Chapter Fourteen: Pieces on the Chessboard
“Uh, Mom, I really know you like your retro TV shows – only reason you watch TV at all – but what is that?” DJ pointed at the LCD screen that normally served as her mother’s drawscreen for her comic pursuits and computer monitor. However, today it was set to Netflix, and Anna was watching something that was best described as…weird.
Anna smiled. “Old TV show I used to watch when I was just a little older than Sammy: My Little Pony and Friends.”
Hearing that, DJ seemed to snap still, a flare of ice rolling down her back. “Did Hasbro…?” the teenaged pony huffed. The existence of her species and their home reality had been public knowledge for a year now, and DJ was still recovering from the after-effects of that whole incident. While DJ’s parents had firmly turned down the toy company once her existence had been revealed to the world, things were now different and DJ was now sought after again by the paparazzi, though for different reasons this time – and hopefully that would die just as quickly, she hoped.
“I told them no, remember? I’m watching this on my own, just out of that nostalgia old people get,” Anna said with a grin. “Just watch: when you get to be my age, you’ll be doing the same thing, too.”
“Not likely,” the daughter muttered as she stood behind her mother and watched a few more minutes of the show.
To say it was surreal would be an understatement. From what DJ could tell, it was the adventure of one pre-teen and her younger siblings running around in Ponyland – clearly the show writers were blessed with originality in coming up with that name – and it was all done against a prehistoric green screen background, which must have been state of the art forty-odd years ago. But it was the “ponies” that really freaked her out: giant muppet-like things that must have been built by Jim Henson on an off-day; they looked closer to a dwarf horse – or what they called “ponies” back then – than the extradimensional species that DJ was biologically a part of. Before she knew it, she’d sat down with her mother for that episode and the next, very much in that “can’t-take-eyes-off-the-trainwreck” sort of way.
Finally, the episode ended and Anna reached over to hit the space bar, pausing before it went to the next one. “So, what’d’ja think?”
“I wonder how much damage it did to those kids’ acting careers,” DJ snarked.
“Well, if I can remember correctly, Megan Williams – the kids all used their real-life names for their characters – did a stint on Saved by the Bell before retiring from acting. Danny Williams was in a few movies, mostly John Hughes films; I think he went into politics in his home state. Only Molly Williams stayed in acting; she was the one who played the mother in that movie we saw last week.”
“Um…okay. Whatever. Anyway, I think I’m going to back upstairs, find the brain bleach and overdose,” DJ said, a nonchalant look on her face.
Carrying her bags, Lyra stepped through the portal leading from Human-Earth and into her birthworld. The portal guards, already aware of her impending arrival and knowing who she was, gave a curt nod as the unicorn walked through, dragging her bags along their wheels courtesy of her telekinesis. As she stepped forward, hoof over hoof, part of her realized that she was still walking upright as she did back with her family, instead of here, where she could be just another pony again. But she knew that was a lie: she’d never been “just another pony”. Even today, as she wore a neatly-pressed business suit that looked sharper than she felt right now and drinking coffee from the Starbucks just across the street from the embassy, she knew she could never truly fit in with her own kind – and that’s why she was the mare she was now, walking into the world that was her home from the alien world where she felt like she belonged.
She’d just rounded the corner when she found someone standing before her. “Lyra!” Cadance said, rushing over. “It’s been too long!”
Despite her exhaustion, a wide smile broke onto Lyra’s face. “Cadance! So good to see you!” the unicorn said as she set down bags and drink, embracing the alicorn. “How’ve you been?”
Despite her perkiness, there was an air of exhaustion around the princess’ eyes. “Tired and I could really use some advice.”
“Anything for my old foalsitter,” Lyra replied with a sunny smile.
“I would hope it’s because I’m a friend and not just the old foalsitter,” Cadance quipped.
“Well, there is that part about you signing my paychecks and giving me a large house in Leesburg for me and the family to live in,” Lyra answered before a sudden yawn cut off the rest of the thought. “Sorry; it’s been a very long couple of days for me. Was going over some last minute things with AC regarding tomorrow’s talks over the whole Iranian issue. I wanted to make sure that everything was as set in stone as it could be.”
“Thanks, but that’s not why I came to meet you,” the love alicorn said. “The advice is a…personal thing.” When Lyra suddenly looked oddly at her old friend, Cadance took the bags in TK and led them off towards her office, explaining everything that had happened to her in the past few days.
When the alicorn finished, a soft, precious smile rose onto the unicorn’s face. “That’s fantastic!” Lyra said, embracing the princess once gain. “I’m so happy for you, and I’m sure he’ll be as wonderful a stallion as his father was.”
“Thanks. So do you think you’ll have time to…?”
“For you? Always,” Lyra grinned. “Just don’t expect me to do the whole Darth Vader thing.”
“Darth…Vader?” Cadance looked at her old friend with a clueless expression.
“Star Wars reference – hubby’s a big fan of those old movies.” In a husky voice, Lyra drolled, “‘When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master.’”
The pink alicorn giggled. “Cute.”
“I thought so. Plus, Paul and I talked and since the kids haven’t been to Equestria before, we thought it’d be a great idea to have them come tomorrow. And also, I wanted to check up on Twilight and see how she’s doing.” The younger mare was silent for a second before asking, “Is it true? That she’s decided to try to sacrifice herself?”
At that question, Cadance stiffened like a board. “Where…did you hear that?” she asked.
The look in Lyra’s eyes was sad. “I have connections too, you know. Plus, just because Twi and I weren’t close when we weren’t younger doesn’t mean we aren’t now. And if it’s true, I’m very worried.” Seeing the shattered look on the elder pony’s face, the unicorn added, “Twi and the others’ll pull through – they always do. We just have to have faith in them.”
Cadance said nothing about that lest it fracture her fragile heart even further. Instead, she said, “While you’re here, you should know that DJ is here as well. She returned because of Twilight, but her family has been pushing her to at least try to reconcile with Rarity.”
Lyra nodded, a knowing look on her face. “About damn time. As long as I’ve known that girl, there’s been a hole in her heart, one that she really doesn’t know exists and tends to mistake for something else. What about Elusive and Minty? Are they okay with this?”
“Elusive and DJ have met and they’ve reconciled happily. As for Minty…she’s in critical condition in Ponyville General; she was caught in the attack at Fillydelphia and she was lucky to survive – her husband and daughter didn’t.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lyra said, unsure of what else she could say. She nearly lost her husband over five years ago in a plane crash, and it had been a miracle that he’d survived unscathed. But some people – human or pony – didn’t get the luck of having their loved ones make it through the gauntlet safely.
The next few minutes were ones of complete and utter awkwardness before Cadance asked, “So, while you’re here, where are you staying?”
“I was hoping I could get your secretary to set me up with a room at a nearby hotel. I know I should have had Scent take care of it, bu—”
“Oh no you don’t!” Cadance insisted. “You’re coming to stay at my place, Lyra – I insist. It wouldn’t be right, having you stay in some vaguely sanitized room.”
“I don’t want to be a bother. Besides, my family will be here tomorrow, remember?”
“You wouldn’t be – and I have more than enough room for you all. Besides, I’ll still need a hand with Duskie, and having you there were would be perfect.”
