Heart of Courage

The two cygnul warriors stood from the table and walked around its edge towards the four helpless forms wriggling in the air. Magical bands of energy held Twilight Sparkle, James Fletcher, and two griffon guards in an inescapable grip. Every single teleportation attempt by the lavender pony fizzled to nothing as it was blocked by the unique cygnul diplomat still seated in front of her.

While Twilight Sparkle’s impending death stalked across the room, a single resounding word emanated from her mind and filled the chamber. No! A surge of energy, centered at the point of the unicorn’s horn, burst forth, followed by a loud, ear-splitting crack. The restraints binding her blew outwards, and the cygnul envoy screamed out in pain. Wide-eyed surprise replaced the frustration and fear on the pony’s face as she fell towards the ground.

Another flash of her horn, accompanied with a lurid electronic pop, and Twilight’s fall stopped short of the steel floor deck. Hovering in midair, her pupils dilated a split second before they produced a radiant purple blaze of light, filling the room an eerie glow.

Every ceiling light detonated in a shower of sparks. A deep gong reverberated through the air, causing the steel deck to vibrate like the sound bow of a massive church bell. Twilight lowered her head slightly to stare at the cygnul to which she was psychically linked. The beast squeezed its claws on the edge of the table, sinking deep into the metal. Another rush of mental force crashed unsuccessfully into the unicorn’s barriers, washing over her as water on stone. My turn now. Twilight narrowed her eyes, pushed forward with her mind, and assaulted the cygnul entity at its source.

She slipped past the creature’s unprepared defenses, feeling an emotion very uncharacteristic of the cygnul; fear. For a moment, Twilight saw through the eyes of the source of control behind the cygnul. A wall of white light blinded her for a moment, but slowly, her sight returned. A wide expanse of stars had now replaced the dark steel bunker buried deep beneath the griffon colony. Turning around, she spotted a massive gaseous planet, similar in size to Charybdis, taking up most of her field of vision. Instead of a banded atmosphere of browns and yellows, a bright and motely combination of cherry-pink splotches peppered this gigantic Jovian world.

An eruption of superheated gasses vented outwards from a spot in the planet’s southern hemisphere. The flare arced across space before fizzling into a nebulous cloud, cooling to a deeper magenta against the black breadth of space. The point of discharge darkened slightly in color, matching half a dozen other unremarkable blemishes on the world. Her attention had been so focused on the new scenic view that an important observation had just registered in her mind. This planet has no shadow on it.

The entire face of the enormous world seemed to radiate a muted violet-red light. Thinking it was a trick of the mind; Twilight spun her vision around to search for the solar system’s star. Maybe it’s directly behind me, she thought, but when she had finished turning, she saw nothing but pinpricks of faraway stars sparkling where there should have been an in-system sun.

When she looked upwards, the unicorn tried to gasp with surprise. Wow! A massive stellar formation stretched above her; a bright orange eye encircled by an iris of crimson and incorporating a pupil of intense white light at its center. She stared for several long seconds before realizing how large the construct must be to extend so far across the sky. Twilight Sparkle suddenly felt incredibly small. She wished she could continue studying the formation when she sensed a foreign mental stab.

Twilight felt herself forced out of the cygnul entity’s mind, as the scenery around her faded to black before the room’s surroundings came into focus again. Back inside her own head, she became aware of her elemental power threatening to magnify out of control. Hovering in a bluish-purple corona, Twilight fought the wild and free magical energy rolling through her body that urged to be released to scour the room completely in an inferno. Imposing her will upon the flood coursing in her veins, she forced a majority of her power down into a small mote inside her chest while any excess bled off as light.

For a split second, all sound ceased in the room. Then, a roar filed the air, followed by an explosion of raw kinetic energy expanding rapidly from the floating pony. Though it reached out in all directions, she managed to focus most of its power forward at the three cygnul. The blast picked up the creatures and threw them forward to slam into the far wall, denting the thick steel bulkhead. Both warrior cygnul dropped to the ground, momentarily stunned, but alive. On the other hand, the unique cygnul did not fare as well. Sitting directly in front of the brunt of Twilight’s attack, the kinetic blast tore the lightly armored creature to pieces.

