She pointed off towards where the Crystal Empire was. "Take us there."

But neither of the pilots spoke Ponish. She sighed softly, sliding down to the ground. Her magic easily grabbed one of the discarded cannons, wielding it in their direction. "There," she repeated, pointing firmly. "Now."

Given the choice between being shot, and the plane crashing, or deviating from their course, they slowly began to bank the plane.

The eldest leaned to the side. Everything seemed to be leaning. "Are we turning?"

"We shouldn't be." The president frowned. "But let's focus on the matter at hand." He flexed a few fingers as he said that, in case 'hand' made the expression confusing. "This is not an attack (airplane). If you had known that, would you be here?"

"I would not," admitted the pony with a scowl. "But we are here now. Is there no way to even see what is beyond this room?" He could teleport free, if he knew what direction to go.

"You are stuck, and likely under arrest, but that depends on how our conversation goes."

"I am a wizard of considerable talent. I doubt you could capture me."

"Technically, I believe we already have." He wasn't as confident as he was speaking. He hoped the pony didn't become angry and lash out at him. "What is your name?"

The martial pony crept towards the open archway leading to other parts of the plane, their guard subdued.

She didn't expect something to crash into her side. One of the humans had tackled her. They were dressed as a chef, and had no cannon, but that hadn't stopped them from suddenly jumping at her and bringing both to the ground in an ungainly heap.

She lashed out at him with a loud cry, but another human joined in, grabbing for that flailing hoof and pressing down at her. She felt a hind-hoof hit something soft. There was a grunt of pain, but another set of hands grabbed the leg. All the cooks had turned against her. How could they all be combatants?! They should have been cowering before her might! Pony chefs would have been huddled in a corner, possibly crying.

These chefs were not doing that. They were working together. The bravery of the first was enough to set the others in motion, and she was being pinned by so many hands working in concert. They were saying things in that funny language of theirs.

"(Hold it down! Keep it still. We have this!)"

"(Good job!)"

"(Do we get extra for this?)"

"(Shut up, Hank.)"

"Sir." A pony bowed his head towards Shining Armor. "Scouts report an incoming metal dragon." They didn't really have a better name for the things. "It's... very large."

Shining Armor could not hold back the cringe. "How large are we talking?"

"Distressingly large, Sir... It's does not appear to be directly aimed for the city, but close enough for concern." The soldier pointed. "It is visible by telescope. It is quite some distance away, but you know how fast they travel."

"I do..." He sighed softly. "Thank you for the report."

"Sir." He dipped his head once more and fled to other duties.

Shining Armor went for the stairs, ascending to the very top of the castle.

"Dear?" Cadance had spotted her. "Where are you going?"

"Starting a city-wide shield. This time they won't catch me by surprise." He hesitated a moment before moving to give Cadance's cheek a soft kiss. "We'll make it."

"Shining, no..." Cadance started to follow after him as he resumed his climbing of the stairs. "You barely stood up to a fraction of its attack. Trying to shield the entire city at once?"

"I was surprised," he huffed. "A properly constructed shield will be far stronger. I've kept entire hoards at bay, I can stop one metal dragon."

"Or get yourself hurt." She hurried to keep at his side. "They've only..."

"Killed countless ponies," he finished for her with a scowl.

"Soldiers," she revised. "That one we found was in the factory, that makes weapons. They are attacking what we fight with. That guard could have been at the castle, trying to attack that, but was he? That metal dragon could have leveled anything it wanted, and we would have been powerless, but it attacked there. Was that an accident?"

Shining Armor hesitated, his steps slowing a moment before resuming with purpose. "I have to try to defend our people. Go back downstairs. This is my job."

"Too bad, I plan to use the telescope anyway." She stuck out her tongue at him. "And Flurry Heart wants some fresh air, don't you?" The foal made some agreeable babbling noises, safely secured to Cadance's side.

The conversation died. The couple advanced up the many stairs, arriving on the roof soon enough. While Shining Armor went off to start his shield, Cadance approached the telescope there and turned it towards the incoming menace. "Now let's see..." She peered through it, glad it wasn't near the sun.

It took some time panning around, but she found it. "Oh..." It didn't look like the other metal dragons. She was certain it was metal, but... "What... is that...?"

Flash glanced to the side where the prisoner was. He was on guard duty, for an alien. "So..." He wasn't as good as some other guards at just standing there silently. "What are you in for?" It was a terrible line. He knew what the alien was in there for, but...

There was no reply, but the alien was looking at him. That was something, right?

"It'll be lunch time soon... Want me to put in any special orders?"

It was watching him, but didn't reply.

"The cooks are pretty good at their job. Just have to ask them for anything." Flash Sentry saw something, a little something. Was it listening? "Hey, look, I'm sure you were... doing whatever your job is. I get that. We all have jobs." He put a hoof at his chest. "I'm a guard. I guard things. Right now, I'm guarding you, maybe from boredom? Boredom's a terrible foe and one I face on a daily basis, so don't worry, I have experience."