Lyra sighed in good-natured defeat. “Fine, but on one condition.” Cadance patiently waited before Lyra burst out in an excited voice, “It’s the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League tonight and United is squaring off against Brujas. If they take it, they face off against the winners of the Galaxy-Cruz Azul game. Please tell me you have ESPN Soccernet!”
“This is about that sport that you suggested to the Ministry of Health, isn’t it?”
“Well, yeah, but….”
“Don’t ever change, Lyra.” Cadance’s smile was wide. “You can explain the game to me tonight – I may as well get some use out of that big screen TV Spike bought me for my birthday last year.”
“And you swear that everything you have told us today in your testament is true, in our Divine Majesty’s name?” the interrogator asked.
A scowl briefly appeared on the features of Khalid. “I do not believe in your ruler as a goddess, but I will swear in the Prophet’s name that all that I have said is true, Peace Be Upon Him,” the colonel replied. Inwardly, however, he was smiling: the strange, demon-like creatures identifying themselves as “pepsis” had been correct that the ponies had bought everything he’d told them, hook, line and sinker. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, however; the ponies apparently knew nothing of interrogation methods and to them, merely isolating him and his men from each other was sufficient torture and anything along the lines of methods that human countries would have used would be beyond the pale of these weaklings.
These are not demons, they’re lambs ready for the slaughter, Khalid thought to himself. And that’s why my new employer will make short work of them. I don’t know what his plans are for them, but it is clear that it will not be anything that they would consider merciful.
“Are you mad?” Chrysalis gasped as Ghino revealed the full of his plan to her and Nightmare Moon. “Putting the Equestrianis on a war footing will make it harder for me to succeed at my goals, you fool!”
Standing there, calm as a breeze and his arms folded, Ghino merely smiled at the queen of the changelings. “You think small, Chrysalis. We are engineering a war with a nation very much interested in throwing everything at them, and they have allies and fellow nations just as uneasy with the existence of the Alter-Earth species’ presence on Earth. At one point nearly a century ago, these nations decided to band together to try to destroy one that was slightly different from them – only slightly different. For a place as different as Equestria and backed up by the United States, of which few of these nations have any respect for, either? It’s all but guaranteed that there will be a shooting war.”
Interested in the human’s words, the black alicorn chose to back him. “Think about it: the Equestriani will be so focused on fighting this new human threat that they will be unable to devote resources while we tear at their flanks. They’ll be ripe for the taking, and by the time they realize what’s happened, they’ll be too busy trying to fight us while leaving themselves open to hits by the opposing human army.”
“But what about their allies – or did you forget about those? They do have species on this world and humans on the other that will jump in to assist in a heartbeat,” the changeling queen pointed out.
“Won’t happen,” Ghino replied with a shake of his head. “Most of the human nations are bluster and bravado. They claim that they’ll staunchly defend their allies as they would themselves, but when push comes to shove? Never happens. There’s always a ‘financial problem’ or some legal loophole that prevents it. Sometimes even the fickle support of their own people prevents it. So not a single human nation will lift a finger and Equestria will suddenly find itself alone as it fights two wars at once.”
“If you insist.”
“I do,” the human nodded, moving forward. “I most certainly do.”
“Mother,” Blue Velvet spoke up, “I can vouch for Ghino’s words.”
“I don’t recall asking for your opinion,” Chrysalis snarled at the pepsis and surprisingly, she shrank back.
Nightmare Moon decided that the bickering was enough. “Chrysalis, we’ll do it this way. By letting the Iranians savage the pony front lines, it will give you clear pass to their flanks, and before Celestia knows it, we will own half her lands and lord over half her ponies.”
A meeting commenced in the private office of the Foreign Minister of Equestria; the mood of all present was nothing less than sober and serious.
“Your majesty, based on intelligence reports coming out of the Pentagon, any war that may come up will have two major focal points: here, and obviously Iran. Now, granted, my days in the military are long since over, but General Bryson has informed me that the immediate saturation of Iran, combined with sustained defense of the sea and air gates, would be enough to end the war quickly and decisively.” The speaker was an older woman, with blonde hair that had mostly gone gray, but blue eyes that were still as lively as the bygone days of her youth. “Frankly, if I may, I’m not as confident.”
Celestia arched a brow. “So you think your general is incorrect, Ambassador?”
Megan Williams, United States Ambassador to Equestria, shook her head. “Quite the opposite: I think Bryson’s being as straightforward with me as possible. But I think that the official line coming from the National Intelligence Apparatus isn’t quite what it used to be. Because the general is still active duty, he has a delicate balancing act to deal with – but I retired as an Air Force colonel quite some time ago, so I don’t have to worry about playing games when I say that unless the info is coming from a trusted source, meaning the Pentagon and not Langley, so it should be seen as the, ahem, polished piece of shit that it is.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow,” Cadance said.
Sundance nodded. “In my duties, I’ve come across similar tales from my counterpart there. Sooner or later, you learn to ‘massage the message’, quote unquote, in order to do your job, for good or ill.” Sundance, as the head of the Foreign Ministry’s Crown Intelligence Service, dealt primarily in cultural and diplomatic intelligence, as opposed to the Mage Guild’s Intelligence Division, which handled military intelligence issues. As a result of the lack of overlap, the two Equestriani intelligence agencies enjoyed a better relationship than their counterparts in other countries. “Megan’s right: I’d rather work with the folks at the Pentagon or at Foggy Bottom than those at Langley, nevermind the NSA.”
“Then you suspect that things will be a lot worse?” the sun princess asked those present. “I needn’t remind everyone that incoherent intelligence will have a negative impact on the overall situation, and might in the end make things worse.”
“Princess, with all due respect,” Lyra spoke, “allies are there for a reason. We’re all going to need each other and I think I can say that we’ll be okay once we’re dealing with trusted friends. There might be some in-fighting on their end, but in the end they’ll get us what we need. After all, it was an American statesman who once said that ‘we must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately.’”
“Reading up on American history, Ambassador Phillips?” Megan asked.
“My kids recently did a book report on Benjamin Franklin; I helped them a little on it,” Lyra answered with a grin. The celeste unicorn took a sip of her coffee and then looked at Cadance. “But to continue, Ambassador Williams is correct. Our own military attaches have made some progress in talks with the Pentagon, and the story’s the same there. There seems to be some sort of disconnect between the military assessment and the intelligence assessment.”
Megan laughed. “Oh, please, Ambassador – the CIA needs the Pentagon more than vice versa,” the woman told her counterpart. “Ross Arbuckle desperately needs to look good to the President, as the Company hasn’t been of use since the 1990s. They botched Al Qaeda’s attempted attack on New York in 2001, the dissolution of the Syrian Republic in 2013, the 2019 Paris riots, and the current military situation. The Office of the Vice President has honestly been looking into the disestablishment of the CIA into a new agency, so Arbuckle’s trying to get a grand slam in any way he can. He’s not being dirty, just a typical politician. Last I heard, he was trying to prove that some small European terrorist outfit – they call themselves the ‘Republic of Pirates’ – is responsible for funding a lot of the recent terrorist actions around the world.
“But that’s not the point. Your majesty, the last time we spoke, you inquired as to how far my country would go to protect yours? To answer that, I should point out that at one time or another, just about every country that we’re currently allied to we’ve been at war with in the past. Granted, there are a few exceptions to the rule, such as Australia, but we just didn’t have the time to squeeze a quick war in before the current global status occurred,” Megan added with a slight grin. “I can honestly say that the U.S. will stand with any ally we march into war with.”
