“Did you, or did you not lose contact?” Fågel asked of her compatriot, soft snow flurries falling to the ground of a snow-covered forest, a dark and foreboding environment. The parrot never particularly liked the woods, she liked to be flying free in a clear blue sky with nothing holding her back. And yet here she was, under cover of darkness in a forest where the trees seemed to be getting thicker and thicker with each passing moment. “Tell me.”

She looked to her colleague, her eyes unblinking. They remained fixated on the world in front of her and nothing else. Her breathing remained oddly steady. The contrast was unnerving in of itself. Yet, the unrelenting sensation of silver eyes boring their way into her had caused her to betray the trust that she'd gained for her partner.

Wind Spirit. That was her name. She’d vaguely seen the pegasus around the ship a few times, not actually making contact with her, but then again Fågel really didn’t have time for friends as is.

“Answer me,” Fågel asked giving her a little shake. “Where’s Jabari, where’s the rest of the landing party?”

Wind Spirit finally blinked and shrugged, a faint “I dunno,” escaping her mouth. She turned her head and scanned her surroundings. “Maybe they just left and forgot us.”

“Don’t be so daft,” Fågel disagreed, the Sun/Moon Kyutama serving as a small flashlight, the parrot peering out into the oppressive darkness. Something moved in the shadows, long and limber. “No man gets left behind, remember? And I’m sure as hell not going to leave my team behind, and nor would they do the same for us.”

She sighed, remembering how this entire mission started. There had been rumors of a Dark Matter observation post out here, one that could easily have been tapped into. Say to… hmm, search for where the Doctor and Stripped Gear were held. Fågel didn’t like it, those two in the hands of the enemy. She could only guess at how much information they’d divulged already. She knew the two were strong, some might say stubborn but she also knew that when you wanted information, there were plenty of ways to get it. The parrot rubbed her arm, where a scar from long ago lay under her sleeves. In prison, she’d had to fight to stay alive, and at times… well, sometimes she’d been involved in things she would have cared to forget.

“I don't know where they are,” Wind sneered. “I told you already that I don't. I still don't. That hasn't and won't change.” She turned her back to Fågel. “If you so desperately wish to make contact with them, be my guest.”

Fågel knew something was wrong with the pegasus, sure she’d never spent any amount of time around her but she knew Wind was normally the upbeat sort. Peppy even. The kind of peppy that made Fågel want to throw something through a wall. Swinging her axe, a tree falling with the strike, Fågel quickly made use of the timber and began building a fire. Behind her, Wind had taken a seat on the ground, staring out into the foreboding maw of the forest.

“You gonna help?” Fågel asked.

“I can hear them.” Wind blinked and sighed. “The trees call to me. They want me. They beckon. They scream. They beg. I want to go.”

“You’re no Earth Pony, and trees can’t talk,” Fågel replied. “So cut the crap. You’re starting to freak me out here!”

Wind shook her head, blinking repeatedly as if she'd just been stirred from a deep sleep. “H-huh?” She frantically looked around before her eyes rested on an axe. “O-oh, yeah, sorry. I, uh, I was thinking about some weird old story I'd been reading earlier and it must've spang to mind!” She let out a forced giggle. “I’ll help!”

Fågel shook her head. Although she liked to consider herself an observant sort, she knew how to pick up on social cues and the like. She’d also picked on a few admirers on Jabari’s part. Usually of the mare variety. And Fågel had a sneaking suspicion that the pink stripes on Wind Spirit’s jacket were not there just because she was a mare.

“No accounting for taste, I suppose,” Fågel mused. “If I had any choice in crewmembers, I would not pick Jabari. He’s nice, I suppose, in that pretty boy way but a bit too nerdy. ...dunno why they say brainy is the new sexy. Give me a man who’s the classic kind of sexy. Muscular.”

Maybe it was down to personal taste she supposed, Fågel aware she was gifted with the powers of the Bull. Maybe that had rubbed off on her or something. Bah, she could consider it later. Right now she had more important matters to deal with. A, she had to find her squad. B, she had to get Wind up and moving before they all froze to death. And C, -or maybe one of those little footnotes you put in brackets- then they’d all get the hell off this planet. It all just felt… wrong, from the very air they breathed to the ground they walked upon. Jabari had mentioned a man-eating planet once. Fågel hoped this wasn’t a repeat of that occasion.

As I said, Fågel considered herself an observant sort. She knew Wind Spirit was not reciting something from an old story. There was something definitely wrong with this entire planet.

“Just… Just stay out of the shadows, okay?” Fågel asked, using the Sun/Moon Kyutama as a makeshift lamp while she continued chopping wood. “...I don’t like this place, not at all… So you listen to me, alright, featherhead? If you see something moving in the shadows, or the trees start talking to you again, tell me and stay exactly where you are. This place makes all of my instincts go all funny.”

Wind waved a hand dismissively. “You sound like my mother. Oh so worrisome, yet when have I ever gotten into trouble?” She stuck her tongue out. “I'll be fine.”

“If I sound like your mother, then good,” Fågel said taking the remark as a compliment. “You should always listen to your mother, she’s generally the smartest person you’ll ever know in your life.”

