Mira whistled as the smaller contents of Sora's bell were summoned up and plopped in the central cab's floor in a heap about as tall as Tsih, and that was discounting the blankets and pillows and quilts now standing behind said pile. With another command and a click of its button, the bell spat out the furniture that was then plopped before the cab itself. Another click right after gave rise to yet another pile, cab-bound and orderly, thankfully.

Gauze rolls, antibiotic ointments, even some syringes with clear liquid and still-sealed scalpels were the first to meet his sweeping gaze, followed by the useless plaque stacked atop some books, and a few closed envelopes. A hoofful of empty steel bowls, cups, spoons and forks stood next to the books, surrounded by wrapped plastic bowls and an assortment of tin cans without labels. One final click, and half the furniture was laden with the rest that wouldn't have been able to fit in. "... why'd you guys pack a bed and a nightstand?" he asked.

"Sentimental value," Sora replied, gesturing to the nightstand that had its little picture frame resting snugly atop it. Yukito moved it over to her with his magic, and she reached over to pull open the drawer with a hoof as soon as it was shifted within range. Mira leaned over, spotting two cuff-sized rings resting within that drawer, one silver with a blue gem and the other gold with a lilac gem. He watched as Sora picked picked up the gold ring and tossed it to Yukito, who caught it with a hoof and affixed it to his left pastern. Sora picked up the silver ring and did likewise, smirking as she moved the picture frame to rest it in the drawer. She closed it right after.

"... huh. So ya two did get th' rings after all…" Omega mused, garnering a glance and a chuckle from Yukito. He returned the look and asked, "How th' hell'd ya manage that?"

Yukito grinned. "Just set aside the bits for them. Didn't pay extra to have them augmented," he replied. "Last thing any of us need is to be tracked through the damn things."

"True enough," Omega agreed with a nod.

Mira gently pulled open the drawer again with a claw, and levitated the picture frame out of it carefully, whistling again as he got to see what it held. He glanced from the frame to Sora, then Yukito, and then to Omega before returning his eyes to the picture. "... holy shit, this is your guys' wedding party?" he remarked, seeing no more than six ponies… one of them a mare in full uniform, with medals, held at gunpoint by a smiling Sham.

They, in turn, were flanked on either side by a pale-faced Omega and a silvery-blue unicorn with navy eyes trying to eke her way out of the picture altogether. In trying to vacate the photo op, she wound up leaving the forefront of the shoot all to a beet-red newlywed couple that tried and failed to hide their features through their wedding garments. Unfortunately, the red cutie mark and altered wings gave their sorry hides away. "Awfully small…" He ignored Sora's wincing as he added, "And that green unicorn's taking it a bit far with that gun there…"

"She… the mare in uniform… was a Lieutenant-Sergeant. A woefully incompetent one at that," Sora muttered, face paling as she spoke. "Walked in by freak chance… she was disposed of after the photo shoot."

"Awkwaaaaaaaaaaaard," Omega sang in a scratchy falsetto, cringing at the mention of 'disposed of' as he did it.

Mira turned to Sora, frowning at that tidbit of information. "And who's that pony?" he asked, turning the picture to her to gesture to the one trying, and failing, to hide in the corner.

"Nath," Yukito replied, frowning balefully. "Before… she was augmented," he added with a wince that shook his body briefly. Mira turned to him just in time to catch that shudder, opening his mouth for a moment, pausing, then closing his jaws before he gently returned the photo to its drawer. "It was a private ceremony. Didn't stop Sham from trying to get us to share a bed that same night."

Mira nodded, set the photo back in its resting place, and turned to the rest of the furniture. Beside the cuffed table, stool, bed, couch and coffee table… there wasn't a whole lot to go around, barring the punching bags, dumbbells and dart boards resting atop the cushions and mattress. He picked a dart board up, stabbed with scalpels in place of the standard, all surrounding a full-bodied and uniformed picture of Colonel Takahara. Mira flexed his claws a little on the dart board, and widened at how firm it held in his grip. Tightening that grip did little else, save for making some tiny indents in the frame that would take an expert's eye to discern. "Good quality board…" he muttered. "Where'd ya get it?"

