Twilight found Einuli within moments, the alien had walked out into the middle of the road. It was clear even from a distance he was agitated, and it didn’t appear that it was Luna who was the cause of it. He was fidgeting around with a small hand held device.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, lightly hugging Einuli.

“Something bad’s come up.” He said.

“What?”

“Just…” He trailed off, teleporting the two of them up to the ship once more. Suzy, who was with Spike, the dragon not having been seen since he left with Suzy several days ago. He did look remarkably different now, seeming tired and worn out. He was sitting in a chair, his feet up on a console. Dandy, Nightbloom, Ayaka, Chotl, and Oloxoc were all there as well. Every one of them except Nightbloom was in armor and brandishing various weapons.

“Good! You got here as soon as I sent the message out.” Dandy said, the armor he had on looked remarkably like something she’d seen an Appleoosan sheriff in. Though, it wasn’t made of any cloth material, in fact it was clearly made out of some foreign metal. He had two holsters, each with a revolver holstered in them. A shotgun (now she didn’t know the names of these weapons) on his back, and a very fiery whip attached right under his right holster.

The two avian twins looked like tribal warriors from an ancient civilization. Oloxoc had a spear and shield in hand, both looking brand new. A strange glow was radiating off the tip of the spear (radioactive, though it was contained). Chotl had a wand and dagger in hand, the dagger glowing bright blue, while the wand had an icy color.

Ayaka looked like a Nieghponese Samurai, with a katana sheathed at her side, a sword on the other. There was a particularly brutal looking quarterstaff on her back. She appeared to be the most calm, though Twilight had little actual contact with her.

Suzy’s armor was unlike anything Twilight had seen before. Suzy had an assault rifle in hand, her helmet laying on the console beside her. She had a sword attached to her hip, one that gave off an ethereal glow.

Spike was likewise in armor Twilight didn't recognize. He had no weapons visible, and appeared to just be resting for the moment. It was a relief to see he was alright, and she wanted to ask him what he’d been doing, but that thought was pushed aside as he spoke. “So, what exactly did you call us all up here, armed and ready for battle, for?”

“Well, are drones picked up something rather interesting a few hours ago.” Dandy hit a button on the main console. A feed appeared on screen, showing a thermal outline, one that Twilight immedietly could recognize as Celestia. “She was spotted going into the Floran’s ship. My bet is she’s trying to find out what they’re planning.” He said. “But, we’ve detected several messages being shared… she’s been captured. Thankfully though, they don’t plan on doing anything to her right away… she’s being held in what was once the brig.” He explained, tapping another button. “Now, Partners. Let’s go over my plan for this. Then Einuli, you can go get suited up.”

“What about Femanti?” Suzy asked.

“She’s busy. We can do just fi-”

“I want to go.” Twilight stated.

All the others looked at her for a moment, including Spike.

“Twilight… listen, I’ve spent… like the last four or so days here training with both Suzy and Femanti… all of them are trained in military tactics. They’re capable of handling this…” Spike said.

“No. She needs to go.” Einuli said. “She needs to know how hellish some creatures are out here.”

“And Celestia is my mentor.” Twilight stated. “And with me, I can back you all down there as heroes if anything else happens.”

“Serious. Are you sure?” Nightbloom asked, the glitch speaking. “You don’t seem hardy. What experience do you have?”

“Her, and our friends have fought a changeling army, battled a goddess who wanted to bring eternal night to our world… battled a being that took away their magic, and Twilight battled a second changeling army after Starlight messed with the timeline. She’s experienced, though… not militarily.” Spike said. “And, Twilight… what I’ve seen, and been put through, it’s a different world out there. They won’t listen to reason or sanity. They want us all dead. And if we don’t kill them first… we’ll be used as research material for their bioweapons… or used as food.” He sighed. “It’s… nothing, nothing like Equestria. Even Sombra doesn’t compare to the pure evil these pirates are.”

“I know. But, I want to prove not all of us are bad. After what Luna did… I want you all to stay for a longer period of time. It’d be… wonderful to get to know what all of you know. And this… I feel like this is the only way to prove my commitment.” Twilight stated.

“We don’t have time to augment you… so we’ll have to stick to lighter weapons, and your magic, if you’re going to fight… But, we can get you some weapons and armor. Can’t we Nightbloom?” Einuli asked.

Nightbloom nodded. “Serious. Come with me. I’ll get you outfitted.” He motioned for Twilight to follow him.

Twilight left with the glitch smith.

“What happened with Luna?” Spike asked.

“She broke into the ship, dug through private files. And then accused us all of wanting to destroy Equestria. Then, called me a maniac, and continued to accuse me of wanting to bring harm to Equestria.” Einuli explained. “Just… being around her right now makes me angry. She wants us gone from this planet. And I told her we’d leave once the Florans are dead, and the engines repaired.”

“W-... what you’re just going to leave?” Spike asked a little worriedly. “Why? Equus is a great place! Don’t let Luna or any hateful ponies drag you down!”

“I got a bit angry at her. And…”

“It’s my decision if, and when we leave.” Dandy said. “It may have been Einuli’s ship before, but now it’s ours. And we’ll run this democratically. Regardless of what your leaders want, we’re an entity all our own. We have no affiliations to any groups, races, or factions. We’re a crew. Not some military force.” He stated, “If we say we’re going to do something, like protect your planet. We’ll do it. And we’ll look fucking awesome doing it too.” He hit a few buttons, all of them receiving a copy of the battle plan to their helmets. “Einuli, go get suited up. We’re gonna need our field medic with us, aren’t we?”

“Alright. I’ll be back soon.” Einuli said, beaming himself to his private armory.

Author's Note

I linked what the armor looks like in game for a basic visual description. If anyone out there would like to attempt to draw it out, be my guest! I'd love to see it. But, besides that... oooh boy, we got something big coming up now... I didn't just forget about the pirates... and they didn't just forget about Equestria and Equus.