Isla Colibaba lay obscured in mist far ahead of The Ouroboros. The airship kept its distance and remained in the clouds, appearing as nothing more than a cloud, rendering itself almost invisible to observation by a casual observer.

Twilight Sparkle paced the deck, with Mjölna standing guard close by, a look of intense concentration upon her face. Not too far away, Queen Chrysalis stood. She had grown, Queen Chrysalis had, becoming taller, becoming empowered by all of the love present. Several drones stood watch around Chrysalis.

Sideralis, surrounded by four other C/Equines, watched as Twilight paced, a relaxed looking smile upon his face. Creamy Stout stood on his left, Mustang Salvation on his right, with Apple Bloom standing beside Stout and Scootaloo beside Mustang. Scootaloo had just returned from a quick scouting of the islands, and she had seen nothing worth reporting from the air.

“Chrysalis?” Twilight said, stopping in place and looking at her friend and fellow survivor. “What should we do? I must confess, I am hesitant to send the C/Equines into what is probably trouble… they need more time… more testing… what if something goes wrong?”

“What if something goes right?” Chrysalis countered, her eyes narrowing. “Sooner or later, we have to trust in our work. Yes, we’ve done a lot of upgrades to all of them. Yes, there are some things we are uncertain about. Yes, there are still some bugs to work out, no doubt about that. There are still a few unknowns… we could spend years testing, but we won’t learn as much as a day of combat testing.”

Twilight sighed and her head drooped. “You’re right.” Twilight shook her head. “That horrible day that we had to take Cyclops during the attempted revolution… even then, we learned so much. Mustang’s combat excursions onto Equestrian soil.” Twilight lifted her head and looked over at Mjölna, a pained expression upon her face.

“Old friend, you’ve been with me since all of this started. You’ve always been there for me. You’ve watched over me, guarded me, you’ve protected everything I hold dear to my heart. You were posted as my royal guard, but a long time ago, you became my friend, then a close friend, and over time, one of my most trusted confidants.” Twilight swallowed, feeling a lump in her throat, and then pointed over towards Sideralis. “I need you to look after them… lead them. Teach them. Keep them alive.”

Mjölna grunted, bowed her head, and whipped her wing out in a starchy salute. The former earth pony, now a C/Equine, stood tall and proud. She gazed into Twilight’s eyes, her face expressionless, and she folded her wing back against her side. “As you command.”

Twilight felt a tightness in her barrel, these weren’t just soldiers she was sending down there, these were friends, dear friends, ponies that she loved. She looked over at them. She had watched Apple Bloom and Scootaloo grow from foalhood into marehood, and also Stout and Mustang. She had a memory of little Stout following Fluttershy around, getting underhoof, and tickling the yellow pegasus’ belly, trying to get her mother to laugh. Stout had received the first of the upgrades way back then, she was the success that Twilight and Chrysalis had been looking for.

She thought of Sideralis and seeing him for the first time, when she had gone and raided the vault where he was being kept. Ponies had died to recover him. Lives had been given. While a few lives had been lost, so many other lives had been saved. Sideralis’ alicorn biology unlocked many secrets of biomancy and biomechanical integration. Cures had been made. Eyes were now being manufactured, along with replacement organs and wings. Sideralis, just by the virtue of being what he was, an alicorn, had saved his species—his existence alone had been enough to turn the tides. Now, there was a feeling of momentum. With new eyes and wings, hope had returned.

With Rainbow Dash practically resurrected from the dead, public support had swung back around into Twilight’s favour. It was miraculous, if one wanted to call it that. And all of this had been achieved at the cost of some lives. Twilight felt a heaviness upon her spine and found it difficult to breathe. She watched as Mjölna stepped away to join the others.

Six was a good number. Six was an excellent number. A long time ago, six ponies had done much to save the world. They had gone on adventures. They had become fast friends. They had laughed together, cried together, had sleepovers, and had even gone crazy together. Twilight looked over at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who stood together. Fluttershy had red eyes and her cheeks were darkened from tears. Rainbow Dash kept wiping her eyes with her foreleg.

She felt as though she was betraying them.

Twilight was sending out two mares that Fluttershy called her daughters, two mares that Fluttershy had raised. One of them was just now coming around, improving herself, and becoming a better pony. Mustang was healing, getting better, becoming the pony that she was meant to be.

Stout was a filly that had grown up in her mother’s shadow, following her around, and even learning to become a nurse just so she could be more like her mother. Stout had been the good filly, she had given all of her self over to the program, mind, body, and soul, having done so from an early age.

Not just two daughters, Twilight realised, but a son as well. Fluttershy loved Sideralis—the yellow pegasus had confessed to Twilight that she felt as though she was obligated to be Sideralis’ mother until Luna’s return. But Sideralis was more than a son to Fluttershy.

He was also Rainbow Dash’s fellow troublemaker and brain freeze bestie. The pair were close… so close. It reminded Twilight of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash and how they were, always playing pranks, always getting a laugh, always looking for fun.

Always in trouble.

Twilight felt a case of the sniffles coming on.

If things went wrong, there was a lot being sacrificed. She looked at her best friend and most loyal companion, Mjölna. Mjölna was the most experienced warrior they had. Twilight’s gaze fell upon Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. She was putting them in danger… she was allowing them to put their lives at risk. She hoped that Applejack, wherever she was, could forgive her. Twilight had worked very hard to keep Apple Bloom alive and safe.

All of that was coming to an end now… Apple Bloom would be going into the most dangerous situations imaginable. Twilight felt as though she was betraying Applejack’s memory.

