For whatever reason, the door to Spitfire's office seemed so much less intimidating than normal. The door was the same crystalline door as always, but it didn't feel as overbearing or condemning. It was strange, but not at all unwelcome. After all, if it wasn't trying to intimidate me, then maybe things would go better than normal.

I lifted my right forehoof, then knocked on the door three times. As soon as I finished, I didn't even wait for an answer from her, I simply opened the door with my magic, then walked in. Spitfire looked up from her paperwork, then shot up so that she was sitting up straight when she realized it was me. "Princess," she acknowledged.

I nodded at her, then closed the door behind me, giving us some privacy. "Spitfire... how have things been in my absence?"

Her eyes looked to the right and slowly trailed over the wall or floor or her desk before returning to me. She bobbed her head. "Well enough, Princess... There are a lot of things you need to take care of, though."

"Yes..." I replied. A grimace pulled at my lips. But, at the very least, I was more organized and prepared for all of that now. It wasn't going to overwhelm me this time- I would take charge and take control of the situation, like I had done in the past, and like I needed to. I looked away from Spitfire as my friend crossed my mind. "I ordered Rainbow to take some time off," I stated.

I looked back at Spitfire. She watched me for a bit, seeming to study my expression, then she nodded. "Right... Princess?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yes, general?"

"Rainbow's not doing too well then, I take it?"

I shook my head. "No... not really," I answered. I took a deep breath, then slowly crossed the distance to her desk. I pulled out a chair, then sat down. "She... she's been through a lot and needs a break," I stated.

Spitfire nodded. For one minuscule moment, I would have sworn I saw anger or coldness wash over her expression, but as soon as it came, it was gone. "She wasn't cut out for that," she stated.

I frowned. "She did save my life, Spitfire," I replied calmly.

Spitfire exhaled sharply and slowly shook her head. "Your life might not have needed saving if she had done your job and a seamstress didn't make your armor," she said in a low, bitter voice, it came across almost as a growl. "I know they're your friends, but this is-"

"Yes, Spitfire," I acknowledged. "This is war," I preempted. She watched me but didn't seem phased. "Ponies are dying. Ponies are suffering. Parents are losing their foals, and foals are losing their parents. I know this is war," I stated. "And maybe I don't simply 'get' it yet. I mean, it's not like I almost died myself in a battle..." I said sarcastically. I smiled at her and leaned in a little closer to her. I rested my forehooves on her desk to further emphasize the point. "So, Spitfire, stop taking it out on my friends. You want to complain about Rarity designing my armor? Do keep in mind that I was the one who requested that one oh so fatal flaw that almost got me killed. I was the one who wanted the armor not to impede my wings from being against my body," I quipped. "So if you want to complain about something, then please, by all means, bitch about it to me- the pony who you chose to follow and the one pony here capable of defeating Celestia and Luna, the ponies who move the Sun and Moon, respectively."

Spitfire was silent. After a few seconds, her lips pulled into a flat line and she looked away from me. I could see her body seem to deflate as she exhaled, possibly sighing silently. She opened her mouth and inhaled, then close her mouth and exhaled. "Princess, I'm sorry," she apologized, her voice calm and quieter than normal.

I sat up straighter in my chair, leaning back like I had been before, then nodded. I slid my forehooves off of her desk and licked my lips. "It's okay," I replied. "I... probably shouldn't have snapped at you like that either. We're both just... stressed, right?" I asked.

She nodded hesitantly, then looked back at me. A few seconds passed. "Have you chosen a new personal guard?" she asked.

"No, and I don't plan to," I answered.

She squinted at me. "Princess, that's risky. What if-"

"I'll be fine, Spitfire," I dismissed. "Nopony is going to try to kill me by catching me off-guard when I'm here, and if Celestia or Luna show up, then it won't make a difference anyway."

She relented and clenched her jaw. "Right..."

I took a deep breath, then calmly exhaled. I put on an encouraging smile, trying to convey a sense of optimism. "General, I believe we have some preparations to make. After all, we have a war to win," I stated.

For a moment, she seemed confused, but then it registered. She smiled, then nodded. I could see it in her expression, a little of her worry and stress seemed to melt away, and a certain eagerness, morale, returned. "What are your orders, Princess?" she asked.

