The story of a changeling and a pony trying to find love in a world where it is not meant to be.
The Great War that ravaged the countryside between Equestria and the Changeling Hegemony resulted in the fall of ponykind. The changeling banner now flies over all of Equus, and its pony population have become second class citizens in their own land while the changelings harvest them for love. The evil Queen Chrysalis rules over the newly proclaimed Greater Changelingia with an iron hoof, declaring an age of Pax Chrysalia. To the ponies of Equestria, hope for freedom seems like a distant dream. But even in these dire circumstances, Harmony endures.
This is the story of Nyceris, a changeling garrison officer stationed in Manehatten, and Orchid, an earthpony barista who is just trying to survive in the new order, as they struggle to mend the barrier between pony and changeling in a world becoming increasingly divided.
This fic is set in the world of Equestria at War, a mod for the game Hearts of Iron IV.
The train pulls up at Hayston station, screeching to a halt and letting off its passengers. A changeling Heer officer steps off the train, carrying a large brown suitcase in her green magic. She takes a moment to breathe in and appreciate the sights and sounds. Hayston station is huge, made as the hub of travel for the entire eastern Equestrian seaboard. Long, black banners emblazoned with the trident of the Changeling Hegemony hang from the ceiling at regular intervals, illuminated from spotlights shining down on each of them. Sunlight pours through the domed, glass roof, providing the rest of the station’s light and causing an echo-like effect for the many conversations being held below. Ponies and changelings alike meander through the crowds, entering and exiting their respective trains or passing through customs. Some armed Heer soldiers stand near the exit, on the lookout for any trouble. It looks and feels so different from the hives, but not in a bad way. This place feels more inviting if nothing else.
Nyceris smiles, excited to finally be deployed, especially to somewhere so thrilling as Manehatten. It’s been one year since the Great War ended, and while she was in officer’s training during that time, she knows that there is still much to be done to secure Equestria, and for that, is ready to serve the Hegemony. She pulls her suitcase along as she begins walking towards customs. There is a long line of ponies standing in front of it, and another, much shorter line for changelings. She goes and stands in that line and waits. While waiting she can’t help but think about her future here.
“Okay Nyceris, you got this. This is what you’ve been training for.” She thinks, straightening her hat with her magic. “I hope I get somewhere exciting! Maybe near Bridleway? Regardless, it’s bound to be better than the academy.”
The line shortens, and eventually it is her turn. She steps forward towards the somewhat imposing customs station. A changeling officer sits in the booth, holding a ledger and a pen in his magic as his eyes meet hers. “Name and reason for visit?” He asks blandly, clearly too bored to put any emotion into his words.
She clears her throat and speaks. “Oberfeldwebel Nyceris. I’m here on deployment for the city garrison.”
He suddenly looks much more alert, and sharply salutes. “Oberfeldwebel! Apologies ma’am, I didn’t see your rank badge.”
Nyceris feels a tinge of embarrassment at the overly respectful display, adjusting her uniform with her hoof out of habit. Since she doesn’t want to make the same mistake, she looks at his badges to check. “At ease Unteroffizier. I just need to get through here to head to my post.”
“Of course, ma’am.” She hands him her documents, and he takes them with his magic, easing his posture. “Anything to declare?”
“No. Just my carry-on bag.” She gestures to her suitcase. He nods, and stamps her passport, then hands it back to her.
“Welcome to Manehatten officer.”
“Thank you.” She puts away her documents and carries on through the gate towards the station’s exit. She nods to the soldiers on her way past, and they respectfully nod back.
She emerges into the streets of Manehatten, and is instantly swarmed with all the sights and sounds and smells of the city in the morning. There are ponies absolutely everywhere, mixed together with the occasional changeling, including several patrols marching through. Multi-story brick apartments line the streets, with cars of all sorts driving down the roads in the middle. The sounds of conversation, car engines, and other big city noises are nearly overwhelming, and the smells of food, oil, concrete, and ponies is similarly hard to deal with. Despite it all, Nyceris’ eyes widen, and she can’t help but feel drawn to the place. “This is all so different from back in the Hives, but I think I am going to like it here.”
Shaking her head to pull herself out of her trance, she begins trying to orient herself. “Now, just to head to the right guardpost.” She pulls out the paper containing her orders and reads it. “District 7, southeast Bronclyn, position TBA by superior.” She flutters her translucent wings as much as would be acceptable in public. “Down near the port! I bet a ton of stuff happens there! Now I just need to get a bus.”
She searches for a little bit, being forced to ask some passing soldiers for directions, but eventually finds herself a bus stop, and boards once it arrives. She takes a seat near the window, throwing her suitcase in the seat next to her. She looks out the window and watches the scenery pass by as the bus ferries her to her destination. Hundreds of apartments and shops pass by, signs and entryways zooming past her vision as the bus carries along. She looks down at all the pedestrians going about their business. “There’s so many ponies here. I don’t think I’ve seen this many in my entire life.” A small pit forms in her stomach, causing her to worry. She knows she’s good at her job, and has all the training the Hegemony can offer, but despite that she still feels nervous. “What if I’m not good enough to control them? What if they try to fight back and I can’t stop them?”
Her thoughts carry on like that for a while until she finds her resolve. “No. I have to do my best, and it will be enough. There’s nothing that a bunch of ponies can throw at me that I can’t handle.” She smiles, thinking about ponies trying in vain to stop the Hegemony.
A few minutes pass, and she is suddenly drawn back to the world when she hears the squeal of the bus’s breaks. She looks around and notices that she is at her stop, somewhere in southeastern Bronclyn. The vague smell of salt hits her nose as the doors open, and she shuffles into the aisle, grabbing her suitcase in her magic. Stepping out onto the dull, concrete sidewalk, Nyceris pulls out her orders and reads them again, just to reassure herself. She looks up once more, and checks the names of the nearest streets. “SE Trotter’s Way and Celestial Ave? Who names their streets like that?! Numbers are way more efficient!” She hangs her head downward and her face scrunches in frustration. “Stupid ponies don’t even know how to name things properly. How am I supposed to find where I’m going like this?”
She tries wandering around at random, hoping that her destination is nearby, but instead she just wastes a bunch of time going through unfamiliar streets, passing unfamiliar buildings and unfamiliar ponies. Eventually, she starts to get desperate. She spots a pair of changeling soldiers patrolling on the other sidewalk, and she briskly walks across the street towards them, waving a hole-filled leg to let them know she’s coming. “Sorry to bother you, I am trying to find the District 7 HQ, but I am a bit lost. Could you point me in the right direction?”
The two soldiers obey without word, and the one on the left points her hoof down a nearby street. Nyceris nods her head in acknowledgement. “Thank you. Carry on.”
The soldiers give her a quick salute and continue along their patrol. She follows their instructions and travels along the road they pointed at. After about a block and a half of walking past more same-looking brick apartments and shops, she arrives at a large corner building with the words ‘District 7’ written over the front entrance. It is three stories tall, with Hegemony banners draped over all the windows of the second and third floors. Relieved to have finally arrived, Nyceris walks towards the entry door. There is a guard posted outside, though she looks bored out of her mind, and is leaning against the wall smoking a cigar.
Nyceris approaches her and greets her in an official-sounding voice. “Hello. Is this the District 7 headquarters?”
The guard turns towards her and looks up at her officer’s cap. Her eyes go wide and she pulls her cigar out, coughing out smoke. After taking a second to pull herself together, the guard stands at attention and salutes. “Officer, ma’am. My apologies for my slackness.”
Nyceris gives her an awkward smile. “As you were soldat, it’s alright. I just need to meet with the district commander. Are they present?”
She loosens up some more, and hastily responds. “Yes ma’am. He is on the second floor. Go right on ahead.” She gestures with her hoof to the door.
“Thank you soldat… um…” She looks to her to answer.
“Retrin ma’am.”
“Thank you Retrin.” She opens the door with her hoof and walks through, paying her no further heed.
The inside of the headquarters is made up of brick walls and a wood floor, with vertical windows spaced evenly along the outward faces of the building. There are several soldiers sitting at a group of circular tables off to the right, playing card games and doing general camaraderie, and in front of her is a long reception desk with an officer sitting in a chair using a typewriter. The left of the room is blocked off by a wall, with a closed door on the far side and an open area with stairs leading up. From the looks of it, this had to have been some type of inn or hotel before being repurposed for the military.
