There was a short moment of static, and then the voice returned. “We hear you, Shining Armor. Be advised, a T.I.T.A.N. fleet will be in the air and on the sea within the next hour. We will dock on the nearest shoreline and have our airships escorted to Outpost Beacon. If your location is compromised, signal to us with a flare. I repeat, we will be looking for a flare. You have a three-day time window, Your Highness.”

“Appreciate it, Canterlot,” Shining declared with a satisfied smile, the first genuine smile he felt since arriving to the island. He managed a short scoff with a shake of his head. “We’re gonna have a long talk with the princesses when we get ba—”

The wall at the end of the room exploded, and out came a feral Death Jackal with fangs poised for Shining Armor’s neck.

It was already crumbling, barely held together with rotted wood and vines encompassing its foundation. So, when the stalking Death Jackal pounced on its prey on the other side, the wall practically erupted like a cannon ball had torn through it. Fragments of wood chips flew out and impacted the survivors, larger chunks hitting Cadance and Mane and knocking the two mares back out of the room.

Yet it was Shining who took the heaviest brunt of the assault, the Death Jackal crashing against the table, destroying the radio, and tackling Shining Armor so it straddled over his prone body. Shaken but not blinded, the unicorn shot out his forelegs and caught the nearing jaws of the creature rearing for his neck. With teeth digging into his skin, Shining cried out into the agape maw of the Jackal, unleashing his pent-up pain with a magical bolt straight down the beast’s throat.