"Coordinate and plan with General Quartz and General Sapphire. We will push into Equestria and head up the eastern coast to take vital seaports and population centers, then we will head to Canterlot," I stated. "We have a lot that needs done before we can begin, and that's not even including figuring out how we will take Canterlot. I want a briefing on any concerns and potential problems with the plan as soon as possible," I ordered.

"Yes, Princess!" Spitfire answered. "I'll see to it at once," she added.

"Good, is there anything else I'm forgetting?" I asked.

"You need to talk with the Cloudsdale weather interests. They're following you, but they're used to following Celestia. There... was a bit of a problem that I had to take care of while you were unconscious, and you need to resolve it."

I frowned and nodded. "I will take care of that," I stated. I teleported my list to me and smiled. "I'll talk to Professor Altrot later today, too. I have a lot to go over with him..." I trailed off. "Is there anything else I'm forgetting?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. We can go over things during the briefing."

"Alright then," I replied. I hopped out of the chair and turned to face the door. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shift in her chair. I turned back to face her. "General?" I querried.

"You... might want to know this before the briefing," she said hesitantly.

I turned around to face her and waited patiently. She grimaced and bobbed her head unsurely.

"Your brother... he's... been given control of the new army that's supposed to contain us. Basically, he's replaced General Hoof. And his forces are in a position that we would have to deal with before we pushed into Equestria."

I blinked once, then scowled. "Right..." I muttered. "I'll..." I trailed off. I would have to deal with this, but how? We'd have to fight and defeat his forces so that the plan could truly begin. I'd have to fight my brother, or perhaps I wouldn't actually have to fight him. There were still some options.

Although, despite knowing there were options, my heart pounded in my chest and breathing felt a bit more difficult than normal. I wasn't filling my lungs as much as I would under normal circumstances.

"I'll figure it out," I finally said. "I... well, maybe I should tell you about the key prerequisites I see right now. Primarily, before we can attack Canterlot, I need to figure out how to deal with Celestia and Luna."

Spitfire's brow folded down and she squinted at me in disbelief. "You still haven't figured that out yet?"

"I'm working on it..." I defended. I shifted my weight on my hooves. "I have a few ideas..." I stated.

Spitfire sighed, then shook her head and pressed her forehoof to her forehead. "I'll schedule a briefing sometime later this week unless you want it sooner."

I grimaced a bit. "If it's possible, I'd like it sometime in the next few days," I stated.

"Alright," she replied.

I waited a few more seconds to see if there was anything else that would be said. When there wasn't, I nodded to myself and headed back to the door.

I would have been lying if I said I wasn't a bit giddy. The research lab was complete, after all, and I finally got to walk through its hallways. I could feel a bubbly feeling radiating out into my body from deep within me. But, of course, I hid it as best I could- anypony who saw me reacting such a way would probably think I had gone crazy or something, and that probably wouldn't have been very good.

But, while I hid it as best I could, I still smiled happily as I trotted through the clean, square hallways. The walls were barren, painted whites and grays that really wasn't all that appealing to look at, although occasionally the wall was broken by a window looking outside. A few tables with vases, some with plants, broke the monotony of the hallway, but it didn't help make it feel any less like a labyrinth.

I was probably just having problems finding the Professor because I hadn't been here before. Two ponies, one mare and a stallion, both unicorns wearing white lab coats, turned a corner and walked side by side heading towards me. The stallion carried a clipboard in his magic. I couldn't make out what they were talking about, but they talked back and forth. Their conversation and walk slowed as they noticed me.

I gave them a smile. "Hello," I greeted.

They glanced at each other, then did a quick bow and stood back up. Both of them looked unnerved by my presence for whatever reason. I would have frowned at it, but I decided it was probably because they had to look up at me. Looking down at ponies was still kind of strange, but I was getting used to it. "Um... Princess?" the stallion asked.

I nodded. "Yes?" I asked.

He stood there, dumbfounded for a few seconds. The mare glanced at him, then swiftly elbowed him in the leg. He grunted and jerked, then blinked a few times and looked over at her. "Er... uh... right. Sorry, Princess. Just... surprised to see you," he stated. "Is there... something we can help you with?" he asked cautiously.

I let myself frown and I nodded. "Yes, as a matter of fact. I'm looking for Professor Altrot. The receptionist was... not that informative."