“Yeah, well, mine left my father when I was 5, then got drunk and tried to kiss an oncoming train,” Wind said. “If she was the smartest person in my life… what's that make you?”

Fågel noted a surprising portion of the crew of the Armor had family issues, including her own relation in Coldcast. She wondered if that meant something. “Well, I’d say I’m picking up where your mother left off. If she dropped you like a hot rock, well, consider me picking you back up.”

“So, you going to sing me a lullaby, then?” Wind asked.

“If I need to, yes,” Fågel replied in absolute seriousness, no snark. “You and your sister Earth need some positive family reinforcement if you ask me.”

“Aw, you're so sweet,” Wind beamed. “Thank you.”

Fågel smiled and gave Wind a hug.

After several minutes of chopping down trees, Fågel gathered the wood and kindled a fire, which roared to life and sent a heavenly warmth through her and Wind. A temporary freedom from the oppressive and oncoming chill.

“It's nice to have some semblance of hospitality on this frigid hellscape,” Fågel muttered. “It reminds me too much of home.”

“Least this place has… trees, and wildlife and things,” Wind said searching for something nice to say about this world. “Home was just ice and snow.”

“Home wasn’t depressing as all hell,” Fågel drawled. “And it wasn’t filled with any manner of things that wanted to kill everything around it.”

“So?” Wind asked. “Just because it didn’t want to kill all didn’t mean it wasn’t depressing. Let me tell you, the moment I see another Galaxy Garrison corridor it’ll be too soon. Too much stark white, and all that. Wasn’t very welcoming.”

“It wasn’t meant to be welcoming, you dunce,” Fågel replied in a complete deadpan. “It was meant to be a military base.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Wind said. “Care to tell me how war is hell and being blown until you’re just a crimson mist?”

Fågel’s earlier good mood had evaporated. “I survived prison, I think I can survive war. Hell, we’ve practically been at war with Dark Matter since we met them, and we’re still alive, aren’t we?”

“Though not for lack of trying…” Fågel mused to herself, remembering the many traps and tricks they’d stumbled into, sometimes on purpose and sometimes due to their own stupidity.

Wind was about to question what exactly Fågel had been in prison for, but one glare of her pink eyes quickly silenced her. “So… Um…” Wind asked. “We’re going to have to eat soon, right? And seeing as how I can’t exactly leave here, by your orders no less, I assume you’re going to just go off into those woods alone, and maybe stumble into something we can eat?”

Fågel answered with: “If I must, yes. But check your supply kit, it’s per regulations that when we land on a planet with unfamiliar dangers and environment we bring enough food to last four solar cycles. That is, if you were careful enough not to eat it all in one go. Don’t think I haven’t seen you stuffing your face in the cafeteria back aboard the Armor.”

“What can I say,” Wind replied with a small shrug. “I’m a growing mare, so sue me!”

“So am I,” Fågel drawled. “...But you don’t see me chowing down on anything my hands can grab. Swimsuit season’s coming up after all, and I’d like to stay thin!”

“Swimsuit season on a starship, that’s a thing?” Wind asked.

“Semantics,” Fågel waved her hand dismissively. “Just semantics.”

Truth be told, she didn’t like sitting around here while Jabari and the rest of the crew were off Celestia only knew where. But something was circling her and the campsite, and until she knew what she was dealing with, Fågel didn’t fancy making a dash for it. She looked at the Pyxis Kyutama, it seemed to be on the fritz. Had to be the weather, Fågel decided. Or the planet’s strong magnetic field. If the damn thing was cooperating, she would have chanced a run. She would have at least known which direction Jabari was in. Now that she thought about it, said the field was probably responsible for the comms being so bad.

“Damn this planet,” Fågel thought. “The sooner I get everyone back aboard the Armor, the better.”

Something moved in the shadows out of the corner of her eye, and Fågel drew her pistol. Firing off a few shots into the darkness, she sighed, almost in tired lethargic fashion. What was the point? With her luck, said animal probably just tanked the shots. Again, she cursed the planet under her breath. Today was not turning out to be a fun day, she mused. Such was the luck of this crew, she supposed.

Wind suddenly turned her head back to the forest, her gaze once again becoming unblinking and unwavering. The world had become still and deafeningly silent.

Then it began. At first, it was faint, no louder than the sound of a gnat flying around. With each passing second, however, it grew louder. Soon, it was a pencil tapping against a table. Then the as loud as a foot stomping against wind. Then a boulder crashing through a window. Then a bomb.

Wind covered her ears. She had heard when Fågel was asking where the crew was. She had heard it when she heard the forest call her name. She had heard it second she landed on the planet. A buzzing. It echoed in her ears. It rang in her head. Her stomach turned. Her eyes ached; tears rushing down her cheeks. She wanted to rip her skull out. She wanted to scream..

“Wind?” Fågel noticed teammate’s discomfort and quickly rushed over. “Wind, what’s wrong?”

“I… I can hear it. I can hear it all!” Wind stood up and raced ahead. “It calls, it calls!”

“WIND!” Fågel shouted as she ran into the forest, Astral Axe in hand. As she ran, she thought back to how this all started…

Several hours before...

