An Announcement/3-6 Recap · 1:48am Jul 17th, 2015
Hey all, early recap this week because I wanted to let y'all know ahead of time: tomorrow's chapter will be the last one before the "mid-season hiatus". I know, I know, the actual show just went on hiatus, but I'm really behind on updates. Hopefully this break shouldn't be too long, I'm gonna try to resume regular updates mid-september, maybe sooner if I can really write fast. On the plus side, that side-story I mentioned a couple of times will probably be out at some point during this hiatus, so the next couple of months won't be completely devoid of IAIMAY things. Keep a weather eye for updates regarding that in the future.
Anyway, get the recap below and the new chapter at the regular time tomorrow
Last time on Let’s Build IAIMAY
“We’ll be dividing our group into two teams," Twilight explained. "Team A will consist of Donut, Simmons, Church, Caboose, Washington, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and myself. We’ll go to the Crystal Empire and track down those ruins.”
“Um… Twilight? I have a question,” Fluttershy declared timidly. “If your team is going to the Crystal Empire to find the ruins… what’s the other team going to do?”
“Team B is going to Canterlot,” Twilight said boldly. “They’re going to sneak into the castle and stop Project Freelancer from destroying it.”
“Once you’re in Canterlot, Rarity can use her contacts there to try and find a way into the castle,” Twilight continued.
“I can call in a few favors, but breaking into Canterlot Castle might be a tad much for even the most influential ponies I know,” Rarity said.
“I know that some of the old noble houses used to have secret passages leading into the castle’s lower chambers. Most of them have since been destroyed, but with luck you’ll find one that’s still intact.”
Carefully, Sunny reached a hoof under the table and felt a bag. Her heart stopped when she felt a familiar cold metal object inside. Pulling it out of the bag, Sunny made sure to keep it under the table as she looked at it. Her eyes went wide and the breath left her body when she got a good look at the familiar object in her hooves.
It was only from previously sharing a mind with Tex that she recognized it as an M6G recoil-operated, magazine-fed magnum: the favored sidearm of the UNSC’s finest. Sunny felt the gun slowly, examining its every detail. It had no trigger guard, she discerned, and a few other tiny variations in the design made her realize it was custom-built to be used by ponies.
“Pretty impressive, right?” Silversteel asked, thankfully misinterpreting her shock for that of someone seeing something new and strange. “Of course, what you’re holding right now is just a taste of what our employer is giving us. This stuff outclasses every weapon we’ve come to know. Swords, crossbows, everything we trained with is gonna be made obsolete by these… ‘guns!’ I wonder who made them….”
Sunny had a pretty good idea. The magnum had no markings to indicate its make, but the whole thing had Project Freelancer written all over it. What could they be up to now?
Lieutenant Graywing took another sip of her foul-smelling griffon coffee before she continued briefing Sunny and Silversteel. “Your jobs will be relatively simple: Stay here and keep an eye on the palace. You’re both earth ponies, so you’ll be more inconspicuous. As soon as you see the targets leave, report to me and I’ll fly ahead and alert the CO. He’ll be waiting to ambush them with the rest of the company.”
“Seems simple enough…” Sunny said calmly, but inside, her mind was racing. There had to be a way for her to either warn them about the ambush, or keep the rest of the sellswords from finding out when they were coming.
With a shrug and a dismissive wave, the griffon continued. “Anyway, once your job’s done here, head on up north and meet us. Map’s in the hotel room.”
“Okay,” Silversteel nodded.
“And give yourself a buffer between the targets when you go, I don’t want them to get wise to us if they see you following them.”
“Okay! This isn’t our first rodeo, you know!”
Graywing eyed them levelly as she stood to leave, her puffing white and brown feathers the only thing betraying her annoyance. “If we complete this job, we’ll have the equipment to outclass every fighting force in the world. I wanna make sure you dweebs don’t screw this up!”
“I… there’s this… scene that keeps playing over and over again in my head. I don’t know if it’s a memory, or just a dream, but… I’m a filly. Back in our home in Canterlot. It’s late, and I go downstairs for a drink, and… I hear you guys talking, and… you say that I’m... not really your daughter. That I’m adopted,” Twilight looked up at her parents, and the silence was deafening. She found her voice starting to fail. “Why would I think that? I mean, it can’t be true… can it?”
The silence that met her question pressed down on Twilight with more pressure every second it passed. Twilight Velvet looked at her husband, scowled at the table in front of her, and then spoke in a quiet, neutered voice. “I knew we should have just told her.”
Twilight nodded, before opening her mouth to carefully ask her next question. “And… do you know who my real… who my biological parents are?”
Her parents exchanged an uncertain look. “We… don’t actually know,” her mother answered. “I was able to use my connections in the Foal Services system to try and track them down. It was tough... you were transferred around a lot for some reason. I couldn’t find anything about your biological parents, though. It was so strange. According to the records you just… appeared in the system one day. I thought perhaps you were a doorstep filly.”
Night Light glanced over at his wife and bit his lip. “Your mother and I actually have an… interesting theory about that.
“A couple of years before we adopted you, there was an especially big Grand Galloping Gala in Canterlot with nobles from all over Equestria. At the Gala, we noticed that Princess Celestia was frequently seen in the company of a noblestallion: Sacred Home, of House Warmblood. You’ve probably heard of them, they’re the most influential noble family in Baltimare. Anyway, he and Celestia were together throughout the evening, even spending some time alone afterwards.
“Now, what you need to understand is that back in the time of pre-Luna’s banishment, it wasn’t unusual for the Princess to take on a… consort from time to time. After all, she’s a pony just like the rest of us. Nowadays, it’s a bit more taboo, but if you’re observant enough, you can tell when somepony she’s ‘friends’ with is something… more.”
“Allegedly….” muttered Velvet.
“He wouldn’t have been the first in recent times. Those very signs were on the wall with Celestia and Sacred Home. He stayed in Canterlot for months at a time over the following couple of years, but he didn’t have his own place. He seemed to be living at the castle. And of course, he was almost always seen in the company of Princess Celestia.
“Then one day, both he and the Princess just disappeared from the public eye. No one heard from Sacred Home since, and Princess Celestia only appeared in public again after approximately nine months.”
Twilight’s jaw slowly started to drift toward the ground. “Nine months…?”
Night Light nodded. “That’s right. Around the same time you mysteriously appeared in the Foal Services system… as barely a newborn foal.”
Some time later, Twilight stumbled back into the Crystal Empire’s archives in a daze. Church and the others immediately turned to greet her.
“Hey Twilight, guess what? I think we found the Forerunner ruins,” Church said, holding up a piece of paper with the translated text on it. Twilight didn’t see it. Somehow, she couldn’t make sense of the words.
“Twi? You okay, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. “Did ya… talk to yer parents?”
Twilight’s mouth opened and closed like a drowning fish before she stuttered, “I-I think… I think Princess Celestia’s my mother!”
Thanks for letting us know ahead of time.
Here's an idea for a future IAIMAY PSA:
How to Handle a Hiatus.
3244415 Grif would like that.