The officer looks to her as the door closes behind her. “Ah, you must be the new officer the commander requested.”
Nyceris nods. “Yes, I am. Oberfeldwebel Nyceris reporting.”
She hears some shuffling sounds, and sees that the officer is looking through a pile of papers which she assumes are her documents. After a minute, he finds the one he’s looking for and looks up to meet Nyceris’ eyes again. “Here you are Oberfeldwebel.” He hands over a piece of paper to her using his magic. “Just read that over and sign at the bottom.” He pauses for a second before continuing. “This is just to make sure that your arrival is recorded and such. Bureaucratic stuff.”
“Right. Do you have a pen? I seem to have forgot mine.” She says, somewhat ashamed of the fact.
“Of course.” He pulls out a pen and places it next to the paper.
She skims over the document and signs her name on the line, then hands it back to the officer. He smiles, and points towards the stairs. “The commander is in his office, fourth door on the right on the second floor.”
She nods appreciatively “Right. Thank you.”
He nods back, and Nyceris pulls her suitcase along as she makes towards the stairs, but she is interrupted by the officer before she arrives. “You can leave your baggage with me until you come back down.”
“Of course, thank you again.” She floats her bag over, dropping it behind the desk, and heads up the stairs.
The second floor consists of a hallway with stairs at the opposite side and two more hallways branching to the left and right of the center. There are doors along the walls, several of which are open, as command staff rush between them going about their business, the sounds of planning and organizing abound. The electric lighting was clearly put in long after the building was built, making Nyceris wonder how old these buildings actually are.
She walks past the other changelings, who mostly seem to ignore her, just moving around her if needed. At last, she arrives at the fourth door, and knocks twice. She hears the word “Enter” in a deep, authoritative double-toned voice.
Nyceris turns the handle with her magic and pushes the door open. Inside is a well-kept changeling officer with red, iris-less eyes and a small nick in his left ear. He is sitting behind a stately desk, with a window behind him obscured by a black banner, leaving most of the room’s light to come from a single domed ceiling lamp. There is a leather couch to the side of the room, and a coat rack behind the desk. She notices the officer’s rank and performs a crisp salute.
Looking up from a report he was reading, the officer glances her up and down before speaking. “At ease. You must be Oberfeldwebel Nyceris, correct?”
She relaxes, putting her hoof down. “Yes sir.”
He seems content. “Good. Please, have a seat.” He says, gesturing to the two chairs set in front of his desk. Nyceris obeys, and goes to sit down, closing the door behind her. He waits for her to do so and then continues speaking. “My name is Leutnant Caracin. I am the commander of the District 7 garrison.”
“Well met.”
He nods, then puts his hooves together on the desk. “I figure we’ll just get right down to business if you don’t mind.” He takes her lack of response to mean she does not. “Right. So District 7 has had some problems facing terror attacks since Manehatten was first pacified. When I took command recently, I requested more soldiers to fill the garrison. We are now having a dedicated patrol squadron for every neighborhood in the district, and that is why you are here.”
Nyceris makes sure her face is paying the utmost attention, but her mind can’t help but stay on what he just said. “Terror attacks? Have the ponies really been putting up substantial resistance even a year after they surrendered? That can’t be right… it has to just be accidents or foreign spies or something.” She notices her mind drifting and returns her focus to his words.
“…and because of that I will be assigning you to the Portside neighborhood. Mostly residential, within walking distance of the wharf. The nicer housing units in the area have been seized for use by changelings of course, so you’ll be living there. Specifics of your location and duties can be found in this file.”
He pushes forward a manila folder with the changeling trident on it. Nyceris grabs it, and turns back to the Leutnant. “Thank you sir. I will fulfill my duties to the best of my ability in the name of the Queen.”
“See that you do.”
As Nyceris stands to leave, Leutnant Caracin raises his hoof. “One more thing. I read your report from the academy. It seemed to me that you get along well with one Feldwebel Scutellum who was in the same class as you. Seeing as how we need everyling working at their best, I took the liberty of having him deployed here to work with you.”
Nyceris can hardly believe what she’s hearing. “Scutellum is here?!” She says, trying to contain the elation in her voice. He was a classmate of hers in the academy. They would always sit next to each other in class, and were pretty close outside of school as well.
“Yes, he arrived just yesterday. He should already be on duty down in Portside now.”
“Thank you very much sir.” She says as she salutes, happiness clearly present as she speaks. “We won’t let you down.”
He waves her away, and Nyceris is sure she catches the barest hint of a smile as he does so. She makes sure to take the file folder with her and leaves the room, turning to head back downstairs. The soldiers playing cards seem to be in the process of returning to their duty, leaving the room feeling much less jovial than it did moments prior.
She opens the file once she gets to the bottom and reads the contents. It provides instructions for her duties in detail, as well as her new living accommodations and address. It comes with a list of subordinates, as well as defining the area for which she will oversee. She only skims it for now, mainly focused on the address so she knows where to go.
She folds the file back up and makes for the exit. Seeing her approach, the reception desk officer floats her suitcase over the desk to her, and she picks it up with her own magic. She smiles at him. “Thank you for holding my bag.”
“No problem Ma’am. Good luck with your duties.”
Nyceris opens her suitcase and places the file folder inside so she doesn’t lose it. She notices a shelf next to the door she didn’t see on her way in. It contains a number of brochures and other papers, seemingly about the district and regulations and the sort. Spotting a pile of maps among them, she seizes one with her hoof and leaves the building, walking past Retrin on her way.
She travels by hoof to her destination, following the newly acquired map the best she can. The city’s layout is nothing short of chaotic, and everything is named instead of just having numbers like she’s used to, but despite that she manages to reach her garrison post just fine.
The exterior of the Portside garrison post is very similar to the District 7 headquarters, but much smaller and with only one side facing the street. She opens the door and walks in. The building clearly used to be a store, with empty display windows to the left and right in the front and a counter to the left. Stairs leading both up and down are on the far side, and a pair of soldiers stand off to the right, talking about nothing of consequence.
Nyceris takes a deep breathe, committing this place to memory. This is her post, and the soldiers here under her command. “I can hardly believe I’m finally here! I’ve dreamed of this day since enrolling in the academy, and it’s finally happening! And Scutellum should be here too!” She looks around, not seeing anyling besides the two soldiers. “Perhaps he's upstairs?”
She goes upstairs into what seems to be a repurposed apartment. There are several office spaces in the open area with several changelings working at them, and sure enough one of them is the changeling she's looking for. She strides forward, smiling warmly. “Scutellum! It’s good to see you!”
The slender, green-eyed changeling looks up from his paperwork, and upon seeing her his face stretches into a smile as well. “You’re finally here! Welcome to Portside!” His voice is cunning and smooth, just as she remembers.
Standing directly to the side of his desk now, Scutellum has to stand too, to face her properly. “Thank you! I’m glad to finally be here.”
“And just in time too. You may be the commanding officer here, but until you arrived I was, so I’ve been doing your paperwork for you.” He levitates a big stack of papers and files and drops them in front of Nyceris.
Her smile turns to faux fear. “Do I really have to do all of this?
“Yep. It’s not easy running a garrison squadron you know. You’re lucky I didn’t just save it all for you to do.”
She scoffs. “I guess.”
“But we can do that later. You just got here, and most of the squadron is on patrol right now. Why don’t we both take a little time off to celebrate your arrival, hm?”
She looks at him quizzically. “What do you have in mind?”
He speaks as he walks out from his office space. “Well, we used to get coffee a lot at the academy, so I was thinking we could go to a café or something. I saw a nice-looking one while on patrol last night. We could check it out if you’d like?”
Nyceris smiles. “That sounds great! Can I just leave my suitcase here for now? I haven’t had a chance to go to my housing unit yet.”
He points to an area next to his desk. “You can just leave it there. We can pick it up when we get back.”
“Okay. Thanks.” She moves the suitcase over to the spot he specified and leaves it there as the pair head downstairs.
They walk out onto the sidewalk, catching up on things they missed. Scutellum is telling Nyceris all about his one day as if he’s been here for months. “…but yeah, Portside isn’t the most flashy place in Manehatten or anything, but it has some character. The apartments we get are much bigger than the housing units in the hives, and nicer too.” Nyceris is listening as they walk, thinking about all the things she will be able to do here.
Scutellum continues. “And the ponies around here pretty much do anything you say. It’s great.”
