Gai sat in his usual chair, his head propped up on one fist while he glared down at Cruger and Archer's tokens as though they had somehow offended him.

Displaced. He finally had a real term for what he was, the final piece of the puzzle that had been haunting him since he'd been left for dead by the one he trusted most. So then why did he feel so restless?

"You know why," he muttered to himself, "you just can't bring yourself to admit it."

"Uhh, what's wrong with Gai?" Rainbow Dash asked Navi, who was resting on her shoulder.

"He gets like that sometimes," Navi replied, "especially when something goes wrong, like Machalcon's tracker not working, it's better to just leave him alone, he'll snap out of it eventually."

Suddenly, Gai shot up, tossing both Cruger and Archer's tokens into a portal leading to his own personal void pocket, "right then. Where to next? Any suggestions? Bueller? Bueller?"

"I've got one." Kettle said, leaning out of the door to the galley, a scowl on his face, "we head for Ponyville."

"Excellent!" Gai exclaimed, clapping his hands, "if Ponyville persists to be the nexus of weirdness it usually is, something interesting is bound to happen there!"

"Nexus of weirdness...?" Dash muttered, she'd never heard her town called that, but in hindsight, the description was very fitting.

"What? Need I remind you of the Bugbear incident? Or how about the time Cerberus decided to make it his playground?"

Dash raised a hand, "I have several questions, the first of which is: how do you know about any of that?" Dash asked, staring incredulously.

"Seriously? You just got back from another dimension where you talked to your past self and that's the thing that's bugging you?"

Dash let out a disgruntled sigh, "ugh, don't remind me, I completely forgot how aggravating I could be. How the others ever put up with my reckless hotheadedness, I'll never know."

"Well, at the very least, we know you mellow with age, miss Dash!" Flurry Heart chirped, earning the young alicorn a withering glare from the pegasus.

"To answer your question," Gai said, crossing his arms, "I'm a Displaced, I know lots of things I shouldn't know. It's better if you don't think too hard about the 'how' though..."

"That's it? That's all you're gonna tell me?" Dash groaned, face palming.

"Trust me, if you knew, we'd probably have to commit you to an insane asylum. And that's the last thing you'd want, right?"

Dash huffed, crossing her arms across her chest, "fine. I'll leave it alone... for now."

"Excellent! Now, you might want to shower and get changed, I'm sure you're tired of wearing the same outfit for ten years, right?" Gai said, gesturing to the bloodstained and tattered Wonderbolts combat flight suit that had been worn down during her imprisonment. Dash nodded, finally noticing that she smelled like death itself.

"Showers and bunks are through that door next to the galley, I commissioned a new set of clothes from Cruger's Rarity while we were over there, the jacket's from me though."

"Thanks Captain."

Gai turned to Navi as Dash retreated to the secondary living quarters, "Navi, chart a course for Ponyville."

"Aye Sir!"

"That's it?" Gai said, somewhat disappointed at the smoldering ruins he saw on the main monitor, the entirety of Ponyville was a series of burned out husks, no sign of any of the residents, "you sure this is the place, Kettle?" Gai asked, staring at the old guard expectantly.

"Trust me, there are ponies here." Was his reply, before he retreated back to the galley to grab his cutlass and pistol.

"What did I miss?" Dash asked, walking out of the sleeping quarters. She was freshly dressed in a pair of jeans, a black tank top, and a blue jacket with multiple zippers on it, a pair of shiny new boots adorned her feet.

"Not much, I'm afraid. You look good in that outfit by the way. Mobile, but not revealing, and the jacket is bulletproof." Gai said, taking an appraising glance at his first mate's ensemble, "I had Cruger's Rarity modify it for your wings though."

A slight blush appeared on Dash's face, hidden under her cyan fur, as she extended the aforementioned appendages through the holes in the back of the jacket, "t-thanks." She mumbled. Rainbow Dash then looked towards the screen, regarding the burned out ruins with a neutral expression.

Finally she spoke, "I knew it would be bad, I just wasn't expecting this."

"How could anyone?" Gai said, "the destruction of your home isn't really something you could prepare yourself for."

"We should get going." Kettle said gruffly, pushing past Gai and heading for the ropes in the hull of the ship.

"What's his problem?" Pipsqueak asked, cocking his head at the older earth pony.