“It’s not pink, it’s magenta!” Jabari argued to Fågel, his eyes fixated on his ship. The bright pin- sorry, magenta Eagle Voyager really cut a sharp contrast against the dull muted tones of the snow-capped forest. “And in any case, don’t you think we have more important things to worry about, like finding that outpost?”

Fågel pulled the hood of her cloak up, the wind chilling her to the bone and scything into her face. She pressed a button on her Voyager, the massive vehicle opening a panel in its side to reveal rifles. They were quickly grabbed and placed in the hands of the squadron. “Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that one Jabari. Pink’s pink,” the parrot said. “Can’t disguise that one.”

The hum and the whir of a pulse rifle charging itself with magic. Several more sounds just like it followed. Fågel furrowed her brows, they were going to be without backup for a short while, at least until that outpost was in their hands. The Armor was up above, but well out of sensor range. No sense in letting the whole quadrant know that they were here, and having the place radio for help bringing a whole fleet down on top of them. Though the bright pink eagle ship in the white snow might do that job for them if they didn’t find some way to cover it up.

All of the Voyagers emitted a unique energy signature. Yes, this was useful for finding them if you ever found yourself lost. To be honest, looking at the deep forest surrounding them on all sides, Fågel considered that a very real possibility. But it also meant they were very easy to find by those who you didn’t want to have any real contact with. Say… Dark Matter soldiers.

“So, what do you think lurks on this hellhole?” Jabari asked. “I bet there are snow worms that’ll eat us.”

“Hardy har har,” Fågel replied. “Don’t quit your day job, you may kill someone with your comedic timing.”

Jabari just took out his pistol and fired at several of the trees, covering the Eagle Voyager with snow. “Simple, but effective,” the scientist said. “Not everything needs to be overly complicated.”

“Yes, I agree…” Fågel glared daggers at Jabari. “Now tell: was it really necessary to shoot that so close to me?”

Jabari just smirked. “Maybe.”

“...what a team,” Wind Spirit muttered from behind them, a golden furred kirin nodding along with her. “And these two are our commanding officers? They’re like children.”

“I heard that!” Jabari yelled back. “Don’t worry, we’ve done this a hundred times before. Our banter is by no means anything abnormal. In fact, it’s a part of our standard operating procedure!”

He turned to Fågel. “Think they believe that?” he whispered.

“Is the sky red?” she whispered back.

Jabari was forced to concede his point. “Taiyang, Earth. You’re with me. We’ll go to the west, and Fågel, you go with Wind to the East. Classic pincer maneuver. Dark Matter will never know what hit them.”

Earth and Taiyang followed him into the forests, Taiyang, in particular, casting a longing look towards the Eagle Voyager. The kirin uttered: “We should stay… we should stay.” as if he knew something they didn’t.

Fågel didn’t exactly look reassured, knowing exactly how well connected the kirin species as a whole was to nature.

“Oh, they will,” Fågel drawled regaining her composure. “That is If we keep yammering on like this.”

“Now, now,” Jabari said. “No need to be sassy. Get to work and all your fears will be alleviated.”

“Pot, meet kettle,” Fågel called as she and Wind entered the woods. “Seriously...”

“Fears be alleviated, huh?” she thought to herself, swallowing to herself as she looked around her.

As they walked, Fågel took notice of the forest’s generally oppressive air, like it was squeezing the life out of them. It reminded her of the stories she’d been told as a young chick, about the infamous Everfree. A forest so dark, and so dangerous looking into it was like staring into the eyes of the abyss. You’d be lucky if you didn’t blink. Of course, the Everfree didn’t exist now. But all the same, Fågel was severely reminded of every story she was ever told of it.

Every culture had their stories about the woods or the forests or whatnot. They always seemed to be lawless places where magic went wild or where lessons about not straying off the path were told. Monsters from one’s wildest imagination or deepest nightmares roamed free ready to snap up those who came foolishly unprepared.

Fågel didn’t like forests, it must be said. As a bird, she didn’t like enclosed spaces in general. It was a miracle she hadn’t gone crazy long ago from prison or the vaults or even the ships. Maybe she had, and she just hadn’t realized it. She noted she wanted out of this forest. It was like it was sucking something out of her as she continued to walk through. Maybe it was her fight or flight instincts, but something about this forest felt so deeply wrong to her. If she were a more superstitious sort, she’d almost say it had a mind of its own.

Looking behind her, the parrot saw Wind just barely keeping up. At several points, Fågel found herself having to stop to allow the mare to keep up with her. She raised an eyebrow, was the pegasus really that out of shape? Impossible! She was a member of the Royal Guard, or what passed for it in this day and age. They should have knocked any laziness right out of ponies!

“Then again…” Fågel thought to herself. “This walk isn’t exactly easy on me either. Odd really. I mean, I’m not exactly as fit as some other members of this team but I’m still a fairly athletic sort. I’d have to be, just to even qualify as a Ranger.”

“You alright back there?” she shouted to Wind, the pegasus pulling up the hood of her cloak. Noting the color, Fågel chuckled to herself. “Or are you afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hoof?”

