"If your bell can make missiles," Starbreaker began, catching Sora and Yukito's attention, "then what else can it do? It glows, for crying out loud!" That broke the two out of their initial stupor, only to toss them right into another as halted mental gears ground in directions that made both tails fray at the docks. Sora lifted her hoof to start tapping at her bell, producing a gentle ringing that sang rather melodically through the air. It flickered with a soft light upon each impact, until Sora dropped her hoof and shrugged.

"I… haven't… tried using it for anything other than combat," Sora muttered, lips pursing momentarily. "I don't even know if I can do anything else with it…"

Starbreaker's ears folded back, with her prosthetic shuddering rather haltingly, and she jolted up again before leveling a steely glare at Sora. "Have you tried?" she asked.

Sora shook her head. "And in the base, well… that would land me in trouble, and you in even hotter water," she muttered dismally.

Starbreaker turned to Yukito, whose ears fell back. "I don't know very many spells, just the mandatory ones every other doctor and professor is required to learn," he stated. When technicolor eyes shifted to a bright orange, and a brow furrowed expectantly, he elaborated, "Minor fire spell to cauterize wounds, teleportation, levitation, illumination and basic conjuring and conversion of objects to and from a thaumic state."

Starbreaker's eyes narrowed, before they shifted from orange to red. "That's it?" she hissed, garnering a reluctant nod in response.

"I can do five of those six spells numerous times and suffer only a mild drain at the end of the day," Yukito replied glumly, frowning. "But if I overtax on teleportation, I could be bedridden for a day at the least. I could also try combining what few spells I know, but that could… exacerbate the issue, if I am already overtaxed to begin with."

"We… could try my bell…" Sora trailed off, wings bristling at the thought. "But…" Her legs trembled, and her eyes darted to the room's camera, which turned back to look at her intently. She became well aware that somepony was probably watching the whole lot now, waiting for them to come to a decision. "One of us will have to… see the Admiral…"

Yukito, sensing Sora's discomfort, stood up and trotted to her before placing a hoof on her withers. "I'll go if he starts throwing one of his hissyfits. If one of us can—" he started, only to be silenced when Sora nuzzled him.

"No. It has to be me," Sora stated firmly, ears folding back at those prospects. "I… I can take whatever he throws at me." She swallowed a forming lump and pulled back, tapping at her bell. The note it produced distorted oddly, less of a melodic clang and more of a sharp retort. "I was augmented to take a thorough beating." The bell began glowing now as she tapped it once more, its note still distorted.

Starbreaker turned and hopped out of bed, eyes shifting to their standard rainbow. "Well, what are you two weirdos waiting for?" she cut in, tail swishing eagerly as she saw the books on the shelf vanish in a blue light. She heard the drawers of the dresser open, and turned to see everything except the patients' gowns vanish in more lights before the drawers shut with the aid of blue magic.

"Well, we can't go until we formulate a cohesive plan," Yukito grumbled with his horn glowing and then dimming, glancing at Starbreaker for a second before shifting to nuzzle Sora in return. "A-are you sure about this? H-he could discharge us both."

Sora nodded. "It won't be the greatest or most thought-out of plans, and I'm not that good of a planner to begin with…" she admitted ruefully, "But at this rate, it's the best we have." She turned to Starbreaker and lifted a hoof to gesture her over. "Stay with us."

"Is this about that nickel tour you promised me?" Starbreaker asked, frowning as she cantered over. Sora nodded and tapped her bell once again.

"Shield," Sora muttered, and with that the bell began to rattle and clang violently, before a translucent dome of light formed over them. It tightened a little, and everypony shifted into a very awkward triangular formation just to accommodate the shield.

"Why not invert?" Starbreaker asked upon seeing the shield linger.

Sora shook her head. "No need to. It'll just keep everypony else from firing at us if they decide to crack out their rifles," she replied bluntly. She and Yukito turned to the door, frowning for a moment. Then Sora sat on her haunches and waved Starbreaker with a hoof again, spreading her wings as much as the shield would allow, but directly forward instead of at her sides to avoid cutting Yukito on accident.

