Astral realized the sphere and followed the filly. He found her curious. She appeared smarter than her age dictated and even showed scars that no one so young should have to wear. He stayed quiet as she led him through the halls. It was a beautiful house to say the least but what intrigued him wasn’t the dicore but the constructs. He regarded their cold stares with further curiosity. Silver had indeed come far in his field. Oh what Spectrum would give to examine their magic aura and the method that brought them about. 

When they passed the cages he was again fascinated by the machine’s behavior. This was on another level entirely. He couldn’t believe his luck. His old friend had the basis of an army here that was sure. When they came to Silver he regarded the stallion with the same cold exterior. He listened with a lax expression. When Silver gave that smile he returned it with a smirk of his own.

“I apologize for my interrupting your work,” Spectrum said as he stepped forward,” And forgive my uncovering your position. I don’t believe I was followed and no, I am not surprised you knew of my sniffing about as it were. But I can assure you that my reasons are well worth the discomfort of the situation.” He waved a hoof through the air,” As I am sure you know there have been multiple sightings of alicorns in recent months. I had disregarded them until The Fortress of the Moon suffered an attack at the hooves of one. 

“It engaged my Lunar Guard and matched them blow for blow. It acted as a decoy so its followers, a group of what looked like pirates of all things, made off with most of our slaves. Now this is of no consequence to me. Slaves can be replaced. No what intrigued me was how close to death the alicorn came. Blood was everywhere and I was able to view the battle. They brought him within an inch of his life of that I am sure. If it hadn’t been for two of his followers,” a scowl darkened his features,” One of which was a traitor to the Moon Guild no less making off with the alicorn, we would have assuredly killed it.”

“As to why I am here I was able to come into something you might be able to use in your research.” Spectrum pulled out the horn. It was wrapped in Clothe. He set it down on Silver’s desk as carefully as he would handle a foal. 

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Grimwing sighed in relief as the Leviathan cleared the mists. He had decided to follow Charter’s advice and make the trip back to Equestria. A nagging feeling in his gut told him that they would be needed. Deckhoof sat beside him barking orders to make more wind. The sea seemed particularly churned today by the pegasus’ account. He had a bad feeling something was happening and the look of the sea didn’t help that matter none.