At that point, the door to the office opened, and Spike poked his head in, dressed in a suit and tie. “Ladies, I have some news,” he said, bowing with a flourish.
“Thank you, Spike,” Celestia said. “What is it?”
But Williams looked at the dragon, and something clicked. “So, is this the esteemed gentlemen that made such a ruckus in Honolulu last year?”
Celestia covered her mouth to prevent a giggle. Nodding, she added, “He’s also somepony that’s a part of my family. He’s a stallion amongst stallions and such a wise and gentle soul for his age.”
Spike tried not to blush from Celestia’s compliment, instead focusing on the human’s words. “Ambassador, I can’t apologize enough for what happened at the Pali Lookout, but that young woman’s life was at stake – I couldn’t in good conscience just stand there.”
“And the fact that you didn’t was impressive enough to begin with, good sir; not many would have moved with the courage that you showed.” Megan stood up and looked at the dragon closer. “Spike, is it? The Dolby family asked me to pass on their utmost thanks to you should I see you again. They are, by coincidence, friends of the President, and your actions that day were highly commendable.”
“Well, my sister raised me to be the best pony, er, dragon I could be,” Spike answered with a note of pride in his voice. “But I wasn’t expecting anything out of it; all the same, though, please give them my thanks in return and the hope that Emily will be okay.” Turning back to Celestia and Cadance, he said, “We’ve got conference room two ready for the teleconference with the White House.”
“Thanks,” Celestia responded, and the group filed out of the room. As they all walked towards the conference room, Celestia slowed down until she met up with Spike. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard your story about your vacation. What happened?”
He couldn’t help but grin. “Let’s just say that it’s not that often on human-Earth that a dragon gets to save a maiden from a knight.”
“So you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I know it’s inconvenient just as you were planning to see her, but trust me, it’s for the best.” Matt looked at his daughter, and he could see the lack of disappointment in her eyes. “Look, DJ….”
“Dad, I know; you don’t have to tell me anything I don’t already know,” the humanized pony replied. “It’s just that…. Well, the fact is that Rarity and I will not be best of buddies there. I’m not going to deny that in the least. But I’ll try to keep my tongue civil; that much I can at least do.”
“Well, it might interest you to know that AJ is up and around as well. Rainbow is still out, but….” The man just looked at the pony and the look in his eyes was sad. “I’m not going to lie to you, kiddo. It’s not good. Twilight’s using every magic spell in her arsenal to keep them alive, but it’s all entirely dependent on her. She’s insistent on sacrificing herself to save the others, but the doctors aren’t really sure that’s going to work. As it is, a new medical team sent over from Johns Hopkins is here to see what they can do to assist.”
DJ flopped back on the couch. “I’m guessing Erica’s not part of the team?”
“No,” Anna replied, “but they were probably trained by her, so you know they’re good.”
“I’d prefer if Erica were here,” DJ replied. “I’d rather my aunts have the best treatment available.”
“Even if it meant Rarity gets that same treatment?” Matt asked. When DJ just suddenly glared at her father, he shook his head sadly. “Don’t. You’re not like that. Don’t be like her.”
“I…you’re right, Dad. Sorry.” She deflated, accepting the gentle admonishment. “It’s just…well, things have gotten a lot more complicated in the birth family department.” DJ then went on and explained everything that had occurred with her over the past couple of days, from her meeting with Elusive in Cloudsdale to her finding out that she’d lost a niece and brother-in-law that she’d never known and that Minty was pretty much on her deathbed. She glossed over the details on last night’s attack; likely they’d already seen the news regarding that and she didn’t want them to worry further about her. Likewise, she left out the personal strike on her by Nightmare Moon; that was something she instinctively knew she was going to have to deal with on her own. She did, however, give the details on Butter’s foaling and how she’d managed to patch things up with Elusive.
“Well, your father and I are proud of you for doing what you did,” Anna said in regards to the midwifing incident.
“Well, honestly, Mom, Cinnamon did the majority of it. I just tried to give Butter support like I promised Elusive I would,” DJ stated.
“Yes, but under those very dangerous conditions and what was a stressful situation to begin with. It shows that you’re a strong woman, DJ,” her mother said. “There are millions of individuals, whether humans, ponies or whatever, and yet you stepped up and proved that you’re the better person. That’s the kind of person we raised.”
“DJ, your mother and I know this whole thing has been hard on you,” Matt said, “and when you go to visit tomorrow, it’s probably going to be one of the hardest days of your life. But we’re going to be there for you: both physically and emotionally. When push comes to shove, in the end, you are our daughter and your own woman. Rarity has no say in your life, and the most she can do is ask to be a part of it. I hope that you’ll have the strength to let her do so if she asks, but again, it’s only if she asks, okay?” He reached down and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“Thanks, Dad,” she said, feeling a little better. “Trust me, I can’t wait to get back to Yoko when this is all over. I get the feeling I’m going to need a vacation.”
“Well, why not take one here? I hear Equestria’s kinda magical,” he cracked. DJ, in turn, merely rolled her eyes. It was a stupid thing to say, but…hey, that was her dad.
The raven-haired beauty stepped out of the concourse, a light smile on her face, just another individual there to enjoy the pleasures to be found in Antwerp. Carrying a light duffel bag, she went up to the customs agent, ready to check her in; Ms. Shena Garfield of Burr Oak, Michigan – the typical American girl off to meet and get dumped by some local heartthrob who was already likely sleeping with another woman. She seemed just on the slightly more intelligent side of vapid and, given a few more years, would probably be a sensible adult. Scanning her passport into the database, she was waved forward and allowed into the general area.
Of course, it was all just a lie; someday, the body of the real Shena Garfield would be found at the bottom of a peat bog in the UK, assuming anyone who knew her was still around in that future time. In the meanwhile, Twilight Sunburn was now acting as the murdered woman, playing a role assigned to her by Twilight Gloaming. Whoever had planned this operation was already playing two steps ahead of the pepsis, which meant she was being watched and her life definitely depended on the successful execution of her assignment.
She’d no sooner started her walk down towards the baggage claim when she bumped into a slightly older woman who hadn’t been paying attention to where she was going. “Oh! I’m sorry,” “Shena” said, slipping into the act of a flustered girl, though not all of it was acting. “I-I should have paid better attention as to where I was going. Please excuse my carelessness.”
The other woman, a redhead visibly in her late twenties, had a slight smile on her face as she bent down to get the item she’d dropped in the process. “No, it’s my fault,” she said. “I’m the one who mis-stepped.” The woman sounded as though she was from North America as well, though Twilight didn’t know much about that. A thought came to her mind: was this the individual watching her? If so, she was human; there was no sign about her that she was changeling or pepsis. Perhaps one of Ghino’s soldiers? That thought sent a chill down her back.
“Thanks,” Twilight replied. “Well, Antwerp waits for no one, so I’m off. Be safe out there.” With a shake of her head and hopefully vapid enough smile, the pepsis decided to head off.
The older woman nodded. “You as well,” she intoned. “Remember: your mother loves you.”
The words suddenly stopped the pepsis dead in her tracks. “What did yo—” she started to ask, but as she turned around Twilight noticed that the woman was already gone. Not “gone” as in “suddenly vanished”, but apparently a very quick walker, as she’d moved well down the hallway. The pepsis stood there as she watched the woman melt into the crowd of airport travelers, even as the woman’s words sank in.