Sensing what Sora was wanting her to do, Starbreaker sighed and clambered on her back again. The shield tightened a little more at this, before Sora carefully closed her wings again and sidled a little closer to Yukito. She could see why Sora did not want to resort to this; it was cramped to the point the miniature fridge seemed more spacious in comparison. "What now?" Starbreaker asked.

Sora and Yukito exchanged mute glances before nodding in tandem. If the Majors, or heaven forbid, the Admiral himself were to yell their ears off over them potentially providing Starbreaker with new targets, then they were simply going to have to deal. Shoulder to shoulder, they made to trot out of the room, but the bell stopped its ringing and the shield simply shattered when they touched the doorframe. "So much for that…" Sora grumbled in exasperation. "Which wing are we gonna hit first, the north wing or the east?"

Yukito shrugged. "I was thinking the west wing, in all honesty," he muttered in reply. Sora nodded and turned to the door.

"West wing it is, then," Sora muttered, proceeding to take point in trotting out of the room and veering to the right side of the hall. Yukito followed after her, ears perked to attention and a slight scent tickling his nose as they approached the elevator. The scent was just a tinge bitter, but he opted to ignore it, instead listening intently for any prying eyes and ears which would doubtless spot and berate them if given the chance.

"Why the west wing?" Starbreaker asked, ears twitching as Sora paused before the elevator doors to fumble with its buttons for a bit.

"Just… hadn't been there in forever," Sora replied with a soft smile. As the doors opened and she trotted inside, Yukito followed after her with his horn aglow.

He magically pressed a few buttons, and leaned to nuzzle Sora again once the doors closed. "Well, at any rate… we should be able to take her to the off-duty building after this," he whispered in her ear, so softly that Starbreaker had no chance of hearing him.

Sora giggled at the thought. "I think we should invest in earplugs," she whispered back, her voice just as hushed. "And a collar like mine, so we can keep the Crimson Light at bay."

"A magic-soaking bell? Hrm, I've never considered that…" Yukito muttered back, pursing his lips contemplatively.

"Are you two conspiring against me?" Starbreaker piped up, garnering dual shakes of the head.

"No, we're just having a bit of small talk," Yukito replied, an innocent grin worming its way onto his face.

Starbreaker huffed and snorted, eyes narrowing. "If I find you two are conspiring…" she started, only for a wing to shift and nudge her with a joint.

"Oh hush," Sora commanded with a sigh. The elevator doors closed, and the elevator rattled a little with an unnerving groan of protest. "Huh? Is the elevator broken?"

"If it is, we're teleporting," Yukito grumbled, his grin fading. He frowned as the elevator shook again, this time with enough force to make him and Sora stagger momentarily. His horn glowed, and he embraced himself, Sora, and Starbreaker in his aura before they vanished in a burst of light, and reappeared in the hallway outside the elevator.

The moment teleportation ended was the same moment a loud screech filled the air, and three sets of ears folded back as they heard that shrill cry. The screech lasted for thirty whole seconds, before culminating in a thud so massive the hallway trembled and its lights flickered. Again they staggered in place, this time with tail hairs sticking out in all directions and whinnies of discontentment leaving their mouths as the crash rang even after it had actually impacted.

Only when silence settled and scuffling legs stilled with the hall did anypony take the time to inhale deeply. "Oooookay," Sora muttered, shifting to sit down to let Starbreaker hop off. "Not going that way…"

"What now, Miss Bright Idea?" Starbreaker snarked, glaring at Sora even as her legs gave out the moment she jumped to the floor. "If that machine went and broke, then I wonder what else is going to eject us, considering the shield didn't hold up against a doorframe!"

Sora sighed, and her blades clattered to the floor when her wings dropped. "Well… we could have Yukito teleport us like crazy, but…" she trailed off, sharing a glance with him.

"But what?" Starbreaker snapped, shifting to stand with her bristled tail lashing.

"It… has a very real risk of mana drain," Yukito answered with a tired sigh. "Looks like we may have to retire early tonight." He lifted a hoof and rubbed his temples. "Air transport after the tour, right? Sora, you'll probably need to get a carriage after all…" Sora nodded with a sigh of resignation, and slowly she and her companions turned to the elevator opposite of the one that had crashed.