“Me, afraid?” Wind laughed nervously, and perhaps a bit more listlessly than Fågel would have liked. “No, no, I’m fine!”

“You don’t sound fine…” Fågel said narrowing her eyes slightly in curiosity. “You sure we don’t need to stop, take a break and all that?”

“And basically say I’m slowing the big bad Black Ranger down?” Wind asked sorta in a snappish manner regaining some of that fire of hers. “No, not on your life!”

“Well, at least you’ve got some spirit,” Fågel appraised. “And here I thought you were getting bored!”

“It’s an adventure, so why would I get bored?” Wind asked though her tone betrayed her. Something Fågel would have been a fool not to miss. “Fighting evil, kicking Dark Matter ass, yay…”

Fågel suddenly drew her axe and whirled around to slice a multi-eyed wolf-like creature down the middle, blood pooling in the snow. “You also have no spacial awareness. Had I not noticed that thing when I did, you’d have been killed you ditz.”

“Oh, really?” Wind blinked before stepping away from the gory mess at her feet. “...silly me.”

Fågel had a higher sense of fight or flight from her time in prison, so she knew when she was being watched. Her hearing was also better than average, as being a female inside a prison did not end well if you weren’t careful. What she did NOT understand was how Wind didn’t notice that monster, a pegasus normally had very high spatial awareness. And yet Wind didn’t sound as if she cared, or from the look of her even if she did could have moved fast enough to dodge. Was she that much of a useless lump?

Taking a few deep breaths, Fågel calmed herself. She’d barely reacted in time to stop it herself, so she had no room to chastise Wind. “This forest will be the death of us, and not just via animals. It’ll drive us all mad!”

After a few more minutes of solid walking, the two came across what looked to be a small farm, seemingly abandoned. The structure itself was decrepit, made of wood that has been weathered away by the ferocious and unrelenting winds of the planet.

“Think anyone's home?” Wind asked quietly.

Fågel shook her head. “No one in their right mind would live in a place like that on a planet as cold as this.”

“Clearly, someone tried…” Wind murmured as she walked up to the door, before knocking gently. When she didn’t get a response, she settled for kicking it in. “Plus, we were nuts enough to stick around on Equestria, and this place is just as cold…”

What she found inside the farmhouse put her in for a shock. A man, sorta resembling a squid of sorts, curled up in the back of the living room.

“Visitors?” The man stood up, two abnormally long tentacles acting as legs quivering as he walked towards the mares. “Visitors for little old me?”

“Um, hello.” Wind took a slight step back and waved. “We, uh, are looking for some bad guys.”

The man walked towards them, slowly and almost lethargically. “No, no, no. There are no bad guys here,” He motioned to the world outside. “The lands, the weather, the skies, they took all the bad guys long ago.”

“What… exactly do you mean?” Wind asked.

The man frantically pointed outside once more. “You! You, young one, would do yourself a big favor and flee this damned world,” he said almost in a daze. “Life here cannot exist. She doesn't blossom as she does on other worlds. Her light sputtered out long ago and if you don't flee, so too will yours!”

“...alright, who’s been drinking the nihilism juice?” Wind wondered to herself before muttering: “Alright then… we’ll just be… uh, on our way then, I suppose?”

Fågel wasn’t giving up so easily, spooked as she was. “Explain what you’re on about.”

Short, simple, and direct. Just the way she liked it.

“The buzzing!” the man screamed. “The buzzing! It reveals to me the secrets of life and it drives those who hear it mad! The shadows, the speak! The trees, they beckon! The skies reveal a trillion worlds where they yearn to feed! All the eyes; forever damned to a million deaths until the Gods come to save us once and-”

The alien let out an agonized gasp, his breathing becoming stagnant, as he seemed to see something behind both Wind and Fågel that they had yet to notice. He clutched his chest, and fell to the floor, motionless. Fågel ran over to him, and began shaking him. “Sir? Sir!” the parrot shouted continuing to shake him before finally giving up. Her face fell. “...Heart attack.”

“H-Heart attack?” Wind whispered in fear. “But he seemed…”

“Perfectly healthy?” Fågel finished. “Don’t delude yourself, something… or someone scared him so badly that he died of fright. The question is, what?”

“No, a better question is why are we standing around here when whatever did that to him, well it could be lurking about going after us next,” Wind pointed out. “We should be running.”

“Did you notice how he was talking?” Fågel asked.

“Like he’d gone on full nihilist?” Wind interjected.. “Yeah, kinda hard not to notice really. What of it?”

“Nothing…” Fågel murmured though from her tone and facial expression Wind had a hard time believing her. “...Just… nothing at all.”

“Oh, pft, nonsense,” Wind then said seemingly changing her mind. Or maybe she hadn’t, Fågel mused. Maybe she was so afraid she was looking for an ordinary explanation for things. “You saw the way he was talking. He was a lunatic who’d clearly been ill! We must’ve frightened him, he got worked up, and he had a heart attack… He was an old man, these things happen. And sorry if I seem insensitive here, but we’ve got bigger worries here. That? That was nothing, nothing at all.”