The mare snorted and a smile pulled at her lips. "Yeah, she tries though..." she replied. She shook her head.

Behind me, I could hear a door quietly open, followed by hoofsteps coming towards me.

"Well, that'd be him," the stallion replied.

I glanced back behind me. Sure enough, the professor obliviously trotted towards me. He levitated a clipboard in his magic, along with a mug of coffee. And a pot of coffee. And he took a drink from the pot instead of the mug. I couldn't tell if he didn't realize it or if he did and just didn't care.

I blinked and watched him as he approached. "Professor?" I asked.

He blinked, then stopped and looked up from his notes. "Ah, Princess. It's good to see you again," he greeted.

I nodded and smiled. "Likewise," I acknowledged. The other two scientists slowly meandered away and returned to their prior quest.

"I assume you're here to check in with my research?" he inquired.

I nodded again. "Yes. I was hoping you had made progress and that we could discuss some things," I said. He nodded and opened his mouth to reply. "In private," I preempted.

He stopped, then bowed his head. "Of course, Princess," he replied. "Please, follow me." He walked around me, then headed on down the hallway at a casual pace. I followed behind him as he ducked into another hallway, then made his way back to a stairwell that led down another level, occasionally taking drinks of coffee from his mug.

Now that we were underground, the windows and plants were gone, and I missed them. The lighting was still good- not too bright, nor too dim, but it just wasn't the same. Eventually, he came to a stop at a heavy metal door with "L2-5" painted in white on its surface. He levitated a keycard up from his neck, then swiped it through a pad. There was a click, then the door silently slid open. A slight breeze wafted through the hallway as the pressures equalized.

He walked on in casually while I stood outside, regarding the room. To put it simply, the room looked more like Discord's home than a laboratory. For instance, wires of every color were strewn about everywhere. Bundles of wire crisscrossed the floor, and hundreds of wires were hooked up to whatever contraption was in the center of the room. It looked like two long rods a few inches apart attached to a large cylinder that was about one fourth as long as the rods. I could see a few small light-blue crystals embedded in the cylinder, which was about the circumference of my hoof.

I scrutinized the device, then cautiously walked inside. Professor Altrot walked to the right, heading for a section of the room that was walled off. It looked like the area was meant to monitor and control whatever the device was. I looked to my left, the room was much longer than it was wide, and all of the walls were reinforced. There was a large, thick metal plate supported by a tripod at the end of the room. In front of that was a ponnequin wearing Royal Guard armor.

And quite suddenly, I felt an uncontrollable need to follow Professor Altrot and avoid that side of the room as it donned on me what the device was. I heeded the feeling and followed the professor, but a smile crossed my lips despite my best efforts to hold it back.

The Professor glanced at my smile but chose to ignore it. As soon as I walked into the control room, he pressed a large green button and another heavy-duty metal door closed, sealing the room off from the testing chamber. "You know, this is very poorly designed considering that there's only one way out of here," I noted.

"Princess, I promise you this is completely safe," he replied dismissively. "Besides, you can teleport."

"But you can't," I replied. "And most unicorns can't."

He chuckled a little. "Yes, but as I said, this is perfectly safe. When we first tested it, it was in a more secure area than this," he added casually.

"Right... well," I replied. I grimaced a bit, then took a deep breath and looked around. Monitors paved every wall aside from the glass that let us view the device and the wall closest to the door. All of the readings were blank and neutral, but they were on. "So... which one is this? Kinetic or magic?" I asked.

"Kinetic," he answered. "We're struggling with magic projectors more than this. This is fairly simple in comparison. The magic projectors take a lot more power, too." He paused, then looked over the control panel before him. With a quick flourish of magic, he turned a series of controls and levers so fast that I couldn't keep track of and in such a way as to make it look effortless.

In response, I could feel a tingle of magic emanating from the device. A frown crossed my lips at the feeling and I looked away from him to watch. A small metal rod, maybe an inch wide by three inches long, levitated up out of a crate in Altrot's aura. He levitated it over, then inserted it into the back of the cylinder. A moment later, a thin cap slid into place and clicked shut. "We can automate the process, we just haven't gotten around to it yet," he commented. He looked over at me. "Would you like to do the honors?" he asked.