~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~

The Admiral grinned almost foalishly as he watched the feed, the chessboard floating right before him. The moment the elevator had crashed, Sora's replica had shifted one space to the side of her little formation, in turn breaking the triangle. However, Yukito and Starbreaker's replicas shifted to reform it. He eyed the cameras intently as Yukito began teleporting his companions left, right, and bloody sideways down several floors until they found themselves staggering into walls at a marked cross-intersection.

He saw, clear as day, the faintest trace of steam building up from the tip of Yukito's horn. That made him chuckle, but the sound died halfway in his throat when Sora stumbled into the poor professor and sent herself and him to the floor. This would have been amusing, if not for the fact their snouts had touched doing it, in plain view of Starbreaker no less. "What in the world…" the Admiral muttered, struggling to make sense of what he was witnessing. Clumsily, Sora clambered off and helped Yukito to his hooves, and they hastily dusted themselves off as Starbreaker started throwing her forehooves up and down in the air.

The two then raced over to calm their charge down. It took several minutes, and a frantic waving of their own hooves before Starbreaker stopped her flailing. After they, he could only assume, came to some sort of understanding did Sora let her charge clamber on to piggyback again, and no sooner than that did she and Yukito trot down the westmost hall. It was a shame the camera feed was silent, for if it weren't he could have gleaned what they had harped on about.

But oh well, he couldn't have everything in the world. The Admiral shrugged, and simply watched the trio with interest, figuring that as long as they kept the Herald calm then they were free to continue… doing whatever it was they were setting out to do. "Interesting… you shift, and Yukito and the Herald just dawdle after you…" he noted, glancing briefly at his board. "This is intriguing…" He waited patiently for Sora to do something else that would, unbeknownst to her, make her replica shift again.

But an hour or two dragged on, and Sora was seemingly content to simply wander the base, sometimes bading Starbreaker to either hop on or jump off and trot at her side, depending on if the halls were filled with personnel and fellow soldiers. Said fellow personnel and soldiers gave them a wide berth every time the trio so much as gave them a single glance their way. The trip through that section of the base ended in an expansive room, black with glowing neon blue lines that made it seem it had a more cuboid shape. After Sora started gesticulating about this room, and possibly rambling on about it for a few moments after, Starbreaker clapped her hooves upon the floor.

Yukito's horn glowed again, and they vanished in a flare of light before reappearing at the cross-intersection. Once again, the trio staggered, though this time not enough to run into and subsequently topple each other. The pieces on the board shifted accordingly, with the replica-herd going right back to the middle. "What in fuck's name are you two doing?" the Admiral found himself asking, both brows raising high as they went to trot down the northernmost hall.

The gaggle weaved through halls aplenty, though the Admiral noted they opted to take stairs wherever they could, and teleport when the only other option to go forward was an elevator. This trip, after another hour, ended in a small lounge with furniture shrouded in white sheets, where the group had ran into Tsukumi. Tsukumi had hoofed the group a few envelopes, all arranged into one neat stack as long as a pony's entire foreleg, which Yukito made vanish in a flash of light. Then, they vanished and reappeared at the intersection again, and the process repeated two more times before they stopped at the barracks, which were at the end of the southmost hall, and a door a few meters from the intersection at the eastmost hall marked with warning labels.

Starbreaker hopped off Sora's back and started pounding at the marked door with her forehooves, scrabbling about for some way to get past it. She pounded and kicked and flailed, but could only manage to slightly dent the door in a few places like a pertinent foal. Apparently, the Herald wanted in on whatever shenanigans were beyond those labels, and the Admiral smirked as his trotting paradox stepped in before the door could be damaged beyond repair.