“You’re lucky we’re in public; I would have killed her for running into you and you for screwing up,” a voice growled at her side. She turned and found a man standing there in casual attire typical of the locals; he was clean-cut, with dark hair that seemed to gleam with a slight blue sheen depending on how the light hit it. She’d never seen this face before, but she knew who he was just as much as he knew her: Blood Armor, the oldest of the pepsis and Chrysalis’ trusted child – perhaps the only one she truly trusted.
She didn’t say anything, so he gave her a kiss on the cheek, close enough to her lips to seem slightly romantically cute but nothing overt. “Well, shall we go then?” he said in Dutch-tinged English, a grand grin on his face.
“Yes, let’s,” she replied, before adding, “And don’t worry; it was just an accident.”
Slipping an arm around her waist, he leaned forward and whispered “sweet nothings” into her ear, those “nothings” being, “If you dare to give me another order like that, I’ll enjoy tearing you apart bit by bit, do I make myself clear? I am the treasured son of her majesty. You are a tool who was lucky enough to be given life, and that life is whatever I choose to do with it, do you understand?”
Twilight looked into the eyes of Blood Armor and shivered at what she saw there. She now understood just exactly what she meant to him: a tool, an opened-ended object that was only to be used when needed. But he also knew what he was: Chrysalis’ son, her trusted lieutenant and her attack dog. They came from the same genetic heritage, but that by no means made them the same.
“In any case,” he said, breaking off eye contact, “we do not need the extra attention right now, not on the eve of the great conference about to take place.” Instead, in order to look like a gentleman – all the more to keep the disguise up – he took her bag and said, “Follow me.”
“Where are we going?”
“None of your business; your duties are to follow, not inquire. And keep in mind that while I must keep you alive and in functioning capacity, I do have other methods to keep you in line, so mind your place and I won’t need to use them,” he said, his voice as affable as if he had just breezily discussed the local weather.
Remember, your mother loves you, the woman’s voice rang in Twilight’s mind. And for the first time in her life, the pepsis came to a realization: no, Chrysalis didn’t love her; in fact, she was nothing but a tool to her. She, Blood Armor, Twilight Gloaming and the others were all technically siblings, but there was a hierarchy within the pepsis; the latter two being the changeling queen’s “official” children, while the others such as herself were nothing more than useful tools and lackies. So, her mother didn’t love her, not at all.
And then another thought came to her, just as quickly and brightly as the first.
Does that mean Chrysalis isn’t my mother?
The redhead came to a stop in another gate on the far end of the airport. She looked at two peculiar people sitting by the ending, looking at the aircraft on the tarmac. Well, sitting was a charitable word; the younger one, a girl with hair seemingly dyed purple-and-white with pigtails, sat upside down in the chair, playing with an XBox Mobile. The other, a woman who looked to be roughly the same age as the redhead, save for the gray hair and the disturbing stare that looked as though she was contemplating axe murder; she was singing a nonsensical song to herself, “la la la”-ing in various warbles and tones, sounding like a human beatbox whose pitch control adjustment was broken.
Faust couldn’t help but grin. “Okay, girls, we have a job to do,” she said, and at once, both “girls” paid sudden attention to the alicorn-in-human-form’s words. For a second – perhaps even less than – Faust thought she saw the flicker of 18th century military uniforms on the pair of them as they saluted.
“Vhat is your orders, my master?” Screw Loose said in a nasal, whiny voice that sounded as though she was channeling the Igor from old horror films.
“Screw Loose, I want you to follow that woman from earlier. Be careful, because they mean business and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Screw Loose practically leapt from her seat, calling forth the lines of the Soldier from the Team Fortress game series: “‘If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight!’ Sun Tzu said that, and I'd say he knows a little more about fighting than you do, pal, because he invented it! And then he perfected it, so that no living man could best him in the ring of honor!”
Faust handed the semi-insane transformed pony a phone. “If you run into trouble, use this. I’ll get you out of there as soon as I can.”
Screw Loose flashed the transformed alicorn a toothy grin and a thumbs-up. “That’s a Big 10-4, good buddy. Droppin’ the hammer down and getting’ to the 99.” With that, she scampered out, headed towards the airport exit.
That being settled, Faust turned her attention back on the stranger of the two. Currently, for a rare moment, she was focused enough on the videogame that she could have passed for just another human girl. However, with a snap of the alicorn’s fingers, the game was set aside and the transformed creature looked at Faust with her perpetually swirling eyes.
“Okay, now, Screwball, I need you to focus and pay attention, okay?” She dropped down to her knees, giving the chaos elemental her undivided attention.
Screwball closed her eyes, then focused. She opened them again – and there was pain. “This. Hurts,” she said, each word bitten and tinged with pain. Her eyes started watering.
“I’m sorry, little one.” As a mother four times over, Faust couldn’t help but sympathize, but even still, what needed to be done outweighed other concerns. There would be time to help her later. “I know it hurts, sweetie, but this is important, okay?”
“Important. Yes.” Screwball said, tears starting to roll down her cheeks.
“Screwball, you know your father loves you, right?” Despite the pain, Screwball actually giggled slightly, and it warmed Faust’s heart. “Well, I love my daughters as well. I love both my younger children John and Sarah, and my older ones, Celestia and Luna.”
At those words, Screwball shuddered, and a look of fear came over her eyes. She knew that Celestia hated Daddy, had locked him in stone not once but twice and that Luna…Luna was even scarier than her older sister.
Faust caught the look of fear and understood. “Screwy, I need to know: is that girl I ran into the one we’re looking for?” Screwball nodded, rivers of tears now running down her eyes as the pain of focusing became too much. Faust leaned forward and embraced the younger entity, giving a comforting hug. “You can stop focusing now.” The teen immediately passed out from the pain, and Faust quickly reacted, teleporting them back to the car.
A voice rang in her mind immediately. What did you do, Faust? Discord was less than pleased; did he truly care for Screwball?
I’m sorry, but I had to know. I’ll take care of her and see that she’s okay. I promise.
I know, the response came singing into her mind. It’s just that….
She really does mean the world to you, doesn’t she?
She could almost feel his laughter. If it were anyone else, I’d be denying any- and everything until the sky is plaid, he answered. But, between us…I cannot deny that any more than I could play an accordion using cheese.
Which you can, she said, a smile playing on her lips, don’t tell me you can’t. In any case, I’ll tend to her wounds – Screwball may have just opened the gate to the next step. She then felt him retreat from her mind, and she reached over with a hand, caressing the young girl’s head as she slept.
Faust cast a healing spell on the girl as she pulled out of her parking space and departed towards their apartment. The drive, of course, was a nice and placid one, but the alicorn queen could scarcely enjoy it: something big was coming, and this time it would be far worse than her pyrrhic victory. Last time, she’d merely disgraced herself to the point that she abdicated before Celestia was ready to assume the throne; the result of that had been Equestria’s Dark Age, three thousand years of ponies waging civil war against each other before Discord stepped in to stop it. His own attempts to correct the damage had earned him a reputation as Equestria’s trickster demon, an undue treatment for such a gallant creature attempting to stop the bloodshed. And now here they were again, back at the same point on the wheel of time, ready to spin the black circle once more as all careened into chaos. And this time, the future of everything depended on a lot of ponies who didn’t have a clue as to what was going on…and if they actually did, chances were they’d be horrified by what was coming.