Unfortunately, the weakened but still powerful edge of Twilight’s spell smashed into James and the griffons. James somehow managed to activate his helmet, protecting his face from the blast, but the force slammed into his body with the energy of a sledgehammer. Thrown into a slide, he crashed into the side wall of the room before immediately rising to his feet. The two griffon guards struggled to right themselves, disoriented with flash blindness, and noses bleeding from the concussion.

Magic temporarily spent, Twilight crumpled in a heap to the floor. Without any remaining lights, darkness fell upon the room once the unicorn’s spell fizzled out. Breathing heavily, the unicorn pony struggled to her feet while her ears swiveled about, picking up sounds of the other room’s occupants moving around. To her right, one of the griffon guards activated a flashlight on his assault rifle, and the cone of light illuminated a cygnul warrior charging across the floor straight towards him.

Twilight gasped and recoiled as the thunder from the rifle filled the enclosed space. Turning around to run the other way, she slammed into something hard and bounced off with a cry of pain. As she hit the ground, whatever she had run into grabbed her and lifted her up over its shoulder. The pony struggled momentarily until she heard a familiar voice. “Come on, Twilight! We gotta go!”

The human ran towards the exit, using a light built into his suit to see. Behind the pair, Twilight watched one cygnul warrior slashing at a griffon on the ground, spraying blood across the floor. His partner ran forward, attempting to help, but he never noticed the second warrior sneaking up behind him.

The carnage vanished behind a sturdy metal door, kicked shut by James. He continued running until they reached a large freight elevator. Slowing his pace, he stepped inside and punched a button for the landing platform floor. During the pause, Twilight could feel James breathing hard as she lay across his shoulder. He laid a hand on her hoof. “Are you okay?”

Twilight did not answer right away, still in shock from the slaughter she had just witnessed. After a few seconds, she managed to murmur, “…yeah. I… I think so.”

James Fletcher lifted Twilight off his shoulder and set her down in front of him. She sat down on her haunches straightaway while he went down on one knee to look into her eyes. “Twilight,” the human started while patting her shoulder, “stay with me. You’re in shock now, but I need you to come back. I can’t get us both out of here on my own. I need your help. Can you do that for me?”

Though she nodded back, Twilight could not follow anything James said. Instead, she sat there, trying to comprehend what had happened. As the situation dawned on her, she took in faster and shallower breaths while tears formed in her eyes. Oh my Celestia, those poor griffons died back there and it’s all my fault. She let out a sob and shivers ran through her body. “I let them die!”

“No!” James roared, shaking her shoulder. “You are not responsible for that. If you had not acted, we would have all been killed.” Twilight Sparkle gazed dumbly at him, her mouth agape. “You need to snap out of it, Twilight. Remember your training. I need you to help me. I need you, here. Now. Can you do that for me?” The human stared at her for another moment, until she nodded. He gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder, then stood and faced the elevator door, back rigid and shoulders tense.

“Isamu, do you read me?” James spoke into a backup microphone on his wrist. A haze still clouded Twilight, but enough of her rationality remained to question why her friend didn’t use his regular communicator in his collar. “The cygs cut short our meeting. We need a pickup now. Authentication phrase is scarlet mantis. I repeat, scarlet mantis, over.” Pacing in the elevator, the human reached a wall and turned to walk the other way, allowing Twilight to see the damage to his armor. Thin cracks in the ceramic plating created an elaborate spider-web pattern up his right side, all the way up to his neck and through the helmet collar. Her eyes widened and she recoiled from the sight of the damage her spell had caused to her captain.

With a crackle of static from James’ wrist, the bored voice of Isamu filled the elevator. “Already in route, Captain. A couple cygnul drones attempted to dissuade me from coming to your aid. I am on my way now, over.”