The smile widened when Yukito did something very unusual in that moment: he conjured two sets of heavy-looking cuffs, complete with chains, and then affixed them to Starbreaker's pasterns. "Ooooh, going to take her to the prison on the northern side of the city, are we?" he mused, chuckling darkly as he watched another bout of leg-flailing transpire on the screen. Starbreaker tried with all of her might to tear the manacles off, and for a few minutes Sora and Yukito were content to just let her flail about. Then, wings and magic seized her, immobilizing her completely before…

The Admiral's brow rose as Sora leaned to Starbreaker's torn right ear and muttered something into it, which in turn got her a very skeptical stare, and not just from him. Yukito seemed perplexed, but his horn dimmed and Sora got off to let Starbreaker clamber to her shackled hooves. Then her bodyguards moved to flank her from either shoulder, and as one they marched down to the intersection before Yukito lit his horn one more time, and smothering himself, Sora and Starbreaker in a burst of light that lasted for far longer than a mere second. The hallways of that intersection illuminated, vividly, and each camera trained on the group in that moment was overcome with blinding white that lasted for a whole minute. The Admiral averted his eyes and lifted a hoof to shield them from this unexpected display, idly wondering how in the seven hells Yukito managed this particular feat.

When the light died, and the cameras recovered, there was nothing more than a scorch mark in the intersection. The group was gone, but the Admiral did not notice this until after he himself recovered from the stupor that came with seeing such a bizarre spell come from one of his own employees.

His mind did cartwheels as he assessed the brand new scorch mark. He blinked, yet this did not dispel what the screens beheld. He considered the scorch mark carefully, noting it had a vague circular shape about it that managed to touch some of the walls. "Swiftcure, what in the blazes did you just do…?" he groused, brow furrowing as the pieces on the board shifted again by outright levitating off of it, hovering above the black and white panels in a flagrant display that may as well have punted the rules of standard chess to the curb at this point.

The Admiral's eyes searched the screens that depicted places inside and out of the base, widening substantially when he noticed a lack of a distinct light that would have signaled Yukito's teleportation ending… assuming, of course, he had teleported to begin with. Several minutes went by, red eyes darting to and fro, but nothing turned up as to where the trio had gone. Figuring that they had somehow weaseled their way into the city, he turned his gaze through multiple screens, keeping an eye out for any scorch marks or bright lights, only to find none whatsoever.

He still kept searching, brow furrowing and pupils shrinking with haste. Alleys were dubiously empty, the streets paradoxically packed to capacity above and on ground, and ponies were going in and out of buildings willy-nilly. Surely, somepony had to have caught something, and yet the civilians moved about the roads seemingly without a care in the world. "Damnit Swiftcure…" he hissed, his head starting to hurt as he struggled to process everything at once.

It wasn't until an entire hour after that bright flash of light ended did he, at last, catch sight of an earth pony stallion with a hat on his head and a carriage harnessed to him stopped at a sidewalk next to the Red Barrel Suite. A door was already opened at that point, opposite of the camera trained on it, and the carriage rattled three times in place before the door shut. The Admiral could not see who had clambered aboard, but he did notice several other ponies stopping on the nearby sidewalk to stare as the pony with the carriage trotted off. Some muttered about something, but what that was, he knew not.

If whoever boarded the carriage were the ponies he was looking for, they were going to get quite the earful when he wrapped his hooves around the necks of the whole lot. He idly considered that they had used the citizens themselves as a cloak through which they could get out, but if that was the case, then why hadn't the populace noticed until now? They would have been very easy to pinpoint, with garbs and a pony most prominent with technicolor eyes. Either that, or the group took shortcuts, if it was indeed them.

"... pulled a fucking fast one on me, didn't you," he muttered as the trio above the board shifted once more. "A clever diversion, I must admit…" A cruel grin wormed its way on his face. "But you can't pull the wool over my eyes, Sora…" His grin widened. "I'll know whether or not you really have gone to the prison, and if you'd gotten into the city at all…"

"And if it's you and yours in that carriage… you can't teleport away from me now. Mana drain is a wonderful thing, when you're not on its receiving end…" he muttered. At that moment, another flash of light burst from the corner of his eye, and he hastily made the chessboard and its pieces vanish before turning to the source. His brow rose when he saw Tsukumi eying him with a flat gaze of disinterest, his facial mask pulled off to reveal a horrifically burnt muzzle and a parchment of slightly yellowed paper floating at his side. "What is it?" the Admiral muttered, frowning at the intrusion. "This had better be worth my time, Professor Tsukumi."