Yukito grinned and pointed a hoof at Omega. Omega beamed and piped up, "Well, somepony dumped th' things at th' disposal plant f'r burning… along with th' bags and dumbbells. Gave 'em all a good clean and jus gave 'em to th' doc f'r keeping himself in shape," he answered, grinning a trite smugly. Mira turned to him and whistled in his direction. "Being a disposal pony had its benefits," he added, grin growing wider.

Mira turned back to the board and took notice of the picture tacked onto it. "Hey, that dude's got a horn like ours!" he noted, before then seeing one scalpel positioned between the hind legs of the picture. And another on its neck, with dotted lines scratched in around his skull. He set the dart board down carefully, if only to avoid dislodging the mishandled scalpels. "Okay, what'd he do to upset you?"

"Sexually assaulted my wife more times than I could count," Yukito replied bluntly, eyes narrowing into a glare. "Would have progressed further with his most recent attempt, had I not intervened."

Mira's jaw dropped. "He what?" he squawked, organic voice rising an octave higher. "He actually tried that? To the Windchime of all ponies?"

Yukito nodded with teeth bared and clenched tight at the thought. "Yes he did. I had to dislodge him," he hissed.

Tsih threw her front hooves into the air, and waved them to the sky in exasperation. "Gya! Now I'm getting mental images of bad things!" Her hooves went to her temples and started pounding, garnering looks from everypony else. She fell to her haunches, screwing her eyes tight and shaking her head wildly with ears pinned as she kept bashing herself. "Nope! Don't wanna see the Windchime being bred like a whorse!" Then, she dropped her hooves, dug into the snow, and stuck her head in the resultant hole to continue screeching into it with her tail tucking between her hinds.

Sora blanched at that disconcerting display, wings tightening against her sides as a frown creased her brow. She turned to Mira, the frown on her muzzle deepening to frame a rather disapproving look. "Tell me she hasn't had the talk yet," she grumbled, an eye twitching.

Mira wilted. "... didn't get it so much as had the…" Here, he sat, lifted his front claws, and made grabbing gestures with his digits. His limbs were spread just wide enough that Sora could've seen him grasping a small boulder by the sides, were one actually present before him.

Her eye twitched again when she realized what he was alluding to. "A foal," she hissed, eyes glowing. "A fucking foal." Mira grimly nodded and dropped his claws. "And that's… why you two are out here?" she pressed, one corner of her mouth trying to twist the rest of her frown into a hellish scowl.

"One of several reasons," Mira affirmed bluntly. "Didn't… sit well with us." His face darkened. "Let's not discuss it, ever, whenever she pitches a fit." He got up, trotted to Tsih, lit up his horn and magically pulled her out of her pretend-sand hole before gently grasping her by her withers. "The bad things won't get to you. Not if we have anything to say about it." Tsih frowned, shivering before Mira pulled her to his chest and used a wing to brush some snow off her mane. "No more bad things," he said firmly. "Alright?"

Tsih nodded weakly, waiting until Mira released her before trotting to the carriage and sitting in front of it. She took a few deep breaths, fur standing on end as cold air stole warmth from her lungs, and exhaled slowly to calm herself down. She turned to Sora after a minute or so of breathing in and out before asking, "Ca… can I use a dart board later?"

Sora nodded immediately. "We do have regular darts for that. I certainly wouldn't mind you using the boards," she said. "Of course… if you do, you're not allowed to use anything but your hooves to throw the darts. I'd like them unbroken."

Tsih nodded. "Won't use my magic for the boards," she muttered. Sora lifted a hoof from her blanket bundle and reached over to gently pat her on the head.

Sora's ears twitched as a gust of cold wind brushed up against her head, carrying with it the distinct sound of machines roaring in the distance. A hoof went to her bell, and she turned to Mira. "We'll continue this later, once we find good shelter."

Mira looked at her, brows drawing together in confusion before he, too, heard the faint sound. "On land, or in air?" he asked.

"In air would be preferable; there's still some things we need to sort out with our possessions," Sora answered, clicking the button and muttering a command. The items she and Yukito had brought with them vanished in one bright burst of light, save the blanket still wrapped around her and the wedding bands. She looked at his carriage. "Want me to stash that too?"