“Are you okay? Did you take any damage?”

“Negative, but I should inform you we are flying several hundred rounds of ammunition lighter now.” Isamu’s calm demeanor clashed with the severity of the situation they were in, but his attitude triggered a ghost of a smirk on James’ face.

“Roger that. Alert the flotilla to sound general quarters and be ready to leave soon. We will meet you on the roof.” With that, James Fletcher lowered his forearm and faced Twilight to check on her. The unicorn gaped apologetically at the human. With the damaged right side of his armor sharply contrasting the pristine left half, his suit resembled some sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide monstrosity.

“I'm so sorry, James. I’m so, so sorry” Her voice cracked before a flood of apologies poured out of the pony’s mouth. “I lost control, and I was so scared, and I didn’t know what to do, and I….”

Interrupting her, James lifted Twilight’s chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “Stop. There was nothing we could do back there. You were drained from your spell, and there is no way we would have survived had we stayed. If you hadn’t lost control, then all of us would have died. I know it’s terrible that we couldn’t save the griffons, but we were unarmed and outmatched.”

The elevator continued trudging upwards as James’ words resonated. Twilight’s hopelessness and despair began to fade away, replaced by sorrow and anguish for the two lives extinguished in front of her. James stood and strode to the far side of the elevator before turning to face the door. “We need to get back to the Dash before they regroup.” The human then glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “Then we can lay some hurt on the cygs and get some payback.”

At this, a spark flared to life in Twilight’s chest. Her breathing slowed to deep, long breaths and she stood on all four hooves. The unicorn pony shook her head, tossing her dark violet mane side to side, closing her eyes in the process. Relaxing her tired muscles, she focused on the current predicament they were in. Concentrating on one fact at a time, she did not skim over the smallest of details. “James,” she started, catching his attention. “We succeeded in triggering the cygnul to break the neutrality pact with the griffons. Unfortunately, we made ourselves the target in the process.”

The human nodded. “They are sure to come after us again, but in force.” Twilight furrowed her brow and stared at the wall, deep in thought. Sensing something troubling the lavender pony, James interrupted her contemplations. “What’s bothering you, Twilight?”

With the slightest swaying of her head, the unicorn mare let out a sigh. “The incident back there with the cygnul…” she paused to dispel the scene of the two griffon’s gruesome deaths. James stood by, patiently waiting for her to continue. “When I retaliated the mental attack, I entered into the cygnul’s mind, and … I saw something.”

“Twilight,” James’s quiet voice broke the repeating monotonous sound from the elevator trudging ever on upwards. “No one has ever done that before. What did you see?” He asked, taking a step and leaning forward.

“It was strange. I saw stars at first but when I turned….” Twilight’s depiction of the invasion into the mind of the cygnul was interrupted when the elevator abruptly ceased its ascent, and began to plummet towards the ground. A loud metallic clang filled the elevator shaft with a racket loud enough to hurt their unprotected ears, and the drop halted almost as soon as it had begun. Caught off balance, James fell to the side and ended up sprawled on his back. Twilight had widened her stance reflexively when she felt the falling sensation and she managed to land upright on all fours, her knees bending to absorb the fall.

Striding forward, Twilight helped James climb to his feet before turning to study the elevator in an attempt to discover the reason for its emergency stop. The only sounds filling the room now were breathing and footsteps from the two sapients trapped in the metal cage. “Isamu, can you read me?” The human tried calling on his suit’s backup radio. “Isamu! Are you there?” For all the yelling he did, not even static replied over the speaker.

Twilight tried both of her radios, to no avail, causing lines of worry to crease the human captain’s face. “Did the griffons do this?” She asked with doubt. The contagious fear in the elevator’s atmosphere currently put the pony at unease.

“No,” James rubbed his chin and glanced at her. “Much worse.”