"It is important; to cut a long story short, I found and made a copy of a most peculiar document in what was, once, the quarters of the late Staff Sergeant Sham. I've been meaning to hoof it to you sooner, but… I was otherwise predisposed," Tsukumi replied drolly. "I hoofed the original parchment to Mr. Swiftcure himself not too long ago, but not before I made the aforementioned copy of it."

The Admiral's brow shot up to the base of his horn, but Tsukumi could barely see it shift, shrouded in shadow as he was. "... you mean that miscreant Sham?" he asked slowly, garnering a mute nod from Tsukumi.

"That miscreant," Tsukumi repeated, his inflection not shifting a single note, "who couldn't train our ultimate weapon well enough in the obedience division." He snorted, nostrils flaring and tail swishing. "This paper I hold is something you'll have to read yourself; it's… interesting, to say the least. I think it very well explains Sora's… failure to adhere to orders, and adequately communicate." With that, he levitated the supposed document over to the Admiral, who lit his horn and took it in his magic.

"... did you say Mr. Swiftcure earlier, instead of Professor?" the Admiral muttered, eyes still affixed on Tsukumi, who gave another mute nod. He pondered this for a very long moment, before begrudgingly his eyes shifted to the paper he had been given. "What in the…" His eyes bulged substantially, and he pressed his snout to the paper to make sure his vision wasn't playing a sleight of hoof on him.

The document, however, was no trick—the paper felt smooth yet textured with age, the ink smudges were genuine, while few and far in between, and it crinkled a little around his prodding snout. Hesitantly, he read aloud what the paper bore, just audible enough for Tsukumi to hear, "'This is to certify that then-Major Yukito Swiftcure… born… and summarily augmented, and… then-Major Sora, surname unknown, born and summarily augmented…'" His pupils dilated as he scanned the parchment. "'Signed by Staff Sergeant Sham of the Umbralium Corps, and officiated with all due arrangements with two private witnesses…'" the Admiral muttered, pausing to consider what had just left his mouth. He felt some parts of his tongue drying out, but swallowed and continued to scan the parchment when something very peculiar stuck out.

The parchment's bottom-right corner was marked with a hoofprint at the side of the signature he sighted, and within was scrawled a triad of lightning bolts that formed a triangle. Two more prints flanked it beneath that signature, one with a rod and winged serpents, the other sporting a sword and a shield. His mind whirred, processing what he bore witness to, and comprehension dawned unto him with the same sledgehammer-like force he'd used to slap insubordinate soldiers with. The last few words left his mouth in a strangled croak, as slowly his eyes gravitated to Tsukumi once again, "you found and replicated a marriage certificate that's three years old?"

"Yes," Tsukumi replied, inflection still not shifting. "It would seem the late Sham took great pains in arranging them behind our backs." He snorted again, and his eyes narrowed. "How she was able to pull that during the Clash… is both astounding, and unprecedented." His ear twitched. "But enlightening nonetheless."

"How is this… enlightening?" the Admiral asked, making the document vanish in a flash of light before lifting a hoof and waving it erratically. "I'd hardly call something like this enlightening; it boggles the mind, Professor!" His hoof waved a little more. "Such matters like this are hardly important!" Tsukumi gave a small, but very noticeable smirk that contrasted harshly with the cold gleam in his eyes. Figuring the Admiral had issued a challenge, he cleared his throat and waited until the waving hoof dropped before elaborating.

"It is important—particularly so, in this instance, for it would adequately explain Sora's insubordination. She'd much rather dawdle off with…" Tsukimi's smile faltered as he continued, and his tone turned venomous, "her husband than whatever we assign to her recalcitrant withers, and as a doctor, Yukito would be prone to fussing over her wounds anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if she's already considered having foals." His smile reasserted itself, and widened fractionally as he went on, "Of course, married ponies would wear rings usually, but those two jackasses haven't worn theirs if they have them—either they simply haven't gotten to obtaining them, or they've opted to hide them elsewhere. That, and now they've saddled themselves with the fucking Herald of all ponies..."