Nyceris gives him a suspicious glance. “You’re not abusing that power too much I hope?”
He smiles flatly in response. “Don’t worry, I have my fun every once in a while but I know my limits.”
“Uh huh. Sure.”
Scutellum picks up on her sarcasm, and looks a little offended. “Hey! I’ve become much more professional since I graduated you know. I’m responsible now.” He stops and pounds his chest with his hoof.
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
He sighs, then moves to keep up pace with her. “I suppose I deserve that. Still, we’ll be working together from now on, so I’ll have plenty of chances to prove it.”
They carry on in silence for a few minutes, allowing Nyceris to look around a bit. She notices two ponies, seemingly a father and child, coming in the opposite direction they are. Upon seeing her and Scutellum, the father ushers his foal into the street to allow them to pass. She meets eye contact with him for a brief moment, but he quickly looks away, clearly fearful. She doesn’t know why, but the exchange makes her stomach churn.
Scutellum meanwhile, remains completely unfazed. He keeps heading forward, and before she knows it, they have reached the place he was leading them to. “Ah, here it is. Quaint, isn’t it?”
Nyceris looks up at the words printed on the glass walls of the first floor. It says ‘Olive Branch Café’ in bold, white letters with a green outline, written in Equestrian. Inside it looks like a fairly cozy café, not unlike those in the hives. There are some tables off to the side with chairs next to them set up against the dark green wallpaper, several of which have patrons, mostly ponies but with some changelings as well, sitting at them, sipping their drinks and eating their pastries. At the back of the room is the serving counter, where a pair of ponies move about, taking orders and filling drinks for their customers.
She turns to Scutellum. “It looks rather nice. Shall we?”
He gestures towards the door with one hoof. “After you.”
Nyceris pulls the door open with magic, and a small bell attached to the handle jingles quietly. The two officers walk into the café, drawing the attention of a few ponies, who try to look like they are not watching them. “It's not like we're here to hurt you. Go back to your coffee.”
She walks up to the cashier, looking at the menu written on a chalkboard hung above the counter. She can read Equestrian pretty well, but many of the names for menu items include words she’s pretty sure are from other languages. After finding something she actually recognizes, she turns towards the barista. “I’ll have a…”
She finds herself paused for a moment as she meets eyes with the pony in front of her. She is an earthpony, with a deep purplish-red coat and a cream-colored mane tied up in a bun. She is wearing a plain, green apron and glasses, which only serve to accent her rose-colored eyes. Her face is quite pretty for a pony, but looks unsure. Then her muzzle opens to speak. “Yes?” She says, sounding a little nervous.
Nyceris shakes her head to refocus herself and tries again. “I’ll have a medium caramel latte please.”
The strangely entrancing pony nods, and picks up a pen with her mouth, writing it down on a piece of paper. She then looks up to Scutellum for his order. Nyceris stands off to the side while he tells the pony his order. “I’ll have a double expresso and a vanilla scone.”
The pony writes down his order and very politely says “I'll have that for you in just a minute.”
Scutellum throws a couple of bits on the counter, and Nyceris goes and sits down at an empty table, followed shortly thereafter by Scutellum. He gives her that look that says he’s trying to figure something out about her, which has always made her uncomfortable. In an attempt to change his focus, she starts conversation. “So, how are the other changelings at our post? Do they… do good work?”
Her ploy seems to have worked somewhat, as he shifts mostly back to his normal half smile. “Yes, they do. Though not much happens around here so they are mostly just bored. Maybe you should try giving them some more exciting things to do than patrol. I’m sure that’d boost morale and whatnot.”
“Maybe. Though what would I even give them to do?”
He looks at her wryly. “I don’t know, I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
The pony from before comes over carrying a tray in her mouth. She places it on their table gently as to not spill the drinks. “Thank you.” Nyceris says softly. The pony quickly nods in acknowledgement and hurries off.
She pulls her latte off the tray and brings it to her mouth, ready to take a sip when Scutellum remarks on her words. “You know you don’t have to say ‘thank you’ to ponies right?”
Nyceris lowers her coffee, opening her mouth to speak without thinking but deciding better of it. Her ‘thank you’ was very much not intentional, but he doesn’t need to know that. So she quickly comes up with something to say as justification. “Well, I’m trying to show that ponies don’t need to be afraid of us, and it would be hard to do that if we don’t ever speak to them properly.”
Scutellum suppresses a laugh. “Changelings are supposed to dominate ponies, not befriend them.”
She looks down nervously. “I know, but still. It would be nice…”
For once he doesn’t speak, instead taking a bite out of his scone. She takes the opportunity to sip her coffee. “Hm, it’s pretty good for something not made in the hives.”
The two finish their drinks in silence so awkward it's palpable, then get up to leave. “I rather like this place; we should come back sometime.” She says nonchalantly, hoping that Scutellum has already forgotten about their previous conversation.
“Sure, it can be our new place like we had back in Vesalipolis.”
“I’d like that.”
The two changeling officers walk out of the café, ready to return to their duties in service of the Hegemony.
It’s been a whole year since the unimaginable happened. Since the changelings pushed Equestria to the brink, and forced their surrender. Since her life changed irreparably and forever.
Orchid writes down another customer’s order. She works at a café as a barista, and has done so ever since the changelings came along. She used to work at a floral shop before the war, something she loved doing, but the necessity of wartime forced her to take up employment at a military factory, making ration kits for the soldiers on the front. The war ended of course, and the florist closed, so she had to find somewhere else to make a living.
“Stupid changelings, ruining everything.” She pours some expresso into a paper cup, followed by milk and cream. As much as she wishes she could say things like that to somepony, she knows she can’t. The changelings are always watching, and many of them take any excuse to be cruel to ponies like her. It all just makes her incredibly frustrated, and most of all scared.
She’s thought about doing something about it before, such as joining the rebellion, but she knows she’s just a regular earthpony, and no fighter. All she knows how to do is keep her head down, do her job, and try to live her life, even under changeling occupation.
She places the lid on the cup, and puts it on a tray, which she picks up with her mouth to bring to her customer. “Here you are ma’am.” She says after placing the tray down in front of a pegasus. She smiles and thanks her, and afterward she walks back behind the counter and plops down in a chair. The morning coffee rush is always exhausting, especially because she has to work with Sun Lily. Her coworker is currently at the register, awaiting any customers. Orchid knows she’s not a bad pony or anything, she’s just annoying and very bad at her job. She also knows her boss keeps her around just because she’s pretty and good with the customers, but he’s not the one that has to redo an order every time she messes one up.
She sighs, leaning her head back against the wall. “Only 8 more hours before I can go home.” Mercifully there are no customers coming in right now, allowing a space where she can breathe a little, though her current train of thought doesn’t exactly help her relax. “Perhaps I should think about something else… Let’s see… Sky Scraper’s birthday is coming up soon, I should probably get him something. What does he like again? Rocks? Maybe I should find a fancy rock for him or something.”
The bell on the door jingles, ending her moment of respite. She looks over to see who came in and freezes up. “Shit, it’s those two officers again!” Or at least she’s pretty sure they’re the same ones. It is hard to tell changelings apart from looks, but she recognizes the voices. They’ve come in nearly every day the last week, and it freaks her out every time. She was sure at first that they were here because the café was in trouble for some reason, but they really just seem to want their morning coffee. It would be more reassuring if she could actually hear what they talk about, but they always speak in Herzlander with each other.
She sighs again, bringing her hooves back to the ground as Sun Lily takes their order. She overhears what they say and starts making it immediately, not willing to take the risk of giving Heer officers sub-par service. Sunny turns around to fulfill the order, but seeing that Orchid already has it nearly finished, the unicorn just smiles and returns to the register.
Orchid rolls her eyes, and picks up the tray, bringing it over to the table the changelings chose to sit at. She sets it down carefully, and backs away, nodding respectfully. The one with blue eyes thanks her, while the other one scoffs. She quickly trots back over to behind the counter, not wanting to spend any more time near them.
“That one always thanks me…” She thinks back to every time a changeling has ever come into the café, and as far as she can remember the blue-eyed officer is the only one that ever actually thanks her like a pony would. “It’s too strange to not be a ploy of some kind. Changelings are known for deception and trickery after all. She must be trying something.”
