The forest was dark, illuminated only slightly by Kevin's green magical aura. Crickets chirped around them, and the wind whistled through the trees, tickling at the surfaces of the leaves as it passed. The leaves were not the only thing they tickled, however; Flight could feel a shiver go down her spine, making her jolt in place. She wasn't cold, exactly—her heart still hadn't completely slowed from when they were running, pounding warm blood quickly through her limbs and torso.

"That's it—I'm calling Doc Zed," Flight finally said.

"How come?" Cotton Fluff asked, looking towards the filly. While Kevin and Flight sat immediately next to one another, the brown-coated mare was a few metres away, leaning against a tree. Until Flight had spoken, she had been gazing out into the inky darkness between the trees.

"I dunno, I just think that it would be good to tell him what's going on and about Clove Hitch," Flight replied, looking down at the comlink on her wrist with a sombre expression. "Plus it's been a while since I've talked to anyone from home, besides Kevin of course. This is the longest I've ever been away, and most definitely the longest I've been without either of my parents."

Cotton Fluff nodded.

"Didn't Doc Zed say that we shouldn't call him unless it's an emergency, though?" Kevin piped up. "He said it might lead to us getting caught... we should probably just wait until he calls us."

"Meh... the police already know where we are, basically. Can't do any more harm that we've already done," Flight replied. "Plus you know it'd be forever until he called us again."

"Heh, true—that stallion really knows how to get lost in his work." Kevin paused. "You know, I wonder if Microfiche made it down there yet..."

"Only one way to find out, I suppose." Flight looked back down to the comlink for a moment before raising her other hoof to tap several of the small buttons.

In just a few seconds, the bleepy-bloopy ringback tone was emanating at a steady rhythm from the speaker of the comlink. It ran for a few times before the distinctive click and then faint burst of static.

"Hello?" came a voice from the speaker. It wasn't Doc Zed; the voice was younger, stronger, and reedier. "Is this Flight?"

"Erm... yeah, it's me," Flight replied, "but who are you?"

"Oh, crud, I'm sorry. It's Microfiche, picking up the phone here for Doc Zed. The doctor's down in the basement, working on extensions for Scootaloo's ship. Speaking of which, is Scootaloo there?"

"No, sorry," Flight replied, sighing. "She ran off with Mochi and Even Later to go save Clove Hitch from the Bureau police in Ferretfall."

"Oh, right, right." There was a pause, and then another burst of static. "Wait, what? That wasn't supposed to happen."

"Heh... don't you go telling me about what's 'supposed to happen', 'cause we haven't been getting a whole lot of that. Heck, we nearly got dragged away with Clove if it weren't for Later breaking away from the group to come find us."

"Gah... Zed isn't going to like hearing about this. Should I go get him?"

"That'd be great, thanks," Flight said, nodding even though they was no way for Microfiche to see her. "How is it, working with him, anyway?"

"Oh, it's absolutely delightful," Microfiche gushed. "He's been my idol for, like, a really long time, so it's pretty darn cool to get to see the stallion at work on this ship. It's a shame Scootaloo isn't here, because he wanted to tell her all about it. Okay, hold on." There was staticky jostling as Microfiche presumably stood up from where he was sitting and trotted away.

"At least somepony's excited about things," Kevin mumbled. "Well, somezebra."

"He seems nice," Cotton Fluff remarked, startling both Kevin and Flight whose faces lit up in surprise that she was still standing there. "Better than some of the rebel lot, lemme tell ya."

"Oh, yeah, I keep forgetting you're not a part of the whole 'rebels' thing," Kevin said.

"How are you dealing with that, anyway? Are you just going along with us because it's convenient, or do you have... strong political opinions?" Flight asked.

Cotton Fluff shrugged. "I'm not sure why I'm going with y'all," she started. "And no, I guess I don't have strong feelings either way about the Bureau and the rebels. I just want everypony to be safe, and I want to keep living my life."

"If you wanted to keep living your life, why did you come, then?" Kevin asked, cocking his head.

"I... got bored?" Cotton Fluff said with an unsure expression on her face. "I dunno. All I know for sure is that I'm not going to suddenly sign up with the rebels and fly away from this planet or be a spy or whatever once all this is over; I'll be damned if I can't go back to Umberlight and keep on managing my shop. That place is my life."

Before Kevin or Flight could say anything in response, there was another burst of static from the comlink. "Flight, Kevin! A good evening to you!" came the familiar, warm voice of none other than Doc Zed himself.

"Heya, Doc," Flight replied, a grin plastered on her face. "Did Microfiche tell you about—?"

"Yep, he filled me in," Doc Zed replied with a cough. "Kind of a predicament you've got yourself in, truly. And, while I did ask you to refrain from calling, this is probably close enough to an emergency that it's okay."

Kevin shot a smug grin towards Flight, who rolled her eyes.

Doc Zed continued: "Plus you managed to call during the one hour that the GPS trackers in this area are down for maintanence, so good on you. Just make sure that you hang up on me in... less than ten minutes."

"Fine, fine. So, what do you think we should do?"

"Do, Flight? Why, it's simple. Turnip told you to keep going north, right?"

"Yeah, to a base in the northern part of the province," came Flight's reply, though the end was nearly cut off by a yawn. "Didn't say anything after that."

"Definitely go there, then. Xiibal's been talking about sending you on a mission, though she hasn't told anypony exactly what it is. Super top secret, I guess. But it's important, whatever it is."

"Okay, got it. Once Scoots and the others are back from Ferretfall, we'll all go north."

"And you said Even Later was with you, right?"

"Yeah, she's currently with Scootaloo and Mochi."

"Send her back to Turnip Acres. She's talented, sure, but she's needed more elsewhere. I don't know what she was doing following after you, but she needs to stop."

"Erm... alright. Anything else?"

"I don't think so." There was a pause. "Wait, yes! Please have Scootaloo call me back; I have important information from Princess Twilight that she needs to hear, and it's for her ears only. Alright, that's it. Good night, and good luck."

"Goodnight, Doc," Flight said. "Say hi to my parents for me."

"Will do."

"Bye, Doc," Kevin said.

"Goodbye."

Click.

The forest, and the three ponies sitting in its midst, went quiet once more.