Twilight suffered a moment of total clarity and understanding. She now knew what it felt like to be like her mentor, her teacher, and her friend, Princess Celestia. These weren’t just soldiers she was sending into danger, these were friends, loved ones, ponies that Twilight knew intimately, ponies that Twilight had shared her life with. Ponies she had history with. Ponies she had shared secrets with.

Princess Celestia had sent six mares into mortal danger so many times. Mares that she knew. Mares that she had spoken with. Mares that had become her friends. They had danced together, they had attended the Grand Galloping Gala. Mares that she had been close to.

And now, Twilight Sparkle understood all too well what it felt like for her mentor. She felt her heart breaking, it was a physical sensation, almost as if it was being ripped in two. She felt her knees wobbling. Her wings felt heavy against her sides. At that moment, Twilight Sparkle wanted nothing more than to go back to her quarters and bawl her eyes out.

“Prince Sideralis of the Lunar Court,” Twilight began in a husky voice, “it is your duty to defend ponykind, just as it was your mother’s duty. Isla Colibaba, a once thriving settlement, a prosperous city-state, has gone silent. I need you to go there and investigate. If there is a threat, it must be removed.” Twilight coughed and cleared her throat. “If there is an infestation, it must be purged. If necessary, raze everything and cleanse everything with fire. This is a threat that must be dealt with.”

Twilight saw Sideralis step forward. There was no smile upon his face. He looked grim, serious, his expression was hard. She saw his head bow, and then he made a clumsy salute with his wing, a mimicry of Mjölna’s salute.

“Mjölna will be your advisor. You would be wise to listen to her and do everything she says. She is the voice of experience. She will keep you alive. Come back to The Ouroboros when you know more.” Twilight snapped to attention, extended her own wing, and gave the group a solemn salute.

She watched as the salute was returned and she fought back tears. When this was over, when they had departed, she planned to go to her quarters with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and she hoped that her friends could get her through this.

“Let’s do this and get it over with,” Mjölna said as she began to make her way to the edge of the deck. “I’ll bring them back, try not to worry, Twilight.”

Standing resolute, Twilight watched as they departed, she watched them wave, and she watched as Fluttershy stood rooted to the spot, weeping as her family prepared to go. Sending soldiers out on a mission had never hurt like this before.

One by one, they lept off of the edge, down into the clouds, off into danger. Apple Bloom was the last to go, spreading her wings, and taking a less than graceful tumble over the edge as she slipped and tripped.

Not one pony on deck laughed.

Before the floodgates opened, Twilight hurried away, hoping that her friends would realise that she was suffering, hoping that they would follow, hoping that they would be there to console her, comfort her, tell her she was doing the right thing, and somehow make everything better.

Because that is what friends do for one another.

The companions dropped through the clouds, flying in a triangle formation. Sideralis flew in the middle, up front and at point, Stout and Mustang flew on his left, Mjölna and Apple Bloom flew on his right, and Scootaloo flew in the center behind Sideralis.

“Okay, listen up,” Mjölna began, “the main island is a big hill rising up out of the ocean and it is surrounded by a bunch of smaller islands. It is an old caldera. The main island, being a hill, has surprisingly few roads. There is a network of tunnels going through the island, so the ponies who live there could pull wagons along a flat surface. In the middle of the island, there is an enormous vat where a number of tunnels intersect. Olive oil would be collected there and would be pumped out and shipped away by airship later.”

The clouds broke and the companions hit clear air. The ocean was bright and blue below them. The wind was heavy just below the clouds, and all of them had to make adjustments, except for Sideralis, who smacked into the wind and showed it who was boss. A flying brick wasn’t too concerned with wind.

“If this place has been taken over by the bad bugs, we’ll find them in the tunnels. I’m guessing that they have turned the olive oil vat into the vault to store pods. If they are colonising the isles, we’ll probably encounter biostructures that we’ll need to purge. We might need to go back to the ship and load up on weapons and explosives, but that’ll come later. This is a scouting mission, at least for the moment.”

Sideralis angled his wings and began a faster descent, wanting to get down to ocean levels before reaching the outer isles. His companions followed, and he saw Mjölna give him a nod of approval. He tried tucking his legs a little closer to his body to reduce drag. Behind him, Scootaloo was having a smooth flight in his slipstream, and hardly even needed to flap her wings.

“When dealing with the infested, don’t panic,” Mjölna said. “If we encounter them, I’ll show you what to do. You have to dismember and obliterate them. It can be a little unsettling the first time you take a head off of a pony and a bunch of tentacles come out of the neck hole. Try not to panic.”

Cringing, Sideralis had an all too vivid memory of the dream he had witnessed flash through his mind. He hoped that he could deal with it when it happened. He felt jittery, but still. His mind felt jittery, nervous, but his body was regulated, kept under control by his various systems. It was an odd feeling and Sideralis felt disconnected from his physical self because of it.

In no time at all, he was skimming over the surface of the ocean. If he stuck his hooves out, he could kick the water below him. His flying was steady and smooth. He heard splashing beside him and saw Mustang skating over the top of the water, kicking up a fine mist with her hooves. Stout was laughing. Everypony seemed to be in high spirits.

On the horizon, Sideralis saw an island. His vision locked in on it, sharpened the image, and magnified it. The group continued in, low and slow, hoping to avoid detection. All around Sideralis, he heard the faint hum of telekinesis projectors being fired up, and he powered up his own. Horns began glowing, but not his own, which he still hadn’t been able to do much with.

Mjölna pointed ahead and called out, “Here we go…”

Author's Notes:

Next chapter... Mjölna demonstrates the difference between training and experience.