Cygnul! She let name remain unspoken as she grasped the fact that their hunters were not done with them. And now they have us trapped in a convenient location to deal with us at their leisure. Suppressing a shiver, Twilight noticed James attempting to climb up the corner, reaching for a panel in the ceiling.

“Come on, Twilight.” He pulled down the panel, revealing a wide trapdoor which he pushed open. The large metal grate swung around and impacted the roof of the elevator with a loud clang. The human braced himself and reached out towards her with an out stretched hand. Twilight tilted her head and shook it once, a small grin barely visible on her lips. She closed her eyes momentarily in concentration and a small spark of violet flared at the tip of her horn. A purple sphere encircled her and she floated herself through the opening and onto the roof of the elevator, landing lightly on her hooves. “Ah, yeah. Forgot about that.” James deftly pulled himself out of the lift, closing the door behind him.

Glancing up the elevator shaft, Twilight gulped nervously. The level for the landing pad sat hundreds of feet above the broken elevator. How are we both going to get up there? She furrowed her brow in thought.

Meanwhile, James had climbed the short vertical distance to the next floor and he currently strained against the thick steel plates, trying to force them to slide open. “Stupid… lockdown… argh!” Stopping to catch his breath, he examined the rewards of his exertion. A small crack, barely a centimeter wide, allowed a pulsing emergency light from the room above to illuminate the opening with a deep red light. An alarm from somewhere in the building blared out its irritating, incessant wail. “Twilight,” James peaked carefully through the hole, checking the corridor on the other side for threats. “Can you widen this with your magic? We can find a staircase and run the rest of the way up.”

Glancing once more at the height they would have to traverse via stairs, Twilight let out a sound of discontent. In that moment, she remembered a similar situation she had been in at the Crystal Empire back when King Sombra had been trying to take over, millennia ago in another life. “I have a better idea.” She strode to the wall beside James and lifted her front legs to push on the vertical surface. Closing her eyes, Twilight’s magic coalesced into an invisible aura large enough to encapsulate both her and the human. Her magic altered the gravitational force inside of the area around her, not breaking but rather bending the natural laws that governed the universe. Releasing the pent up energy, Twilight opened her eyes and climbed up the wall in front of her as the force of gravity swung around to now pull in a perpendicular direction from before.

Since James stood inside of the affected area of the spell, he felt the shifting of gravity along with Twilight. Pushing his arms over his head, the human righted himself, now standing on the side of the elevator shaft. He bounced on the balls of his feet, gaining a feel for the change in physics before grinning at Twilight. “Well, this isn’t something we did back in basic. Nice work, battle mage.”

Beaming at the compliment, the lavender pony nodded her head and turned back to stare at their destination in the distance. “Stay close to me, Captain. This spell doesn’t have a large range.” James nodded his head, and the pair began running along the wall, reverberations from their pounding steps echoed up the chamber. Twilight cantered alongside James, matching her speed to the slower human.

Up they went, with Twilight’s magic allowing them to reach the landing pad floor in a fraction of the time it would have taken normally. James reached the doorway first, laying down and pushing the two thick steel panels away from each other. Twilight stood to the side, focusing her concentration on the magical aura around her. She flinched at a slight twinge in the back of her mind, reminding her that she could not hold the spell indefinitely, especially after enduring that psychic assault earlier. Come on, James, hurry up.

As if reading her mind, something must have sheared off in the locking mechanism of the doors because with a shrieking protest of metal, James pushed hard enough to create an opening wide enough for them to use. Unfortunately, he fell victim to the new direction of gravity when his grip on either side of the entrance failed. With a short yell of surprise, the human dropped through the doorway and plummeted down the middle of the hallway on the other side. Eyes widening in shock, Twilight opened her mouth when Captain Fletcher dropped out from the encompassing area of her aura. He then proceeded to impact the ground with an audible oof, and tumble gracelessly a couple meters along the deck before stopping.

