“I’ve done it...I’ve cracked the sequence!”

The triumphant holler carried and echoed throughout the minimalistic laboratory. Visionary Dusk stepped back from his achievement to bask in its completion. His visage may have suffered from his disheveled mane that had yet to see a brush in days, not to mention the horribly dark bags hanging under his eyes from lack of sleep, but that did little to curb his excitement.

Dozens of sheafs of used parchment, either crumpled and discarded or haphazardly strewn about, covered nearly every surface of the work table. Equations, graphs, research notes, and other varying pieces of information were scrawled out on every single one of them. All of it led up to the culmination that was Visionary Dusk’s goal in life. This, however, was nothing compared to the state of the rest of the lab was in.

Junked piles of old and broken equipment laid throughout the lab, having been cannibalized and stripped of whatever working parts they had to build the necessary equipment Visionary Dusk had needed to continue his work. The cobbled together tools and instruments may have not looked pretty, but the unicorn did not care, so long as they fulfilled their purposes.

The working equipment he had built sat in neat, orderly rows along the other counters throughout the room, lying in wait for their next use, if the unicorn even had one for them. He had raided every part of the old research facility that he was intimately acquainted with for every scrap of equipment he could find, seeing as most of his other equipment was lost during the raid of the Geode Caverns. Though, being the intuitive stallion he was let him find just about everything he needed to replace the lost instruments with ease.

Although, none of this compared to the single, most important, item in the room. Upon the the center worktable, and on top of the myriad of notes and papers, was an odd looking box made of chrome with all sorts of knobs, wires and tubing sticking into and about it. Some of the wires and tubing glowed with unknown power, and a faint hum could be heard coming from the device if one were to listen carefully.

Visionary Dusk couldn’t take his eyes off of the strange device, for he felt that if he did, it would disappear like an illusion in a dream. He felt another wave of accomplishment wash over him for what he had finally achieved in this moment and couldn’t help but laugh.

Whether it was due to the relief of finally reaching his goal, or that he nearly spent five days ceaselessly working on this with little rest in between, the cathartic laughter just felt right.

Visionary Dusk reached for the tape recorder lying next to the strange box and calmed himself enough to finish his dictation, “Success at last! The genome known as the ‘conduit gene’ was nearly impossible to sequence with every previous experiment I’ve conducted. This had led me to believe that there was a missing element that I did not have ready access to, but fortune favors the persistent. Subject A-4 was exactly what I had been looking for all this time.

“I, at first, thought it strange how subjects A-1 through A-3 had mentioned that their ‘conduit abilities’ were nearly identical when they had also mentioned that other conduits exhibit vastly different types of abilities from their own. I had at first thought that the sample size was too small, and that those subjects had been specifically selected for their organization on the grounds of their abilities.

“Yet, initial experiments to replicate these subjects’ abilities were hardly successful and only produced a, sort of, ‘pseudo-conduit’ gene. It was after further experimenting that it was discovered that this ‘pseudo-conduit’ gene was exactly what these initial subjects had possessed. Their conduit gene was not, in fact, a true conduit gene.

“It was only with this newest subject, A-4, that I was finally able to understand what was missing in the sequence, that being an extraordinary energy source found within the cells of the samples taken from subject A-4. I am still unsure as to exactly what this energy is, as any attempts to analyze it has left skewed results, but I have no doubts that this energy source is what separates the conduit gene from the pseudo-conduit gene, as it is woefully lacking in its presence from the latter.

“All that being said, it seems that this energy source is naturally occuring and cannot be replicated by artificial means. However, interestingly enough, exposing subject A-4’s samples to other samples has yielded interesting results.” Visionary Dusk picked up the strange box in his magic, fiddling with it until a hatch on the side popped open and allowed him access to the contents inside. “I’ve had to transmute a lot of materials to create this apparatus that I’ve dubbed, the ‘conduitic infuser’, but the results were well worth it.”