I grinned. If one of my friends saw me, I was certain that they would take a few steps away from me in concern. "What do I do?" I asked. I kept my attention focused on him, but I could see the monitors flickering with life, measuring all sorts of data that I couldn't completely make out.

He lifted a forehoof up and pointed at a small, square button. There was a faint red glow from inside of it. "Just press that," he replied.

I nodded, then used my magic and slowly pressed the button down. I heard a click, then I heard a short, sharp crack. I felt a brief magic pulse from the device, and the tingle disappeared. At nearly the same time, I heard a dull thud. I blinked, then looked out of the window. A series of flicks and clicks emanated from the controls. I glanced back to see the professor turning everything off. A moment later, he opened the door and walked behind me, then headed out into the room. I followed him and examined the weapon and the length of the room.

The device looked no different from what it had been, but the ponnequin had fallen over. I cautiously walked over to it, but I found my gaze focused on the device. There was an unfamiliar scent in the air that made me want to cough, but I held it back. Eventually, I heard Altrot's magic and the scrapping of metal on concrete. I looked over to see him lifting up the ponnequin. The armor had a sizable hole in it. He turned it around, and like the front, there was a sizable hole coming out of it. If the ponnequin had a tail, the tail wouldn't have been attached.

"And of course, it's worth noting that this isn't anything like an actual pony's body. This just proves it can pierce the armor. If a projectile of that velocity hit somepony's body, then the hole would be significantly larger because of hydrostatic shock," he stated. "And as you can see, it penetrated deep into that steel plate. I can assure you that that, according to our calculations, even if that ponnequin had been an actual pony, it still would have penetrated the steel."

I walked over to the steel plate and examined it. He certainly wasn't wrong. The slug had penetrated about halfway through the thick metal plate. I examined the hole with my magic in an attempt to find the projectile, but I couldn't. "That's... impressive," I commented. I looked over at him; he nodded casually.

"I don't really know how useful this will be to be honest," he commented. "Maybe against dragons, but..." he trailed off, shaking his head. "With further research we should be able to improve this significantly. I expect we should be able to reduce its size significantly and make it much more practical."

I nodded slowly. "I... think I can see some use for this, but... still. And you're not making much progress with magic projectors?" I asked.

"We are, but it's nothing compared to this," he stated. "Did you want to see that, too?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, thank you. I actually had a few other things I wanted to talk to you about..." I trailed off and looked over the arcane accelerator cannon. I could think of a few things to use that for. Perhaps the best idea, however, was using cloudforts with those to assault Canterlot. Assaulting Canterlot was going to be difficult, and so that might help. "Do you see any problems with mounting that on cloudcrete?" I asked.

For a few seconds, he didn't answer. I looked over at him. He frowned and looked at the device. "Well... provided we can develop it further, there shouldn't be anything preventing us from doing that," he stated.

"Good..." I said, nodding to myself. I looked around a bit, then headed towards the door. "I'd like to discuss a few other things with you while we're here," I stated.

"My office?" he suggested.

I glanced back at him and nodded. He walked over to the door, then opened it by swiping the keycard through another panel. The door slid open and once again there was a slight breeze. I took the lead and walked on out without waiting for him. I heard his hoofsteps following behind me, then pause. Another swipe and I heard the door start to close.

He walked on ahead of me. "Follow me, Princess," he said absently. As he continued down the hallway, he finished his mug of coffee, then poured himself another cup from the pot.

I walked on after him, following him back up the stairs. He seemed to navigate the rest of the facility like he had a photographic memory, and I was absolutely certain that I would struggle to find the exit after we finally arrived at his office. After I walked in, he closed the door behind me, then walked over to his desk and sat down. I walked over and then pulled a chair over from against the wall so I could sit down facing him.

"Well. Now, what did you have in mind?" he asked.

"A few things, actually," I stated. "Although first, how long do you think it'll be before the arcane accelerator cannons are ready for deployment?"

"It still needs more development and testing... so perhaps two months before we reach a level of practicality that deploying them could work. But after that, we'd need to develop the infrastructure to build more of them. We can already do that, but it'd be using the lab and resources which could be better spent developing other prototypes or making further improvements," he replied.

I grimaced. "So, longer than two months, then?" I asked. He nodded. "Can you give me a timetable?"