Another afternoon in the main wing of the main building of the Royal Canterlot Library. Another afternoon of Luna nearly tearing her mane out from the headache.
“Hello, your highness. How are you doing this afternoon?” Luna craned her head around and found Lyra walking towards her. She’d changed clothes from when the moon alicorn had briefly seen her earlier in the day; she was now wearing an untucked button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, jeans, and those human-styled pony shoes that helped ponies walk upright, not that Lyra ever needed any assistance with that.
“Sitting here just doing research, Lyra. And I thought I mentioned you need never address me as so in private,” the dusky alicorn said.
Lyra nodded. “Sorry, Luna,” she said. “Being an ambassador means that I have to play the diplomatic game 24/7, and after a while it gets too comfortable, if you know what I mean. Heck, look at me: I’ve lived in DC for nearly twenty years now and I’m so used to it that sometimes I forget what being a pony is.”
“How so?”
“Well, I went to the gym two days ago and got on a treadmill, jogging on all fours because, well, that’s what I should be doing, right? Well, while Paul assured me that no one batted an eye at that, I felt self-conscious, like all eyes in the gym were on me. So then I went and hit the pool and I felt like I should be pony-paddling, even though I know how to free-form swim like most humans.” She sighed, saying, “When you get so used to one way of life, it makes you wonder how cut out you were for the previous one – even if it’s genetic.”
“You sound as though you wish you were human,” Luna wondered.
“I know most ponies think I do, but the truth is, I’m happy with who and I what I am. Just because I’ve always had an affinity towards humanity, it doesn’t mean I long to be one,” Lyra answered. “I mean, I’ve actually done time as a human thanks to the genetic amniomorphic, and believe me – their emotional levels? Wow – the highs are great, but the lows…ouch, just pure ouch.”
“You don’t say,” Luna said cryptically before following up with, “So you spent an extended time as a human?”
The unicorn nodded. “Just to humor my mother-in-law, I decided to spend a couple of days fully in human form. Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying attention and picked the worst week possible to do so – that time,” she said in tones that only another mare would understand. “As a result, the spell went haywire and I got stuck that way for a full week. My emotions went on the rollercoaster and I was a total wreck; Joan told me that if I’d been born human I would have been one of those unfortunate souls that gets it really bad. So I’m thankful – really thankful – that as a pony, it’s nowhere near as bad.”
“Sounds like you had a rough time,” Luna said sympathetically.
“Let’s just say that our Netflix account got a serious workout and that Ben & Jerry’s owes me a Customer of the Month award,” Lyra said with a grin.
“So what are you doing here?”
“Thought I’d look for some basic books on history and such,” Lyra explained. “My family will be here tomorrow and I thought having a few books available for the twins would get them interested in their non-human heritage. They’ve certainly been devouring human history, Orchid especially.”
Her words suddenly brought a thought to Luna’s mind. “Lyra…how familiar are you with human culture since contact with them?”
“Well, I’m still somewhat only a hobbyist anthropologist and cultural expert,” the celeste mare said in a voice that intoned pride, “but I know enough now to know that a lot of the stuff I’d told other ponies was embarrassingly wrong. I don’t know if you were aware of all the Human Culture 101 lectures I used to give in the Ponyville Community Center; I used to get so angry when other ponies laughed at me for all the hard work and research I put into everything I used to lecture on. But now? After I found out just how very wrong I was – sometimes horrifically so – I’m glad nopony remembered so I could bury it in the backyard and let it stay there. But as my husband is fond of saying, I know enough now to be dangerous. Why’d you ask?”
The dusky alicorn floated a paper over to her subject and friend. “I need somepony with an entirely different mindset to look this over,” she explained. “I’ve been spending a huge amount of time tearing my mane out trying to solve this.”
Lyra took the document in her hooves – a very human action, Luna noted – and started poring over it. “This is a series of riddles – the mysterious kind, not the foals’ jokes kind.” When the moon alicorn nodded, Lyra plopped down on the adjacent bench and willed up her tablet. “Let me see what I can do,” she said matter-of-factly.
That boisterous tone was gone an hour later as she looked at Luna, admitting, “I can’t make suns or moons of this. Whoever wrote it…they’ve gotta be daffier than Discord. Where did you get this?”
Luna said nothing, instead asking, “So there’s nothing you can do?”
“Look, if you want a human perspective – a solid one – you’re going to need a human...and I’ll even go so far as to say one that’s familiar with human writing.” A thought suddenly came to mind and she added, “What about DJ? She’s here, she’s probably good with this kind of stuff and Cadance said she and you made up, so….”
“I can’t. She’s got a dozen other things going on at the moment, probably too much for anypony.” And that was true, Luna thought; the humanized pony didn’t need to be dragged into this as she had her family – both sides – to consider at the moment. “I’ll see if Rarity’s secretary can assist me with this. But thanks, however – I know this is a little above and beyond the call of duty for you.”
“Actually…let me keep taking a crack at it,” Lyra said, as her eyes suddenly gleamed from the formation of an idea. “Wing’s been begging to deal with more political issues, and if I let her do that, it’ll give me some time to work on this as a special project. Besides, if this is as important as you’re hinting, you probably don’t want it to get out into the wild.”
Luna nodded. “Absolutely not. Well, if it’s not too much trouble then, have your deputy act in your stead while I assign this to you.”
Lyra positively beamed. “That’s fine by me; I kinda like this cryptic stuff anyway. Plus, when I head back to DC, I know a few trusted contacts over the years that may be able to point me in some directions. Plus, there’s also the Library of Congress; granted it’s nowhere near as large as this,” she said, waving her arms to encompass the library she was currently in, “but it’ll do.”
Unceremoniously, Twilight found herself thrown into a large room. Within the room she could hear the cacophony of dozens of changelings, followed by several pepsis. All of them were frightened, and for a moment confusion entered Twilight’s mind. Why weren’t these pepsis doing anything to calm the fears of the changelings? That’s what their job was for – to reassure the troops and let them know someone ca…
But nochangeling cares, she suddenly realized. If they did, they wouldn’t let them taste the bitter tang of fear. And she meant that quite literally; the taste filled her mouth just as surely as physical sustenance did, a sour, bromide taste that threatened to make her gag. The other pepsis could have done much to dispel or at least lessen it, but they’d become just as toxic, just as fearful as the rest. It was too much for her, feeling the disgust, nausea and fear, and she turned, looking for a corner to expunge her last meal.
“And I almost had hopes for you.” Blood Armor’s voice carried from behind her, and, gasping for air, she turned around, looking as he stood there, glaring at her. If he was affected by the noxious emotional stew in the room, he didn’t show it. “You were brought here to get them in line. We have something critical planned for tomorrow and if even so much as one of them screws up, all your lives will be forfeit.”
“What are we supposed to be doi—” Twilight started but found herself painfully slammed against a nearby wall courtesy of Blood Armor’s magic.