"Dunno, but something tells me we're gonna find out."

"That used to be Sugarcube Corner, the local bakery." Dash said, pointing to the burned out husk of a gingerbread house, "which means over there is Town Hall," she said, pointing to a pile of collapsed rubble.

"I think I have my bearings now," she said, pulling the hood of her cloak tighter over her ears. Not that she'd wanted to wear it, but Gai had insisted on disguising the three of them, Dash had just escaped from a maximum security prison after all.

"Can you lead us to Sweet Apple Acres from here?" Kettle asked, remaining as terse as before.

Rainbow Dash nodded, "sure, but why do we need to go there of all places?"

"You'll see." Kettle grumbled, "lead on, Dash."

Gai grabbed Kettle's shoulder, "is there something wrong, Kettle? You've been acting weird since we got here."

"I'm fine," he said gruffly, shrugging off Gai's hand and following Dash towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Gai chewed on his cheek, staring after the old guardspony before following behind him.

"So. Many. Apple trees." Gai breathed, staring wide-eyed at the multitude of fruit-laden trees around him.

"Looks like nopony bothered with this place after AJ bit it..." Dash muttered.

"That's an understatement, this place looks like an apple offshoot of the Everfree." Gai replied.

"This way." Kettle grumbled, leading the trio deeper into the old orchard.

"Kettle, I hope your 'friends' know they're being super obvious right now," Gai said, slowly raising his hands as the sound of multiple gun safeties clicking off all at once filled the forest path.

"What-" Dash exclaimed, her pistol halfway out of it's holster before stopping as the barrel of a hunting rifle pressed against the side of her head.

"Don't move a muscle, just 'cause y'all aren't Zangyack doesn't mean I won't shoot." A gruff male voice said, cutting off Dash's protest before it started, "drop your weapon."

"Stand down. If these guys were gonna kill us, they would've opened fire from the tree line instead of stalking us since we entered this old orchard." Gai said, turning his head to the mare pressing a revolver to his head, "isn't that right, miss Applebloom? I guess that means I owe the old dog some bits, somehow..." He muttered the last part.

"So y'all know who I am," she stated calmly, "but that doesn't explain how ya knew where ta find me." Applebloom said, pulling back the hammer of her revolver, "start talkin'. Now."

"Wouldn't it be easier to talk face-to-face? Say... over a pint of that famous Apple Family Cider? I guarantee you won't be disappointed with the company." He turned his head back to the stallion currently holding Dash at gunpoint, "mister Braeburn, if you would be so kind as to allow my companion take off her hood?"

Applebloom nodded to her cousin, who gestured with a 'go ahead' motion with the barrel of his rifle. Dash slowly reached up with her free hand and pulled her hood down, revealing her prismatic locks and facial features to the two shocked Apples.

"R-rainbow Dash?" Applebloom stammered, "ah thought you were..."

"Dead? Nope." Dash said, grinning to the younger mare, "I'd love to explain why I'm still kicking, but you'd have to let us go first."

"Sis!? Is that you? SIS!!!!" A voice cried as Dash was suddenly tackled by a blur of orange and purple, "I thought you were dead!" Scootaloo cried as she nuzzled the stunned pegasus.

"Hey Squirt, you've gotten big." Dash said softly, tears pricking at her eyes.

"Riiiiiight, so how about putting the gun down now? I think I've made myself trustworthy enough." Gai said, turning and finally getting a good look at his shorter captor.

All in all, Applebloom's overall look wasn't too different from what Gai was expecting, she stood at about five foot seven, and was wearing blue short shorts and a pink shirt that was tied under her bust, leaving her midriff exposed. Her signature bow was tied lower on her mane to make space for a different accessory: a familiar-looking, worn stetson perched on her head.

Applebloom glared at Gai, lowering the snub-nosed revolver slightly, but not entirely, "start walkin'." she said simply, snapping a pair of handcuffs on his wrists.

"Smart girl. Come on Dash, we're moving. And Kettle, I hope we're getting an explanation for this." Gai said as the barrel of the revolver was shoved into his ribs, "ow, a little more gentle please." He muttered allowing himself to be led deeper into the forest as numerous other ponies of all three tribes, dressed in earthy tones dropped from treetops, appeared from behind trees and shrubs or rose from hidden foxholes like phantoms from their graves, all of them bearing a weapon of some kind.

