//------------------------------// // Found and Lost // Story: Starbound // by Rytex //------------------------------// Starbound Chapter 12 - Found and Lost There it was, sitting before her. Its beautiful oceans, the shape of the Zebrican continent, the icy reaches of Yaktakistan, the unmistakable Equestrian continent, and the mountains of Griffonia to the west.  All arrayed before her, waiting for her. Beckoning to her. ”Twilight?” It was a call she answered, flapping her wings as powerfully as she could, trying desperately to fly toward it.  And she was flying. the wind whistled past her ears, ruffling her mane and tail, as she pushed and pushed toward the planet with all her might… ”Twilight, can you hear me?” ...but it only seemed to grow farther and farther away... “TWILIGHT!” The scene exploded into a glimmer of light-blue stars around her.  She was no longer chasing after a retreating planet. Instead, she was standing in a void, pure and white, but shapes began to form around her.  A round bed, purple walls, moon-shaped symbols… ...and a blue alicorn. Twilight's mouth fell open. “Princess Luna!” she exclaimed, as the contents of Luna’s room became clearer, as did the alicorn herself. Luna broke into a wide smile as soon as Twilight bounded toward her and tackled her to the ground in a back-breaking hug, something she eagerly returned. “We are immensely relieved to see thou art unharmed,” Luna said, sounding every bit as pleased as Twilight felt.  “We felt your dreams only a few nights ago, but we could not reach you. But Tia, thy friends, and thy family were most relieved to hear that thou wert alive and searching for us.” “I guess we must be getting close,” Twilight mused aloud.  “If this is the first time you’ve felt me in months…” “We have been searching this entire time, and truth be told, we almost gave up hope of finding thee,” Luna admitted, but she grinned again, “yet our fears were unfounded; here thou art!” “You’re doing that old-time speech again, Luna,” Twilight gave her an amused look.  “We talked about this.” “Our-- my apologies,” Luna grinned sheepishly.  “Old habits and all. Tia says it took her close to sixty years to fully lose it.” “So you’ve found me, right?  Does that mean you can guide me home?” Twilight asked hopefully. “Neigh,” Luna shook her head sadly.  “We are in the dream realm right now.  Physical locations mean next to nothing, though you must be in a certain range for us to touch like this.  We speak via my dream magic, but I still have no idea where you are located.” “I’m in Sector Delta,” Twilight told her. Luna just blinked uncomprehendingly at her. “Oh, right,” Twilight grinned sheepishly.  “There’s a lot to get everyone caught up on.  There are whole civilizations out here! There’s an entire city where different races meet!  Humans, hylotl, florans, avia, apex…” “These names mean nothing to us,” Luna reminded her.  “Perhaps when you get back, you can enlighten us as to all you learned.  What happened on that first day, anyway? What went wrong?” “I was attacked,” Twilight said, remembering the day, a day that had been so full of promise. “By whom?  Who would attack you?” Luna queried.  “You were just an explorer.” “Luna, we have a lot to learn out here,” Twilight answered with a trace of sorrow.  “It’s… savage, to say the least. There’s an entire organization of xenophobic members of one race that are currently terrorizing half the galaxy.  I got attacked by sentient spacefaring penguins!” An odd expression crossed Luna’s face, as though torn between disbelief and amusement.  “Penguins?” “Yes, Luna, penguins,” Twilight affirmed.  “Genetically modified, experiment-gone-wrong type penguins.   And as I understand it, they attacked me just because I was helpless.” Luna remained silent at that, pondering her words, but Twilight continued. “I have seen places you wouldn’t believe, heard stories that scare me, and all the while, I’m actually starting to wonder if it is even a good idea for me to even find Equus again.” “How could you come to such a conclusion?” Luna asked, aghast.  “This world is your home! Your friends are here! You are a very important figure to us!” “Because of all of the terrible things I’ve seen,” Twilight answered with a shrug.  “A race on its last legs due to that xenophobic organization, people living in fear…” “People?” Luna tilted her head. “It’s… how they refer to themselves,” Twilight explained.  “I’m hesitant to continue searching because there’s no guarantee I won’t be leading someone who wants to do us harm right to our doorstep.  Equus is my home, and that’s why I want to keep it safe.” Luna looked as though she could not believe her ears. “Is there nothing redeeming about the realm beyond our system?” she asked.  “You are a mare who could see past Tempest Shadow to the good within her. Is there truly nothing redeemable?” “There’s plenty redeemable,” Twilight replied, clearly annoyed that Luna was taking her statement that the realm beyond was savage a bit too far.  “Luna, it really is beautiful out here. And to see so many races cooperating to build something greater is extraordinary. But I do not wish to come home until it is safe.  I am the only pony out here, and I am well-aware that some of the beings have taken notice of me. I have allies that will help, but not everyone out here wants to see me unharmed.” “I see,” Luna frowned.  “I will speak with Celestia about this.  I fear our time is short, but we will speak again soon now that we may contact you.  There is something that I believe you need to see.” Luna’s room around them changed.  Now, they stood out in space, and all around them were massive ships, grey and dull, and very rectangular in shape, but with no shortage of weapon arrays along their sides.  Twilight recognized that some of them looked like different-colored, larger versions of Jack’s ship, and the Ulysses was supposedly a distinctly human design. But then her eyes fell onto it. There was a massive construct, also rectangular like the ships, but at its center was a round indentation, as if it had been scooped out.  Arrayed all along the sides of the massive station were several hangar bays, no doubt for the ships flying in and around the station. All along the back of the station were colossal afterburners and engines, which Twilight felt would give the ship impressive mobility for its size, and she could see smaller propulsion engines along each side, no doubt for strafing or turning. “What do you know of this?” Luna asked.  “We saw this fleet in our nightly star-gazing only a few nights ago.  Are they friend or foe?” “I… don’t know,” Twilight said, trying to scrutinize the ships for some kind of tell.  “One moment.” She continued to look around, even at different ships.  There had to be some kind of branding on them somewhere! But then she saw it.  Blocky black lettering on the grey of one of the smaller ships, and her heart stopped. “Twilight, are you okay?” Luna asked, concerned. She had gone rigid and pale, her eyes wide. The owner of this fleet was the USCM. “Luna,” she said in a small voice, “these… these are not friends.”  She took a moment to take a few deep breaths. It wouldn’t do well to show fear in this one place where she couldn’t be harmed.  When she was sure she was calm again, she continued. “Do everything you can not to attract their attention.  The USCM are an organization that want to establish human superiority over all other races, even going to far as to imprison, torture, and kill even fellow humans who side with other races.” “These ‘humans’ sound as though they are quite a monstrous race,” Luna frowned.  “Of course other races would have those who view their own kind as being more deserving of life and luxury than others, but to kill members of their own species over disagreeing?” “Not all humans are bad,” Twilight replied firmly.  “In fact, most of them aren’t, but the ones that are are dangerous.” “You sound as though you speak from experience.  Have you met a human?” “I am currently traveling with one,” Twilight nodded.  “He saved my life, and he has been helping me try to find Equus for the past few months.” Luna nodded her head thoughtfully.  “Very well, I will take your word for it.  Our time speaking is at an end. I will tell Celestia of everything we’ve discussed here.  Have you anything to pqass along to your family and friends?” Twilight grinned at the thought of all of her loved ones.  Hopefully, she would see them again soon. “Only that I love them all and I am fine.  Goodbye, Princess.” “Until we speak again, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Luna bowed, and all around them, the dream faded. Jack had come into this facility with complete and total distrust of every single member of the organization.  Yet here they were, two weeks later, and any distrust he’d had was gone. Captain Jensen, it seemed, was truly a man of his word, and Ross had proven that in the years since they had all fled Earth, he had hardly changed.  The people hiding out on this planet did appear to be doing their best to help non-humans escape from the wrath of the USCM. According to Ross, there had been a large number of hylotl they’d had to get off of a nearby planet not all that long ago due to some catastrophe that no one seemed sure about.  What was unmistakable, however, was that something had caused the northern ice cap to almost totally melt at an unprecedented rate, and the average temperature of the water to suddenly spike, as well as laying waste to several hundred thousand square miles of developed hylotl cities at the bottom of the sea. None of the hylotl seemed to know what had happened.  Suddenly they had been hit with something, and then suddenly everything was in uproar.  Millions were dead, millions more were dying, and the planet was rapidly becoming uninhabitable. Where the victimized hylotl were being taken, he didn’t know, but there was little doubt just who was responsible. So when Twilight and Jack approached Captain Jensen and requested a Starmap for Sector Chi, he just responded by staring at them. “I promise you, I’m asking this in total seriousness,” Jack assured him, but that did absolutely nothing to affect Captain Jensen’s look. “You want me to give you a Starmap that would lead you right into the heart of their territory?” he raised his eyebrows.  “Do you know what will happen if you are found?” “We won’t be,” Jack said rather forcefully, as if daring the captain to retort. The command center of the base had a very nice view of the surrounding landscape, with the black starry sky, framed by red at the horizons.  Alien trees with brown leaves littered the ground around them, but due to the height of their current building, they could see over and around the surrounding land with ease.  It was a very strange environment, to be sure, but the view was nice. No doubt how they found us, thought Jack, thinking back to how quickly they were surrounded after their battle with the Bone Dragon. “And how can you be so sure of that?” the captain crossed his arms and met his gaze with a challenging look of his own.  “We found you. We found your warp trail and used it to plant coordinates of this planet on your ships, and look at the size of this outpost.” He gestured to everything around him, and the commandeered Apex facility in general. “Now imagine if the USCM, with all of its power and resources, dedicated itself to tracking you down.  Look me in the eye and tell me they won’t find you.” “If they only used the Equestrian ship, they couldn’t.” That voice had not come from either Twilight nor Jack, but instead, Ross.  The lieutenant came dashing into the command center at an astonishingly-appropriate time, and carrying a tablet that he thrust into the captain’s hand. “What?” asked Twilight, Jack, and the captain all as one. “We’ve been studying your ship for the last few days now,” Ross explained to Twilight.  “Its design and technology are rather alien to us, after all. While it is similar to ours in a lot of ways, some of the ways it does things are just… unheard of!” “How do you mean?” Twilight suddenly frowned.  “What have you done to my ship?” “We have done nothing to it, you can inspect it and see for yourself,” he said hastily before the angry lilac alicorn could find a reason to incinerate him for tampering with the Enterprise, “but we have been running some tests, such as studying how it warps.  And we’ve found out that your ship is so energy efficient, it leaves behind no warp trail.” “Wait, what?” both Jacks did double-takes. Ross just flipped the tablet around to show a grid of data recorded by the team performing these experiments. “Ten tests, zero warp trail.  I couldn’t believe it either.”  He looked over at Twilight. “When your kind join us among the stars, the design you used could revolutionize the way ships are built.  It’s incredible! And we can barely even begin to understand it!” “Barely begin--” she mouthed, before turning to her Jack.  “But you repaired my ship after Dreadwing’s attack!” “Yeah, but only the parts I knew about,” he answered.  “There was a ton of stuff in your ship that I couldn’t make head or tail of.  And most of your damage was concentrated on your engines and warp drive, both of which proved to have similarities enough that I could fix.” “So the ship leaves behind no warp core,” the Captain gave Ross an intrigued look.  “Then how did we find their ships?” “Jack’s ship,” Ross answered.  “Viers and Piett traced the warp trail left by his at-the-time Sparrow-class vessel.” “Can confirm,” one of the workers said, raising a hand.  Jack had seen him around, but the only time he had met Viers and Piett was then they had been there the time he had first tried to strangle Jensen, wearing armor so that he couldn’t see their faces. “So…” Jensen folded his hands together under his chin.  “You are telling me that, while Jack Thomas’ ship is fairly typical, Twilight Sparkle’s ship is, for all intents and purposes, untraceable?” “Exactly,” Ross nodded.  “Unless there’s a tracking device inside or on the hull, naturally, but by warp trail analysis, she cannot be followed.” He turned to the equine princess. “When your kind are active in the galactic landscape, I can only imagine just what other innovations you can bring,” he said, positively beaming as he imagined the possibilities. “If I find our planet again,” Twilight reminded him, giving the captain a meaningful look. The captain just shook his head.  “This is a bad idea.” “You won’t be involved, Captain,” Twilight said.  “I must find my home. The USCM are out there, and for all I know, they could have already found it.” “You don’t know that.” “I’m not willing to risk it,” Twilight retorted. With that, the captain tossed his hands.  “Fine. I’ll let you borrow a Sector Chi starmap.  There’s almost no data on it, mind you, since the USCM have been very good about keeping others from spreading information on the sector, but that’s all I can offer.  And I suppose if you use the Enterprise, you’ll be as safe as you can be.” “We were just going to do it anyway,” Twilight said, before looking back at Jack.  “Right, Jack?” “Well, you were, and I was going to get dragged along… but what you gonna do?” Jack shrugged unhelpfully. Three weeks after their arrival on the splinter USCM base, and a week after their departure, they had once again resumed searching for Equus.  Captain Jensen had been right. There was almost zero information on Sector Chi whatsoever. All that was known was how many planets were in each system and what kind of star they orbited. And when they searched for Equus in the Enterprise’s computer banks, they had found a whopping sixty-two systems that matched it. “Hoo boy,” Jack ran a hand through his ginger hair, the glove of his new Universalist armor gliding through his locks with ease.  “Lot of systems to cover. Lucky they gave us all that fuel.” “Mhm,” Twilight dipped her head, but she frowned all the same as she stared at the Enterprise’s navigation console. “What’s up?” “That many planets, and the USCM are out here somewhere,” she said quietly.  “And from what Princess Luna has told me, they’re within scoping sight of Equus.” “Hang on, who?” Jack asked. “Princess Luna,” repeated Twilight, trotting over to her pilot’s seat and queueing up the coordinates for one of the systems.  “She’s Princess Celestia’s sister, alicorn of the Night and the Moon, and she’s been trying to keep watch over the stars to find me.” “How do you know this?  You haven’t exactly been to Equus since--” “Really?  I hadn’t guessed,” snapped Twilight, before she winced.  “Sorry, that was uncalled for.” “‘s alright,” Jack shrugged. “Princess Luna can enter ponies’ dreams.  I’ve seen her twice now, the first being once while we were back at Captain Jensen’s base.  She reached out to me while I slept, and we were able to exchange information.” “So what’s this about them being within scoping sight of Equus?” Jack asked, following along so far. “She has seen them, Jack,” Twilight answered, and he could hear a note of fear in her voice.  “They’ve got several hundred ships. There’s a monstrous battlestation! And they’re close enough that she can see them.” “You’re worried you might lead them to your home?” “I am,” she nodded.  “You spent all this time telling me how we needed to be careful out here, and now I know why.” “Hey,” he stepped beside her chair as the Enterprise entered warp, and ruffled her mane, causing her to shiver.  “It’ll be alright. Remember, they can’t track your ship through warp.  If we stumble upon them, all we have to do is warp away before they can do anything about it.  And when we find Equus--” “If--” “When we find Equus,” he overrode her, “we can alert Terra Stella and the other organizations of its existence, and get your planet protected.” His optimism motivated them for the next three fruitless days of their search.  The systems dwindled, bit by bit, but never did Jack lose hope. Twilight honestly had to wonder just what inspired the change in him.  Was it because they were right there? Was it because they were so close and the end was in sight? “Thirty-seven systems left,” Jack said, as he continued to push the coordinates to her pilot console, where she input them and sent them off.  “Almost halfway through the lot.” “We’re going to need to take some time to refuel,” she said, glancing at her fuel gauge.  “I have six warp jumps left.” “So, five more systems and then a visit to the base again.” Jack noted, scrolling through the list of coordinates.  “Should we call it a day?” “We’ve only been up for six hours,” Twilight replied.  “It’s only 1:34PM Terra Stella time. Getting tired already?” Jack shrugged.  “Not really. My eyes are, but I’ve got energy.  Maybe we should switch places.” “No,” she answered, a playful grin as she looked back.  “This is my pilot seat.  If you wanted to fly, you could have brought the Ulysses.” The ship exited warp with a bang, the sun and five planets arrayed around it coming into view.  They had come out of warp in a top-down position relative to the plane the system was on, and instantly started to beeline straight toward the third planet, as always. “You know why we can’t do that,” Jack reminded her with a bemused look.  “We don’t want the USCM tracking us.” He glanced down at the scanning console. “Two habitable planets here.  One of them is the third one, like you said, and the other is the second.  That sound familiar?” Twilight scrutinized the planet coming into view as the ship shot toward it. “We never colonized the second planet, even though its climate is very much like our own, but yeah, we do have two habitable planets.  But I’m still not getting my…” she trailed off as she looked out at the planet as it came into focus. “Your…?” Jack asked, glancing over. She said nothing, continuing to look out.  Her mouth had parted, and he could see her leaning forward, just barely. “Twilight?” “That’s it,” she said softly. “Do what?” “That’s it,” she repeated, louder, and he could see the beginnings of a smile tug at her mouth.  “That’s it!” she suddenly shouted, leaping out of her chair to grab him and drag him to the viewing port.  “That’s Equus, look!” She jabbed her hoof at planet they were flying toward.  He could see continents, he could see ice caps, he could even make out a few tiny satellites orbiting the planet, and the moon, barely visible over one of the sides of the planet, orbiting rather close to the planet in question. “It’s Equus!  We’ve made it!” she then hugged him, with every bit of her alicorn strength.  “We’ve found it!” As Jack groaned in pain, she suddenly backed off and flew over to the communications console and started establishing a connection with some base on the ground. “Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on!” she huffed impatiently as the connection continued to establish, the red indicator blinking to show that it was still in progress. Until it turned green. “Hoofston Space Center, this is the E.S.S. Enterprise!” “Enterprise, is that really you?” came a voice from the console, pure disbelief in every syllable.  “We lost contact with you months ago! How did you find us!?” “It’s a long story, Hoofston, but right now, I’m just ready to dock and see home again.” “Copy.  Princess, you have no idea how good it is to hear you again.” Twilight’s smile turned into a dreamy one of relief.  “Welcome to my world, Hoofston. I’d almost lost hope of ever finding you.” However, something interrupted the conversation.  A blinking red light on the communications console got Jack’s attention. “Twilight, hold on,” he said, pulling up information about the signal.  “I’m getting an incoming message.” “Princess?  Who is that voice?” the beings on the other end said. “It’s Jack Thomas,” Twilight replied.  “He’s been helping me find my way back.” “Twilight,” Jack said sharply, eyes widening, “it’s from Terra Stella.” Twilight’s mouth parted.  “Terra Stella? What’s going on?” “I don’t know.  It’s got an audio message.” “Hoofston, can I put you on hold?” “Sure thing, Princess,”  Hoofston replied, whoever he was.  “We’ll alert the Princesses that you’ve been found.” “Go ahead Jack,” she motioned with a hoof. Jack nodded, silenced the current transmission, and then put the distress signal on. “--ysses and Enterprise!  Come in!  This is Timaeus with the Terra Stella Peacekeeping Corps with an urgent message!  Respond immediately, over!” Jack enabled communications at once. “Timaeus, this is the Enterprise, we copy.” “Mr. Thomas, we need you to get to Terra Stella as soon as possible, at the latest before the end of the week.  And bring Twilight Sparkle with you. There’s a serious problem.” “Whoa, whoa, slow down, Tim,” Jack frowned, staring at the screen intently.  “What’s going on?” “The USCM have delivered us an ultimatum, to either deliver you to them or to face their wrath,” Timaeus said.  The first thing Jack noticed was that Timaeus didn’t snap at him for calling him “Tim” again. “They want us to deliver them to you at the end of the month.  We need you here as soon as possible so we can get you to a safe place.” “Wouldn’t the safest place for us be away from Terra Stella?” Jack asked.  “If the USCM are looking for us, and they’re currently at Terra Stella…” “A valid point,” Timaeus conceded, “but consider, would you be safer with or without military power in front of you?  The USCM know Twilight Sparkle exists and are actively on the hunt for the both of you.” Jack and Twilight met each other’s gaze. “What do you think?” he asked her. “Why are you asking me?” Twilight asked. “I’m leaving this up to you,” he got up from the communications console and started to pace.  “We’ve found your world. There’s nothing else for you to do out here. You owe us nothing, and if you were to stay here, there’s a good chance the USCM wouldn’t be able to find you.” “I…” she glanced out of the viewing port toward her planet down below.  “I can’t do that,” she shook her head. “You say I owe you nothing, but Jack, I do.  If it wasn’t for the people at Terra Stella, like Jason, or Timaeus, we never would have found Equus.” “Twilight, if you go and they capture you, they’ll torture the location of this planet out of you.  They may very well try to extract it from your ship if they capture it.” “I will never allow them to know,” she said firmly, stamping a hoof for emphasis.  “I would rather die than give them the power to enslave or exterminate my race.  But I cannot let innocent people be in danger just because I exist.” “You want to go help Terra Stella?” “Are you surprised?” she asked, giving him a raised eyebrow. “No,” Jack smiled wanly.  “Just want to make sure we’re on the same page here.  I figured you’d never let anyone come to harm through inaction, and I was prepared for it.” Twilight stared at him for a moment. “Prepared… how?” Jack responded by walking over to her ship’s storage locker and opening it, revealing some shiny new pieces of armor, both a human set and an equine set. Twilight’s mouth parted.  When did he have the time for this?  And what metals were these? The equine set of armor was primarily blue, with a pit of purple trim here and there.  