Family ties.

Space is cool. Flying through it like this, you really learn to appreciate it. The various colours, the bright stars, the nebulae, THE PLANET I'M ABOUT TO CRASH ONTO!

Pushing what energy I have left, I'm able to stabilise my descent, coming down over Fantasia and calmly landing in the castle garden. I take a step forward…

…And faceplant.
Uuuuuurg… remind… me… to never… go into… space… again.

Reminder not feasible. Conflicts with mission. I hear in my right ear.
I was… being… sarcastic.

Response: sarcasm previously detected. Assessment: ignore. I hear again.
Ugh. You… suck. I respond.

Response: acknowledged. …So do you.

~~Did… did you just… sass me?~~ I ask.

Response: correct.

~~Huh. Well… you…~~ suck…more… I say, as I fall asleep.

(Elsewhere, a little earlier)

"Are you serious?" Cracked asks.

"Yes. Why? Is something wrong?" Celestia asks.

"Yes there's something wrong! Your defenses are worthless!" Cracked exclaims.

"Worthless?! They have protected us numerous times!" Celestia argues.

"Well then those are some pathetic enemies you have! Physical artillery weapons? Shields power by troops? Basic alloy armour?!" Cracked lists off. "This kingdom wouldn't last against a single Galra assault!"

"Now you listen here!" Celestia shouts. "These defenses have protected my people for generations. The knights of this kingdom fought tooth and nail to defend it. I will not let you shame it! We may be friends, Cracked, but I will not let such disrespect stand!" Celestia chastises. Cracked sighs in sadness.

"I-I'm sorry, Lightbulb. I… I just… I'm scared." Cracked confesses, to Celestia's confusion. "I don't mean to bring shame to Arcadia, I really don't but… seeing how…archaic this place still is, even with your magic, it just tells me that this place won't survive. Not against the Galra.

The Galra have ships that travel between planets like you walk about your castle, have weapons that can make entire planets uninhabitable, possess things that are the stuff of nightmares. Against that, Mystacor and all the races on it, don't stand a chance." Further conversation is cut off as Celestia, Luna and Cracked all see a whitei-sh blue light flying down from the sky through the throne room windows.

"Diego is back. And it looks like he landed in the garden. Let's go check on him." Luna says, moving to the doors. Celestia, Luna, Cracked and a contingent of royal guards all make their way out to the royal gardens, finding Diego, lying face down on the grass near the entrance to the garden.

"Diego, are you all right?" Luna asks, crouching next to him. As he doesn't respond, Luna lights her horn, looking over his body. "It looks like he's asleep. He doesn't look too injured either." She says to everyone else.

"He's asleep? Mechanoids don't sleep, how can you tell?" Cracked asks. Luna takes offence to this and glares at Cracked.

"I can tell because one of the things my magic does is manage dreams. I can't tell if he's dreaming or not but I know he's asleep. This isn't the first time he's slept either, so I would appreciate it if you didn't speak of him like he's some inanimate object." Luna says aggressively.

"Alright! I'm sorry!" Cracked apologizes, waving her hands in surrender.

"Hmph. If you could, help me carry him to a guest room." Luna says, moving to stand by one of Diego's arms.

"Can't you just use magic to levitate him there?" Cracked asks, some of the guards nodding in agreement.

"Magic doesn't work on him, it just evaporates off his body. If you try to use magic on him, it either fails or backfires." Luna explains, hoisting up Diego with the help of the guards.

"Backfires?" Cracked asks, helping carry Diego's other arm.

"Yes. Myself, my sister and the captain of the guard all tried to use a thought sayer spell on him to help him communicate, it ended up literally exploding in our faces." Luna recounts, maneuvering Diego to a nearby large guest room.

"Do you know why?" Cracked asks as they leave the room and make their way to Celestia's study.

"We believe it is because of the immense amount of energy his body contains. We tried to do a magic scan of him and he blew out the apparatus." Luna says as they walk.

"That's understandable. When he intercepted me on my research ship, the scanners said he had an energy reading of at least a million thaums and rising, with a single thaum being enough energy to power a nation as large as Fantasia for months." Cracked remarks, to the surprise of the royals.

"He has that much power?" Celestia asks.

"More." Cracked responds. "Speaking of power, how far has magic advanced since I returned to space?" Cracked asks as the group enters Celestia's study, the guards waiting outside.

"Quite far, actually. A new form of magic, called wizardry has been discovered. Through the use of conduits and a previously undiscovered form of chanting, people of any race have been able to cast spells. Wizardry is now even being employed to help magicians learn to use magic." Celestia explains.

"Anyone can cast magic? Not just magicians?" Cracked asks.

"Yes, to various degrees. Not only that, but magic itself has also advanced throughout the decades. Magics that perform specific tasks, similar to magic affinities, magical items and much more." Celestia answers.

"Can you talk about wizardry some more? Are there any limitations to it?" Cracked asks, her innate curiosity shining through.