The hatch on the side of the device revealed its contents within, to which Visionary Dusk extracted with gleeful giddiness. To anypony else, it would have looked like an ordinary glass vial, filled to the brim with a semi-translucent, glowing amethyst liquid. Though to the maniac scientist, it was the culmination of his life’s work in physical form.

He carefully held the mysterious fluid aloft in his magic, like a parent would with its child. He turned the vial over a few times to inspect its contents for any imperfections, even if he knew there would be none.

Visionary Dusk reverently continued his dictation to his recorder, “Once introduced to this energy source in its distilled form, samples that have been confirmed to have the conduit gene present take on this energy themselves and undergo a chain reaction. This reaction, which I am calling ‘awakening’, is as the term implies. Samples that have potential conduitism have their latent gene awakened, and everything down to the cells become what is similar to subject A-4’s cellular structure. Unfortunately, the energy source seems to be a finite resource without an awakened subject to synthesis more, as the samples I have obtained appear to not regenerate the energy outside of a living subject once consumed.”

Visionary Dusk was now pacing about the room, both in frustration and lamenting his next train of thought. “Tests have shown that I, too, have this potential latency, but without confirmation on what would happen to a sentient subject upon exposure, I cannot risk using this refined serum on myself. Furthermore, there is no telling if my mercenaries’ own ‘half-awakened’ states would adversely affect the results, which I cannot risk either...therefore, I will require one last test subject for my research.”

The tape recorder in Visionary Dusk’s magic clicked off, and the disgruntled unicorn worked to prepare his lab for what was to come. This was it, the final step to regaining his reputation that was so unjustly taken from him. One final test, and all of Equestria would come to praise him for his achievement. With his lab in a more manageable state, he departed from his confines to the only other place in the building that had been made livable.

It was another laboratory, not unlike his own, only larger and with much more room thanks in part to its current occupants that had thrown out everything deemed useless. These occupants, two unicorns and a very irritated looking griffon, looked up from their respective corners of the room to the jubilantly smiling unicorn that just entered. Their appearances hadn’t changed much since they had left their last hideout in the Geode Caverns, but they were starting to look a little gaunt due to the limited supplies they could scrounge. They all certainly could do with a shower or two to clean up their ragged and dirty hides.

“What do you want, Doc?” the griffon gruffly asked, hardly looking up from cleaning his talons as best he could with a jagged piece of rock.

Visionary Dusk chose to ignore the biting tone due to his eagerness for what he was about to announce, “Aras, my work is nearly complete! I am on the very cusp of bringing our world into a new era as we know it!”

“Whoop-de-fucking-do,” Aras grumbled under his breath.

“The only thing left to do is administer this serum to a viable subject to verify its success!” Visionary Dusk said as he flaunted said serum up for all to see.

Both the unicorns’ ears perked up at this exclamation, a sense of relief and joy taking hold of them at the prospect of no longer being held under the mad doctor’s hoof. Aras had made it abundantly clear to them that Visionary Dusk cared little, if at all, for their well-being and that they were only a means to an end in his eyes. Memories of their fallen comrade from the assault on Canterlot castle certainly reinforced that notion once they had heard about the doctor’s callous disregard for their loss.

Speaking of the griffon, Aras looked anything but pleased by this revelation. In fact, it only made him more weary of what he thought the crazed scientist had planned.

“You want to test it on one of us,” Aras plainly stated, thinking he already knew what Visionary Dusk had in store.

Visionary Dusk suddenly looked confused, then downright insulted as he snorted loudly, “Are you mad?! Why would I use any of you as my test subjects? Clearly, you lack the basic intuition to understand that your deviant physiology from previous serum exposure would leave my results horribly misrepresentative, and completely inadmissible for any credibility,” Visionary Dusk ignored the glowering looks being thrown his way with a sigh, “No, I need a fresh subject. One that is free of foreign variables.”

Aras and the unicorns gave the mad doctor suspicious glances.