"Quite the little army you have gathered here, not very well equipped, but decently trained in guerrilla warfare from what I've seen." Gai remarked as more guns were pointed in his direction.

"Shut up and walk." Applebloom grunted, shoving the barrel of the revolver into his ribs again.

"Okay, okay, calm down!" Gai chuckled, keeping his hands raised. This earned him another jab to the ribs.

Gai turned his gaze over to Scootaloo and Braeburn. The former looked as though her wings had finally developed, the orange plumage draped over her back, her clothing was that of a typical RPG thief: a dark sports bra and vest with short shorts, a scarlet muffler was wrapped around her neck, and Gai could also make out a belt of throwing knives shaped like feathers around her waist next to a holstered micro submachine gun strapped to her leg.

Braeburn was dressed more conservatively: a brown vest over a sky blue shirt and blue work jeans, a pair of worn leather gloves on his hands to match his hat and work boots, his repeater rifle held loosely before him, his eyes warily watching the trio for any sudden movements.

"In here," Applebloom growled, roughly shoving Gai into a nondescript hole in the ground that had been covered by a camouflaged wooden door.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there princess, buy a guy a drink first before shoving him into holes!" Gai joked, drawing several snorts of amusement from the less stoic ponies around them.

"SHUT UP!" Applebloom shouted, cheeks burning as she slammed the butt of her revolver into the back of Gai's head, causing the pirate to flinch.

"You deserved that one, Gai." Kettle deadpanned, allowing himself to be led into the hole at gunpoint.

"Worth it!" Gai cackled as he was led further down the dark tunnel the hole led into.

The overall journey through the underground tunnel was uneventful, with only the occasional prods from Applebloom's gun whenever she believed he wasn't going fast enough. By the end of it all the both of them were going at a near sprint through the tunnel's exit, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo being the only ones capable of keeping up with the pissed off mare and silver-clad pirate.

"Halt! Or we'll shoot!" cried the voices of the two tunnel guards as they were left in the dust.

"Can't! Or my apples will be bucked!" Gai called over his shoulder before crashing into a living wall, sending him sprawling to the floor.

"Y-y'all just stop runnin' now." Applebloom panted, her hands on her knees, "and let me kick yer flank!"

"Jeez, you'd think I'd be used to leaving mares breathless..." Gai chuckled, looking up at the large, red stallion he had run into, "...although... considering who I just crashed into, that joke may have been in poor taste, howdy, Big Mac."

"Eeyup." The stoic stallion said, his face impassive, he was dressed in a white shirt that was left unbuttoned at the front, exposing his chest and stomach, a leather belt with a large apple-shaped buckle held his jeans up, a large, sawed off shotgun was slung over his back, a bandolier of extra shells slung around his torso.

"I'm sure you can forgive a little... playful ribbing at your sister's expense?"

"Nope."

"Didn't think so." Gai muttered as he pulled himself up, "as a big brother myself, I'll let you take a free shot out of respect for Applebloom."

Gai spread his arms wide before a red fist impacted his jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor once more.

"Ow..." Gai groaned, hopping to his feet again, "guess the fannon about your absurd strength wasn't just baseless stories, huh? We good?"

"Eeyup."

"Good. Now, I'd like to invoke one of the oldest laws in pirate code: parley, I'd like to talk to the leader of this merry little militia."

"We were takin' you there anyways, now get movin'!" Applebloom said, shoving her revolver into Gai's ribs again.

Gai sighed, "Applebloom, you and I both know the gun's empty and that you wouldn't have the stomach for shooting someone in cold blood. So why don't you put down that useless lump of metal and lead me to your boss without doing your best to bruise my ribs."

"The Tartarus it ain't loaded!" Applebloom shouted, pointing the barrel at Gai's head.

Gai sighed before turning quickly twisting her arm into a lock before taking the gun, driving the barrel up and under her chin, "the only reason," he began, his voice as cold and hard as ice, "that I've put up with this level of crap from you is because I'd rather not have to fight my way through the seemingly last free ponies of Equestria. I'd rather not have innocent blood on my coat, got it?"

Applebloom nodded quickly.