She watches them out of the corner of her eye for the rest of the time they are in the café, and occasionally she thinks she sees the blue-eyed one look back at her. It makes her nervous. She continues doing her job like normal until they leave, and finally she can breathe a sigh of relief. “I know they’ll probably be back tomorrow, but at least I’m safe for today.”
“You were looking at those officers an awful lot, something the matter?” Sun Lily says in that annoying voice of hers. If even she picked it up, then the changeling must have.
Orchid tries to cover up the situation before Sun Lily gets any ideas. “Just making sure that they are enjoying themselves. Don’t want them to have a bad time here, now do we?”
Sun Lily clearly doesn’t pick up on her tone. “I thought you didn’t like changelings.”
At that, Orchid quickly shushes her, and looks around to make sure there isn’t anypony too close. All the customers in here right now look like ponies, but you never know with changelings. She looks back to Sun Lily and whispers. “You’re right, I don’t. But please don’t say things like that in public. You’re going to get me in trouble one of these days.” Sun Lily looks genuinely apologetic, and it makes her feel kind of bad for being harsh on her.
“I’m sorry Orchid. I know you have problems with them. I just have a hard time understanding it sometimes. I find them kinda pretty, actually.”
“Of course she does.” She speaks in an even quieter voice to make sure that only Sun Lily can hear her. “They’d be pretty if they weren’t militarily occupying us and treating us like servants!” She puts her hoof over her face and sighs. “Listen, just… be careful around them, okay? I know we may have our differences, but I don’t want you getting hurt.”
She doesn’t seem to fully understand, but she nods. Orchid takes that as the best she can probably get, and returns to work.
The pair continue their job for the rest of their shift, speaking every now and then but overall being much quieter than usual. Orchid feels a bit guilty for saying all that to Sun Lily, but she knows that they were things she needed to hear. Eventually, the sun lowers in the sky, and her shift finally ends.
She puts her apron up on a hook and grabs her saddlebag, throwing it onto her back. Sun Lily is staying behind for a bit to clean up and wait for the evening shift to arrive, which Orchid is technically supposed to be helping with, but she’s been leaving as soon as her shift ends for months and Sun Lily hasn’t really cared, so she feels it is okay. She pushes the door open and begins her trek back home.
She steps out onto the sidewalk, walking alongside the shops and stores of Portside. Many of them are boarded up, having had to close for one reason or another. Orchid watches as a car drives past her. “This place used to be a lot busier…” She keeps moving forward.
Eventually a sign catches her eye, and she looks up towards it. It reads ‘Portside Tavern’. She and her friends sometimes meet up here to get drinks and generally hang out. Orchid stops to think about it for a moment, before deciding. “Maybe just one drink.”
She pulls the door open and walks into the bar. The inside is fairly spacious for a pony bar in lower Bronclyn, with several booth seats around the walls, a small stage for the occasional performance, and of course the bar table off to the far left. Music is playing on the radio, a rerun of some concert from downtown, filling the otherwise slow environment with some more life. Only a few ponies are sitting around the tavern, eating food and drinking with their friends, leading to a much quieter atmosphere than she’s used to here, but she supposes that the bar rush hasn’t hit yet. She’s somewhat thankful for that, means she can drink in peace.
She trots up to the counter and addresses the bartender. “Hey Bluestar, how’s work today?” She’s been here enough times to know them pretty well.
Bluestar smiles warmly at her, their horn lighting up with a purple aura as a glass floats down off the shelf. “Good to see you, Orchid. It’s been a pretty slow day today, so not bad. How about yourself? You look a tired, something been happening at work.”
“Intuitive as ever.” Orchid reflects on all the times that Bluestar has helped her out before; they’re really a pillar of the pony community here. “Yeah, work hasn’t been great recently.” She sits down on one of the bar stools, pulling her front legs up onto the counter and resting her head on top of them.
They continue smiling at her sympathetically. “I’m very sorry to hear that. I know that work can be tough for anypony, especially with the Cutie Mark system long gone, and the occupation.” They pause, then continue. “Just try to keep your head up, okay? Doesn’t do yourself no good to only look at the bad.”
Orchid smiles. “Thanks for that. I’ll try my best.”
Bluestar nods. “Now can I get you something? I assume you didn’t just come here for reassurance.”
“Yeah. Could I just get a beer. Something light?”
“Of course. We have some on tap tonight.” They go over to the other side of the counter and start filling her drink.
She is resting her head when she hears a familiar pair of voices coming in through the door. She turns around to see none other than two of her best friends, Marble Mark and Sky Scraper. The grey and aqua colored stallions are joking with each other like usual as they walk up towards the counter. After a moment they seem to spot her too, and Marble Mark waves at her. “Hey! Orchid! Long time no see!”
Her day suddenly gets a lot better. “Hey! What are you two doing here on a weekday?”
Marble Mark wraps his front leg around Sky Scraper and pulls him close. “Well as you know, Sky here’s birthday is coming up in a few days, so I figured I’d buy him a drink or two to celebrate early since I’m going to be ‘out of town’ then.”
Sky Scraper pushes Marble’s leg off, nodding. “And what about you Orchid? What’re you doing here on a weekday.” He says, joking intent clear as day despite his serious-looking face.
She looks back towards the beer that has been placed in front of her. “Oh me? I’m just getting a drink before I go home. Work’s been really stressful recently.”
Marble nods. “Oh I hear ya there.”
Sky nods as well, and then gestures towards one of the booths, smiling. “Hey, since you’re here, why don’t you join us Orchid?”
She thinks for a second to make sure she has the time. “Sure, don’t got anything better to do.”
Orchid and Sky Scraper go over and find seats at a nearby booth while Marble Marks head to the counter to get drinks for the two of them. She brings her own drink with her, and starts up some conversation once she sits down. “Sorry I don’t have anything for your birthday. I was thinking about getting you something for your collection, but haven’t had the time yet.”
“Oh don’t worry about that. I’m just happy that you guys are here with me. Work’s been stressful for me too.” He looks almost forlorn thinking about it.
Orchid looks at him with concern. “Do you want to talk about it?”
The aqua-colored pegasus shakes his head. “Maybe later. I’d like to have a few drinks in me first.”
“That’s alright by me.”
Marble Returns carrying two brimming glass mugs in his maroon-colored magic, placing them down in front of Sky Scraper and himself. “There we go!” He slides into the seat next to Sky, and raises his glass. “A toast! To our good friend Sky Scraper for managing to live 25 whole years!”
Orchid picks up her beer with her hoof, and Sky does the same with his wing. They clink their mugs together, and all take a hearty swig. “Thank you guys for being my friends these past few years.” Sky says, looking the happiest she’s seen him in months. “It means a lot to me.”
Orchid smiles at him. “Of course! I’m glad to be friends with you too.” While they’re all friends now, they used to just be coworkers at the ration factory during the war, where they met each other. Marble was a teamster, and even now he continues that work in a way. Sky was just another line worker like she was, and then there was Blueberry, their manager. “Oh speaking of Blueberry…”
“Was Blueberry going to come with you?” she asks.
Marble shakes his head. “No, it was just going to be me and Sky. I figured that you and her would be there for his actual birthday. I’m just celebrating with him early because I’m not going to be here for it.”
Orchid raises her brow in curiosity. She knows what he does of course, but out of necessity she can’t know all the details. Still, she decides to try her luck to see what she can get out of him. “What’re you doing this time?”
He puffs his chest up proudly. “I’m going to be helping smuggle some ponies out of the country. It’s hard to get past those damned U-boats, but we’ll be pretending to be just a regular transport vessel.”
“That all sounds very exciting.” She looks impressed for him, because she knows he appreciates it, but she can’t help thinking about how it could go wrong. “It sounds really dangerous too. What if they catch you?” She looks to Sky to see if he’ll help with the situation, and when she notices that he doesn’t seem to be paying attention, she feels it is left to her to try to talk some caution into Marble.
She quiets her voice in case of eavesdroppers, gesturing her hooves for him to do the same, and says “Just remember to be careful out there Marble. I know that you’re a big rebellion hero and all, but that just means if the changelings catch you, it’ll be bad. Really bad.”
He furrows his brows, but thankfully follows her gestures and quiets his voice too, though he still speaks with some contention. “I’m well aware of the danger Orchid. But I wouldn’t have joined if I wasn’t ready to handle it.”
She sighs, peering down into the soft bubbling of her drink. “I now. I know you’ll be careful, I just get worried about you sometimes.”