Carefully placing one hoof in front of the other, Twilight maneuvered onto the floor while adjusting her magical field until she made a clean transition back to normal gravity. The lavender unicorn released the spell, striding over and helping the human to his feet in the process. “Are you alright?” She held a hoof out for him to use as a support.

James shook his head, blinking his eyes rapidly before groaning. “I swear I’m not usually this clumsy.”

Glancing around the empty passage for threats, Twilight’s eyes jumped from shadow to shadow cast by the rotating emergency lights. “You’re probably still feeling the effects from that dark magic.” She cast a quick detection spell for any cloaking fields, both magically and conventionally powered. Sensing no danger, she returned her attention to the human. “What’s the plan?”

With enough free time to clear his head, James dropped to a knee and stared down the hallway. His eyes remained unfocused while he threw around ideas in his mind. “First, we need our guns.”

Nodding in agreement, Twilight closed her eyes and reached out with her magic in a direction not normal to their universe. Finding the small pocket dimension that lay nestled between planes of existence, she then focused on the string connecting the two. Energy flowed through the unicorn mare’s body to the point of contact at the tip of her horn as she widened the connection, allowing access to the two weapons inside. All of this occurred in a handful of seconds before the two firearms popped into reality once more. Twilight opened her eyes and levitated the Captain’s submachine gun to his outstretched hand while she kept her pistol pointing upwards next to her.

“You’re getting quicker at that.” The human performed a swift weapon check, prompting Twilight to do the same.

Smiling at the compliment, she wracked the heavy slide back once, loading one of the fat rounds into the chamber. The unicorn then took up position behind James, keeping her gaze off to the side before tapping his shoulder twice in rapid succession. He readied his pistol and began creeping forward silently, hugging the left wall while Twilight kept careful watch on their flank and rear.

Together, the pair moved as a cohesive unit, never allowing their gaze to linger in one direction for too long. The only sounds from the pair, twin vocalizations of the word clear, were nearly drowned-out by the wailing alarm. Twilight blinked rapidly at a drop of perspiration from her left eye, yet she refused to allow her attention to falter in order to dispel the burning sensation. Traveling down abandoned hallways in the griffon base, the only signs of life they found were bullet impacts and their resulting debris, indicating that some sort of firefight had occurred on this level. Much to her contentment, they did not come across any griffon casualties. I hope nopony was hurt.

Much quicker than expected, James halted in front of a familiar sight, a large steel plated door marked with the word Hanger. The human placed the exposed back of his hand right next to the metal surface for a few seconds to check for heat, before moving to the access panel. “Cover me, Twilight, while I get this open.”

With a barely perceptible nod of her head, the lavender pony took up position to protect the distracted human with her customary shield spell if anyone took a shot at them. Violet eyes shifted from various intersections and entranceways in front of her, straining to pick up any movement that might signify an attack. Meanwhile behind her, James let out a curse after a sharp cackle of electricity filled the air. The acrid smoke burned at Twilight’s nostrils, bringing a few tears to her eyes. She ignored both distractions, instead focusing on a dark shadow moving from one of the corridors down the hall. Oh, Celestia! Something is moving down there!

“Freeze! I will shoot!” Twilight yelled in a commanding voice. Her pistol now aimed in front of her face, while she simultaneously formed a protective quarter dome of magical energy between them and the shape. In reply, the shadow halted in its tracks, and a series of loud cracks accompanied a dozen rounds that poured down the passage. In the light of the weapon’s muzzle flare, twin turquoise eyes full of hatred stared into Twilight’s eyes. The unicorn flinched as her shield absorbed the kinetic energy from whatever projectile rifle the cygnul trained on her. Had she not put a barrier up, the cygnul weapon would have torn them to shreds.

Ignoring the painful magical feedback from the impacts on her shield spell, the lavender unicorn made good on her previous warning. The pistol barked twice in her telekinetic grip, sending one round an inch too high. Her second shot traveled too far left but when it hit the steel wall, the slug ricocheted and punched into the cygnul’s shoulder with a spray of ichor. Screaming in pain, the creature fell to the ground, allowing Twilight to see the rest of its compatriots moving down the hall behind it. Uh, oh….