"Good," Gai said, his voice regaining it's previous pleasantness, "then it's settled." Gai unhooked the gun's revolving chamber, revealing the six empty slots before handing it back to its owner, "running around without a loaded gun is a good way to get caught with your pants down, kid." Gai said turning to face a scowling Big Mac.

"I suppose this means I owe you another free shot, right?"

"Eeyup"

"Damn."

Gai sat slumped in the wooden chair, Kettle seated right next to him. Rainbow Dash had been taken elsewhere and their personal affects had been taken, none of this concerned Gai at the moment.

"Dammit, that stallion can throw a punch!" Gai groaned, nursing a second shiner on the side of his head, he had tried turning so that the blow would glance off, but Big Mac had seen it coming, angling his fist so that Gai could't mitigate his retribution.

Kettle remained silent, glaring daggers at the door across the room from the table they sat at.

"Kettle, you okay?" Gai asked, glancing at the fuming earth pony, "you're acting weird... again."

Kettle simply grumbled something about pots.

"Ooookay then..." Gai mumbled, rapping his fingers on the table to keep himself amused.

Suddenly, the door on the other side of the room swung open, banging against the wall, and a stone-faced earth pony stallion dressed in formal military dress walked inside. He had a black coat and a brown mane, which sported a crumpled officer's cap that had seen better days and a scar on his left cheek that stretched to just below his ear. A sidearm lay in it's holster by his hip.

"Greetings, mister source of entertainment!" Gai cried, raising his outstretched hands towards the source of his current salvation.

The stallion eyed him suspiciously before turning his full attention to Kettle, who stared back evenly.

"Pot." Said Kettle.

"Kettle." Said Pot.

Gai's eyes darted between the two stallions, suddenly noticing that 'Pot' looked shockingly similar to Kettle... wait.

"Please don't tell me your surname is 'Black' as well, Pot. I don't think my sides could take the abuse." Gai snickered, a wide grin slicing it's way across his face.

"His name is First Lieutenant Black Pot, and yes, he's my twin brother." Kettle deadpanned, continuing his staring contest with the military stallion before him.

"That's Captain Black Pot now, Kettle." Pot said evenly, "now, what are you doing here?"

"I think that's a question for me, mate." Gai said, waving his cuffed hand, causing the chain to jangle slightly.

"And who are you?" Pot said imperiously, looking down his nose at the cloaked human.

"Look and be amazed!" Gai suddenly cried, stepping one foot onto the table and pointing upwards with his cuffed hands, "you gaze upon the glorious visage of Captain Gai Ikari! The Silver Scourge! Wanted by Zangyack for five hundred thousand bits! Captain of the Gokai Galleon and slayer of Gormin!"

"Is he always like this?" Pot asked, leaning towards his brother.

"Sometimes. I really don't know what goes through his head though." Kettle deadpanned.

"Ah."

"Oi! I go through all this effort of an intro and all I get is 'ah'? You wound me, Kettle!"

"Not nearly as bad as Cruger did." Kettle shot back.

"Ouch, point taken." Gai said, sitting back down and clasping his hands in front of his face, "now then, Mr. Pot. I would like you to return our belongings and my first mate and then I'll just leave your little militia alone, clear?"

Pot snorted, shaking his head at the pirate, "you're in no position to be asking for anything, you damn ape. While I am thankful for you returning the Element Bearer of Loyalty to us, you're still a prisoner here- why is he laughing?"

Gai was chuckling madly, his shoulders shaking from the force of his mirth, "oh, you silly little pony. Where is this? The Castle of the Two Sisters? Shame, so much lore about this place, I'd hate to reduce it to rubble."

Kettle looked at the human, his eyes widening with fear, "Pot, I know you don't like listening to me, but you need to listen now: do not piss off the crazy pirate!"

"Oh please, what's he gonna do? Those are some of the best shackles we have! And do you really believe that he can leave without our permission?"

"Yes." Kettle deadpanned, facepalming at his brother's disregard for his own safety.

"You see, Pot." Gai said, spitting out the last word, "I wasn't asking for anything." He pulled his wrists apart, snapping the chain of his handcuffs, "I was giving you a warning."

Captain Black Pot was only able to issue a strangled 'meep!' before Gai descended upon him.

"I don't get it, why are you so anxious to see this guy?" Scootaloo asked, following after Rainbow Dash, "is he your coltfriend or something?"