“What did I tell you?” he hissed, getting within inches of her face. “You don’t get to ask those questions, just follow orders.” Lifting his head, he shouted, “NONE OF YOU DO! YOU LIVE BY MY WHIM AND IF YOU FAIL ME TOMORROW, YOU’LL DIE BY MY WRATH!” Looking around, he pointed to a cowering magenta pony that looked like one of Twilight’s doppelgangers. “You – come with me.” The mare nervously moved before Blood Armor barked, “NOW!” When she moved too slowly for his tastes, he burned a ring of magic around her neck and dragged her to his spot by that ring; her cries and choking gasps could be heard as she did so.
“Now then,” he hissed, “you will be my entertainment tonight.” The statement was so matter-of-fact, it was almost as if he mentioned that tomorrow would be another day.
However, the mare skittered back, instinctively running behind Twilight. “No…please…you’re supposed to be our big brother, an—” Her words were cut off as he used his magic to pull her back in, and with a singular motion stabbed forward with his head. His horn pierced her left eye, punching all the way through until Blood Armor’s horn could no longer be seen; the other Twilight’s body convulsed as she died, impaled on the pepsis stallion’s horn.
As she stopped moving, he withdrew it. His horn was a stained mess of red and green as the fluids spattered onto the floor. “Since you did not keep her in line,” Blood Armor said to Twilight coolly, “you’ll be taking her place tonight as my entertainment instead.”
“Entertainment?” Twilight asked before clarity kicked in: Blue Velvet had called her…activities…“entertainment” as well. But to run would spell her death. Instead, she nodded, fearful of what would happen.
Turning to the nearest changeling drone, he said, “Dispose of the body in the usual manner.” And with that, he departed the room, and with all changeling and pepsis eyes on her, Twilight followed the monster that should have been her older brother, but was becoming more and more an unending nightmare on a scale that not even the eponymous alicorn could be.
By the time he was on his third lap of the parade grounds, Mike was starting to feel the burn. While he wasn’t a SEAL, EOD or anything that required him to be a PT god, he prided himself on keeping himself in better shape than the average SWO; plus, he liked looking good and he wasn’t going to use his marriage as an excuse to let himself go as so many other men his age did. So while he was used to hitting the max on the push-ups and sit-ups and running six to twelve miles a day, a parade ground meant for quadruped mammals was something entirely different.
Stopping after the tenth lap, he looked at the ERG ponies continuing to do their sprints and other exercises. With the exception of a couple of human diplomats who looked as though they’d used the parade grounds as a shortcut from their embassy, Mike was the lone exception working out here.
“Well, it’s not often that somepony a little different’s working out on the grounds,” a voice commented. He turned around to find Scootaloo standing there, dressed in REAF pony-style PT gear, which from the looks of it was based on RAF workout attire and tailored more for ponies.
“Yeah,” he said, opting to do some stretches so he wouldn’t cramp up. “What’re you doing here?”
“Well, when I have to do my ground workout regimen I like coming here,” she said. “And frankly, I have a lot of workout to do still. Soarin’s not going to let me get back on the roster until I can pass the basic physical and after having just got out of the hospital, I still have some ways to go. Sure, I can do all the aerobatic ones – I’d have to hang up my wings if I didn’t – but being an REAF pilot means more than just working out the old pinion feathers.”
“I see,” Mike said, noncommittally. While he had nothing against Scootaloo, he knew DJ had a very frosty relationship with both her and Rainbow. They had been the ones who were the least supportive of DJ’s life, and more than once his wife had wondered if they were responsible for the whole Foalnapping Incident to begin with. Whether that was true or not neither Mike nor DJ knew, but from their apology at the wedding, the best that had come out of it all these years was that DJ was slightly more cordial with them than she’d hypothetically be with Rarity. “Well, I was just about to finish up my own workout, so I’ll let y—”
“Mike….” she looked at him sadly. “Look…I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have the greatest relationship with Sandalwood…er, DJ. Rainbow and I…we screwed up, and I can’t apologize enough. But she needs to go see Rarity.”
“No, she doesn’t need to see anyone, unless she chooses to. That’s part of being an adult,” Mike said, trying to keep the harshness from his voice. He didn’t need to argue in public with a ranking officer right now, especially one that was his wife’s estranged aunt. “If she chooses to see Rarity, that’s her choice – her choice. The fact that she’s here at all is something that you should appreciate, considering that it’s partially your fault that she had no interest in coming.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Scootaloo replied, biting off was clearly anger at the end. “Don’t you think I’m aware of that? I have spent the last couple of decades living that guilt trip, Mike, and I’m tired of it. All I want is for this whole détente to be over and done with and for DJ to acknowledge, at the very least, where she came from and that she’s still a part of this world, like it or not.”
“I’m not the one you should be telling this to, if you ask me. She’s your niece, after all.”
“She’s your wife, and unlike me and Rainbow, she’ll listen to you.” The orange pegasus mare shook her head mournfully and added, “Maybe she’ll never respect me or Rainbow, and Celestia knows we certainly deserve that. But…ponies she supposedly loves, the ones she really considers family, are dying in the hospital right now and she has yet to go by to see them. Maybe it’s because of Rarity, maybe it’s because she hasn’t had the chance. But Twilight wants to see her and I know Applejack would like to as well.”
“Applejack’s conscious now?” Mike asked. That was news he wasn’t aware of; he wondered if DJ knew.
Scootaloo nodded. “I just…I thought you should know. No matter what DJ thinks of me, I’m still family and I still care,” she said turning away. “And I will do what I need to, right or wrong, to try to bring happiness to my family. Now, if you’ll excuse me, this old mare’s got some sprints to do, so unless you can keep up, Commander, I’ll see you later.”
He let her walk a few feet before he said, “Thanks, Scootaloo.”
She turned her head slightly, flashing him a grin. “Hey, just being awesome that way. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to work on making myself at least twenty percent cooler by the end of the workout.”
“Are you sure about this?” Star Swirl asked Spines.
The baby draconess nodded. “We’re going to have a campout in the CMC headquarters, and Ms. Apple Bloom promised to stay the night with us and sing songs and tell us stories about what she had to do to get her cutie mark.” The unicorn mage grinned; sooner or later Spines was going to figure out that dragons didn’t get cutie marks, but why ruin that part of foalhood for her?
“Well, promise me you won’t do anything dumb….” she insisted.
“No, Ms. Apple Bloom won’t let us. She apparently is foalsitting some new filly, so Sugar Sprinkle, Buttercup and I have to be on our best behavior,” the draconess insisted.
“Well, okay then, but please be careful, okay?” Star Swirl bent down to nuzzle her charge, and got a hug for it. With that, Spines picked up her overnight bag, then walked over to the cookie jar to steal a couple tourmaline chip cookies before heading out the door. Star Swirl counted to ten before making sure Spines was gone, then poked her head out the door. With the sun going down for the evening and no mages expected in the area since most of them were still involved in assisting with the rescue efforts at Cloudsdale, she’d earned herself a bit of a rest and relaxation. Most mares would take this time to go down to the spa twins’ salon and use the appointment time to the utmost; Lotus Blossom and Aloe were in semi-retirement and the management had now fallen to their daughters, Henna Blossom and Jojoba Seed.
But Star wasn’t the average mare, and she had a very different way of relaxing.
Walking over to the shelf by the front door, she placed her hoof on a small, recessed magic sigil she’d placed there after moving in. The spell would prevent all but the strongest of mages from coming by the office. Once she was sure the spell was in place, she then went to her desk, opening a hidden compartment that had been built into it when this had been Twilight Sparkle’s desk so long ago. From what Twilight had once told her, the then-librarian had used the hidden compartment to hide the most exquisite of gems in the house so she could give them to Spike as special treats. But Star kept something much more precious in there, something that could cause her serious problems if anypony ever found out.
