Spike took a deep sigh, wanting to meet his older sister & the others, but knew many problems were there.

"Spitfire," Spike announced "Thank you for thinking about me, but hold our position. Twilight and the others aren't ready."

"...Aye Aye, Commander." Spitfire replied, sounding a bit useless.

"Don't worry, though. We're going to get bigger guns." Spike exited the room, knowing what he needed to do next.

Spike exited the elevator on the engineering deck, looking to his left and seeing the area labeled "Port Cargo". He took a deep breath and walked to it, knowing who Strongheart was, but unsure if her memories were intact or if she was willing to work with him. He walked to the door, stopped to open it, but stopped as he heard footsteps right behind him. He turned to see Sonata with the Flim-Flam Brothers, as Sonata held a pistol while the twins had wrenches.

"What are you three doing?" Spike asked

"Making sure you live." Flim answered

"And ready take her life for it if that happens." Flam added

"...what they said." Sonata said. Spike rolled his eyes and entered the room, followed by the three crew-mates. Right in the middle of the room was the tube holding Strongheart in it, still not moving any muscles and looking dead.

"The subject is stable, Spike." WOONA's Voice spoke "Integration with the on-board systems was seamless."

"That's good to know." Spike said "But cans she see anything in there? Does she know where she's at?"

"Highly unlikely. Current neural patterns indicate minimal cognition. Barring Ship-wide power loss, the nutrients in the tank can sustain her for an entire year."

"Really? Do you have any idea how dangerous she is?"

"She's a behemoth, Spike."

"Not what I'm asking."

"My apologies. If you are asking whether she is actively hostile, I do not have the necessary data to answer. Thunderhoove's technology could impact data, not methods of thinking. The subject may know of her views, but would not necessarily share them."

"Well what can you tell me about her? Anything unusual?"

"The subject is an exceptional example of Behemoth species with fully formed primary, secondary, and tertiary organs where applicable. No defects of any kind, but she's young and not as 'big' or 'bulky' as most Behemoths. I cannot judge mental functioning either." Spike turned to the three, who still had their weapons ready at hand, ready to fight in case something goes wrong.

"Your gun, Sonata." Sonata jumped back a bit as Spike walked to her and extended his hand out. Not wanting to have trouble, she gave Spike her gun. He turned back to the tube with the behemoth inside and took a deep breath. "Stand by. I'm gonna open the tank and let her out.

"FIST protocol is very clear regarding untested alien technology."

"I don't care what FIST says! She's either going to be a very powerful addition to the crew or a time bomb; I

d rather deal with it now than later."

"Very well, Spike. Controls are now online. The choice, and consequences, are yours." Spike walked to the controls on the tank and and pressed a button with the picture of the tank opening. He and the others took a step back, as the tank bubbled and drained all the liquid inside. The tank's door opened, and Strongheart fell to the floor, coughing very heavily with some of the liquid coming out. She stood right up, though not so gracefully, as she leaned on the wall, still coughing with her eyes closed. Her eyes opened and, with little to no warning, she charged at Spike and held him against the wall with only her right arm.

"You!" She yelled, sniffing Spike as well. "Draco! Who are you and where am I!?"

"Strongheart!" Spike yelled. "Calm down! Take deep breaths, okay?"

"How... how do you know my name? Only my father & friends know my name."

"I am a friend. I'm Commander Spike, and you are on my ship; The Celestia." She squinted her eyes at him, looking at his face, then she backed up.

"Spike? Is that... is that really you?"

"I am. I remember how your father declared war on the colony of Apploosa when they wouldn't clear the trees on your traditional land. Who knew pies would end a war."

"Y-You are Spike! You've... changed."

"Same thing with you. Now, can you please unhand me, I'm not sure if I can hold off my men for long." Stongheart looked back and saw the twins and siren watching them, all ready to fight.

"They look weak."

"Maybe, but we have others above, each with their own set of skills."

"...you're right. But I fight for those worthy. Are you worthy, Spike?"

"Considering I'm a Draco, that should be one thing. Need a better reason? We're going against the tyrant Sombra and his army of Doppelgangers in hopes of saving Equestria and everyone in it, including your kind and mine. And, look down." She followed what he said and looked down, seeing Spike aiming the pistol at her chest. "Need I say more?"

"...No." She released Spike and backed up, followed by her stretching and cracking her back. "What you say, and do, is worthy enough for me. Thank you for releasing me; I will gladly fight by your side."

"Thank you, Strongheart. When the time comes, I will need your muscle to help me in battle."

"And You will not be disappointed. But before you go, tell me, where's my father?" Spike scratched the back of his head, trying to find a way to settle this, then turned to Sonata.

"Sonata. Please, Explain to her what happened."

"Uh... right away, sir." Sonata stammered, walking to Strongheart, but being cautious.

"Strongheart, this is Sonata. She's a siren, one of our allies, and will tell you what happened. Please, don't hurt her. If you do, then I am allowing the twins full privilege to punish you as what seems fit."

"I will try." Strongheart replied.