Dash spun around, her cheeks burning, "he's not my coltfriend! Why does everypony keep saying that!? I'm more worried about the fact that he's being interrogated like some criminal right now."

"Why worry? Its not like he can do anything about it, the hairless ape's probably shaking in his boots right now!" Scootaloo snickered as they neared the interrogation room where Gai and Kettle were being held.

"If you spend five minutes with my Captain, you would know there's no way that's happening." Dash muttered, right as a body crashed through the wooden door to the interrogation room, reducing it to splinters and startling the guards on either side.

"Did you have to throw my brother that hard? A simple knockout would've been enough!" Came Kettle's exasperated voice from inside.

"The door was locked from the outside, and yes. Yes I did." Came the nonchalant reply, only to be followed by a groan as the two guards breached the room, submachine guns at the ready. Sounds of a struggle and several gunshots echoed from the room right before both guards were thrown out, landing right on top of a recovering Pot.

"Did you have to throw them that hard too?" Kettle's voice asked.

"Eeyup," came the simple reply.

"Oh for the love of-" Dash groaned, rounding the corner, Scootaloo following close behind, with both her gun and a handful of throwing knives drawn.

Inside, the human was in the middle of arguing with Kettle, the heated debate stopping suddenly as the pair noticed the two mares walk in.

"Oh, Dash! Good to see you! And I see you bought a hostage as well-"

"What in Tartarus is going on!?" Dash roared, glaring directly at the now sheepish pirate.

"Well you see..." Gai began, holding his hands up in a placating manner.

"I don't want to hear your excuses! You made such a big fuss about coming here peacefully, and then you throw their commanding officer through the door and beat up two of his guards!"

"He called me an ape though..."

"What are you, five!?"

"No..."

"Then why are you letting something like that get to you!?" Dash snapped, staring sternly at the pirate.

"Sorry..." Gai murmured, looking very much like a kicked puppy under Rainbow Dash's withering gaze.

Dash sighed, pinching the bridge of her muzzle in annoyance, "just... don't do it again, okay?"

"Right," Gai then walked over to the downed Guard Captain, nudging him with his boot, "Oi, Pot. I got some pressing questions for ya."

The stallion groaned as he came to, his eyes shooting wide as he reached for his sidearm, his attempt was stopped when Gai's booted heel came down on his hand.

"That was't very nice, Captain," Gai said menacingly, leaning down and putting more pressure on his captive's hand, "I'm gonna give you one last chance to tell me where you put my stuff-"

"Our stuff," Kettle deadpanned.

"Our stuff, before I start to get a bit mean," Gai finished.

Pot's eyes darted back and forth between all the ponies in the room before he sighed in resignation, "very well, ape. You will find your belongings in the armory, Scootaloo will guide you there," he turned his gaze to the orange pegasus, "I thank you for your service."

Scootaloo nodded silently before turning towards the three pirates, "the armory is down this way," she said, waving them along as she walked in front of them.

Gai leaned towards Rainbow Dash, "does something seem... off about Scootaloo?" He asked.

Dash nodded, "It may be her new lifestyle, but judging by how she was acting earlier... something's definitely wrong here."

Scootaloo led the trio down several winding hallways, leading them deeper into the bowels of the castle.

"Hey Scoots, how much further?" Dash asked, raising an eyebrow at the orange mare.

Scootaloo visibly tensed, stiffly looking over her shoulder at the trio behind her, "n-not far Sis," she stammered, "we'll be there soon."

Gai stepped forward, "we're not going to an armory, are we? From all the dust around here, nopony's been in this level of the castle in a long while, so what's your game?"

Scootaloo visibly cringed further, "guess the jig is up, huh?" She said in a quiet voice,

There was a small *chink* sound as Scootaloo suddenly turned around and charged at Gai, a homemade grenade tied around her neck by a string which had been hidden by her red scarf.

Gai's eyes widened as the orange mare tackled him.

"Gai! Scootaloo!" Dash cried, her eyes wide with shock.

Gai reacted quickly, wrenching Scootaloo off of him while simultaneously opening a portal under the grenade on her chest. The grenade fell through the portal before it snapped shut, severing the string neatly as the grenade was deposited further down the hall, detonating harmlessly with a loud *bang*.

Scootaloo made to grab for her gun, but was stopped when Gai's hand roughly grabbed her wrist and yanked her to her feet, immediately followed by a stinging slap across her face.