“Alright,” Aras hefted himself out of his cot, “We’ll head out to the nearest settlement and-”

“No!” Visionary Dusk shrieked, “Time is of the essence! My exploits have gone without recognition for far too long. Here I am, on the verge of changing the world, and you expect me, all of us, to wait while you waste your time in some backwater village that nopony cares about?” Visionary turned away from the angered looks of the mercenaries, shaking his head at the sheer absurdity he perceived from the notion. “If my work is to be recognized, I need my test subject to be one of notability. From somewhere that nopony can dispute my credibility on my work, and can’t be written off as some half baked conspiracy from a little town of no importance...That is why my test subject must come from here, in Canterlot.”

“What?!” All three of the mercenaries jumped from their seats in shock.

Aras ran up in front of the unicorn in time to block the doorway and furiously argued, “Are you crazy?! Doc, the entire Equestrian military is on a manhunt for us! We’re only here, inside their capital, because you assured us that they could never track us here thanks to your spells and that this would be the last place they’d look! Hiding right under their muzzles is one thing, but to ponynap another pony right here, right now? They’d know exactly where we are!”

Visionary Dusked tsked, as if none of that was any reason to not follow his orders. When Aras refused to move and heed his command, Visionary Dusk became angry.

“What are you waiting for? Your orders written down on parchment, since you don’t seem to understand them?” the crazed unicorn said, poking the griffon in the chest.

Aras growled, “We’ve done everything you’ve asked, and yet, you want us to risk our lives for some vain attempt to save your precious ego?!”

Even with the griffon being half his size larger and his wings flaring out in intimidation, Visionary Dusk was unfazed by the display. In fact, he found the last statement to be a complete insult to both him and his work.

“You just don’t get it, do you, you freak of a hybrid?!” Visionary Dusk shouted with a stomp of his hoof, “My work is more important than you, your insignificant flukies, or anyone on this damned world! Those that came before had struggled and failed to unlock the secrets of our world when I succeeded! I brought to light the existence of our potential for evolution the likes of which nopony has ever seen! I created this revelation and was made to sacrifice everything to make that happen!” The crazed looking unicorn thrusted his muzzle a hair’s breadth away from the griffon’s beak and hissed in a dangerous tone. “Your ‘lives’ are nothing more than a part of those sacrifices, and you should find yourselves lucky that you were even that much.”

If not for what was said next, Aras would have ripped the arrogant unicorn’s throat out where he stood and served him up with his next dinner.

“Besides, without me, your lives are as finite as a candle about to burnout in the night,” the mad unicorn chided venomously, “I am the only one with the knowledge to prolong such a wasteful demise, or perhaps, even negate it. Though, in order for that to happen, I need my test subject. Do I make myself clear?”

Aras growled, digging his talons into the ground where shards of concrete sprouted in place, but ultimately held his tongue. Satisfied that he finally got his point across, Visionary Dusk trotted around the griffon, carrying with him the precious vial with his newest serum in his magic. He even waved it in front of the griffon’s beak just to antagonize him just a bit more

“I expect you to retrieve my test subject without incident this time,” the crazed unicorn called out behind him as he took his leave, “Do not disappoint me.”

“You know, I’ve never really had fan mail before,” Sam said, reading through one of the many letters that had been brought to him from his ‘fans’, “Kind of weird, actually.”

Twilight looked up to the ceiling where Sam sat and had anchored himself, upside down no less, and rolled her eyes at the ridiculous sight, “Didn’t you say the people from Memphis considered you and your friends somewhat like celebrities in a way? I thought you would have got the same treatment.”

Sam strung up the finished letter with a wire and set it back down on the desk below him before letting the same wire fish another off the unopened pile and reeling it back in to open and read, “Yeah, but we never got any fanmail, or written invites to parties and such sent to us. I mean, it’s not like we could let people know where we were hiding out in the city with the D.U.P. still hanging around. We’re still considered fugitives on my world, if you remember.”

Twilight frowned at remembering that little detail. It just didn’t seem fair that Sam and his friends were considered criminals when all she’d seen was nothing but a good friend in Sam.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, Sparks,” Sam called out with a smile, not looking away from his letter, “If anything, the people of Memphis had their own way of showing how much they loved us being around, just doing what we do.”