"I hope you do." He turned to the twins. "And you both get back to work!"

"Yes, Sir!" They replied in unison, running back to their area. Spike left the room as Sonata began to explain the mission from the start.

Spike entered the briefing room, seeing the table in the middle entered the floor and the same circle as before was in the middle, with the light's everywhere dimming out until they were nothing. He walked into the middle and stood as the scanners examined him, soon showing Filthy Rich sitting on the chair, almost looking as if he hadn't moved at all.

"Spike," Filthy said "I think we found him! Horizon, a colony just outside of Equestria Space, just went silent. If it isn't under attack, then it will be. Has the Doctor made the countermeasure for Sombra's Seeker swarms?"

"I'm not sure." Spike answered. "I've been too busy getting allies to check."

"Let's hope he works well under pressure. There's two other things you should know; First, your recruitment job just got easier, since the Mercernary we hired is on Horizon, along with the thief is there together."

"Getting two birds with one stone? Nice. But why is our thief there?"

"Probably to steal bits from our mercenary."

"Ha! And the other bit of news?"

"Your older brother, Royal turned Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor, is stationed there."

"Wait! My brother!? Last time I saw him, he was in the Crystal Empire or on Canterlot. Why is he on Horizon!?"

"Officially, it's an outreach program to improve the Immortal's relationship with the colonies, but they're up to something. If they sent out Prince Shining Armor there, it must be big. I suggest you take it up to him."

"Sombra and the Doppelgangers just happen to pick a colony with my brother on it? I don't buy it."

"It shouldn't be a surprise that Sombra has something on your family, especially by the fact that you killed him those years ago. It may just be a slice of revenge for him."

"Why don't you tell the Immortals then!? Alert Twilight Sparkle, my sister, that our brother is being attacked!"

"We would, but they wouldn't believe us, even with the evidence we had. And if you told them, they would send some ship to your area to destroy it and killing you again. We don't want to rebuild you again and start over, do we?"

"...Fine. Send me the coordinates; we'll head straight there!"

"This is the most warning we've ever had, Spike. Good luck." The lights came back on and Filthy Rich was gone.

"Spitfire! Set the coordinates to Horizon!"

"Aye, aye, Commander." Spitfire simply replied. Spike walked into the Doc's laboratory next to the briefing room, seeing the look through some schematics, along with a blue, box thing that read "Police-Public Call-Box" in the corner.

"Please, tell me you have something." The Doc smiled at him.

"I do, indeed!" He walked over to a table with a computer, opening it to reveal a hologram of particles.

Horizon

On the planet's surface, a small colony was made with a good mix of Humans, Angels, and Mages around. Shining Armor, in his Prince outfit, walked next to the leader of the colony (a woman in her 40's with a suit on & having noticeable white hair), both walking by the happy colonist, who were building their new homes and having fun.

"We have a problem." Shining Armor said to the colony leader.

"Still can't calibrate the targeting matrix?" She asked

"Those defense towers are useless if we don't figure it out."

"I'm sorry, your majesty, but getting our comm systems back online takes priority." Shining Armor stopped and took a breath of annoyance.

"Yeah, okay, surprised people haven't tried to blame that on me too."

"People out here don't trust you royals. It's nothing personal." Loud buzzing was heard. The local children stopped playing, people dropped their food & tools, and everyone stopped to see what looked like a huge cloud. "W-what is that?" Shining Armor pulled out his emergency pistol and looked through it's built in scope: past the black cloud, was what looked like a giant, oval spaceship. In the cloud, he saw bugs flying all over it, but watched as the bugs formed into the face of a familiar face.

"Everyone! To the Safehouse, now!" He fired at the swarm that formed into Sombra's face, hearing the loud & booming but familiar laugh! "RUN!!!" Shining Armor walked back and fired at the insects around, but flinched at the pain as the insect bits into his skin! In a few moments, all of his muscles but his eyes stopped: he was frozen in place! All he could hear was the sound of people screaming but stopping immediately, as the swarm flew past him to get everyone else.

The Ship landed and Sombra looked out of one of it's windows, seeing his Doppelganger army patrolling the area as others placed the frozen colonists into cocoons. To get a better look at what's happening without bringing harm to himself he concentrated all of his mage abilities into a lone doppelganger queen below, ordering her children what to do.

"Assuming Control." He simply said. His eyes turned full green, as his conscious took over the Doppelganger Queen, allowing him to see & control what the queen was doing. He looked, seeing the stiff bodies of his victims. Their eyes looked at him, but they couldn't say anything. "Fear not, my people. I am your protector from your false gods. I am the truth and the light in darkness. Prepare these colonists for ascension."

Who will The Mercenary & the thief be?

Mercenary: -Garbel

-Gilda

-Bulk Biceps

-Other

-An O.C.

Thief: -The G.A.P. Trixie

-Daring Do/ A.K. Yearling

-Lyra Heartstings

-Other

-An O.C.

Who will go with Spike?

-Diamond Tiara

-Big Macintosh

-Sonata Dusk

-Sunset Shimmer

-The Doctor

-Little Strongheart.