“Well don’t be. Nothing will happen; the bugs are stupid as all Tartarus. They won’t catch us.”
“If they were so stupid then how did they win?” She finds herself staring at him off and on while the three sip their drinks in silence for a moment.
Eventually Sky breaks the ice and starts talking about less worrying subjects like the latest hoofball game or the new project he’s been working on. He works as a carpenter, and has apparently been helping renovate a fancy house in the upper city for some wealthy changeling. He speaks about how nice the neighborhood is, and how it’s a shame only changelings can live there now, as well as the differences between various types of wood, for which Orchid could not care less.
Later in the night, after a few drinks, he even opens up about what happened earlier today. A mis-balanced support beam collapsed during construction of an extension to the house, which crushed the hind leg of a coworker of his. Sky seems really freaked out having to recall the injury, and he notes that his boss was not happy about losing a worker, and made everypony else pick up the slack.
Orchid notices his distress at the memory, and tries to turn the conversation towards her work instead, which would hopefully be less stressful for him.
“…so as you probably could guess, Sun Lily is useless as ever. I almost feel bad for her sometimes.”
Marble shakes his head in mock disappointment, slamming his newly emptied mug into the table. “How dare you feel bad for that incompetent bitch! I bet she even likes the changelings that come by!”
She looks a bit remorseful at that remark. “Hey I wouldn’t go that fa…” Then she remembers what Sun Lily had told her earlier today. “I guess she did say she thought changelings were pretty earlier…”
He shakes his head again, and at this point Orchid is unsure whether he is joking or not. “See? I knew I had a bad feeling about her. Traitor on top of being lazy.”
Orchid finds herself getting a little defensive of her coworker, something she did not see herself ever doing. “She’s not all that bad. She’s just…” She pauses for a second to think about her next works. “A little naïve I guess. She doesn’t even notice when somepony is hitting on her let alone noticing how dangerous the changelings really are.”
Marble opens his mouth to speak, his face contorting in what appears to be anger, but Sky comes to the rescue and interrupts. “Enough about Sun Lily. Anything else been happening at work Orchid?”
It doesn’t take her long to think of something. “Well, there have been these two Heer officers that have been coming in the morning everyday recently. They’ve been really freaking me out.”
Sky looks concerned, and Marble’s anger immediately, and surprisingly, turns into something much more pensive. Sky manages to speak first. “Have they been doing anything worrying?”
“No, odd as it is. They just order coffee like everypony else, talk for a bit, and then leave.”
“Do you know what ranks they are? Were you able to get a look at their badges?” Marble asks.
Orchid arches her eyebrow in confusion. “Um, no. Maybe? They had little chevrons on them I think? I don’t really remember.”
Marble seems to be thinking something through after her answer, which makes her even more confused and even somewhat worried. After a moment he asks another question. “Did you ever overhear them talking?”
She shakes her head. “They always speak in Herzlander from what I can tell. I can’t understand a word. Though I know they speak Equestrian pretty well. They barely even have an accent.”
“Hmm…” Marble puts his hoof on his chin in thought, while Sky just watches the two of them in puzzlement and mild concern.
Orchid can’t help but find herself worried about what Marble has to say. “I know You’re a bit of a rebellion firebrand, and that whatever you’re thinking probably isn’t good for the changelings, but still… what are you getting at Marble?”
At last, he speaks, putting her ponderance to rest. “I have an idea, and I need to know if you are on board with it.” He looks strangely serious, and it frightens her a bit.
“Um… what is it?”
“I would like you to see if you can get some information out of them. The officers I mean. Anything you could find would be of serious help to the rebellion.”
She quickly stands up and pounds her hooves on the table, nearly knocking over her drink. “He said it so casually for how big of an ask it is, what the fuck is he thinking?!” There is some anger in her voice, and she stutters as she starts to speak. “Y-you can’t be serious, right? You want me to talk intel out of them?”
He nods calmly, seemingly uncaring of her sharp reaction to the proposal. “I know it is quite a lot to ask of you, but you’ve been provided with a unique opportunity to aid the rebellion against the changelings.”
Orchid looks dumbfounded by his nonchalance. “You know how I feel about working for the rebellion Marble.” She waves her hoof into the air for emphasis. “I make coffee for Celestia’s sake! I’m not rebel material.”
He just looks at her knowingly. “I know how much you hate the changelings Orchid. I also know the only thing keeping you from the rebellion is self-doubt. I’m not asking you to join us permanently, but at least be brave enough to help with this?”
Clearly seeing her emotions spiking, Sky tries to interject. “Stop it, Marble. She clearly doesn’t want to. Don’t pressure her like that.”
Marble just shakes his head in response. “Whether she wants to or not, we could really use the help. I’m not asking for an answer right now, but could you at least think about it?” He gives her one of those hopeful faces that he knows she has trouble resisting.
She plops herself back onto her seat and sighs heavily before speaking. “I’ll try… I’ll think about it. I know this means a lot to you. Just… give me some time, okay?”
He nods, and Sky leans into his seat looking somewhat exasperated. Orchid finds herself doing the same. “Fuck… am I really going to consider this? There’s no way I can do this. If I get caught…”
She decides that now would be a good time to make her exit. She slides out of the booth and stands up, grabbing her saddlebag as she does and slinging it over her back. “Sorry, I just realized how late it is and I have work tomorrow. Goodnight.” She turns to leave before remembering. “Oh, and happy early birthday Sky.”
“Thanks. Take care of yourself.” She walks away without answering.
She pushes open the door and starts down the street towards her house. The walk isn’t long, the tavern is basically just up the street from where she lives, but it feels like a much more arduous journey than it should be. Practically every step seems like a conscious effort, and she suddenly feels like every passerby is watching her. Inevitably her mind dwindles back to the conversation with Marble, but she quickly shakes her head to clear her thoughts. “If I allow myself to think about it I might accidentally say something and somepony… or someling might overhear! No, just hold out Orchid, you’re almost home.”
At last, she arrives at her building, a humble five-story brick apartment in the poorer part of Portside. The changelings may have taken a lot of the nicer homes in the area, but she already lived down here, so they never took her home, yet. She sighs, and opens the door, stepping into the entryway. The walls are covered in a slightly ripped, dark-green wallpaper, and there is an old red carpet leading up the creaky stairway. The smell of dust and ageing wood fills the stale air, a scent she is quite used to.
She ascends carefully to the third floor, making sure to avoid the faulty step on the second flight. “Pretty sure that one is going to hurt somepony eventually. Maybe I should see if I can get Sky Scraper to fix it. In the meantime at least everypony living here is already aware of it.”
She arrives at her door, labeled ‘#302’ in brass numbers. The brown paint is chipping off it, and the doorknob has seen better days, but it hasn’t broken yet, and she hopes it stays that way. She twists the knob with her hoof and pushes the door open, revealing the living room of her apartment. The furniture is old but well taken care of, and the tan wallpaper is holding up pretty well. Orchid normally likes to keep her apartment cleanly, but lately she’s too stressed to put in the effort, so there are some dirty dishes on the coffee table and dust accumulating in the corners.
She closes the door behind her and trots right over to the flower-patterned couch, practically falling down on top of it. She absently takes off her saddlebag and drops it onto the floor besides her. “Aughhh… why can things not just be normal like they used to.” She says to nopony in particular.
Orchid rolls over so that her face is directed up towards the ceiling. At last, she allows herself to think about Marble’s request. “Trying to get information out of a changeling officer huh?” She has to admit that she sees the logic here. She’s the only pony who has an alibi to regularly interact with them to her knowledge, well, besides Sun Lily, but even still, she has difficulty thinking of herself as a secret rebel against the Hegemony, her not wanting to aside. “That jerk… why would he ask something like this of me? And after I said I was stressed already…” She groans and puts her hooves over her muzzle.
She lays there, mulling it over in her head for what seems like hours. Fatigue begins to creep at her vision, and she knows she’ll fall asleep on the couch if she doesn’t move to her bed soon. She pushes herself to get up, and slowly meanders over to her bedroom, stepping through the open door. She quickly changes into her night clothes before laying down in her bed.
Pulling her soft patch quilts over herself, she removes her glasses and turns to place them on her nightside table, but instead her gaze is inexplicably drawn to the side. Placed between her lamp and her clock is a framed picture of her and a uniformed stallion standing next to each other, her front leg wrapped over his shoulders, both of them smiling. She winces, and pulls the lamp string, plunging the room into total darkness, save the glow of the streetlight permeating through her window drapes. She tightly closes her eyes, and pulls the covers up close. “Fine Marble. Have it your way.”