“Oh, how?” Twilight asked with intrigue.

Sam shrugged and began listing off his favorites, “Free meals every now and then at some restaurants, taking selfies with the adoring fans, and some kickass graffiti on some of the tagger avenues. Oh, then there was this one time that some guys got the brilliant idea to create and throw up these awesome posters about us all around the city. Some people even took some down to get our autographs on them when they could. I felt like a famous rock star when that happened. Crazy, right?”

Twilight rolled her eyes, but smiled at the thought of seeing the humans of Sam’s world showing such praise in such a fashion for ‘The Four Aces’, as Sam had told her they were known as. Knowing that not every human on his world showed as much hate toward them as this D.U.P. gave the purple unicorn hope for the wayward conduit and his friends that they would do what they set out to do, and change their world’s opinion on his kind.

“Heh, this is like the fifth party invite I’ve gotten so far,” Sam said, tapping the letter in his hand with back of his other hand, “... Although, this one actually seems like it could be fun. All the others look like the only people who would go are the ones that want to compare the size of the stick up their asses. Hey, Sparks, you ever hear of this pony: DJ-PON3?”

Twilight tilted her head as she pondered the name before replying, “It sounds familiar, but it sounds more like something Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash would be into.”

Sam smiled, having remembered his fond, if short, memories of the hyperactive pink pony. Thinking about it now, if his partner in crime would be into this kind of party, it should be worth checking out. Seems that Jet Set and Uppercrust are gonna have to wait for their chance to have the wire conduit as their guest of honor some other time.

As Sam thought about how he should go about RSVP-ing to the only worthwhile sounding party from his invites, Twilight shuffled through her latest stack of research notes and levitated them all around her, which could only mean one thing. She was preparing to meticulously organize them and put them away for a lunch break. Right on cue, the whirlwind of parchment and testing equipment floated neatly back to where they originally stood at the behest of the purple unicorn’s magic.

“Ok,” Twilight called out, as she slipped the last roll of parchment atop of the the others, “Now that that’s done, I think we should go get something to eat.”

“Sweet, I’m down for that. Hey, check out this move I’ve been working on! I think I can actually make it this time,” Sam said, preparing his trick by rocking back at forth against the ceiling.

Before Twilight could get out a word of warning, Sam was already in the middle of his execution. The wires that held the conduit firmly in place against the ceiling extended, allowing Sam to swing from them like a trapeze artist. Halfway through his second swing, Sam let go of the ceiling from his wires and was now flipping through the air. Twilight watched in fascination as the wire conduit made a full revolution while falling to the ground. Sam tucked in his body just enough that when he finally hit the floor, he was rightside-up and poised with a knee and a fist thrust toward the ground. Twilight was just about to applaud the acrobatic feat when she heard conduit issue a long hiss of pain from his prone position.

“Aawwww, fuck,” Sam said through clenched teeth, “‘Superhero landings’ are bullshit.”

Sam had to stand up slowly, or else he was liable to fall over due to his shaky knee. Twilight merely gave him a deadpanned look, knowing she should have figured something like this would have happened. The purple unicorn waited patiently as Sam hobbled around the lab for a bit until his healing factor kicked in and began to mend the damage. A few more seconds later, and Sam was able to walk normally again. He gave Twilight a winning smile, like everything that happened was intended.

“Are you done?” Twilight asked flatly, having learned to never let Sam have the satisfaction of seeing her worry over him.

Sam continued to smile as if nothing had happened and marched to the lab’s doors to urge the purple unicorn to come along. Their escort was waiting patiently as ever, just outside. The two guards peeled away from the door frame and followed a few paces behind the duo, already knowing where they were headed by the time of day.

Sam picked at a bit of dirt under his nails as they walked and casually asked to break the silence, “So, how’s the research coming, Sparks?”

Twilight’s step stuttered a bit, and she frowned solemnly in reply, “I’m sorry, Sam. I’m working as fast as I can.”

