We open with a real shocker: Twilight's note is not at all foreboding, simply a description of the roles each Element of Harmony plays in their, um, harmony.
Dash naturally gets bored, wanders off to the bathroom, and gets completely lost before being accosted by a stallion who apparently takes her for a new recruit (Firefly being a common name hereabouts) and leads her to a gargantuan obstacle course, "the Maul", and observing crowd, continually voicing his doubt that she's up to snuff. Concerns over mistaken identity aside, Dash isn't about to take this lying down and jumps into it- startled when some of the "spectators" start shooting at her....
Star and Astrid brief Gamma on what they learned from observing Max Cash's archaeological dig- not much on what he was looking for, but a list of possible spies and a few locations where he'll likely be searching next within the Solar Kingdom, including the cave of a pre-Schism dragon (hmm...). Afterward, Gamma goes to question the vanished "Firefly", but as soon as they learn a pony is running the Maul- more successfully than should be possible- they know where to head.
And once again we get to see Dash in her natural element- that of awesome, staying half a hoof ahead of countless traps and attackers, even feeling the strain from her not-fully-healed wings, topping it off with a sonic boom to take out a few miniature missiles (and pretty much wreck everyone else in the room).
When some sort of mistaken identity plot kicks off, I tend to get distracted imagining "what if things had just gone according to plan", so it's kind of a relief to learn that Gamma had actually set this all up. Having heard about the impossible mare who fought police near the construction site, as well as various odd details of her subordinate's trip back from the Republic, Gamma had put two and two together and wanted to see what was what, as well as chastise Star for attempting deception regarding a potential matter of national security.
In hindsight, trying to pull wool over the eyes of a mare with an Intelligence Talent Glyph when you're already uneasy about how you've covered your tracks is mind-bogglingly dumb.
Fortunately, Gamma at least believes that Dash has been truthful about not knowing anything about what's going on, and after finally coaxing off the false identity, she invites the group to continue the conversation more privately.
“Oh, and miss Dash? Welcome to the future.”
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