It smiled, just a little bit. Flash returned the gesture, hope lifting. "So, seriously, we'll get whatever you want for lunch. You have to be criminally bored with the default slop. I would hate for you to think that's all we know how to make." He looked over the crystal walls of the jail block, but there was only one prisoner at the moment, the biped that hid under the blanket. "Say, you want some clothes?"

There was some reaction. "I'll bring by a seamstress and get you measured. If we make them, there won't be weapons, so what's the harm?"

"(Confirmed 3 down,)" came in over the radio.

"(Not seeing others.)"

"(President secure?)"

"(Door is locked and unchallenged,)" came a new voice. There were many serviceman on high alert.

"(We have several injured men.)"

"(ETA to landing? What was that course correction?)"

"(Radio the pilots.)"

So they did.

In the cockpit, the mare kept the gun levelled, a second joining it so she could threaten both pilots at once.

"(Status report? Condition appears stable back here, you can unlock the doors,)" came spilling out of one of the radios.

One of the pilots glanced back at their hijacker. "(They want an answer.)"

She had no idea what either of them was saying. "Go." She pointed firmly. She would steal the entire metal dragon. Wouldn't that be an achievement?

The pilot dared to go for it. What were the odds their hijacker had any idea what button did what? He casually reached over, flicking switches that wouldn't hurt anything as he did so, all part of flying a plane. He rested his finger on the radio. He was live, but he didn't talk right away.

"Keep going," she huffed out. "I thought this thing was fast."

"(I can't understand you,)" replied the pilot, hoping the conversation would carry more than enough meaning for the others on the aircraft.

Uneasy quiet settled over the cabin with the low roar of the engines there to interrupt the silence.

The door burst open, but the men didn't charge. They pointed their guns, sure, but they didn't fire either. The risk was too high. "(Freeze!)"

The mare vanished. One of the two men that had arrived entered. "(Are you both alright?)"

"(We're fi--)"

A shot fired. The mare had appeared just behind them and the shot drew a grunt from the serviceman that was clutching his side where he had been caught. "(Damn it...)"

"(Last mistake.)" He could fire without risking hitting aircraft equipment and sending the plane into an uncontrolled crash. He began to fire at her as quickly as the gun allowed. She vanished to appear just a bit to the left, then a bit to the right, dodging the bullets with a growing smile, until she got the timing wrong and staggered. Blood trickled down the back of her hind left leg where she had managed to teleport into a bullet and it ripped its way free of her.

"(Freeze!)" More of them were arriving, guns drawn and pointed at the slumping pony. She closed her eyes with a sigh, her guns falling to the ground, released from her magic. She was ready for the finishing blow to come.

Cadance's ears went up. "It's turning away."

"What?" Shining Armor's horn stopped its fierce glow. He raced over to join Cadance and peek through the telescope. Sure enough, the metal dragon was making a wide turn away from the empire. "Huh... we... win?"

Cadance's smile was less genuine than her husband. "We didn't lose, dear... I don't think we've ever... won. Still, I am glad. Let's go back downstairs."

"Luna definitely won," he countered as they started walking together. "She broke a bunch of their metal dragons, remember? And stole their weapons."

Cadance pointed where the huge dragon was flying away. "They have more of them. She made them angry. This war will be the end of us, and I mean that as literally as possible."

"Don't be that way." He gently pressed against her, kissing Flurry Heart. "We have to have faith at least, in ourselves, and our friends. We'll make it through this."

"I can only hope."

The eldest felt the ground move again beneath them. "Very well... I am Star Swirl, the Bearded." He raised a hoof to run along his defining beard. "And I am not your prisoner. You are mine. You seem a reasonable sort, for a not pony. Can we do this without ugly violence?"

"I would prefer that, but I would prefer we not continue down that line."

"Not for me to determine, unfortunately. This will not hurt." He wrapped his magic around the president, and both vanished.

The door would open soon after. The airplane had been verified clear of active combatants. "(Mister Pres...)" There was no president there to allow out. There was nothing. They had won the battle for the plane and lost the one thing they were supposed to keep safe. He reached for his earpiece. "(President is vacant! I repeat, he's gone!)"

"(Gone? He was in a room that can't be unlocked, and you were standing in front of the door.)"

"(This one here kept jumping around. I think they can teleport.)"

"(How do you secure against that?)"

"(I don't think you do.)"

"(Shit.)"

The man lowered his hand to fall limply at his side. He had failed... He raised the shaking hand to his ear. "(Tell me we have prisoners to question.)"

"(Several. Gentlemen, we fucked up, but we're not giving up.)"

Noises of agreement filtered in as other men voiced their support.

They would have to start interrogations the moment they were on the ground and somewhere a touch more secure than the plane that had already been violated once before.

Author's Notes:

That could have gone both better and worse, I think.