“Woah, I didn’t mean it like that,” Sam quickly threw in his rebuttal, all while thinking of a way to reassure his friend, “Hey, it’s ok. I just thought I’d ask and see if you needed any help.”

Twilight smiled wearily, thankful for Sam’s words. She should have seen that Sam was only curious on her progress. It was coming, if slowly. The royal research teams had been an amazing boon to her efforts, helping her eliminate false leads and narrowing down the list of possible solutions. Even the princesses’ personal input have been helpful and brought the purple unicorn closer to helping Sam with each passing day.

“Thanks, Sam,” Twilight finally replied, “Everything you’ve done so far has been more than enough. Though since you’ve asked, once I’m done with this latest lead, I’m sure I’ll need your input again.”

“No problem,” Sam said enthusiastically and gave the purple unicorn a tossle of her mane.

Sam was able to sidestep out of the way just in time from the unicorn’s swipe of her hoof and laughed at her snort of annoyance. It was all in good fun, and Twilight knew it, so she couldn’t stay mad for long.

Suddenly, Twilight’s ears perked up at the sound of galloping hoofsteps and clanging armor. Sam recognized the sound as well, and they turned around to see one of the castle guards running toward them from down the hallway. The stalwart guard skidded to a halt in front of the guards in Sam and Twilight’s wake. Catching his breath for a second, the messenger carried with him an air of distress and a guarantee of bad news that everyone in the hallway caught onto.

“Sam,” the stallion guard said between breaths, “Captain Aegis Flare requires your presence at the castle gates. The assailants… They’ve been spotted in the city!”

Sam wasted no time and took off past the guards and down the hallway. Twilight shouted for the wire conduit to slow down as she raced to catch up with the guards in tow. It didn’t take long to reach the castle gates, where the ever stoic captain was waiting where Sam was told.

The wire conduit stopped right in front of the captain, wearing a serious expression as he waited for the captain to give him the details he’d need to start the chase. The wait would last a little longer, as a contingent of galloping hooves from the royal guards hurried up to them from behind, along with a very out of breath and sweaty looking purple unicorn.

“Sweet Celestia!” Twilight wheezed, her head hanging down between her legs while she caught her breath, “Sam, I shouted for you to slow down.”

Although feeling sorry for leaving his friend behind like that, Sam thought he’d make a more sincere apology later when he they had time. For now, he gave the purple unicorn a sympathetic look before turning back to face the pegasus captain that had summoned him.

“I came as soon as I heard,” Sam announced.

Appreciating the swift response the wire conduit usually lacked, Aegis Flare nodded and prepared to brief him, “Then, you already know what this is about. Visionary Dusk’s assailants were spotted in the eastern lower ring of Canterlot about ten minutes ago. They… they were attempting another ponynapping when a patrol came across the scene.”

The mention of another ponynapping was enough to set Twilight on edge and gasp in shock. Sam’s expression grew cold and hard. Every muscle in his body was already beginning to tense, ready to spring into action.

Luckily, the captain cut off the wire conduit’s rash response by explaining further, “Only three guards were injured in the conflict. The patrol was able to chase off the assailants and saved the civilian before they could make off with her. Your continued training of the guards in combating conduits was certainly a major factor in that, and I have to thank you once again, human.”

Although accepting the praise, and relieved by the outcome, Sam couldn’t relax completely as he asked, “Where are they now? Are we going after them?”

Captain Aegis Flare nodded with a grunt, “I already have the city on high alert, and the city garrison actively searching for signs of the assailants. You are to come with me to continue the search from their last known location and provide support as needed.

“Do not get me wrong, human. This is not your fight, and you shouldn’t have to be involved with this. However, knowing you, you would have found out about this sooner rather than later and would have made a mess of the search effort. So, you’re with me, so I can keep an eye on you and make sure you don’t waste our time. Am I clear?”

The captain’s expression may have been as hardened as ever, but Sam was already smirking as he read between the lines. It gave him a sense of pride knowing that ol’ Cappy was really starting to look up to him, and not just because he stood nearly a foot taller than the pony.