Mira nodded, and watched as his carriage was also made to disappear. "Saves us some magic we could've used otherwise," he said, and trotted over to the harness. He considered it for a moment, shrugged, got in front of it and magically grasped it with wings spread. He waited for everypony else to hop aboard and close the doors before flapping and galloping, dragging the vehicle with him as he prepared for takeoff.

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

Tsih wound up sitting with Sora and Yukito, though she kept her distance from them after the most recent hassle nearly devolved into lunacy. She wanted to speak with the pair, animosity set aside for the time being and all that, but at that moment she didn't want to risk the foul mental images paying her another visit. She shuddered, ears turned back as the pair opted to nestle in the middle of the cab.

At least they didn't get lovey-dovey with each other, and she was grateful for that—the embarrassment of watching them getting lovey-dovey would have been a bit much. Though, their silence was a little deafening just by itself. Yukito busied himself with glancing at the back window, past which was the cab that Omega and Starbreaker got huddled in, and Sora opted to look out the side window for trouble. On both fronts, nothing particularly interesting was happening, though the snowstorm had started once again.

A niggling question began dancing in her mind, bouncing in her skull as she weighed the ramifications. She opened her mouth, then closed it again when she considered just how… strange the question was to start with, relative to her current circumstances. Beginning with the fact that she was rehearsing it, even now, sent her mental gears spinning in all sorts of directions. And with each rebound in her skull, Tsih could only find herself wondering why as of the present. Without Mira to confide to, she was left with… these nutjobs who should have been executed long ago, yet were still around and kicking for some reason.

The carriage rattled as it started to climb with Mira, gaining speed in doing so. The ride was a bit bumpy, but overall manageable. Tsih shifted to lay down on the floor, contemplating her lot and burying her head in her forelegs when a slight itch tickled her left pastern. She scuffed at it with her right hoof, and after a moment the itch went away. To be certain it wouldn't bother her again, she nibbled at it once the scuffing was done—gently of course; she didn't particularly fancy drawing her own blood so soon.

This, however, caught Yukito's attention. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Tsih shook her head as her teeth parted from her pastern. "Just scratchy," she replied with a shrug. "Why do you care?"

Yukito nodded and sighed at the question. He opened his mouth when Sora interjected, "You know… when he first operated on me, I asked that same thing." Tsih jerked up at that, but Sora merely turned to her and nestled deeper into her blanket. "And believe it or not… that wasn't the time I got sent through the augment wringer."

Tsih frowned. "Cool, okay," she grumbled, then shifted to lay down again.

Sora shared a glance with Yukito, sighing quietly. "Kids," she muttered with a shake of her head.

"Hey, we were foals once," Yukito replied with a blaise shrug of his shoulders. He gestured at Tsih and added, "She still has much of her life ahead of her."

"I can hear you two," Tsih hissed, pressing her snout into her pasterns.

Sora nodded and shifted around to tuck the blanket beneath her legs. She turned to the side window again, only to flinch as another bolt of lightning flashed outside. A distant clap of thunder had her shuddering, and she felt another tremor as her husband laid down with his ears turned back. "I hope this isn't a lightning rod we're in, I really do…" Sora muttered.

"If I die by lightning in this damned thing, I'm kicking you in the teats when we go to the seven hells!" Tsih complained, head buried under her forelegs as more lightning danced outside, briefly illuminating the cab.

Sora wilted as another clap of thunder shook the carriage. She turned to the front window, and Yukito magically pulled the curtains aside to see Mira frantically flapping, claws on the reaches and the harness flailing in the wind. In the distance, with how far exactly lost to her, some unidentifiable blot stood as snow and lightning worked in tandem to blur its features. They heard a thumping from behind, and both adults and Tsih turned to find Starbreaker pounding at the window with wide eyes and ears folded back.

"How do you open this thing?!" she mouthed, a hoof fiddling furiously with the edge of the window as her other one continued to beat at the glass. Sora apologetically shrugged in response, baffled and dreading the window being busted all at once. Starbreaker glowered, and turned to Omega as he muttered something to her. Within a minute after turning her gaze forward, her hoof found a latch and she flipped it, backing off to let it swing harmlessly out of the way. That done, she lifted him out of his seat with her magic and plopped him next to Sora before clambering into the cab herself.