"Realistically?" he asked. I nodded hesitantly, having a bad feeling about that. "Four to six months, minimum. We still have a lot to figure out before it's ready for use... however, we might be able to get a prototype that could work for combat out in two to three months."

Well, that was disappointing. If everything went according to the plan I was working on, the civil war would be over before then, and Celestia and Luna wouldn't be ruling Equestria. Still, there was some reason to work on projects like this. Aside from the military potential, who knew what breakthroughs could be made from this that could be applied to everyday life. "Okay..." I replied. "Next..." I trailed off and pursed my lips. "Do you have much experience with magic suppression?" I asked.

He frowned and shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Princess. That's not particularly something I've looked into. Why?"

I took a deep breath. "I need to figure out how to disable Celestia and Luna's magic, in particular, their alicorn magic, otherwise all of this is for nothing," I stated. "And... I mean, quite frankly, I have a lot of options on what to do. Ranging from horrible ideas to ideas that might be good."

I pursed my lips. "It's... well. The simplist thing would be to simply kill them," I said frankly, "but... I don't want to do that. And I suppose there could be the option of severing their horns, but... again, I don't want to do that. It's just wrong, and of course, then there's the issue of the sun and moon. So that's another big problem. I considered... turning them into stone, but... that's torture..." I trailed off quietly.

He shifted his weight in his chair. "From my knowledge of magic suppression, it doesn't work on alicorns becasue of how much magic you have?" I nodded. "Well, I suppose there's the option of improving the suppression rings somehow or developing ones specifically for alicorns..." he mused. "But then there's still the issue of the sun and moon."

I nodded. "I... thought maybe I could work on making something that would drain or sap their magic and store it so I could use it to do that, but..." I trailed off. "And... well, honestly, the best answer that I can come up with is to find a spell to drain their magic like what Lord Tirek did..." I trailed off as a shiver raced down my spine. As I expected, he fidgeted in his seat.

"That... seems like the best course of action, Princess. You would be able to solve the problem of the sun and moon, along with them being able to... be a threat to you, afterward."

I nodded and sighed. "Yeah, but... it still doesn't feel right."

"I'm afraid I wouldn't be much help there, Princess..." he trailed off. "I'm sure you can figure that out, but if you need any research on it, I'd be happy to help."

I looked at him and smiled wryly. "I suppose this really is the sort of thing that I need to figure out on my own, isn't it?" I asked.

"It... would be safer that way," he affirmed.

I bobbed my head. "True..." I mused. "I guess I'll have to look into that, then..." I trailed off. I waited a few seconds to see if he'd say anything, but he waited patiently for me. I took a deep breath, then exhaled. "Well, the last thing I wanted to talk to you about was storing spells in crystals. Do you have anypony you can put on that? I've made a lot of progress on it, and I'd like to keep working on it, but I'm not sure how much time I'll be able to find to work on it."

He nodded cautiously. "I'll look into it," he stated.

"I'd appreciate that," I replied. I channeled magic into my horn, then teleported the books on the subject to me. I looked them over, then looked back at Altrot. He examined the books I held with cautious curiosity. "These belonged to Sombra," I cautioned. His scrutiny intensified, and he leaned away from the books. "I'll make copies of them so you can work on the crystals, but I need these kept away from anypony who shouldn't have access to them," I stated.

He hastily nodded in agreement and I teleported the books away. With the books gone, for some reason, I felt so much better; a sense of dread I didn't notice before had lifted. "Well, that's all. I'm sorry if my departure seems rather abrupt, but I have a lot of things I need to take care of," I stated.

He pushed his chair back, then hopped down as I stood. "Of course, Princess. It was good to see you again."

I gave him a smile. "Likewise," I agreed.

"Do you need any help finding your way or?"

I shook my head. "No, I'll just teleport," I replied. "Have a good day, Professor," I said.

"Thank you, Princess," he replied.

I teleported away.

Author's Notes:

This chapter feels like it's shorter than normal... Originally I was going to have another scene in this chapter, but this was a better place to break it off.

I don't know that I have much or anything else to say here. I don't remember what I normally put in these Author's Notes for this story, and I don't feel like looking back to see how I normally do it.

Special thanks to Admiral Q Ponyform for prereading!