The blaring ring of her alarm clock jolts her awake, causing her to spring upward. Nyceris yawns and slides out of bed. Out of habit she carefully pulls her covers tight to the frame with her magic, making sure it would pass a military inspection. She then walks slowly over to her dresser and clenches the handle, pulling the door open and revealing her uniform, as well as her few civilian clothes, hanging from hooks. She pulls out her hat and uniform, and smoothly dresses herself with a mixture of hooves and magic. Wanting to make sure she looks her best, she walks over to the bathroom. Pride swells in her chest as she looks in the mirror, checking to make sure she didn’t miss anything. She smiles, and licks her fangs. “Time for another day securing Manehatten!”
She steps out into the upstairs hallway and flips the light switch. The opaque, glass sconces on the wall light up, illuminating the sterile hall. The floor is clean, white carpet like most of the rest of her home, and the walls are clad in decorative wood and wallpaper. Besides the small holes and lack of discoloration indicating pictures and painting having been hung on the wall in the past, it is rather barren. “The Heer must have taken most of the previous owner’s belongings when the city was taken. Maybe I should get some decorations for the place? It would help fill the emptiness I see each morning.”
She ceases her thoughts on décor for now, and walks down the wooden stairs, emerging into the living room of her new housing unit. It is a townhome-style apartment that came with some pretty nice furniture, though probably just the stuff too big to have been taken already. Nyceris looks around at her spacious surroundings, from the kitchen to back up the stairs behind her, and sighs. “Do ponies really just need this much space or something? I swear this place is big enough for several changeling families to live comfortably. I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.” She slowly walks over and sits down on the cushiony couch, feeling the softness of it as she leans back. “It ‘is’ kinda of nice though…”
Suddenly, a loud ringing sound echoes across the room. Her heart jumps for a second, but when she looks over towards the noise, she realizes it is only the telephone on the wall near the door. Confused as to who would be calling her before the sun even comes up, she steps over towards the telephone and floats the receiver up to her face. “Hello, Nyceris speaking.”
A voice patches through the line, and she quickly recognizes it as Scutellum. “Hey Nyceris, we have a situation down at the post and I need you here ASAP.”
Nyceris feels a tightness in her chest. “What is it? Did something bad happen?”
“No. Well… not yet anyway. So yes? Either way I can’t tell you over telephone. Just meet me at the post. I’ll explain when you get here.”
She nods, even though she knows he can’t see. “Understood. I’ll be there soon.”
“What the fuck happened Scutellum?! I was only off duty for eight hours to sleep and something goes wrong?” She places the receiver back on the holder, and hurriedly prepares to leave. “I’ll just have to get there as fast as I can so he can explain himself.”
She briskly walks over to the entryway closet and pulls out her work briefcase and gun, strapping the gun to her sides and holding the briefcase in her magic as she closes the closet with a thud. The front doorknob twists in the grasp of green magic, and she rushes through the exit as it pulls open, slamming it behind her and locking it as fast as she can. She orients herself in the direction of the garrison post, and slides out her gossamer wings from behind her carapace, taking off just above the ground and buzzing through the air as swiftly as she can in city streets.
She passes by confused changelings and frightened ponies as she goes, and she manages to arrive in mere minutes. She lands in front of the post, tucking her wings back in, huffing from the journey. “Still got it!” She starts walking forward slowly to allow her time to catch her breath, eventually heading in through the front door and straight up the stairs past the saluting soldiers. She comes to the office space she’s quickly becoming familiar with and finds Scutellum pacing in a small circle within his desk area. He notices her before she can say anything, and he immediately takes to his much-needed explanation.
“There you are!” He says, looking uncommonly exasperated. “We have a big problem, and we have to fix it before the Leutnant finds out about it.”
Nyceris gives him an exasperated look. “Would you please tell me what happened already?”
He takes a deep breath to recompose himself, and looks back to her. “While on patrol last night, a pair of our soldiers were ambushed. The assailant killed one of the soldiers, Gefreiter Pretyrnx, but his partner was able to catch a glimpse of the terrorist before they escaped. The news hasn’t been great for troop morale. The fear of being murdered at any given moment is causing some of the newer recruits distress, and I’m afraid that if we don’t find the killer as soon as possible then we’re going to get in trouble with the Leutnant.”
Her face wrinkles in both fear and anxiety for a brief moment, before she regains composure. “Come on Nyceris, you didn’t spend four years in officer school to let a situation like this get the better of you. You got this! You are the commander, and it is your responsibility to protect your soldiers.”
She returns her gaze to him, looking much more in-control now, and tells him what she is thinking. “The Leutnant didn’t seem like the type of changeling who would punish us for losing a single soldier, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t be in trouble. I think you’re right, we need to find the killer as soon as we can to give our squad peace of mind, and possibly ourselves as well.”
Scutellum nods approvingly. “Right. I figured I’d wait for you to get here, since you are the commanding officer here. I did however take the liberty to interrogate the surviving soldier about what she saw, and wrote it down in this report.” He levitates a file folder over to her, which Nyceris picks up with her own magic and reads through it.
“Incident occurred at 0140 hours as reported by Soldat Dityris; unknown pony assailant attacked and killed Gefreiter Pretyrnx with a knife while on patrol, body was recovered; assailant was a light green pony wearing a jacket and bandana, presumably an earthpony or unicorn given lack of perceivable wings; after incident, Soldat Dityris returned to the garrison post and filed a report.”
“Okay, so we already have a description.”
Scutellum nods in agreement. “We’re just lucky they were able to get a good glimpse of the assailant. Narrows down our search significantly.”
“Right. First things’ first, have the squadron blockade any exit roads to Portside, we don’t want our culprit escaping. Next you and I will lead a party to search houses for any pony fitting the description. Lastly, we will interrogate the suspects until our culprit is found.”
“Understood. I’ll get a crew together for the blockade now.”
“I’ll work on gathering search parties.”
The officers nod and head downstairs together, Scutellum immediately yelling for some troops to gather while Nyceris walks towards the operations officer. She approaches the wide-eyed changeling as he watches the frantic energy of soldiers following Scutellum outside. He only notices Nyceris when she is standing right in front of him.
His wings stretch out for a moment from the surprise, but he quickly pulls them back in. “OH! Apologies commander, I didn’t see you there.”
Nyceris dismisses his lack of awareness and moves on to the reason she is here. “Not to worry Unteroffizier. We have a situation as you may have heard, and I need for some things.”
He looks nervous, but still manages to respond cooly and professionally. “Of course commander. What do you need?”
“Well, first I’d like to speak with Soldat Dityris.”
The officer’s nervous demeanor fades away at the mention of the Soldat. “Right. Naturally.” He coughs to clear his throat. “I believe she is off duty at the moment. I figured she deserved it after what happened.”
“Have someling go and get her. In the meantime I need you to gather as many soldiers as you can while Feldwebel Scutellum blockades the neighborhood. We’re going to find the killer.”
The officer opens his mouth as if to speak, but decides better of it, and simply nods. He moves off to fulfill her orders, yelling at one of the confused soldiers standing around the post to go get Soldat Dityris. Nyceris looks around at the changelings doing everything they can to follow her instruction. “I’ve got this under control. I am in charge here. I shouldn’t have worried.”
She walks back upstairs to her desk, finding a small stack of paper and files placed on top of it neatly, likely put there by Scutellum while she was off duty. “I guess he really has changed…” Her mind can’t help but compare his newfound professionalism to the brazen and disorganized changeling she remembers from the academy. “I guess the a year of staff work really helped him pull himself together.”
Nyceris closes her eyes and opens them again, helping her reorient herself from reflection back to the task at hand. She sits down in her chair and starts briskly looking through the paperwork. “Let’s see here… mostly status reports, the incident report from last night, and several dissidence reports. I’ll have to look into those, though it doesn’t look like I have to sign anything yet. Hopefully it will stay that way.”
She closes the files and quickly put them back into an orderly stack with her magic before getting up and heading back downstairs to oversee on the operations officer’s progress. “I’ll have time to check those in detail later.” She emerges into the first floor, but sees only a single guard remaining, leaving the building feeling much emptier than it did minutes prior. There is a lot of movement and grey uniforms fluttering past the front window outside, so Nyceris walks over and pulls the door open.