The window shut with magical aid, and Starbreaker turned a wild look to her nemesis. Her hooves moved to clasp her by her blanketed withers. "Do you know how to stop the storm?!" she barked, fear etched on her face and pooling in her tone.

Sora shook her head that time. "I know about as much as stopping the storm as Yukito does about gardening!" she exclaimed, wings rattling under her blanket.

Starbreaker didn't just wilt; her posture sagged until her chest was level with Sora's. "Y-you don't?" she squeaked, pupils shrinking. "N-not at all?"

"Not at all," Sora repeated. "We'll just have to hope—" The carriage jerked so suddenly everypony tumbled to the floor with a yelp, barring Tsih who instead rammed against the wall. The group scrambled up to the seat, except for Omega who opted to sit on his haunches to look out the window.

Lightning danced in front of Mira, who had stalled to a complete stop. He faced the outermost window on his end of the vehicle, hind claws clutching the reaches as his front ones waved at the lightning before him. He mouthed frantically "Do you guys see this shit?!" as thunder shook the carriage again and again.

Sora, after regaining her bearings and looking where Omega had affixed his attention, could only sourly nod. "Lower your altitude!" she mouthed back, hoping that he could see her do so. After a few seconds, Mira stared at her dumbfounded, then nodded and reoriented to get the reaches back in his front claws. The carriage tilted and rattled as altitude shifted, and this time everypony clutched the seat and floor for dear life as they started to descend. Sora made sure to keep her wings tucked tight, and glanced between Starbreaker and Yukito to make sure there hadn't been any unexpected accidents.

She frowned as she noticed a very slight cut stretching both of her sides and the blanket, though thankfully her flesh was left untouched. But the same wasn't true for the others; Yukito's shoulder, stomach, and cutie mark were now decorated by a singular, long and thin cut. It oozed a small margin of blood above his stomach, and she nudged him with her snout above the wound. He yelped and pulled back, muttering, "Could you please…"

Sora prodded with her snout again. "Look, your whole side," she said. Yukito did as he was asked, and frowned at the wound.

"... I'll have to clean that, won't I?" he asked.

"It's only bleeding a little, but… that would probably be best," Sora muttered, wilting.

Yukito nodded and turned to Omega. "How are you holding up?" he asked.

Omega shrugged. "Lil' better than yesterday," he replied.

"No wires trying to scramble your brain?" Sora asked.

Omega shook his head. "So far, damn things've been behavin'," he said.

Sora nodded and lifted a hoof to her bell, but was stopped when a grey-teal hoof touched her pastern and lowered it.

Starbreaker was shaking her head as Sora turned to her. She gestured to a fresh wound that matched Yukito's, now lining her side. "Not. Here," she hissed firmly, shuddering as thunder clapped outside once more. She turned to the window, and Sora did likewise—both hearts sank upon seeing a massive shadow hovering to the side, just close enough that the snow couldn't blur its shape. Massive wings, all fitted with massive rifles pointed squarely onto them.

They turned to Mira in unison, who alternated between glancing in front of him and towards the encroaching figure. Tsih stood up, seeing the object closing in. A hoof went to her mana boosters, and her ears fell back. Her horn glowed as she grumbled, "Gotta hide again? What's out there now?"

"Airship…" Sora answered, shakily nodding to Tsih. "Hiding would be good about now…"

With a click of her booster, without triggering its hinge, Tsih's power worked itself upon the carriage, spreading across everything in dizzying blue ripples that caused light to refract. Then, her magic kicked into gear and spread another aura across every connecting surface for good measure. Within seconds, they, the vehicle, and Mira all turned invisible as the snowstorm started to pick up.

Outside, the ship's pilot began squawking through the intercom. "Where the fuck did you go?!" they yelped, confusion leaking through the feed. The rifles started to move every which-way, trying to track that which had suddenly escaped from sight. Mira descended lower and lower into the snow-devils, gradually easing himself and the carriage into an impenetrable cloud of frost raging right beneath the vessel's wings.