"Of course. Wizardry, spell casting through the use of a conduit and spell chanting instead of through a horn and mental formulas. Conduits are made in three ways, each with various degrees of success. The standard way, with life fibers and a quartz crystal, the dangerous way and the least successful way, which is through the use of overly basic materials." Celestia says.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, a standard conduit staff is made from a hollow peace of wood, life fibers and a quartz crystal. Life fibers are made using strips of tree bark that are soaked in a high concentration of magic, causing them to become life fibers.

Those life fibers are then either inlayed into or wrapped around a piece of wood, most commonly oak, with the life fibers being coiled at the grip area for maximum connection but no more to avoid loss in efficiency before being wrapped around or through a quartz crystal then back to the other end of the coil, which is then inserted into a hollow piece of wood, of the same kind, to make a staff.

If the conduit is made correctly, it allows the owner to cast incantations regularly. However, if one simply makes a life fiber, wraps it around a stick and puts a quartz crystal at the end… it still works but it is highly ineffective, as well as fragile.

The final way, however, can be very dangerous and is illegal." Celestia says, her tone ominous.

"Illegal?" Cracked asks hesitantly.

"Yes. The final way to make a conduit is through life fibers and the remains of magician horns." Celestia says, making Cracked gasp. "By making a standard conduit but replacing the focusing quartz with a magician horn, the output of the conduit is four times that of a regular magician and more than double that of a wizard.

But, even though horn conduits… ugh… are more powerful than regular ones, they are also dozens of times harder to control. To the point that they easily explode." Celestia explains, shivering at her words.

"That… that sounds horrible!" Cracked says, disgusted.

"Which is why it is illegal and punishable by life imprisonment." Celestia decrees.

"Let's change the topic… uhh, how has your technology advanced? I assume not much, considering you have magic."

"You would assume correctly. Our most recent invention, to my knowledge, is the telephone." Luna says. Cracked only tilts her head.

"Ranged communication through wire." Celestia explains, shocking Cracked.

"THAT'S where you are in terms of technology?! That's more archaic than interplanetary travel!" Cracked exclaims, before covering her mouth. "Sorry, that wasn't meant to be out loud."

"Interplanetary travel? How is interplanetary travel archaic?" Luna asks.

"Well, just interplanetary travel is archaic. The Galra have been able to do that since before the emperor was born and he's almost ten thousand years old." Cracked explains.

"Your emperor is almost ten thousand years old?!" Luna gasps.

"Not my emperor, the Galra emperor. Emperor Zarkon has lived for millennia and is a maniacal genius. He's the reason the Galra is as advanced as it is today. He not only discovered a way to make himself immortal, he replaced the previous emperor, his own father, in less than a quintant. A day." Cracked explains, to the shock of the two sisters.

"He found a way to make himself immortal?" Celestia asks.

"Yes. And he hasn't stopped inventing new technology in all his reign." Cracked declares.

(With Diego)

Waking up from the void of sleep, I look around to see I am in a room I don't recognize.
Argh. Did I pass out?

Response: affirmative.

~~Oh hi. You're being talkative.~~

Response: conversation is now permissible.

~~Permissible? You mean you weren't allowed to talk to me before? Why?~~ I ask, getting up from the large bed.

Answer: Protocol Seven: Voltron will not reveal itself to an unworthy pilot. Must prove oneself first.

~~So because I've shown that I'm worthy, I can talk to you know? Also, what do you mean by protocol seven?~~ I ask, now walking through an unfamiliar hallway.

Response: correct. Answer: Protocols are classified by Protocol One.

~~What's protocol one?~~ I ask.

Answer: Protocol One: no other Protocols are to be revealed unless rendered null and void.

~~Does that mean you're not going to talk about any other protocols?~~ I ask.

Answer: correct.

~~Well that's just charming. I groan. Now, how do I get to the throne room, or at least princess Celestia's study.~~ I wonder.

Response: take the next left, a right, go straight then enter second left. Destination: princess Celestia's study. Voltron says.
Oh. Thanks.
Following Voltron's directions, I meet Shining in the hallway to Celestia's study.

~~Hey Shining, where you headed?~~ I ask him.

"The princess's study. I'm looking for them but they weren't in the throne room so I'm checking there. Hey wait, are you okay? Last I saw you, you were blasting off into space again." Shining asks.

~~I'll be fine. If anything, I'm worried about the passenger I left with princess Luna.~~

"Passenger? What do you mean?" Shining asks as we come up to the door of Celestia's study.

~~Let's just say I'm not the one who destroyed the last ship that came into orbit.~~ I say as I knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Celestia's voice comes through.

"It's Diego and me, princess." Shining answers.

"Enter." Celestia says. I open the door, walking in to see Celestia and Luna sitting at the center table, Cracked Sky staring at the door with wide eyes.

~~What are you staring-~~

Cracked Sky tackles shining out the room as he enters, the both of them landing on the floor in the hallway, Cracked hugging Shining Armour for dear life.

~~…Huh?~~ Is the only thing I can say as Shining looks at Cracked with a bewildered expression.

"…Mom?" He asks hesitantly.

~~HUH?!?!~~

Author's Note

And there you have it! Enjoy THAT explosion!