"Well," Twilight said, staring intently at the Chief, "What exactly do you mean by that?"
"Urm...Ok, so we shouldn't be going be anywhere. We really can't be going anywhere. There's quite literally nowhere left to go?!" Aurora started panting, her eyes contracting in panic. Seemingly from nowhere a mug of hot chocolate appeared in front of her wafting sweet aromas into her nose. "Oh...uh... thank you... sorry ma'am."
"Quite alright. Now go on, I'm very interested to see where your going with this."
"Right... so we all know there definitely nowhere left to go. You told us yourself that anything approaching a galactic landmark faded out six months ago." Aurora continued. "And navigation will tell us they're manoeuvring us between subspace spikes... but i can just tell we're not just drifting ma'am. The pony components are telling me otherwise."
"Sorry, pony components?"
"I know that sounds... look, the Doc has been flirting less and less over the last couple of months, Ember Glow has been eating increased amounts of muffins, and you've had me working on more specific systems than before...and."
"There are other examples?" Twilight said cutting Aurora off.
"Yes."
"So you think something is up because the crew is busy?"
"It's specifically the kind of busy one is when your preparing for something. Even if your not conscious of what that thing is."
"Aurora, maybe you need to take a week off, you've been..."
"NO!" Aurora suddenly snapped, her normally timid voice rising to shaking heights, "Whatever you are doing its happening soon. One week ago something changed; even the Eldritch Siblings are getting agitated and NOTHING shakes them up! So either you don't know whats happening or you're lying to us! And... And...And..."
Aurora suddenly stopped. As she looked at her princess she noticed just how old and tired Twilight seemed to have become over the last few minutes. Yet when Twilight looked back she had the same warm smile she always wore when she was proud of one of her ponies.
"You know something Aurora, I've always detested trying to be subtle, and if i'm honest... I've always sucked at it."
Plasma bolts spat and hissed, burning through the metal above Solar Spears Head. He grunted and continued to drag Helm through the maelstrom, flinging them both into a maintenance ditch and a crackling tendril swept across the floor around them.
Solar Spear looked up to find himself staring down the barrel of a pulse rifle. "Specialist put the gun down." He grunted, trying to make himself heard over the cacophony around them.
Opposite the trembling Jupiter slowly lowered the gun, almost looking at it as she hadn't even noticed she was holding it. Solar Spear grimaced as he saw the blue blood of the Tellos splatted across her face. "They... they don't want this... they..."
"I know I Know!" Solar Spear said pulling her lower as a chunk of machinery clattered above them. "Your the Specialist! How do we fix this?"
The chamber they were in was the central Mental Inter-link Processor for the entire planet, every iota of the Tellos's hive-mind was routed through this chamber. Hundreds of towering tanks, each glimmering with millions of Tellos Worms, sat towering like the plinths of a mighty temple. And sat in the middle, strung up like some horrid, necrotic spider was the Shadow.
It looked like a pony, but was off in a thousand tiny ways; The eyes sat wrong in sockets ever so slightly to large, coat and mane slicked in a fine layer of oil. Coiling pipes and wires plumbed it into the surrounding Tellos tanks, staining them poisonous purple.
It and Twilight were locked in a deadly struggle, shadow and light locking and breaking and locking together again. And through the storm of magic and gunfire its screeching voice could be heard.
"How does it feel Twilight? To face your Shadow once again!?"
"I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE!"