“Screw nothing,” Fågel muttered in suspicion. “Something’s going on around here…”

Wind clamped a hand over Fågel’s beak as she clutched her laser rifle in the other hand. “And if you want to live, keep your mouth shut. Something’s out there…”

And it was true, as a dark shadow blotted out the window. It was massive. A single horn protruded from what looked like a head, narrow, grey in color, and covered in fur as thick as a fist.

A low, yet still audible, growl permeated through the air as the crunching of snow filled the air. Each step shook the ground like a small earthquake. Slowly, the growling grew louder, going from sounding like a dog going on the defensive when an intruder was near to a mother bear that had just watched its cub get butchered by a poacher.

“What the hell is that thing?” Wind asked, her voice shaking.

“I-I’m sure it’s just the local wildlife,” Fågel replied softly. “It’ll go away after a bit.”

Deep down, Fågel knew that wasn’t the case. Considering the last member of the local wildlife she’d seen tried to eat her alive and all. Each step the thing outside took, the vibration grew more intense, until the growling was just outside the house; the thudding feeling like it’d register on the Richter scale.

Pure hot breath smudged up the window outside. And then Fågel realized something, as the dark shape outside wasn’t actually the creature itself.

It was another farmer.

BANG!

A single, titanic crash came from the door as it was thrown off of its hinges and barreled across the room. A cataclysmic howl ripped through the air, shattering the windows and sending thousands of small shards of glass raining down.

A wolf-like creature, much larger than the first two had met was in the room, and Wind let her trigger finger fly. Bright red shots of light impacted the monster just as it roared before its eyes rolled back up into its head and it slumped forwards.

“...By Celestia,” Wind whispered. “What is that thing?”

“A good solid meal, if we can drag it away from this place. There’s another farmhouse nearby, help me drag it over there,” Fågel gestured to the next building over. “...On the other hand, something that big, it’ll attract predators from miles around… We’d have to eat it quickly.”

“It’s not worth the risk,” Wind decided. “We need to get going.”

“...On the other hand,” Fågel mused. “In this cold weather, we need all the energy we can get. Let’s just hope nobody else is as crazy as we are in this weather to be out and about.”

Somehow, they dragged the body over to the next house over, but when they got inside the twosome almost lost their appetite. Frozen in a silent tomb, a quiet soliloquy to the fact that this planet had once possibly thrived was another man, and his family.

“It’s… it’s like they lost the will to live,” Wind whispered looking away. “They just went to sleep and…”

“...and they never woke up,” Fågel whispered in reply looking at the pictures along the wall where the man smiled, happy with his family. They seemed so recent, and it was heartbreaking how just everything seemed to have changed so fast for the family. It was as Wind said, it seemed as if they’d just suddenly lost the will to live, and decided to sleep and never woke up.

“It doesn’t feel right does it?” Wind asked as she slowly bit into the monster’s flesh. She hated meat on principle, but she really had no room to be choosy right now. “...like, it just doesn’t feel right. In the next room over, it’s a tomb. And here we sit, having dinner like everything's… well, almost normal.”

“Trust me,” Fågel replied. “I don’t really feel all that right about any of this either. But we need to keep our strength up, pack on the pounds. We’ve still got an outpost to take control of.”

“Can… can we just choose another outpost?” Wind asked. “No communications system has to be worth… this. Seeing all this death.”

“Can’t be picky, unfortunately,” Fågel replied perhaps a bit colder than she would have liked. “There aren’t many communications outposts that aren’t heavily guarded, and we’re running low on time. The longer we waste, the more likely our friends are going to spill every ounce of information they know.”

“And say we do find the Doctor and Stripped. What then? What next?” Wind argued. “Do we raid the base on some sort of suicide run? As powerful as the Megazords are, I’m not sure we have the ability to strike a full Dark Matter base and not suffer heavy losses.”

“...There’s a plan in place,” Fågel said. “Been going over with it with Stardust, Flurry and a few others. And what do we do, just leave our friends to rot? Because if you’re suggesting that…”

“I’m being realistic,” Wind said. “Your time spent in prison, it may be clouding your judgment. You wanted to be rescued, and you got out by luck. So you want to rescue your friends, keep them from enduring the same treatment you were put under.”

And the worst part was, Fågel couldn’t even deny it. Rubbing her arms absentmindedly, she thought back to the day Stardust visited her in her cell, showing her the Taurus Kyutama. He said she’d be chosen, and if she didn’t pick up the call he’d just leave her there as a criminal deserved. She snorted in disgust, Stardust put her there in the first place as he needed a scapegoat for a high profile series of robberies and Fågel just happened to resemble the general build of the thief.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought…” Wind said to Fågel.

On this, they then ate in silence.

Back aboard the Shining Armor, as the mission devolved into chaos, Flurry had her own suspicions.

Before he’d descended onto the planet below, Jabari had been talking steadily with Coldcast and the two had been looking at the stars with shared anxiety. Something was wrong here, and she knew it. Jabari had many issues, largely due to his upbringing and desire to prove himself but when he got anxious it wasn’t without reason.

