles asked through a speaker in the glass chamber.

"Positive. I think I might have a new mare-crush!" Masami giggled as she winked at Rainbow Dash. "Also, she said something about Twilight Sparkle as well. I dunno, all I know is that she's pretty damn cute!"

"Um... thank you, Ms. Akiyama, that was very... helpful." Charles sighed through the speaker.

The glass chamber rose into the lower control room. Twilight and the others were gathered around the tube as Masami stepped out with Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy, Twilight, and Spike burst into joyous laughter and piled on top of Rainbow Dash without a word, and Rainbow Dash joined in their chuckles as well.

"Dashie!" Fluttershy squeaked as she hugged Rainbow Dash tight.

"Rainbow Dash what are you doing here?" Twilight asked as she broke off from the group hug.

"I should ask you the same question! We were all looking for you guys for weeks! I had to go all the way to Canterlot to ask Celestia where you guys were, and she gave me this thing!" Rainbow Dash drew a crystal ball out from her backpack and handed it to Twilight. "It tracks your notepad, I think!"

"Good to see you again Rainbow Dash!" Spike grinned as he gave her another hug.

"Yeah! Say, who are all these guys?" Rainbow Dash wondered as she looked as Draven and the others.

"Right! Everyone, this is a good friend of Spike and I, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight introduced Rainbow Dash in front of Charles and the rest of the crew.

"Hey, lass." Draven tipped his hat as he gave Rainbow Dash a warm smile.

"Greetings." Winslow saluted Rainbow Dash.

"How's it going?" Gin grinned as she waved at the welcomed pegasus.

"Oh, I don't need you to introduce me to her. Isn't that right, Kitten?" Masami purred as she playfully bumped hips with Rainbow Dash and walked back upstairs to the lounging room.

"What was that about?" Twilight wondered as she watched Masami give Rainbow Dash a wink.

"I have no idea..." Rainbow Dash replied with a flabbergasted look on her face.

Author's Notes:

Alright! I'm super excited for this next arc! As always, I hope you enjoyed! Hope you stick around for the next chapter of arc two!