In front of the post is a group of about twenty or so changeling soldiers, huddled together without much in the way of organization, but there nonetheless. The officer is speaking with a soldier who is sitting down with a portable radio set, presumably relaying orders to patrols. There are no cars travelling along the street, and any signs of ponies have long since vacated the area. “Good, Scutellum must be getting the lockdown started.”
Upon seeing their commander, the soldiers begin filing into rows, standing at attention. The officer turns from the radio operator to Nyceris, and gestures towards the assembled soldiers. “This is everyling that isn’t helping with the blockade. Called them all back from patrol.”
Nyceris nods, impressed with the efficiency. “Good. Stay at the post as dispatch.” He nods in acknowledgement while she turns to face the troops. “Good morning everyling. As you likely already know, one of our squad was killed last night by a pony assailant. This is unacceptable. The Hegemony will not tolerate terrorism. Because of this, we are going to put the entire neighborhood on lockdown. I don’t want any civilians, be they pony or changeling, leaving until we have the situation resolved. You will all be split into smaller teams to go around calling the ponies out of their homes. We are looking for a light green earthpony or unicorn, so inspect each one, and bring any ponies resembling the suspect to the station for interrogation. Am I understood.”
The soldiers all shout “Yes ma’am!” in unison.
“Good. Dismissed!”
Nyceris lowers her stance a little as the troops disperse, already starting to feel tired from having to put up an authoritative front for this long. “Today’s going to be exhausting…”
The operations officer approaches her, smile on his face. “Good work commander, I’m sure we’ll have the killer caught in no time.”
She weakly returns his expression. “I’m sure we will.” Her smile disappears and she straightens her face to one of what she hopes is pure professionalism. “Now where is the Soldat? You sent someling to find her did you not?”
“Yes ma’am, I did. They should be returning with her shortly.”
“Excellent. Direct the Soldat to my office when she arrives, I’ll be there.”
“Understood.” He salutes, and heads inside with the radio operator.
Nyceris, now standing alone in the street, lets out a breath of relief. She adjusts her uniform , and a thought crosses her mind. “This is all a lot harder than it seemed… Is this how the Leutnant feels?”
She sighs, and looks around at her surroundings. It suddenly became very quiet after all the soldiers left, and the lack of ponies in the streets only contributes to that. There aren’t any pedestrians or cars or conversations or anything like there would usually be in a Manehatten city street. Suddenly, a she sees a blur of motion in the corner of her eyes. She looks up towards it passively and sees that there is a pony watching her through a second-floor window across the street. The moment that the pony notices she can see them, they duck and close their curtains. “I guess they really are afraid of us, huh.”
She sighs again, though deeper this time, and retreats back inside the garrison post towards her office, as there is no point in remaining out here any longer. Walking past the radio dispatch station up on a table nearby, she goes straight upstairs and sits in her chair. She gathers the stack of papers from earlier, and begins sorting through the files one at a time.
Nyceris had barely even read through half a dozen of the documents when she hears the front door slam shut downstairs. She puts the paper she was holding in her magic back down on the desk, and watches as a pair of soldiers march up the stairs, though one of them is only wearing her uniform coat. They walk right up to her, and the properly uniformed one salutes. “Oberfeldwebel Nyceris! I have retrieved Soldat Dityris as requested.”
Nyceris nods. “Good, thank you. Go and see if dispatch could use your help. You are dismissed.”
She salutes again, and exits back down the stairs, leaving the anxious-looking changeling behind. Noticing that she is alone with her commander, she quickly licks her fangs and props up at attention. Nyceris gestures towards a nearby folding chair. “Please have a seat.”
Dityris complies, pulling the chair over with her magic and sitting down. She remains nervously silent.
Nyceris sees that she is failing to make eye contact, and smiles in an attempt to offer consolation. “You must be Soldat Dityris, correct?” Her voice is warm yet to the point.
Still not meeting her eyes, Dityris answers in a slightly quivering tone. “Yes ma’am.”
“You don’t have to be afraid. You’re not in trouble, I just want to know more about what happened last night with you and Gefreiter Pretyrnx.”
She looks a little less apprehensive at Nyceris’ reassurance, but finally manages to meet her eyes. They are a light purple, with a shimmer of fear still in them. Dityris remains silent for now, forcing Nyceris to continue. “According to the report, you and the Gefreiter were attacked last night at 0140 by a single pony assailant. Is that correct?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Where were you when this happened?”
Dityris looks down again, seemingly staring at the floor. “We were patrolling near the wharf.”
“And then the pony attacked?”
“Yes.”
“You described them a bit in your interview with Feldwebel Scutellum. Could you do so in more detail for me?”
She nods, head still bowed. “They were either an earthpony or a unicorn, I couldn’t see very well since it was dark, but I could see well enough to tell if they had wings or not. They were wearing a black jacket and a green bandana of some kind, but I could tell that they were light green, I could see that much.” Dityris pauses for a moment, as if not wanting to remember something.
Nyceris finds herself feeling a bit guilty for pressing her so hard, but she knows that it is something that needs to be done. “Anything else.”
“Me and Pretyrnx were patrolling by a pair of warehouses, when the pony came out from behind a wall and stabbed him three times. I was able to get a look at them with my flashlight, but then the pony lunged at me too, and the only thing that saved me was my pistol. I managed to shoot them once, in the hind leg I think, but they got away.”
“You were very brave there Dityris, it is just unfortunate that the Gefreiter was not as lucky as you.”
Dityris nods in acknowledgement, though clearly doesn’t accept the compliment, and instead seems to become agitated. “It’s not fair that Pretyrnx had to die like that! He was a good changeling and a good soldier.”
Nyceris lowers her head, saddened more than anything. “I’ve never been in a life-threatening situation, I can only imagine what it feels like. But even so, nobody deserves to die like that.
Deciding that she has enough information, she decides to focus on calming down the Soldat. “It’s a tragedy that this had to happen. You just have to keep pressing on, as the Queen would have us do.” She pauses for a moment to assess Dityris’ reaction, and continues when she sees it is helping ever so slightly. “Why don’t you take some leave. A week should do. In the meantime we’ll find the killer and bring them to justice. You may be dismissed Soldat.”
Dityris nods appreciatively, and stand up to leave. She heads towards the stairs, but stops at the exit to turn her head around. “One last thing, the pony is a mare I think. She didn’t speak, but I did hear her scream when I shot her.”
Nyceris looks up from her paperwork, grateful for the information. “That is very helpful, thank you Dityris. Enjoy your leave.”
The Soldat nods, and heads down out of sight. Nyceris sighs. “I hope she’ll be okay.”
She turns back to her desk, and continues reading through reports for the next two hours. With some time to reflect by herself, the weight of the situation begins to set upon her, and despite her constant reassurances, anxiety slowly builds. She thinks of her orders, and Scutellum, the Leutnant, Dityris, her troops, and even the operations officer. Her job relies on the efforts of so many others, and in turn they rely on her. “What if I fail them? I already let one of them get killed because I was asleep. I can’t let that happen again! They depend on me, and I need to protect them. The Hegemony needs us to protect it and everyling in it. I cannot fail them!”
Nyceris’s thoughts start to take a course of their own, and she slowly becomes barely conscious of her surroundings. Then she hears a knock from the stairway, pulling her out of the trance. She looks over to see none other than Scutellum, leaning against the wall staring at her. He has a smug look on his face, meaning he probably completed the blockade already.
He saunters towards her, and begins speaking in a voice betraying an unusual amount of concern for him. “You look like you were lost in thought again. What was it this time?”
Nyceris awkwardly smiles at him, a bit embarrassed to have been caught like that again. “Oh, just thinking about the situation. Making sure that we resolve this quickly before the Leutnant catches wind of it and we get in trouble.”
He nods a few times, and his signature smirk reappears where before there was a hint of care. “Riiight. Anyways, I completed the blockade. No changelings or ponies are getting out of Portside until we are done here.”
Deciding it would be best to take the out, Nyceris follows along, and smiles appreciatively. “Thank you. Now we can focus on the investigation. Have any of the suspects been brought back yet?”
“Quite a few actually. There are already a few dozen of them in outside.”
Once again, a tinge of embarrassment fills Nyceris’ chest, this time for not having noticed, though she manages to maintain an authoritative face. “Good. Have the soldiers get all the ponies’ ID’s, and find their files if we have them.”