“Something wrong, Princess?” a younger pony named Emerald asked, she had noticed the orange Ranger’s worry. “It’s the mission, isn’t it? They’re not back yet, it’s been hours…”

“If it were only that…” Flurry muttered to herself cryptically. “No, I fear something larger is at work. I hate to think about what.”

She held a hand to her forehead. “...Forgive me, Ms Gauze, it’s just that I've been under a lot of stress lately. So many missions going sideways, and now the Doctor and Stripped are in the hands of Dark Matter. My subjects -MY subjects- are going through only Faust knows what and there’s very little I can do to help them right now.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Emerald muttered leaning up against the bulkhead with her arms crossed. She was a Crystal Pony, so her arms glittered in the light. “Flashfire, he’s been worrying himself sick. You can’t see it on his face, but you can tell in his actions. He’s throwing himself into his work, and every now and then he snaps at someone.”

Flurry laughed bitterly. “...we’ve all been on edge lately, haven’t we? No chance to stop and just take a break… And I doubt we’ll get one soon.”

“Maybe that’s Dark Matter’s plan, drive us so crazy we just… crack from under all the pressure,” Emerald suggested.

“It is entirely possible,” Flurry conceded after mulling the thought over in her head. “Goddess above, what I wouldn’t give to see this Don Armage and punch him right in the face.”

“Not very Princessy or friendshippy of you, is it?” Emerald asked cocking an eyebrow.

“I stopped with friendship in regards to Dark Matter as soon as they attacked my homeworld, my subjects,” Flurry said as her reply. “They declared war on Equestria, who is already on the brink of collapse and so they crossed a line.”

Not for the first time, Emerald was reminded just because Flurry was a Princess, it didn’t mean she was soft. She didn’t give in, and nor would she ever do such a thing. She wouldn’t consider it even. She could be as stubborn as a mule, even when being as beautiful as an icy glacier.

“Careful now,” Emerald teased herself. “You wouldn’t want Flashie to think you’re admiring his Princess a little too closely would you?”

Flurry had taken her leave. At first, she knocked on the door of Stardust’s quarters but got no answer. Then she just imputed an automatic code given to both her and Stardust that allowed them to access anyone else’s quarters at the drop of a hat. She respectfully avoided going into Stardust’s quarters normally, but right now she needed the Draco Voyager.

“Okay, Dusty…” Flurry mused to herself as she wandered around the room. “Where are you?”

Idly, one of her hands drifted to a certain cane that allowed Stardust to morph into his own Ranger form. She felt a small tingle upon touching it. It felt unusually warm in her hands, like the fire of a dragon’s heart somewhat fittingly. It did not blaze to the touch, it felt almost… right in her own hands.

“Something the matter?” Stardust asked and Flurry let out a yelp as the cane clattered to the floor.

“Everything’s the matter,” Flurry said in reply. “They’ve been gone too long.”

Somehow, and even Flurry wasn’t sure how she pulled it off but there she was in low orbit above the planet with Stardust in the Draco Voyager. The purple serpent was hidden behind an asteroid and gazed upon the stormy gray stratosphere below.

“No way in the Writer’s Quill are we breaching through that weather,” Stardust grumbled. “And that’s assuming we don’t get detected on the way in.”

“But still, don’t you think we should-” Flurry started before her fellow royal cut her off.

“Try?” Stardust asked looking back at her. “As much as I’d like to, I have to look at the bigger picture here. The moment I try and breach the atmosphere, the moment I even think for a second I can try there goes our position. And a thousand ships will be right up on top of us before we could have a second to blink. Not even the Megazord would be able to hold them off.”

Flurry punched the bulkhead so hard she was amazed she didn’t shatter right on through. “Damn it! I know that! It’s just… I can’t leave them down there! Something’s gone wrong, I can feel it!”

“Both Jabari and Fågel are some of the best of the best,” Stardust replied. “They weren’t chosen by the Kyutamas for no reason.”

“You seem to put an awful lot on faith, and especially on these things,” Flurry replied fingering the Scorpius Kyutama hanging around her neck. “Why not put faith in pony ability for once?”

“Who says I’m not?” Stardust asked. “It was their ability that made the kyutamas chose their masters after all.”

Flurry conceded his point. “Look, the moment we can move,” Stardust continued. “We will. But right now, we have no choice but to sit and wait.”

The Draco Voyager let out a low humming noise, the internal lights flickering almost as if in agreement. “...Great,” Flurry grumbled to herself. “We’re leaving the decision making up to little orbs. Wonderful. This country has definitely fallen on hard times…”

Back in the present, it’d been a few solid hours since Fågel had set back into the woods in pursuit of Wind. The world around her had darkened from the thick canopy that loomed above her, the dozens of branches looking like the craned necks of giants.

“The longer I stay on this planet, the creepier it gets…” she thought before opening up the comms. “Please, please work…”

To her surprise and relief, Jabari answered.

“Fågel? Where in Celestia’s name have you been?” the zorse inquired with more than a hint of anger. “We were supposed to meet up hours ago!”