Inside the compartment was a vial filled with red liquid – blood, from the looks of it. But it wasn’t just blood. The fact was, it was a liquid spell, a very illegal one. The blood was that from an earlier blood sample from Sweetie Belle, before Pip had stolen her away; it was thus virginal blood and when combined with an aphrodisiac potion that had been made by a now-former member of the Guild – Twilight’s former secretary Lovestruck, before she left the Guild and moved to Human-Earth – it created something very potent and powerful.
And damning. The ownership of a familiar was considered black magic and thus highly illegal in Equestria; furthermore, from an international perspective, it was considered slavery and thus also illegal from that method, too. The vial Star had contained her “release”, her own getaway and vacation.
Pulling the stopper off the bottle, she poured the liquid onto the ground. The red blob of blood and magic grew, warped and stretched, growing larger, gaining form, growing bones, muscles, organs. Skin, fur and hooves followed, then a mane and tail and eyes, and within seconds, Sweetie Belle stood before Star, looking at the younger unicorn with eyes of love and lust. Only the lack of a cutie mark on the familiar was any sort of indicator that it wasn’t truly her mentor and would-be lover.
“I have missed you, my love,” the Sweetie Belle spoke, her voice soft and filled with tenderness. Artificial tenderness, built-in by the perpetual aphrodisiac that was permanently in her blood; otherwise, she would start to develop her own personality, possibly similar to the real unicorn mage.
“No you haven’t,” Star said. “You only say that you do.”
In response, the Sweetie Belle went up to Star and started kissing her neck, planting them mere inches rising up its length. “I know you want and need me, my love. That’s all I need to know. That’s all I have to know.”
“But you’re not her,” Star said, her will failing. The last few times like this had been the same: Star knew the familiar wasn’t the real thing, but by the end, didn’t really care.
“But I am her,” the familiar insisted. “I’m her blood, her lips, her sex. And my only purpose is to make you happy, my love. Doesn’t she want the same for you?” A kiss full on the mouth this time, the two mares liplocking for a couple of minutes.
“But you’re not her,” Star panted, starting to not care again.
“But for you, I’d be,” the familiar insisted. “And for you, I will be whatever you want me to be.” Which was true; familiars made from the blood of the creature they imitated were functionally twins of the original being. In fact, she’d gotten the idea about the familiar from a history book she’d read about an earlier mage who’d fallen in love with Queen Platinum despite the historical figure having lived centuries earlier. Somehow the mage had gotten a hold of one of the bones from the unicorn queen and laced it with an aphrodisiac – they weren’t illegal back then, apparently – and married his new bride and had a family with her before anypony found out. In fact, the familiars were so complete that had Star been born a stallion, she could have fathered a foal on the familiar.
But maybe if I’d been a stallion, she’d have loved me the way I wanted, Star moaned.
“My love?” the familiar said, and Star ignored her. Somewhat pouting at being ignored, the familiar lifted Star’s face to her as the pseudo-older unicorn kissed the younger. With bedroom eyes, she said, “Show me that you love me,” as a pink-and-lavender tail curled around one of Star’s back legs. “Show me that you want me to be yours and only yours.”
“You couldn’t leave me even if I let you,” Star said, both as insult and fact. The aphrodisiac would forever tie the familiar to Star, and should the potion ever be used after she passed on, the familiar would be nothing more than just another pony, mindless and obsessed with something she could never have.
Just like me, Star said to herself as she led her perpetual conquest up towards the bedroom.
Seated on the sofa in her home, Cadance magically raised a wad of popcorn from the tub in front of her to her mouth as she watched the soccer game. While she had very little understanding of what was going on, she was completely captivated by the unfolding of the beautiful game on the screen. “And you say this is the most popular game on Human-Earth? It does seem very exciting,” the romance alicorn admitted. “I wonder if we can adapt it to our own country.”
Floating the tub over to her, Luna agreed. “I think so. It’d be a great idea and a wonderful way for foals to get their exercise at school.” The two alicorns watched as the striker drove the ball forward and into the net. Overcome by the moment, Luna threw her forelegs into the air and shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice, “GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!” The walls rattled from the unexpected sonic blast, but Cadance had expected something like to happen sooner or later and reinforced the walls via magic, so nothing in the home was damaged.
“Lyra, this is great!” the moon princess said to her friend. “I think I’ll recommend to the Ministry of Health’s National Sports Agency that they start looking into some sort of program for school-age foals. I just wish I’d known about this sooner; I would have implemented it then.” However, no answer came from the celeste unicorn, and after a second attempt to get her attention, both alicorns turned to look at the loveseat where the younger mare sat.
To the surprise of both, she was fast asleep, completely knocked out in her chair. A laptop sat on her legs, while a tablet was in easy reach. Various scribbled notes were on a legal pad next to her, as well a few wadded-up pages from attempts she’d scrubbed. From the looks of it, she’d never paid any attention to the game at all, having single-mindedly devoted herself to Luna’s request, and had exhausted herself in the process; not anything difficult, since she’d admitted this morning that she was already running on fumes.
A sisterly look came over Cadance as she conjured a blanket to place over her charge. “Rest a beautiful night, little harp,” the Princess of Passion said softly, as she had so many times in the past.
“I knew you and Lyra were friends, but I didn’t know you were that close,” Luna observed.
“Twilight wasn’t the only one I foalsat for, just the one that needed the most TLC,” Cadance answered. “I also watched Lyra, Vinyl and Octavia, but they were a lot more independent at that age than Twilight was. But I love all four of them dearly, and I would do anything for them.”
“Must have been tough, maintaining your duties while doing all that.”
“Celestia said that it was a way to connect with my fellow ponies and understand where they came from – she’d already noticed that Blueblood was starting to become less than ideal and she didn’t want me to follow the same path, not that I think I would have. And while it was hard, it was worth it. I have siblings, but Celestia raised me, not my parents, and so I’m closer to those four. Plus, it helped me understand how parents and older siblings want the best for the younger ones, and now that I have Duskie, I can rely on those memories.”
“Sometimes I wonder about that.” A dark emotion crossed Luna’s face as she remembered how Celestia had separated her and Robin. Was it for the best? The dusky alicorn couldn’t answer that, but it was her opinion that it wasn’t. She raised a forehoof for a moment, imagining it as a human hand with a wedding ring on it, and that made her slightly jealous of her nieces and nephews – they’d all found, or were finding, ponies that they could marry for love, that duty would never be so asphyxiating for them that they’d have to consider otherwise.
Cadance saw the action. “Luna, Celestia never meant to hurt you, I’m sure of it. She’s probably felt guilty about it all this time, especially now that she’s found somepony of her own,” the younger alicorn said.
“I think it’s time my sister and I had a little chat,” the older alicorn answered in a tone that would not brook argument.
Sitting at her laptop, she was so absorbed in her writing that she almost didn’t hear Mike. “Writing?”
“Working on my blog, actually. I promised to give a small website an interview, so I’m filling out the questionnaire they’ve provided. Plus, I like interacting with my fans. I was thinking about doing an Ask Me Anything before all this got in the way; definitely doing one when we get back.” What sounded like jazz funk was playing quietly from her laptop’s speakers, and Mike smiled; as always, DJ was being DJ.