"How dare you!" Gai growled, "how fucking dare you!"

"I-i'm sorry..." Scootaloo whimpered, her eyes pleading with the enraged human, "I'm sorry for trying to kill you!"

"Gai!" Dash exclaimed, reaching for his shoulder.

"Don't you dare apologize! How dare you try and throw your life away like that!" Gai roared, grabbing Scootaloo by her vest and shaking her violently, "I'd have no problems if you were simply trying to kill me - that's the price of having a six-figure bounty - but don't you ever try a suicide attack like that one again! How do you think your sister would feel if you killed yourself right in front of her, huh!?"

Scootaloo just hung in his grip and stared at Gai with a stunned expression, "I-I..." tears began to well up in her eyes, a choking sob echoed from her throat.

Gai let go of her vest and let the orange pegasus slump to the floor, "where are our things?" He asked flatly.

"Two floors above... first hallway to the right... you can't miss it," Scootaloo said softly.

Gai nodded stiffly, turning and walking back the way they had come, "let's go."

"Oi! Gai! Are we just gonna leave her here!?" Rainbow Dash said, grabbing the human's shoulder.

"You can bring her if you want," Gai fumed, turning to Rainbow Dash, "one thing you have to learn about me Dash: I'm no hero. Just a guy with too many things to make right. Personally, I don't really care if she comes with us or not, just as long as she doesn't do anything that stupid again," With that, Gai turned and continued on his way, leaving Dash to pick up a still crying Scootaloo who clung to her like a magnet.

"And then, Mac whacked 'em a second time! That darned ape just stood there and took it," Applebloom finished, taking a sip from her cider bottle before inserting more of The Resistance's vital ammunition supplies into yet another magazine which she set down next to the 'full' pile.

"It's good to hear Rainbow Dash is back, good news is hard to come by these days..." Sweetie Belle mused as she finished another handgun magazine, glancing at the strange box-like object and two figurines resting next to a pair of silver-rimmed welding goggles, a golden trident, and what looked like a technologically advanced flintlock pistol, "I wonder what this is though," stood up, smoothening the wrinkles of her olive fatigues and white t-shirt before taking the box-like object and the silver and purple figurines, some bits of Rarity still lingered in her after all this time.

"They kind of look like action figures of sentai members, but I don't recognize the silver one, the purple one looks sort of like one of the DekaRangers, but..."

"But SPD pulled out of our solar system when those Zangyack bastards came rollin' in and their Equus Branch members were KIA," Applebloom finished, "an' there weren't any purple members on that team."

"You're right about that, and about the silver one as well. That particular sentai hasn't formed yet, now if you'd be kind enough to give me my-"

"Our."

"Our things back, we'll be on your way," said a male voice.

Both ponies turned towards the door to the Armory, eyes widening at the sight of the ape-like creature leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

Applebloom's revolver and Sweetie Belle's pistol were out of their holsters in a flash, the barrels of both weapons pointed right at the silver-clad pirate who raised his hands slowly.

"Applebloom, you and I both know that gun still isn't loaded. I can see the empty chambers from here," Gai turned his attention to Sweetie Belle, "as for you, Sweetie Belle, you're a bit more cruel than your friend there. I can't even see if there are any bullets in that gun, and there's zero chance of me getting away with a lucky Russian Roulette situation."

"Why're y'all here anyhow? We know the Captain didn't clear you yet," Applebloom said evenly, lowering her empty weapon. Sweetie Belle kept her gun up.

Gai scowled, "it's probably better if you didn't mention that worthless sack of flesh right now," he growled, "so I'm just gonna grab our stuff and go before I do something sensible for once."

"What are you talking about?" Sweetie Belle asked, tightening her grip on her gun.

"Ask her," Gai said, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder towards a silent Scootaloo. She was holding onto Dash's hand like a lost child, her eyes puffy and red from her recent tears.

"What did you do to her!?" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, glaring at Gai.

"Nothing, just stopped her from blowing herself up to dispose of me, that's all. I assume that it was under orders from that waste of fur Captain of yours," Gai said, shrugging.

Both ponies looked at Scootaloo in shock, "he gave you The Order!?" They both exclaimed, rushing forward to embrace their friend.

Scootaloo only nodded quietly.

