“If we attack him now, then he will not see the nation as his own, but as a rebellion that still needs to be conquered. Consider how much harm he might do to the native population then. How many lives would he sacrifice to break the back of Equestrian opposition? Certainly he will be defeated. He has the same problems we do. He has inferior troops, inferior weapons. Anything he doesn’t put on that carrier is a target, and in time we will find a way aboard. But how much will that victory cost? Will Equestria thank us for saving them when their cities are rubble?”