“James?” The unicorn anxiously called over her shoulder. “We’ve got company.”

Having heard the deafening commotion taking place right behind him, he shouted back. “I’m on it!” Fighting his rising adrenaline levels and shaking hands, the human calmly cut and reattached wires behind the access panel to the hanger door. If he rushed, crossing the wrong cables could lock them out permanently. His eyes blinked reactively with every ear shattering shot the purple unicorn sent in answer to the cygnul barrage.

Twilight sent another four rounds down the passage into the oncoming squad of cyg soldiers, dropping two of them. Six shots left… five… four, she counted out the remaining ammunition in her only magazine. She paused with barely any ammo left and the unicorn made a showy act of carefully aiming down the weapon’s sights, as if lining up a kill shot. Her dramatic acting paid off, and the cygnul scattered for cover, taking quick potshots that flew wide of her shield. Before the cygs were able to regroup and force their quarry to use up more precious ammo, a chime sounded from the control panel on the wall and the thick hanger doorway slid upwards.

Wasting no time, the human-pony pair turned and dove towards safety, but one of the cygnul pulled off a lucky shot. The slug punched into the armor around Twilight’s neck, sending a wave of pressure through her shoulders. Oh, Celestia, I’m hit! Her hooves moved to her neck, anticipating the feeling of hot blood pouring from the wound but she felt nothing but broken ceramics and wires. James immediately pushed something on the computer panel inside the hanger, and the steel slab slammed back into the ground. Twilight’s chest heaved in and out, as she realized how close they had been to being cut down. I think I lost my helmet, but I’m still alive.

Shouts behind them interrupted the lavender unicorn’s relief, and they twisted around in time to watch a white feathered griffon peek over a stack of hard plastic chests and fire at some unseen enemy. The young, unarmored technician clutched tightly at his rifle, dropping its empty magazine and flinching when a series of impacts shifted the makeshift barricade. Shuffling a clawed hand at his belt, the griffon managed to almost drop a fresh magazine twice before finally slamming it home in the rifle.

It took several seconds for him to notice the pony and human crouched by the entrance in front of him. The three of them stared at each other, breathing silently, deciding if the other was an enemy. James calmly lifted a hand and displayed his open palm to the griffon. Attempting to diffuse the situation, he called over to the young soldier. “I think we are on the same side now. May we come over there and help out?”

The griffon’s eyes shifted uncertainty, worried that this was some kind of trap. Twilight felt sorry for him. His world had been turned upside down in a few minutes. According to the historical records on the Dash, the griffons had not seen a real war in hundreds of years. Their last war veterans had expired generations ago. The extent of their combat experience comprised of chasing off pirate raiders. Most griffons never expected to even fire a weapon in anger anymore.

Two loud impacts on the far side of the makeshift barricade forced the griffon to take a chance. “Ah!” He cried out before waving over the pony and human. Quickly, they moved to hide on either side of the technician. “The name’s Seres. My job is to keep the scout bikes in working order, not fighting some damn war your kind brought upon us!” He yelled over the cacophony of gunfire in the spacious room.

The other griffons were apparently doing a good job keeping the cygnul occupied, because fewer shots flew their way. For inexperienced soldiers, these griffons sure do well under pressure. Twilight was momentarily reminded of the more war-like griffons of her era.

Taking advantage of the lull in their part of the hanger, Twilight peaked over the scarred, hard plastic case. She scanned the room once before dropping down to avoid unwanted attention. “There are three cygnul hiding behind two stacks of boxes like this one, probably sixty yards across the bay.”

James nodded at her while he thought up a plan of attack. “Okay, Seres, you and I lay down half a dozen rounds of covering fire to keep their heads down.” The human pointed a finger at the griffon’s chest before turning his gaze to her. “Tw… Moondancer, I want you to step out and remove their barricade however best you see fit.”