“Hey, I’m just glad you thought to include me this time, Cappy,” Sam added with his usual snark, “Alright, I’ll see you later, Sparks! Me and Cappy will catch these guys this time and be back before dinner.”

Sam motioned for the captain to lead the way, and the two began to set off into the city by wing and wire. However, something inside Twilight suddenly took hold of her. Something that told her to stand up and take action.

“Wait!” the purple unicorn cried out.

Sam and the captain turned around to see the purple unicorn reaching out with a hoof as she halted them. The attention now on her made her nervous, but she couldn’t back down now.

“I want to come, too.”

This was certainly not something that Sam nor the captain were expecting, especially from somepony like Twilight herself. Sam and Cappy shared a look, one that they could finally agree on without question, and turned to fix the purple unicorn with looks of staunch refusal.

“No, Ms. Sparkle, I cannot, and will not, allow you to take part in this,” Captain Aegis Flare stated resolutely.

“Sorry, Sparks,” Sam apologized with a shake of his head, “He’s right. This is too dangerous for you to tag along. This isn’t some Sunday picnic we’re going to. You- just wait here until I get back, ‘kay?”

“No!” Twilight suddenly shouted, stunning the two with her persistence, “I can’t just stay here and do nothing but worry while you’re out there, risking your lives! I’ve already done that too much already.”

Sam looked to Cappy for help, and luckily, the good captain had just the words to say to counter the weak argument.

“Miss Sparkle, I get that you would worry for your friend here, but you’re still just a civilian. As a royal guard, no less the captain, it would go against everything that I stand for to allow somepony that I am sworn to protect to go where they would be put in harm’s way,” the good captain stomped his hoof, and continued on to cut off whatever Twilight was about to say, “Tell me, Miss Sparkle. What would you do if you were to come face to face with one of the assailants all alone? Before you say anything along the lines of ‘fighting them yourself’, you’re wrong.

“I’ve seen what these assailants are capable of. They hold power that is not of this world, and weapons that are far more superior to anything you’ve seen. The moment you lay eyes on them, you’d freeze.”

Twilight flinched back from the captain’s intense stare. She was never really a fighter like her brother, but having to wait and do nothing while Sam, the captain, and the rest of the guards went off to face the danger made her feel useless and loathe her inability to do something in their time of need. Sam could see that Cappy’s words had shaken the purple unicorn, but with each passing second, the fire in her eyes were slowing growing back. He had to do something to dissuade her while she was still unsure of herself.

Sam cleared his throat and caught Twilight’s attention, so he could speak, “Sparks, I get it. These guys are tough. Hell, they’ve gotten the better of me once or twice. Though if you tag along, I’ll be too distracted with trying to protect you when we face off again, and don’t tell me that you can protect yourself. In case you’ve forgotten, these guys don’t play by the rules, and your magic is gonna be like throwing wet paper towels at them. Cappy’s right. What could you do if they decided to ambush us and we got seperated?”

Twilight had to admit, she had forgotten for a moment about the assailants’ magic resistance, similar to Sam’s. They were right; she would just be in the way. Though at the same time, her resolve refused to die out. She couldn’t stand the thought of losing one of her friends to these assailants the way that she almost lost Pinkie. The memory of the night still haunted her. However, she needed to think of a way to show that she would not be a hindrance if she came along. Something that she could do to both help Sam and the captain and put her in a position to show that she was necessary to tag along and watch over her friend. Then, it hit her, just as the two were turning back around to head out into the city.

“Wait!” Twilight cried out again, and received a round of impatient stares in her direction, “I know that I would be no use in a fight, but I can still help you.”

Sam tilted his head curiously and crossed his arms, waiting to hear what the purple unicorn had to say, while the captain raised a single eyebrow as he waited for the same.

Even though she was nervous, Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat so she could speak clearly, “You need to find the assailants, or at least, a trace they may have left behind to follow to where they fled off to. I can help with that.”

Both Sam and the captain continued to eye the purple unicorn curiously, even though they should have still refused whatever she was cooking up. Twilight, on the other hoof, was glad that she had their attention again and pushed forward, least she lose her nerve.