The pilot, secluded in the cockpit, began fiddling with the control panel and the radar for any signs of foul play. They did get through to the Corps, but the radar was beeping and blipping without picking anything up—its green glow and droning, spinning line of gold did not change once. "This is Partisan Five, I've found the stolen vehicle!" they barked.

The Admiral's voice cut through the drone of the radar, "And?"

"It was being driven by a freak of a stallion, and-and-and it up and vanished! I was looking at it and it just disappeared with light eating it all! Even the radar won't pick him up!" the pilot replied, ears turned back as they turned to the radar to find it still wasn't having much luck.

The Admiral snorted on his end. "Describe to me the stallion driving the pilfered carriage," he ordered.

"Couldn't get a good look at 'im, but he had steel for legs and natural pegasus wings," Partisan Five replied, sweating a few bullets as they anxiously glanced at the radar every few seconds, silently praying for a miracle.

"... natural wings…" the Admiral muttered contemplatively, seemingly absorbing that bit of intel. "Keep watch over the Frostborne Moors, Partisan Five. I'll see if our new… cloaked companions that we've found prowling the city streets have anything to say about this matter."

"Yes sir," Partisan Five replied, slowing down the airship a little to see if, perhaps, the radar would pick up whatever was in front of the vessel. Still, nothing turned up, so they began letting the gears spin in their head as the hum of the engines filled in the silence. That hum, broken up by intermediate thunder, helped them think over the situation more clearly. "They vanished, so I can't just fire everywhere…"

The airship began to descend, hum now at full throttle and turbines whirring as fast as they could go. The rifles did not retract; there was no need for that, just yet. After all, the smaller vehicle could turn up again, and then it would get blasted to the moon for its defiance. Partisan Five wilted a bit when they realized the Admiral hadn't given out the order that would allow said blasting, and—

Speaking of, the Admiral's voice cut in through the mental fog again. "Tell me, Partisan, have you also seen a bluish foal in or around the carriage?"

Partisan jolted and replied immediately, "No sir, I haven't."

The Admiral snorted. "Figured as much. Our new cloaked friends informed us about a pair of rogue weapons who are skilled at the ancient game of hide and seek," he scoffed. "If they vanished… watch the surroundings closely. That is all I can say on the matter. I want that herd alive."

"Yes sir," Partisan replied with a nod, face hardening as the airship slipped noisily into the raging snow-devils with as much grace as its form could allow. The storm briefly gave the ship a wide berth, snow rushing away from its wings and loaded underside before then dancing past them once again.

The snow-devils, though, picked up in speed. Within moments, they did an excellent job of blurring everything five feet in front of the cockpit. It did not escape Partisan's notice, however, that there were minor lapses here and there in the storm—a shifting gust here, where there should not have been, a brief funnel there that collapsed onto itself as soon as it was spotted…

Partisan watched closely, as per the Admiral's rather sparse instructions. It didn't take them long to notice a pattern within the storm, when surely one could not have possibly existed prior. A wicked smirk crossed their muzzle, even as the command to leave the herd alive rang in their head. It didn't mean they couldn't give that herd the seven hells, after all… no it did not. The barrels of the guns slowly turned ahead as hooves went to various levers.

A thought hit Partisan in that moment. "Hiding from standard radar…" A hoof went to a button as that left their mouth, and slowly pushed down. The radar blipped once, and the green shifted to a dark navy before a trilling beep sang through the cockpit. Partisan turned to it, smirk twisting into a grin as a red dot appeared on the screen, flaring white every time the spinning line hit it.

Bingo.

"Sir, I've switched from standard radar to infrared," Partisan reported through the radio.

"And?" the Admiral challenged.

"It's picked their asses up!" Partisan cheered. A dark chuckle came in from the Admiral's end.

"Most excellent. Keep them in the infrared's sights," the Admiral ordered bluntly.

"Yes sir!" Partisan replied enthusiastically, turning ahead as the infrared radar continued to sing and display that damning red-white dot. Out of the corner of their eye, the dot moved in a zig-zag pattern, rather swiftly at that.

But it didn't matter how fast the target was moving. Soon enough, the fun would begin.