The helmet was a fully-encasing helm, with an orange visor, and would no doubt feature a heads-up-display like some of her earlier armors had.  Conversely, the human armor was a deeper purple, with blue trim. “Thanks to medical data collected by the Delta Outpost,” Jack said, brushing her equine armor, “they were able to craft this armor for you out of Ferozium, and it apparently ought to help augment your magical abilities, if they’re to be believed.” “How?” Twilight asked, still staring at the armor in astonishment.  “They know nothing about Equestrian physiology.” “I guess that’s what the studying was for,” Jack shrugged.  “My armor’s made of Violium, which means it can take better hits than the durasteel armor I had before.  Might even survive a grenade explosion, unlike last time,” he remarked. grimacing a bit as he recalled that particular blast and its aftermath.  “I had a feeling we’d need to use it. And now we can.” “You make it sound as though we’re seeking out a battle,” Twilight observed, eyebrows furrowing. “I’m not,” Jack answered, and shrugged, “but I’m pretty certain it’s a good idea to be prepared in case a battle comes to us.” “Fair enough,” Twilight dipped her head.  “Timaeus?” “Yes, princess?” “We’ll get there as soon as possible.” “Very well.  Stay safe, and do not do anything to attract unwanted attention,” the apex cautioned over the intercom.  “Until you get here and until this mess blows over, keep a low profile.” “Aww, you really do care about us,” Jack grinned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Timaeus replied, but Jack knew better. “We’ll be there as soon as possible,” he promised.  “Enterprise out.” With that, Twilight flipped a switch on the Communications console, returning the conversation to Hoofston down below. “Hoofston, I’m afraid I’m going to have to delay my homecoming a bit longer,” Twilight said over the mic.  “There are hundreds of other planets out here, and civilizations the likes of which you wouldn’t believe. And right now, one of them needs my help.” Hoofston was quiet for a moment, though Jack could hear some chatter in the background as everyone reacted to her statement.  They couldn’t have been happy that she was leaving so soon. “I suppose nothing we say will change that, will it?” came the voice of mission control a moment later.  “Princess Celestia won’t be happy about this, you know.” “She’ll understand,” Twilight replied firmly.  “She did teach me to look out for those who need help, after all.  I will be back soon,” she promised, and then added, “but only once I can be certain Equus is in no danger from the menace attacking the civilization in question.” “Roger that, Enterprise.  Shall we pass along a message to the Princesses on your behalf?” “Yes, please,” Twilight answered.  “Tell them that I have found home, and will see everyone again soon.  I won’t be off the radar anymore.” “Roger that.  Mission control out.” And like that, communications cut off.  Jack dipped his head as Twilight deactivated the console. “Well alright then,” he said, pulling out the Ferozium helm of her armor and tossing it to her.  “Suit up, and let’s get to Terra Stella.” The Enterprise popped into existence near the planet Terra Stella was located on, with its deep green surface, and the myriad of ships circling it, but Jack noticed an inordinate number of ships warping away compared to usual. Not good, he thought.  “Twilight, move the ship behind that moon, there,” he pointed at one of the planet’s two moons, this one being the closest to the planet, kept roughly the same distance from the planet as the moon that orbited Equus. Twilight complied, piloting the ship around to the side of the moon facing away from the planet.  It was just within transporter distance of the city, but kept hidden away. “When we’re down on the planet surface, put the ship in emergency low-power mode,” Jack frowned, as a sudden wave of unease came over him.  “Something’s wrong.” “The USCM made an ultimatum against the city, right?” Twilight stared out as the moon started to hide the planet form view, though there were still ships warping out of sight within view.  “Looks like everyone’s getting away. The news must have broke.” After the ship was safely hidden away, they beamed down and started to walk through the city.  In stark contrast to the armored pony and human striding confidently (if a bit hastily) through the city, everything else was a mess of chaos.  Beings everywhere were beaming aboard ships, trying to escape in light of the threat. The TSPC had deployed troops everywhere, including several of the new Fatal Circuit models to try and maintain order, but it was failing miserably. “Is turning on low-power mode a good idea?” Twilight asked him as they headed for a taxi platform to get to the TSPC headquarters.  “If something happens, it can only beam one of us aboard at a time, and then it has to recharge. I think full power mode would be best, given the situation.” “Fair point,” Jack nodded.  “My main concern is what happens if they find it during a scan.  Because if they do, there goes our ride.” “With how many ships are warping out, I doubt they’ll be able to find a needle in a haystack,” Twilight responded. “Also a fair point.” Taxis were still in operation, which was a blessing considering most of them were completely automated, but on loading up, Jack received a message from Timaeus, asking him to head to the citadel. “Odd,” Jack said, frowning under his helmet.  “Why would he be there?” Twilight didn’t say, probably because she knew next-to-nothing about the citadel in question, or why it would be odd for Timaeus to be there, but if she felt the same unease as him, she didn’t show it. Once there, they were met by an escort of four peacekeepers in white armor, and Timaeus, his uniform as prim and proper as ever. “Good to see you again, Twilight Sparkle, Jack Thomas,” the apex inclined his head to them as they approached, the peacekeepers taking up positions around them.  “This way, please. There’s quite a bit to get you up to speed on.” They were led up a lift and through several winding hallways as they navigated around the towering structure.  The passages of this place were labyrinthine, though for a center of military and government, Jack supposed they were by necessity. “So, this ultimatum,” Twilight broke the ice tentatively.  “What’s going on?” “A few weeks ago,” Timaeus said, brushing some of his facial fur away from his eyes with a gloved hand as they continued, “the USCM sent the High Council a video exhibiting their new battlestation, the Valkyrie.  They demonstrated it by firing a massive laser at the surface of a hylotl planet, devastating it and killing millions in an instant.” Jack felt his insides growing cold.  The aquatic planet the Delta outpost had been transporting hylotl off of… he thought.  No… no, it couldn’t be… “Their ultimatum was simple,” Timaeus continued.  “Hand the two of you over to them, or they would unleash its laser on Terra Stella.” He sniffed. “The High Council deliberated on such an obvious choice,” he shook his head.  “Without waiting for their approval, I started my work, reaching out to contacts and trying to salvage this situation.” They had arrived at a plain door that was labelled as being a conference room, identical to the many around it in this particular hall. With a weary sigh, Timaeus brushed his facial fur again. “Fortunately, my work appears to be paying off.  It appears as though we may no longer have to worry about the USCM.  I’ve made a deal that should remove them as a threat to the city.” With that, he reached out and opened the door.  With a quiet hiss, it slid open. The room inside was rather plain, with a long table and several empty seats around it, and one human man sitting at the far end. He was wearing an immaculate white uniform with gold epaulets, with a white cap sitting on the table.  His hair was short and brown, his eyes a cool grey. His jaw was square, with high cheekbones and hollow cheeks peppered with some stubble.  As soon as the door opened, the man stood up, his eyes shifting to stare down at Twilight. A sudden mass of clicking got Jack’s attention, and he whirled around.  Their escort had leveled their weapons at them. Before Jack could even react further, he felt something cold touch him on his neck, in the gap between his helmet and armor. “Don’t do anything stupid, Mr. Thomas,” Timaeus said coolly.  “Any magical outburst out of you, Sparkle, and I will end his life right now.” Jack, hands trembling through a combination of fear and fury, slowly turned to glare at the Apex through his visor.  It was a good thing neither Timaeus nor that man could see his reaction. Twilight’s head was whipping every which way, no doubt trying to find a way out, but another clattering filled their ears. Soldiers of a different set of armor had appeared in each of the hallways, weapons raised and aimed at the two of them, cutting off any avenue for escape.  Unlike the white helmet-less armor of the Terra Stella peacekeepers, these were armored un a black metal, wearing full armor just like the two of them. The white branding “U.S.C.M.” on each one’s left breast was too stark to miss. “We would be honored if you would join us,” the man at the head of the conference table said, a slight mocking edge to it, as he gestured to the seats at the table.” Jack felt his helmet be wrenched off of his head, and once it was free, he saw out of his peripheral vision that one of the peacekeepers was doing the same to Twilight. His eyes, blazing with anger, met Timaeus’, who were a picture of cool serenity as he kept his pistol pressed against Jack’s neck. “Two lives versus the millions of this city,” Timaeus said.  “An easy choice to make.” His eyes left Jack’s. “I’m sorry.” Jack felt his jaw clench and his lips tighten.  As if that somehow made things better. “I’m sorry too,” he growled. With that, both of them were shoved into the conference room, the door sliding shut behind them, sealing their fates.