Tsukumi trotted right up to the Admiral, gaze never faltering, steps oddly determined and as steady as a board. "In short, her loyalties lie elsewhere, and she has managed to fool us for a long time now. I should have been paying more attention to her behavior as of late, but oh well; now we don't need to do that, since I have finally ascertained the problem." He paused, sniffing loftily. "With all this in mind, sir, are you going to annul it?" he asked simply.

The Admiral contemplated, before shaking his head and scoffing at the thought. "No; if Sham officiated it, there'd be nothing even I could do about it. They're, more or less, of the same rank as well, and that was also the case when they were wed. I manage an army, not a clergy, and Sham is dead. We can't annul it without her, or whoever her private witnesses were, as much as I'd like to," he replied, using the same hoof he waved about to smack and rub the bridge of his muzzle. "Damnit, this really does shed light on an awful lot…"

"Including why we couldn't just end the miserable bitch whilst she hibernated. Yukito and Sora are loyal to each other, and now that I dwell on it, our late Staff Sergeant may have been onto us… which could, if that hunch is true, explain why she arranged those two in the first place. As far as we're concerned, it's a match made in the seven hells," Tsukumi agreed with a sharp nod of his head. "So… what can we do about it?"

The Admiral grinned again, and he dropped his hoof. "Those two are currently escorting the Herald somewhere… and have possibly managed to take her out of the base already," he muttered, eyes glinting now. "Have either of them told you anything?"

Tsukumi's smile dropped, and he shook his head. "No; they simply told me they were showing her around the base," he replied flatly. "They're going to great lengths, it would seem… to what end, I know not. If they're plotting something, they're being unusually secretive about it." The smile returned, however. His expression screamed of a cruelty that he kept restrained. "But then again, they've been married since the Clash, and Sham herself probably had all four hooves in helping mold their erraticism."

The Admiral nodded. "Still a pain in my ass, even dead…" he hissed dismally. "Must've taught Sora a thing or two about being evasive… how did she manage to get our ultimate weapon hitched? That's what confounds me." He stood up and stomped a hoof. "Head to the prison, Tsukumi, and report back when you've swept the whole thing down to its plumbing. I have seen our little insubordinates shackle the Herald, and I want to make damn sure she's either imprisoned or dead before I do anything else. If the Herald truly is loose once again, I will declare a state of emergency and lock down the city and base until she is found and subdued."

Tsukumi nodded and turned away, horn alighting. "What about our lovebirds?" he asked. "When, of course, they're done playing usher…"

"Leave them. I'll deal with that myself," the Admiral replied in a commanding voice. "Thank you, dearly, for your discovery, Professor Tsukumi," he added with utmost sincerity in his voice. "I had long thought Sora had taken to working alone, despite being under my employ, ever since the Clash of the Sky. But it would seem I've been proven wrong."

Tsukumi nodded back. "You're welcome, sir," he replied before vanishing in a flash of light. The Admiral turned back to the screens, and noticed cloaked figures moving about in the alleyways of the city, trying to avoid the cameras by hiding in dark patches and blind spots. They weren't doing a particularly good job of it, considering he was even seeing them to begin with. Oddly, these strangers had everything covered from head to hoof in black garbs. The only other thing he could note that they shared was that every single one of them was noticed by the populace, who strangely enough gave the figures a wide berth every time they so much as trotted on the sidewalk.

"What manner of activity is this…?" the Admiral wondered, eying the cloaked forms carefully. "Staff Sergeant Sham, if you're still somehow toying with me from beyond the grave…"

~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~

Sora, Starbreaker, and Yukito sat within a small, cramped space with only a bit of floor and one seat that rattled incessantly. The room bumped every now and again, the sound of beating hooves and squeaking wheels filling the air. There were two miniscule windows on either side of the group, letting light filter through that slowly turned a fiery orange. Ponies outside stared at them, but as the room moved, they could not peek in to see them.

"I'm amazed the pony driving this thing let us climb in," Starbreaker piped up, garnering nods from Sora and Yukito.