“Jamiroquai?” he asked.
The humanized pony grinned, glad her husband recognized the music. “He can be taught!” she teased.
“Well, you were on a jazz funk kick just before I deployed, so I do remember things on occasion,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. She leaned into them, taking her hands off her keyboard, and the two were like that for a few minutes, enjoying the presence of one another. Finally, it was interrupted as he said, “Do you remember when your old genderstone backfired that one weekend?”
“Yeah – wonder what happened to that general,” DJ said, letting that ugly memory come to the fore. It had been a one in a million accident, and it had almost cost Mike his career had it not been for the timeliness of an already-underway investigation by NCIS.
“Well, I was thinking about that and remembering that no matter how much I have been in your corner, I couldn’t really understand until I walked in your hooves, so to speak. So, instead of going through all that again, I’m just going to say that if you decide to back out of this…I’ll back you. I still think you should do it, if only for our kids, but I won’t pretend that I understand what you’re going through right now, love.”
She turned and gave him a loving smile. “Only you would say that.”
“Maybe. If only because I’m blessed enough to be married to you, hon,” he said, bending down to kiss her on the forehead.
“I’m going tomorrow,” she said after some thought. “I owe it to the kids, as you said. I may not forgive – I sure as hell don’t plan to – but I’ll at least go.”
“Thanks, DJ,” he said, kissing her again. “Well, I’m going to bed,” he yawned. “Apparently General Bryson is doing the monthly uniform inspection tomorrow and he’s asked me to handle the Sailors and Marines since I’m the senior naval officer present. So I gotta hope that my dress whites are good to go.”
“Sweetie genned up a set for you,” DJ ensured him. “Let me finish this email up and I’ll be up to bed,” she told him as he headed down the hallway towards their bedroom.
Standing on the roof of the hotel, Twilight Sunburn stood in her native form, looking at the moon. She was sore all over and her cheeks were stained with tears, and all she could do was look at the cold satellite, so close and yet so far away.
It looks so lonely, she thought to herself. Just like me. Today, her worth as a tool had been proven. She was no true child of Chrysalis, Blood Armor had told her repeatedly in the past few hours as he used her, dealt with her “as a tool should be used,” he’d said, his voice cold and mocking.
A tool exists to be used, until it breaks or is replaced, Gloaming had told her. Today she’d been the replacement for a tool that Blood Armor had broken in front of her. And that other Twilight was probably the replacement for some other pepsis. How deep did that line run? Who would replace her once he broke her in two – as it was obvious to her; she’d been sent her to die in one fashion or another.
“I thought I told you to keep a low profile,” Blood Armor snarled as he walked up there in his human form. “The moment any human sees one of us, they will kill you without hesitation – and if they don’t, I will, if for no other reason than your stupidity. But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised; apparently your idiocy seems to know no bounds.”
“Why won’t you just leave me alone?” she said, her mouth not entirely under her control at the moment. She should have been happy – he was supposed to be her protective older brother.
But older brothers don’t do what he did, her inner voice responded just as quickly. You may both come from the same brood, but you’re not siblings. You are not Queen Chrysalis’ child, he says. You are just a tool.
But if I’m just a tool and not a true sibling…
“…who am I?” she whispered to herself, genuinely wondering.
Unaware of her inner conflict, he went up to her and backhanded her; the blow sent her crumpling to the ground. “Order me again and I will hurt you in ways you have never felt pain.” He looked at her with eyes filled with pure loathing. “You are nothing, less than nothing. Just because her majesty chose to give you the breath of life doesn’t mean that you fill the true role of one of her foals.
“You are a pepsis drone. Stronger than a regular changeling, and closer to a changeling princess in authority. But we pepsis are more than mere changelings will ever be, and I intend to be the forerunner for that change. You should be grateful that I chose you to keep me company tonight – you get one moment of additional use before you die tomorrow.”
“But….”
He laughed harshly. “What, you don’t think I know about your weakness? That you inherited our father’s weakness for caring? That you have some sort of parental, loving instinct towards the regular drones? Well, let me tell you a little secret: you are like that because you were genetically bred to be so. Your only value is for sex and assassination. A toy to keep somechangeling entertained until we order you to die on the field of battle. And if I were to murder you in mid-coitus, it’d still be the same to you – because that’s the only reason you exist.”
With a hand motion no more difficult as if he were waving at a girl, Blood Armor backhanded Twilight. The actual impact, however, sent her flying back several dozen feet even as she tasted blood in her mouth. She bounced off the ground several times before coming to a painful stop in front of an air conditioning unit. Her head spun as she tried to regain consciousness as she struggled to get up, but that was soon solved as he pulled her up with the effortless strength of a pepsis prince.
“That was your last warning. I will cease to be as gentle from this moment forth, understood?” he said in tones that made it clear that he would brook no more insolence. “Now, either change to a human form or a fully pony one, I don’t care which. But if we’re discovered because of you, the police will be picking up your body parts all over the city, got that? Now, I expect you downstairs in ten minutes, because it will be time to really teach you a lesson.” Not waiting for an answer, he went back downstairs.
Wiping a rivulet of blood from her lip, Twilight Sunburn looked at the moon, morose as ever. The satellite was still there, and still as beautiful and lonely as ever. But now she realized there was a difference between her and it: at least it couldn’t be hurt.
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The opening scene was funny. I'm looking forward for the final battle.
I'm trying to figure out the changes in this episode and I'm thinking the changes in this chapter are:
The Intro: Looks like every one of these chapters is going to have one.
Spike and Megan's Conversation: I think there's more to it than it was before, especially with a hint (which I believe is in a side story) that Spike has found a human girlfriend.
(fem)Star Swirl making a Sweetie Clone: Kind of creepy and sad at the same time, at first I thought she was the one that brought about the coming zombie apocalypse in the later chapters.
Twilight Sunburn's characterization: I think there's more info and attention to her than before.
"a sour, bromide taste": I don't think bromide works as an adjective here. Maybe bromine?
Blood Armor seems to be awfully shaky on what constitutes "giving an order".
Also, damn, Star Swirl's character changed somewhat as IIRC she wasn't creating sex slave robots in the previous version.
Finally getting around to reading these last 3 rewrites,
Star Swirl uses black magic to make a pseudo-clone of Sweetie Belle, that's certainly new.
I really hope Blood Armor takes the business end of a minigun.
Is it just me, or are all of the major villains in this fic rapists of some sort? Except for Champagne Dreams so far. It does paint them to be quite monsterous, but it's disturbing to see how prevalent it is in this fic.
The only reason I know what any of that means is because my father just loves soccer.
So Star Swirl is the first instance here of a non-villain with a sexual deviance.
star-swirl you bad girl
Blood Armor might need that shotgun and bad one-liner more than Nightmare.
This exact line has already been used in the ninth story block in chapter five. (it's in the fifth story block of this chapter. That is counting the flashbacks in the beginnings) I'm not really sure if you meant to do that, but I decided to let you know just in case.
Okay, Star Swirl is starting to creep me the @&#% out yo.
Star Swirl.. Is.. Lesbo?!
For some reason, these last two words are about the cutest, most heartwarming thing I've read today.
rest in piece rick may