Scutellum’s smirk grows wider. “Already on it! I have a pair of soldiers gathering files right now. Anyways, why don’t we go down and begin the search, yeah? You and I can work side by side, just like we used to back at the academy.”
“Yeah, only this time it’s searching for a terrorist instead of doing homework.”
He waves his hoof around dismissively. “Eh, same difference. Anyways, let’s go get set up. The rest of the suspects should be arriving here soon.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be down in a moment, go on ahead of me.”
He shrugs, and heads down the stairs. Nyceris cleans up her desk, stacking the reports into neat piles for future reference, and follows.
In contrast to the relatively quiet upstairs office, the downstairs is a flurry of activity, with several soldiers moving tables around and locating files, the radio dispatch in the corner calling in the remaining patrols, and the sounds of ponies and guards from outside.
She marches past the changelings going about their orders, ensuring that she puts on her most commanding presence, and opens the door to head outside. She meets Scutellum past the entrance, standing in front of a growing crowd of likely over fifty ponies, all shades of light green. The nervous collection of civilians is surrounded by armed Heer soldiers, and she can see two more groups being brought in. The operations officer is already out there ordering around some soldiers and gathering identification from the ponies.
Scutellum turns to her as she moves beside him. “Impressive, isn’t it? We made this happen in only a few hours. Imagine what we could do with more resources?”
Nyceris gives him a nervous glance. “I don’t think we should be getting our hopes up about promotions just yet. We still have to find the killer.” She looks out over the assembled ponies. “There’s a lot of suspects to interrogate. This could take a while.”
He just waves dismissively. “I’m sure it’ll be done real quick. Ponies aren’t known to be very tight-lipped.”
The operations officer approaches the pair, having come over while they were conversing. “Commander, Feldwebel, all the patrols are in. This is every light green earthpony and unicorn in Portside.”
“Excellent work.” She gazes back out towards them, and remembers the last thing Dityris said. “Please have the troops send all the stallions back home. I have it per first person account that the assailant was a mare.”
Scutellum furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “Wait, I don’t remember that when I was interviewing the Soldat. When did you hear that?”
Nyceris shrugs. “I guess she must have failed to mention it before.”
“I see…”
The operations officer coughs in an attempt to regain the two’s attention, and they both turn to face him again. “You want me to just send all the stallions home? We already collected all of these…”
“Just do it.” She says sternly.
Stunned for a moment, the officer recovers, then salutes. “Of course ma’am. As you say.” He walks off to give the order, and the soldiers quickly begin dispersing all the stallions they brought, leaving only about two dozen light green mares left.
Scutellum stares at them, and starts speaking without looking to Nyceris. “There’s still quite a few of them. Any other things the Soldat forgot to mention?”
Thanks to the reminder, Nyceris remembers the other missing detail. “Yes actually. Soldat Dityris says she was able to shoot the assailant in one of her hind legs before she escaped. Search for any pony with an injury there.”
Shaking his head in what she presumes to be disappointment, Scutellum takes a step forward and shouts the order. The soldiers begin investigating the remaining ponies, which garners a chorus of protests from the invasion of personal space. Several ponies are asked to remove their clothes, and what used to be a passive anxiety in the crowd quickly evolves into agitation and fear.
While watching the investigation, her eyes drift to a middle-aged earthpony mare, taking the opportunity caused by the ruckus to edge towards the border of the circle. Suspicious, Nyceris tells Scutellum to keep supervising, and strides over to the sneaky pony. She comes up by her side, and inquires about her actions. “Where do you think you’re going, pony?”
The earthpony nearly jumps from surprise, and nervously backs up several hoofsteps, folding her ears against her head. “N-n-nowhere officer! Just trying to get some space.” Nyceris notices her imbalanced stance, and gives her a faux smile.
“Riight. Then I suppose you wouldn’t mind being investigated like the rest of you ponies then?”
She quickly shakes her head and responds in a fearful voice. “Not at all ma’am! Be my guest.”
Nyceris gestures to a nearby changeling. “Soldier, come here. I need you to search this one.”
The soldier obeys, and marches over to her and the pony. He slings his rifle over his back, and demands that the pony pull up her pants. She looks highly apprehensive, and takes several moments to comply, and only after a second order to do so. She slowly begins to remove her clothes, eventually revealing her hind legs in full. The soldier goes in closer to inspect them, but Nyceris can already see it plain as day. There is a recently acquired bullet wound scraping the edge of her left hind leg.
Before she even realizes what is going on, the pony has pulled a knife of out hives-know-where and placed it against the soldier’s throat. Nyceris reactively draws her pistol and aims it straight at the pony, determined to save the soldier, but by the time she’s lined up a shot, the pony is already standing on two legs holding the terrified captive as a shield. Fear and anger rage in the pony’s eyes, and she begins shouting. “Don’t you dare shoot changeling! I’ll cut this one’s throat if you try anything!”
Several other soldiers aim their weapons at the pony, and she can see Scutellum running past the now screaming ponies, gun at the ready. The killer moves herself with her hostage so that her back is against the street and all the soldiers are facing her frontside. Nyceris’ heart is racing, and she shakily aims her pistol at the terrorist, who she notices is struggling to stand, the wounded leg shaking more than the rest of her.
Mustering up her courage, Nyceris tries her best to put on a visage of authority. “Put him down, pony! We know you were the killer from last night. You won’t escape from justice!”
The pony laughs despite her evident fear. “Ha! You think there’s justice in the Hegemony?! You changelings are all the same, ruling through terror and hoping that ponies will just fall in line. Equestria will never submit to your tyranny!”
Nyceris feels an unwelcome tightness in her chest, and finds her veneer failing her. Scutellum finally arrives, and him along with the other soldiers begin closing the gap. The pony yells for them to stay back, and takes a few steps back herself. On the third step backwards, her wounded leg collapses, and she trips, pulling the soldier with her and letting the knife fall to the ground.
Scutellum takes the opportunity to charge for the pair, but the pony manages to fling the soldier off her in time and start awkwardly galloping off down the street. Seeing her chance, Nyceris lines up the shot with her pistol, and prepares to pull the trigger, when she spots the pony’s flank mar. It is a stuffed bear toy leaning against a blue book.
For some reason, she hesitates, holding her shot but not opening fire. Her heart is thumping and her mind is racing. She knows she needs to fire, to end the threat to her squad and the Hegemony once and for all, but she can’t do it. “Come on Nyceris! You need to do this! Why can’t you do this?!”
A loud bang echoes throughout the street, and the pony collapses to the ground, red blood quickly pooling beneath her from the wound in her flank. Nyceris turns towards the source of the noise to see Scutellum, holding his pistol in his magic, barrel smoking. He shouts at a trio of nearby soldiers to go and fetch the body, and they run over to the pony, still crumbled in a pool of her own blood.
Nyceris is standing there, feeling helpless, when Scutellum slaps her on the back jovially. “Looks like I’m still better at shooting than you are! Guess not too much has changed it seems.”
The sudden shift in mood distresses her even more, and she can’t offer him any more than a sound of vague acknowledgement. “Now is not the time for jokes Scutellum.”
The soldiers sling the pony’s front legs over their necks and begin ferrying her towards the garrison post, blood trailing behind them. As they get closer, Nyceris realizes with slight horror that the pony is still alive. She motions for the soldiers to halt as they pass her, and approaches the injured pony. She looks down at her trembling form, and into her terrified eyes. “Why did you do it?”
The pony looks confused and near delirious. “W-what?”
Nyceris asks again, slower this time. “Why did you kill one of my soldiers?”
She musters a single laugh, breath weak and airy, before looking her dead in the eye. “Because you changelings killed my son.”
Nyceris opens her mouth to respond, but can’t find the words. Instead, she gestures for the guards to take the pony away. The operations officer begins shouting for the rest of the ponies to go back home, and many of them run off the moment they get the chance.
Eyes lingering on the killer as they drag her off, Nyceris begins heading back inside the post. Changeling soldiers rush this way and that trying to preserve some semblance of order in the situation, but it calms down quickly enough on its own once the ponies are all gone. Scutellum looks a bit perturbed by her ignoring him, but quickly finds someling else to yell at.
She stands now in from of the garrison post, eyes still fixed on the pony. She sees the soldiers throw her against the wall besides the window as she passes through the doorway. She flinches as a gunshot rings from outside.