The lavender unicorn poured over the lengthy list of magical spells she knew well. Judging them based on how useful they were versus the magical energy required, it helped narrow down the bracket to something easier to work with. There was no sense in using a very powerful hex to turn the thick, heavy crates into paper mache if the exertion would knock her unconscious. Keeping that in mind, she decided on using a simple spell; one of the first she had actually learned. Crouching down low to make herself a smaller target, the mare waited for her opening.

James Fletcher and Seres, the griffon engineer, stood as one and loosed a series of accurate shots, spaced close enough to force the cygnul to keep their heads down. Taking her cue, Twilight stepped out from behind the stack of boxes, her horn ablaze in violet light. Her eyes narrowed at the hiding spots of the cyg soldiers, and she released the pent-up energy of her spell. The two stacks began to glow in a purple aura before lifting up in the air, leaving three confused cygnul crouching behind no cover.

“Take them down!” James Fletcher roared across the hanger as he aimed over his crate. Five assault rifles, a submachine gun, and a heavy pistol filled the air with a deafening thunder. The crossfire cut down the cygnul like wheat through a thresher. They never stood a chance.

As the ringing subsided, Twilight rose the barrel of her empty pistol. Not needing it anymore, she calmly powered up her horn again, and slipped it into her pocket dimension. Meanwhile, the other griffons in the room hesitantly stood from their hiding places, staring warily at the UEN warriors. Seres let out a deep sigh, setting his rifle on top of the crate in front of him. “Thanks for your assistance, human.” He ruffled the feathers of his head with a clawed hand, and then nodded over at her. “And you too, Moondancer. That was some helpful magic you threw around.” Twilight smiled, bowing her head at the compliment.

“I don’t mean to be a bearer of bad news, but there are even more cygs behind that door.” James gestured with a thumb over his shoulder. “I don’t know how long it will take them to find a way through, but we need to distance ourselves from here in order to buy us time. I have a shuttle on its way now, and we can all fit inside.”

“No, Captain Fletcher, we have nowhere to run.” One of the other griffons, this one with glossy plumage of a dark, navy blue, interrupted the human. “We should hold this hanger for reinforcements to arrive from one of the nearby bases. As long as the door is shut, they can’t get through.”

James gave the newcomer an inquisitive stare. “You know who I am, but I haven’t met you before.”

“I am Commander Axten and I was in the radar tower a few minutes ago when the cygnul envoy launched a dozen drone squadrons and a full salvo of disruptor missiles inside the point defense grid. Nearly everything shut down or burned out.” he paused for a second. “Your shuttle included.”

Twilight’s heart leapt into her throat. No, Isamu! She turned to look at James, whose now impassive face betrayed no emotion. His eyes though; she saw the fear in them.

James Fletcher calmly responded. “UEN shuttles are hardened against electromagnetic and other radiation-based weaponry. Even if the surge protectors are overwhelmed, they have backup mechanical systems that would remain unaffected, allowing the pilot to reboot and regain control.”

Commander Axten strode over to James and Twilight. “But your shuttle was low to the ground when the cygnul struck. He had a clawful of seconds at most to react, and don’t forget about the drones! They are bioweapons, immune to their own electromagnetic armaments so they are still out there.”

“I’m not giving up on my friend.” The human nearly interrupted the griffon. They stared each other down, neither willing to give an inch. Standing next to them, Twilight raised a hoof to diffuse the situation when a loud crackling noise caught her attention. The three of them faced the hanger door to see a fountain of sparks spraying out of a hole in the thick steel plating.

“What were you saying about staying here, Commander?” Twilight took a step back from where the cygnul were burning their way in.

The griffon froze, mouth open in shock. “How…?”

With an exasperated huff, James took off for the landing platform across the bay, forcing Twilight to trot to catch up with him. “Cygnul combat engineers carry breaching equipment, Commander. We need to get out of here. Our ride should be here any second.”

