By the time Keratin brought a pilot to Velvet, she had the strength to walk with a barely noticeable limp. The pilot had yellow eyes, and not a single other defining feature to Velvet- though if Velvet said anything about that, she would surely be chastised.

"Do we still have no truck?" asked Velvet. The answer was, indeed, a lack of a truck. She was going to have to walk, hiding in a cloak, all the way from just north of the Dytrisium hive proper, eastwards for many miles.

And thus she walked, as did her companions. Velvet left Keratin's small home for the first time, into a village on the outskirts of Dytrisium that was far more diverse than she would've expected- with griffons and griffons and… oh, it's just griffons- into the vast forest outside Dytrisium, into more vast forest, into a deforested land that fought back the industrialization and returned to forest, and so forth until a great open field, surrounded by razor wire and guard towers, came into view. By then, the sun was bearing hard upon their backs, and Velvet felt she was cooking in her dark cloak.

"You know," remarked Velvet, "I get the feeling they might mind if we borrow a plane."

"I think I can see where you're coming from," noted the pilot, who Velvet did not get the chance to know the name of. It rather surprised Velvet that the pilot spoke now, given the complete silence that had met her upon prior attempts of communication during their grueling trek- not that one could wisely call their journey such, but Velvet had been in the mood for complaints, rather than wisdom, for most of the hike.

"Our opening is just three minutes away," announced Keratin, examining a watch right above his hoof, "Let's get into position." The trio skirted about the edge of the treeline, finding the spot where a guard tower's shadow crept over them. Soon, they saw guards descend from the tower, wings buzzing as they moved to some building in the compound. Keratin led Velvet and the pilot under the shadow, then as they reached the fence, Keratin gripped the chain link in his magic, tearing open a hole. He ushered the other two through, and forced it as close back as possible. Hopefully they would be out before any Changelings felt like inspecting the fence.

Velvet turned around, and realized Keratin was on the other side. "Hey, what's going on?" she asked.

Keratin shook his head, saying, "I cannot follow you, I cannot leave without my father."

"By Ukko, what are you talking about!" exclaimed Velvet, "Your father wanted me to take you."

Velvet flinched as the pilot placed a hoof on her shoulder. "We don't have time to argue," he stated, "If he stays, so be it."

"So be it?" wondered Velvet, "So be it?! He's still a kid, we can't just leave him in Dytrisium. I may not be the most familiar with this place, with your kind, but I know it is no place for a fawn- er, foal… you get my point!"

"They don't like my kind over there," protested Keratin, "No pony will help me!"

"Well VOPS doesn't like our kind either," retorted Velvet, "We're wasting precious time, come on."

Finally, in a flash of green fire, Keratin shifted into a mouse, slipping through a gap in the fence before turning back into himself. The group made their way to one building in the compound that had giant rolling doors, which they theorized, correctly, to be the hangar. As they crept in through a hole on the door's side, they noticed how disturbingly bare of Changelings it was. They trotted towards an Sv 110, the pilot deciding the extra firepower would be worth the cramped space.

Just as Keratin and the pilot pulled Velvet atop the plane, a guard made their presence known with a shot clipping Velvet's back hoof.

"I am rather disappointed by your behaviour, Queen Jelzek," announced a Changeling mare. As Velvet dragged her pained self inside of the plane, she caught sight of the patrol that arrived. Alongside three soldiers were two naval officers, one admiral- the one who called to her- and one bound captain. "I suppose we should be grateful" - though Velvet could no longer see her, she could tell the admiral sneered not just with words, but her expression - "After all, without your help, we never would have been able to root out some… undesirable individuals. It does not excuse stealing from us, however. We had no ill will against you, Your Majesty, after all, it is your dishonourable bastard half-brother we fight."

"A bastard is better than what you bring!" shouted Velvet.

"I am sorry you feel that way," lied the Admiral. "Now, let me speak to your little friends. Keratin, dear, I know you're in there. I have heard so much about you." Velvet saw Keratin tense up as his name slid from the Admiral's tongue. "Please, little Keratin, come down and you can still live with your father. At the very least, come give him one last goodbye before I execute him."

'Of course,' thought Velvet, 'Chalcone is the captain they brought.'

To some surprise to Velvet, Keratin shouted back, "Do you take me for a grub? That is a Maar-damned fake you got down there!"

The admiral sighed, loud and drawn out to intentionally punctuate her feelings. With a glow of magic, she unholstered a pistol, shooting the Changeling that proved decidedly not to be Chalcone- as a green flame sizzled to change the corpse to its original appearance. "I suppose you're right, lad," she noted. "Let's try this again, do you want us to blast his ship to oblivion, or execute him once he returns to dock?"

"Don't let her get into your head," warned the pilot.

"Ah, and how could I forget," mocked the admiral, "Sky Terror Hartling. You know those deer, or those ponies, or whoever you run off to, they won't let you fly again, but isn't that what you were hatched to do?"

"You're a terrible negotiator, Mimic," retorted Hartling.

"That's Generaladmiral Mimic to you, wastrel!" shouted Mimic. Hartling didn't respond, instead starting the Sv 110's engines. "I see, the negotiation's over. You know, despite all this, I will be generous and leave you to the fighters." She turned to one of the low rank officers beside her, noting, "Unteroffizier, you're going to need that door repaired."

Before the officer could ask why, two explosions screamed throughout the hangar. The first was from Hartling firing a rocket from the plane, and the next was the impact of the rocket against what formerly was a rolling door. As the plane accelerated away, one of the officers dared ask,

"Are you sure our fighters will destroy them?"

Mimic snorted, "One ace can't stop a whole squadron. Come, who wants to bet they'll be shot down before they're even out of view." She trotted towards the smoking rubble of a doorway, and suddenly grew a very disgruntled countenance. The Sv 109 squadron that had been sent out to lie in wait was coming into view, or, rather, what was left of it. Three fighters, one of them barely hanging on, were being chased by a foreign plane.

"I don't think they have just one ace," said the unteroffizier. He recognized the plane as an Olenian Tunturihaukka- no, Zero Two's Tunturihaukka.

Author's Note

Y'know how a chapter ago I was saying we're onto the second half of Act I? Yeah it's getting a bit longer.
Well, what perspectives do y'all want to see more from first, Brae, the Sun and Moon, Soarin, or maybe even a different Wonderbolt? (Totally not just asking because I want someone to talk to me because I'm lonely)