"I know the pony who's driving this carriage," Sora replied with a small smile. "We're acquaintances."

Starbreaker turned to Sora, a brow raised. "How so?" she pressed as the carriage started to slow.

Sora glanced back, still smiling. "He manages the compost site here. He wasn't really fond of the Corps," she stated. It took an hour after that before the carriage ground to a squeaky, shuddering halt.

"We're here!" a stallion from outside called.

Sora hopped out of the seat and trotted to the door of the carriage, then she opened it with a hoof, but she and hers did not clamber out of it. The sun was setting as they found themselves staring at the front of the off-duty doctors' building, with their ride stationed just out of sight of the nearby alleyway cameras. Sora poked her head out and looked around the street, finding that nopony else was present, before she turned to the driver of the carriage, spotting familiar brown hues accentuated by a suit and a hat. "Thank you, Omega," she chirped with a smile and a wave of her hoof.

Omega waved a hoof in return. "Don't mention it," he replied. "Hurry on inside, b'fore anypony notices yer here." Sora nodded, and turned to Yukito as Omega started trotting in place, eager to leave as soon as he could.

"Can you manage another flashbang teleport?" she asked, garnering a shaky nod.

"After this, I'm… going to drop…" Yukito warned, scrunching his eyes as his horn glowed fitfully, sparking and crackling with a power that did not want to budge. It took him several minutes to gather that power, sweat beading his brow the whole time, and when the light seized them to take them elsewhere, it did so in a manner that left a scorch mark that spanned the inner walls of the carriage itself. When they reappeared in the darkened lounge of paper-walled quarters, Yukito's legs gave out and he fell to the floor. Sora moved to lay at his side, nuzzling him. Sluggishly, he returned the gesture with a wheeze, horn red-hot and producing a heavy amount of steam. "I-I don't think… I can t-trot for a fe-few days… n-now."

"Shhh…" Sora muttered, spreading a wing to wrap it around Yukito. "You did very good. Just rest now…" She lifted a hoof to tap her bell, which started ringing out a gentle series of notes. She pondered Starbreaker's suggestion to use the bell for other things, and with Yukito effectively out of commission and Starbreaker herself still chipped, she realized she was going to need another light source soon. "Light… radiate?" she muttered—and to her amazement, the bell responded, giving off a soft green glow that illuminated the room a little, ringing gently all the while. Everypony shifted at this, or in Starbreaker's case, she outright jumped at the sight, chains rattling with the motion.

"It… worked?!" Yukito gasped, eyes going round. "It actually… w-worked?!"

"I… I don't…" Sora turned to Starbreaker and gave a small smile. "I haven't really… considered this before. Thanks." Starbreaker nodded with a grin, and watched as with that, her adversary returned to nuzzling Yukito, and before long his head dropped in his forehooves and his eyes slipped shut.

"Mmm… looks like it… was a good idea after all," Yukito mused, tensing a little as Sora moved to nuzzle behind one of his ears. A smile crossed his face. "N-not with Starbreaker i-in the room…" he stated, though his voice came in a purr nonetheless.

"S-sorry," Sora said, pulling back with a faint blush dusting her cheeks.

Starbreaker watched the exchange, brows raised. She wiggled her manacled hooves, causing the two to look at her, though Yukito merely opened his eyes without raising his head. "Can I rip these off now?" she asked, garnering twin nods. A manic grin crossed her muzzle and she sat on her haunches before lifting her forehooves, straining as she pulled the chains taut. The metal stretched, groaned, strained to hold its links together, yet adrenaline surged in augmented veins, rendering the cuffs' resistance futile. Within a minute, one link snapped in a sharp retort that caused the cuffs themselves to stretch just enough to loosen, and then teal-grey hooves shook them off with ease. She repeated this process with her back hooves, just by standing and spreading them as wide as they could go without toppling over.

Sora gave a low whistle as Starbreaker ripped the second set of manacles off and straightened her posture, eyes wide and brows high. "Damn, girl, you got some serious muscle," she muttered in compliment.