“Ran into… well, I’d guess you’d call it a little hiccup.” Fågel replied. “This whole planet… It’s like it’s draining of us of our very will. Sapping it.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Jabari observed. “Made it to the outpost. And the Invaders? Didn’t even put up a fight. They were all just resting up against something. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say we caught them napping. Frankly rather creepy really. Oh well, the communications tower is in our hands now, though given our experiences I personally want to get the hell off this planet as soon as we can. Where are you? I’ll send Taiyang or Earth to come to find you.”

“Faust if I know,” Fågel replied. “Look… Look, this entire forest? There’s something wrong with it, I’d advise you to…”

“Fågel? Fågel? You’re… you’re breaking…”

Then the comms cut out, and Fågel let out a loud: “Damn it!”

Letting out several heavy breaths, Fågel rested up against one of the many trees. Her eyes scanned the world around her as a thousand thoughts raced through her mind.

“That son of a bitch better find me.” She groaned. “I don’t intend on dying out in a frozen cesspool like this. It isn’t on my bucket list. Goddess, I’d much rather be back in prison than out here.”

Slumping down, Fågel stared up at the canopy. For a brief moment, she could feel it stare back at her, an overwhelming sense of malice filling her soul. Hatred, disgust, and a unbearably heavy weight take over her, like the weight of an entire planet collapsing onto her back.

All at once, the energy she had to pursue Wind was sapped from her. She felt tired. She felt hopeless. Fight or flight had vanished. The frigid world felt like the fiery pits of Hell itself. The canopy descended, the world becoming as dark as the starless night sky.

“What the…” Fågel weakly shook her head. The canopy continued to descend, a world of its own forming that created a luminous circle at the center of it all.

It was hypnotic.

It was beautiful.

“No, no, Goddess, no.” Fågel struggled to stand up as the… thing seeped towards her. And then she heard a voice in her mind, something she so despised so much.

“Is that all you’re going to do?” Stardust mocked. “Is this how you give up so easily, dying on an unknown planet to the frost and snow? I thought you were tougher than that! You survived prison and reunited with your only family. ...well, I guess I’ll have to break it to Coldcast that you-”

“Shut up…” Fågel whispered to the voice, slowly picking herself up the ground using her astral axe to support herself. “You don’t control me… not anymore.”

Grimacing, she glared at the abomination that was now mere inches from her. The once luminous circle had become a sickening green color. Lifting up her axe, Fågel brought it down atop a gooey head comprised of nothing more than muscle that erupted like an infected abscess.

“By the Goddess, what was that!?” Fågel breathed out before remembering she didn’t have time to ponder that question, she had a pegasus to find. Breaking off into a sprint, she slammed the Pyxis Kyutama into her gauntlet. The path was clear now.

All around her, Fågel could hear the shifting and stirring of trees and the crunching of snow. The world was coming to life. Growls, groans, and sounds so horrible they would drive a lesser being to madness ripped through the air. A putrid odor accompanied it all; a wretched, vile scent that rivaled the smell of a corpse left out in the desert sun for hours on end.

And then she saw her, Wind laying up against a tree already half-frozen.

“Wind!” Fågel rush to her partner’s side. She was still breathing, barely. “You hear me? It’s alright, I’m here now. I’m going to get you out of here.”

“...what, what took you so long?” Wind breathed out. Fågel’s eyes darted from left to right, trying to find the clearest path out of the forest.

“Wind, I’m so sorry,” Fågel replied. “We can’t stay here though, there’s something- I don’t know what, but it’s-”

“You left me here to die!” Wind snapped. “You-you left me here, didn’t you?”

Fågel lifted her partner up, doing her best not to shake her like a ragdoll. “Tartarus no, as I said we don’t leave anyone behind. You know that right? You’re my partner.”

“Then why in the Goddess’ name did you leave me here!?” Wind said as tears welled up in her eyes. “I’ve been out here for four damn hours! I looked everywhere for you! I saw Faust knows what everywhere; they looked like they crawled out of Tartarus itself!”

“Four hours!?” Fågel held back to the urge to slap herself. “Wind, it’s only been fifteen minutes!”

“Fif-fifteen m-minutes?” Wind whispered. “But… but that’s impossible…”

“It’s this place, this planet… or it’s inhabitants. They sap the will out of you, and drive you to despair or god knows what. We should have never have come here, you were right all along,” Fågel whispered. “We should have skipped this planet, and found the next outpost. In any case, I’ve been searching for you ever since you left. I’d never leave you to die, understand that?”

“I… I understand that now,” Wind replied looking Fågel directly in the eyes and seeing her resolve. “Fay… Can I call you Fay? When we get back to the ship… if we get back to the ship, can we take a trip to the hot springs?”

“Y-Yeah, I’ll make sure of it,” Fågel replied smiling at the nickname before frowning again as she heard a low howl, followed by a growl. “But first, we need to get out of here.”

Pressing a button on her Kyuchanger, she activated the Bull Voyager’s automatic recall. “Hopefully it’ll get here, or Jabari’s search party will find us. Either or is preferable.” Fågel explained.

“Jabari, but he’s supposed to be…”

“The outpost got seized,” Fågel said as she picked up Wind and started to run. “The mission is complete. Just don’t worry about it, we’re getting out of here.”

“Easier said than done, isn’t it?” Wind remarked hearing that low howl again.