“The royal research teams have been hard at work with analyzing everything they received from the Geode Caverns raid. Along with that, they’ve been developing a method of tracking Visionary Dusk and his assailants. I haven’t just been researching a way to send Sam home, by the way. The research teams have come to me multiple times for my assistance in this method, and I’ve gained quite a bit of knowledge on it as well. I believe if we find something that the assailants left behind when they fled, I could use it to help track down their location.”

“Hmm, I don’t know,” Sam said as he debated the possibility in his head, “It certainly would make tracking down these asshats easier if you can do that.”

The good captain rounded on the wire conduit and stomped his hoof, “Out of the question, human! I may be willing to allow you to operate under the strict condition that you follow my orders and remain under my command, but allowing a civilian to do the same?!”

Sam put on his best, innocent smile before cozying up to the captain as best he could, “Oh come on, Cappy. I’ll admit that I’d rather have Sparks stay behind where she’s safe, but think about it. You certainly weren’t jazzed when I tagged along for the last raid, yet it was yours truly that got us past the front door before midnight. Besides, all Sparks would be doing is pointing us in the right direction. No conflict.”

Twilight watched the exchange in silence. It seemed that Sam was putting up a good fight against the captain for her, if the stalwart pegasus’ expression of contemplation was anything to go by. She wanted to push further for in her own favor with her own words, but feared that her input would only break the momentum. So, she sat and waited, nervously awaiting the final verdict that would decide her fate.

“How about this?” Sam cut in, just as the captain was opening his mouth, “If Sparks goes, I’ll act as her personal bodyguard and protect her if those asshats decide to show up for round three.”

Twilight gasped in surprise at Sam’s proposal. The unwavering determination behind his words shone brightly in his eyes as she looked up into them. She knew Sam would follow through with these promises should the worst arise, yet she couldn’t bring herself to ask him to do something like that for her and wanted to refuse. However, by the look on the captain’s face, this was going to be the only way that she would get him to agree to allow her to come along in the end.

Time was running short, and the captain had to make his decision, least the trail grow any colder. With much reluctance, he looked from the human conduit and down to the purple unicorn then back again.

The good captain sighed heavily, knowing he was going to regret this decision somehow, “Alright, Miss Sparkle. You will come with us, but only until we have a solid lead on where the assailants have fled to. Human, I am placing Miss Sparkle’s safety as your full responsibility. You are not to let her out of your sight, and are to make her protection your top priority above all else. Am I clear?”

“No problem, Cappy,” Sam nodded his head once, forgoing any silliness to convey his seriousness.

“Good. Then, we must be going.”

“One sec, Cappy,” Sam cut off the captain just as he was spreading his wings. The wire conduit turned to Twilight and kneeled down and fixed her with a serious look at eye level. “Sparks, I want you to promise me something. The minute any danger arises, I want you to teleport away from there. Deal?”

Sam’s outstretched hand was left hanging for a minute as Twilight contemplated Sam’s tone. She knew he could be serious at times, but this was different. Behind his dark tone, Twilight could hear the wavering sound of his worry for her seeping through. Although wanting to prove she could help, the mixture of emotions coming from the wire conduit settled any objection she could think to raise. With her mind made up, the purple unicorn nodded in agreement and placed her hoof in the conduit’s hand to shake.

“Deal.”

With their bargain struck, Sam stood back up and gave the captain a quick nod to let him know they were ready. Wings of white unfurled and flapped hard to bring the captain into the air and soar across the city of Canterlot to the crime scene. Sam shot off a set of wires from both hands to either side of the castle’s open gate and used them like a slingshot to propel himself into the city. Only now realizing her mistake, Twilight was left with having to gallop after the duo in hopes of catching up.

Author's Notes:

Whoo hoo! An update at last, and what's this? Is the story coming to a close? Is the ride coming to an end?

...perhaps...but you'll have to find out next time. See y'all around

Super-ultra-mega thanks to muh gud buddy, Regreme as always for his ability to make my writing not read like shit.