“Captain Fletcher!” The griffon engineer called out. “They will be through that door soon, and without radio, we don’t know how far your shuttle is. We can’t stay in the open either, or we’ll be easy prey for the cygnul drones.”

His statement caused James and Twilight to slow; both of them glancing at the griffon expectantly. “What do you suggest, Seres?”

Smiling for the first time, the griffon stepped to the side, raising an open clawed foreleg to gesture behind him where a line of scout bikes sat parked. “They are all fueled up, and ready to go. I can swap the burned-out hardware in a few seconds, and if we hug the canyon, it will be more difficult for the cygnul to catch us.”

A shocked expression replaced the scowl on the human’s face. “I haven’t flown one of those in years!” He took off for the bikes, like a young colt in the candy store. Running his hands on their sleek, curved surfaces, James studied the strange machine intensely. Its front cone-like nose bowed outwards a few feet, before tapering off into a long tubular tail that had a black saddle shaped area where Twilight assumed the rider would sit. A large transparent screen protected the bike’s occupants from the winds that accompanied high speed flight.

Seres scampered around the flying vehicles, expertly pulling out and replacing the small black plastic cards that contained the driving intelligence behind the machines. Over at the door, the cygnul had burned a large c-shaped cut through the steel, its edges glowing a dull yellow. “There we go; the bikes will fly now.” The engineer climbed onto the long seat, designed for a griffon to use. He flipped a switch and twisted a dial, initiating a loud whine that steadily increased in pitch. Reaching behind him, Seres pulled out a fully enclosed griffon helmet and slid it onto his head.

The rest of the griffon soldiers followed suit, grabbing bikes of their own. James stepped over the vehicle closest to the door, starting the engine as deftly as the other riders. The human examined his bike’s helmet for a moment, frowning slightly before tossing the useless equipment to the side. Instead, he pulled out two backup goggles. Placing one over his head, he glanced at Twilight and gestured behind him, tossing her the other pair. “Come on, we’ll stay with the griffons for now until we can meet up with Isamu. He’s smart and I have no doubt he will find us.”

Scampering aboard clumsily, the lavender unicorn sat behind the human while playing with her goggles. Just when she thought they sat comfortably around her head, something would start itching underneath the elastic band. During the third readjustment, a loud roar overwhelmed all other sounds in the hanger, and Twilight squealed in fear. She clutched James forcefully with her forehooves and turned her head to see a jet of flame pouring from the tail of their craft. Her teeth chattered from the quick staccato of vibration generated by the powerful hovercraft as it lifted a few feet off the ground and moved forward. “James!” she yelled out as loud as possible.

One by one, the griffons accelerated towards the open hanger, with James taking the rear. The cygnul had nearly completed their cut, but their prey would be long gone by the time they finally got through. “What, Twilight?” The human shouted over his shoulder, not worrying about anything hearing them over the cacophony reverberating around them.

The unicorn lost sight of the rest of the griffon riders as she clutched tightly around James’ armored torso. He would have had difficulty breathing without the suit on. Bright sunlight flared, causing her to blink rapidly when they exited the hanger bay. “I hate flying!”

“Well,” James replied over the mechanical thunder, “that’s going to be a problem because we aren’t alone anymore.” He gestured with his chin to the right, and when Twilight craned her neck around, she could see twin dark shapes growing larger as they closed in with the base.

Cygnul drones! Ice coursed through her veins, and she suddenly felt extremely vulnerable on the exposed hover bike. Not a moment later, a second thought wormed its way into her head. “James, this platform sticks out over the canyon! Why are we still acelleraaaaaaahhhhhh!” Her question transformed into a scream as the nose of the craft dropped straight down; its pilot flooring the throttle. Heart pounding frantically, stomach in her throat, and her eyes wild and unblinking, Twilight shrieked for all her lungs’ worth. With her head against James’ back, she watched the rush of browns and yellows zipping past at an alarming rate, when a sound from James caught her attention. In her fear, it took a second to place the extraneous clamor. Is he… laughing?