Fågel winced, a shiver running down her spine. “I guess I don't have to tell, but just to be safe: If you see anything, tell me.”

“Y-Yeah,” Wind replied. “Will do…”

Her eyes widened as a massive lupine creature wearing a bony mask bounded out of the wolves, trees crashing and falling like dominos. Demonic red eyes glowed out behind the mask, and unbridled hatred bored its way into the twosome.

Already Fågel felt herself grow weak, but she steeled herself. She thought of Stardust and her blood boiled with rage. Placing Wind to the side, she morphed and unleashed a series of powerful punches, the armor burning red like the sun.

“I… I am the armored star, Taurus Black, and… and right now I feel as if I can’t lose. Especially not to you, you FREAK!” Fågel snarled, the bony mask cracking. “I’ve got too much riding on me, too many counting on me. And you… you’ve got a lot to answer for, you Big. Bad. Wolf! Here’s my happy ever after, beating you to a pulp!”

Finally, the ‘wolf’ counter-attacked, a massive tail swipe sending Fågel flying, but she landed in the snow placing her fist in the frost to slow the speed of her landing. She looked up, large swaths of the fine, powdery substance falling around her, to see the looming figure of the wolf tower over it.

Then, several shots littered the wolf’s fur, and Fågel looked up to see both Jabari and Wind, rifles at the ready, with Taiyang in the back. Distracting the wolf with a series of shots, they allowed Fågel to take a running jump off a boulder before she charged up her axe with purple energy.

“Aldebaran Impact!” Fågel shouted, slicing the wolf down the middle as whatever remained turned to ash. She let out a few heavy breaths, her vision waning. Before long, Fågel slumped forwards into the snow and slipped into the realm of unconsciousness.

“So, this was what we fought for?” Flurry asked, both Wind and Fågel being loaded into a medship behind her. Emerald Gauze watched over them. Flurry tossed the two weary ponies a concerned look. Next, she looked up at the dingy communications outpost, half destroyed by the wind already.

“Yeah…” Jabari admitted with Stardust at his side. “Time to see if it was worth it, eh?”

He fiddled around with the knobs, and eventually got a transmission out.

“Ah, outpost TC-B, haven’t heard back from you in cycles,” another voice came from the other end of the line. “This is Scorpio, everything all right down there?”

Jabari had a brief moment of panic before he took a deep breath and answered. He knew that this was likely a high ranking member of Dark Matter, probably even a Magistrate or higher. He couldn’t lose his cool now.

“Uh, had a slight weapons malfunction. But, uh, everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here, now, thank you. How are you?” Jabari answered. Okay, that wasn’t technically a lie as such. There were a few weapons malfunctions, as in the people at the triggers didn’t want to fire them.

“....Um… Good,” Scorpio answered somewhat befuddled. “Listen, I know you have a bit of a thankless job, so… Um, keep holding out there. We’ll be sending you a squad to relieve you. Hang in there, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, we will!” Jabari said in reply honestly surprised about how well this was going. “Oh… Um, by the way. Local gossip said two of those Kyurangers got captured. Anything you know about that?”

“What’s your operating number?” Scorpio asked in suspicion. Jabari quickly looked at the tag on one of the Invader uniforms.

“#47657576737575,” Jabari replied as Stardust sucked in a nervous breath behind him. Jabari motioned with his hand for the Prince to shut it. Stardust surprisingly complied. The looks both Flurry and Jabari were sending him might have had something to do with it.

“...Okay, don’t tell who said this, but we’re keeping them on a base on Centaurus Alpha 5. You know the one. Now, get back to work, okay? I can’t be seen gossiping with you lot.”

“...Rude,” Jabari muttered as Scorpio hung up. “But… we have them. I repeat, we have them.”

Up in his quarters aboard the Armor, Flashfire breathed a sigh of relief. Mission accomplished, it would seem.

“So, how’d you do it?” Wind asked of Fågel. “How did you keep yourself from going under that thing’s spell?”

“I thought of… well, I thought of someone,” Fågel answered looking towards Stardust. “Him, actually.”

“Oh, so you have a crushie wushie on the Prince?” Wind asked. “Can’t blame you, he’s yummy.”

“Don’t delude yourself,” Fågel drawled. “He’s a complete child, makes my blood boil over with rage. I’d rather kiss an Invader! Puh! No, he made me so mad I just put everything out of my mind. Thought with a clear head.”

“...That makes sense.” Wind conceded.

Author's Notes:

So, we're back... Back in black, you might say. ...Okay, that's a terrible pun.

Honestly... I have no excuse for being absent since May. None. Absolutely none. (Give Vertigo a huge hug eh? Massive help here.) So, I decided to just pick myself up my ass and write something. I blame RWBY's Alone in the Woods and the Apathy Grimm for this chapter. Can you tell?

As for why Fay got her time in the spotlight... why not? Taurus Black doesn't really get much time to shine in this story -largely because of her name, not kidding- so I decided to remedy that.

Next time, Flashfire finds himself in a quandary as he deals with two rival civilizations while the Doctor and Stripped try to escape their confinement... Also, chickens. Trust me, it'll all make sense.