"Oh, how adorable, you have a name for killing yourselves," Gai grumbled, shoving the last of his belongings into his coat and taking a swig from his silver hip flask.

"Gai!" Dash snapped, glaring at the pirate.

"Oi! Don't snap at me, Dash. I am super pissed about this whole thing! Kettle, he's your brother, was he always like this?"

Kettle shook his head, "no, not always. I'm guessing the weight of his new responsibilities twisted him to the point where he believed victory must be achieved at any cost. The last time I saw him, that philosophy was the thing he hated the most."

"So I'm an enemy just for showing up, huh?" Gai mused, stretching, "must be that bastard's influence again," he muttered under his breath.

Suddenly, the castle was rocked by a sudden *BOOM*, small pebbles rained down from the ceiling.

"What the hell was that!?" Dash shouted, covering Scootaloo. Reacting quickly, Sweetie Belle pulled her radio off her hip, "this is the Armory, what's going on up there!?" she demanded.

A voice crackled over the radio, "it's Zangyack! They found us! Oh buck me..." there was intermittent gunfire for the next few seconds with mixed amounts of swearing interspaced between bursts. Finally the voice came back over the radio, "we're being overrun out here! Celestia damn it all! AAAAARRRGH!!!" A loud bang echoed through the radio's speaker before there was nothing but static.

Gai wrenched the Gokai Cellular out of his coat, opening a line to the Galleon, "Navi, I need a SITREP now." He said calmly, a storm beginning to brew behind his eyes.

"Gai!? Where were you! I lost your signal hours ago!!!" Navi squawked from the other end before seeming to compose herself, "several Zangyack dreadnaught-class ships suddenly warped in at light speed and began deploying Gormin into Ponyville!"

Gai nodded, turning to Sweetie Belle, "get me in touch with that Captain of yours," Sweetie Belle nodded, turning the dial on the radio until a frantic-sounding stallion came on over the radio.

"Send every available fighter we've got to the armory, we're not going down without a fight! Take down every Zangyack you come across, fight until your last breath!"

"Hello Captain," Gai snarled into the radio.

"Who the hell is this!?"

"The Gai you sent an innocent girl to suicide bomb."

"You're still alive!? That's not possible! Unless that little bitch didn't do her job, dammit!" Gai bristled at the Captain's words, gripping the radio a little tighter.

"I suggest you send everypony to the Armory, every stallion, mare, and foal. And pull any of your surviving fighters out of combat, I don't want them caught up in the crossfire."

"Why the buck would I do that!?"

"Because, I guarantee they'll be safe where I'm sending them. I'll handle stalling the enemy until the evacuation is finished, tell your ponies to bring everything they can. Do the right thing and make sure your Resistance lives to fight another day."

A long silence followed, "you're sure you can hold them back?" Pot asked.

"I wouldn't be offering if I wasn't sure, asshole."

"Very well then, ape," he cleared his throat, "all troops, I'm issuing an executive command for a full retreat, break off from combat and regroup at the Armory. All non-combat personnel, gather any and all supplies you can carry and make your way to the Armory," several clicks could be heard over the comms as all other radios were turned off, "I'm holding you to your promise, ape," Pot spat as the line went dead.

Scowling, Gai tossed the radio back to Sweetie Belle and snapped open an extremely large portal to the Galleon's secondary cargo hold in the center of the room, "start loading your ammo into the room on the other side, Dash and Kettle, you help too," he ordered before turning back to the Gokai Cellular, "Navi, we're gonna be evacuating the Resistance into the empty cargo hold, I need you to start doing damage to those ships, hit-and-run tactics, vital shots only, bug out if you need to."

"Aye Sir!" Navi Squawked over the comms. Dash looked at Gai, concern in her eyes, "what are you going to do?"

A wide, evil grin sliced it's way across Gai's face, "Now," he began, snapping open another portal and pulling out his keys.

Author's Notes:

For those of you who are curious, the Wonderbolts Combat Flightsuit is the same one from the Sombra timeline, just no body armor or helmet (obviously)
Here's a pic to give you an idea:

Rainbow Dash's new outfit is pretty much the same as Joe Gibken's outfit from Gokaigers, I'm sure you all know what color she'll be...

Production on part 2 shall be started immediately! In the meantime, comment down below...