"I did try breaking this miserable world once; what else would you expect if I could trot on three legs after a week of surgery and you two guarding me?" Starbreaker retorted, grin etched firmly on her face, and she made to trot and sit down next to Yukito, who closed his eyes again.

"Touché," Sora muttered with a nod of acknowledgement.

"So, what now?" Starbreaker asked, looking at the two intently, grin warbling in an effort to stay on her muzzle.

Sora stood up, and shifted her forelegs to wrap them around Yukito's barrel before rising to stand on her hinds, pulling him with. "Can you help me lug him to bed, please?" she asked.

Starbreaker's smile fell. "Is he heavy?" she asked. Sora shook her head.

"Just don't want to wreck the furniture with my wings," Sora replied with a frown. Starbreaker nodded, and knelt to wrap her forehooves around his rear pasterns before lifting those off of the floor.

"Sora? C-can w-we spar... later?" Yukito asked, head lolling to one side as Sora turned to the door on the eastmost corner.

"Not until your mana drain works itself out," Sora replied with a giggle, walking backwards towards the door she eyed. Starbreaker followed her, keeping the professor's rear hooves from dragging with her eyes turning yellow.

"You two fight?" Starbreaker queried as they reached the eastmost door in the corner, which hissed open to admit them. Sora gave a shrug.

"Practice-fight, more like," Sora answered as she maneuvered Yukito into the room beyond. The room was about as big as the sparring room, and its choice of decor made Starbreaker's brows rise. At the end rested a queen-sized bed, its blankets clean but wrinkled. On the right side of this bed stood a simple table affixed with large cuffs, each big enough to hold hooves. The table with cuffs had a myriad of scratch marks, and a stool holding up one corner in place of a leg. To the left was a nightstand with a closed drawer, its top devoid of anything save for one picture frame. The only other thing that Starbreaker could notice was that the walls here were dubiously devoid of paper, and they oddly sparkled unlike the main room.

"Practice?" Starbreaker parroted as she and Sora lugged Yukito to, then gently lowered him, onto the bed. Yukito gave a lazy nod at that.

"We… have to stay sharp," he pointed out, donning a small grin. "Thank you, l-ladies…"

"You're welcome," Sora chirped. She pulled the his clothes off slowly, and carefully so they wouldn't snag on anything. He lifted his legs, although shakily, to help with the endeavor. When that was done, and his clothes were wadded up in Sora's forelegs, she pulled the blanket over him with her teeth, right up to his withers. "Would it be fine if I sparred with Starbreaker?"

Yukito gave a lazy nod. "Don't see… why not," he replied with a tired smile. "Just don't go… overboard." The two mares nodded back, and Sora leaned to nuzzle him again before she tucked the mound of clothes between her wings. She and her charge dropped to all fours and gently trotted out of the room after that.

As soon as the door hissed shut behind them, Sora turned to Starbreaker and gestured to the couch. "Sit for a minute. Gotta shuck this uniform and throw Yukito's clothes in the laundry," she muttered.

Starbreaker frowned, and her eyes shifted to their standard technicolor. "Don't want to tear your clothes up?" she asked.

Sora donned a small smile and laughed softly. "Are you kidding? I'd love to shred this outfit any day of the week," she replied. "It's so I can treat serious wounds more immediately, after practice-fights, if regeneration doesn't deal with that fast enough." Starbreaker's ears twitched at that.

"You two… practice… and can get hurt?" Starbreaker muttered, eyes going round as she struggled to grasp the mental image doubtless forming in her head. Sora nodded again, and at this her smile faltered.

Sora's tail swished as she replied, "Yep, because our training is… intense, and you've seen Yukito fuss over my wounds as much as he fussed over you." Sora flexed her wings for emphasis. "I am an ultimate weapon. For me, such practice can't be anything else. And you need to sharpen your skills yourself, fisticuffs in particular."

Starbreaker assumed a maniacal grin and trotted to the couch. "You are right on that," she agreed, tail swishing eagerly. "And we still have a score to settle."

Sora grinned back, and with a whir her eyes began to glow. "You're on," she muttered tersely as she turned to deposit the clothes in the room in the western corner.