“Mother, what’s that?” Minty asked as she saw the streak against the black sky.
“That, my dearest,” Rarity said, a smile on her face, “is a shooting star.” Rarity sidled closer to her daughter, a loving smile on her face. “Your Aunt Luna places them in the sky so that little colts and fillies have the chance to let their wishes come true.”
Minty’s eyes brightened at that. “What can I wish for?”
“Anything, dearest heart,” Rarity said.
Minty looked at the noise in the background, where her brother Elusive and their cousin Rainbow Blitz were playing guardponies and changelings. “Ugh, colts,” the mint-hued filly said with some distaste, before an idea came to mind.
“No,” Rarity said, firmly, knowing what crossed her foal’s mind. “Besides, you wouldn’t want to hurt your brother or your cousin, right?”
“Then…can I wish for something else?”
“Of course.”
The filly closed her eyes, whispering something inaudible, watching as the shooting star fell towards earth. Finally, as it vanished, Minty said to her mother, “I wished that Sandalwood would come back.”
Tears welled in the older female’s eyes. “I wish she would too, Minty. I miss your sister so much, and she deserves to be happy with her family.”
“Do you think Aunt Luna will grant my wish?” Minty said, hopeful.
“I don’t kn—” Rarity was suddenly cut off by the appearance of a blast of ivory light, the telltale sign of teleportation. A second later, the motes of luminescence formed her younger sister, Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie, this is a surprise,” Rarity said, glad to see her younger sister as always. “You’re usually so busy in your duties as a mage. What brings you here?”
The smile on the younger unicorn was absolutely beatific. “Just got word from Twilight – had to tell you immediately,” she said with a grin that suddenly made the older mare’s heart skip a beat.
“Sandalwood…we finally found her.”
It is amazing the things that one thinks of when one is about to die, Mike mused as he plummeted towards the ground. The first thing he saw was – and he half-wondered if he was imagining things – was the guilty look on Luna’s face as she streaked towards Elusive to rescue the unicorn. While Mike obviously couldn’t read the alicorn’s mind, it was clear that the choice she’d made was causing her no small amount of grief. She didn’t know that all things considered, had he been consulted Mike would have wanted her to save Elusive even as it cost the human his life.
Not that he wanted to die by any means, not at all. But Elusive wasn’t military, and thus wasn’t subject to the standards that warriors lived by, which was to protect lives at the risk of one’s own. In a way, that made Mike smile; being a SWO, he wasn’t subject to the exposure of constant danger, as compared to others in the field. But things had changed since that day in Singapore and now he understood full-well the gravity of such a choice as sacrifice.
Looking around him, he noted the strange attackers – wait…those are Iranian fighters! Why are they…? Sure, he knew first-hand that most of the Middle Eastern nations on his Earth refused to have anything to do with Alter-Earth species, as they considered them all demons, but for one of them to actually attack.... The situation in Tehran must be close to rebellion if the Iranian Supreme Council chose to distract the populace with war. He’d have almost laughed if the situation weren’t so dire – especially with his wife and her family now in the crosshairs.
In the distance a black shape banked away, rocketing off to turn around for another attack run. So that’s what the Q-313 looks like. He recognized the other fighters, TC-1s, the export version of the Chinese J17, a knock-off of the old F-16 multirole. The TC-1s performed similarly to the F-16, and were likely here to provide escort for the Q-313s while the latter tore Cloudsdale apart. Whoever ordered this strike was clearly playing for keeps; Canterlot would have been too obvious a target, but Cloudsdale was clearly less defended and easier to destroy by its very nature – and because of that nature, would also be hard for many a human to believe actually existed, adding to any potential cover-up by the Iranian government.
That, of course, brought up a simple question: what kinds of missiles were effective against clouds? Maybe they were proximity triggered, but if so, they would still have to have some sort of target to home in on. Pegasi? A second later, the realization hit him and chilled his blood more than the surrounding air could. Not just pegasi – ponies. Specifically, a pony that had lived her entire life as something other than a pony.
Oh, God – they’re after DJ! Mike’s mind roiled at the thought. It made no sense…and yet at the same time, it did. They’d been attacked while they were in Singapore, and now were drawing fire here. They couldn’t be after Celestia or Cadance, since neither was here; likewise, they couldn’t be after Luna, because she was making herself a huge and easy target as she dived after Elusive…yet nothing was going after her. Yet the city was still being rained on with hellfire. And a coincidence this extreme was no coincidence at all.
But why DJ? The only crime his wife was guilty of was a horrid taste in music, and even that was understandable since she’d gotten that from her parents. And then a song entered his mind, one DJ had been playing a lot before he’d gone on deployment: “Haldyn Hotel”, an obscure electronic pop song from an equally obscure Japanese musician named Susumu Hirasawa. The song was from 1991, if he remembered correctly, and for a song that was over fifteen years old, it sounded even more bizarre than mere words could describe; the artist had merged circus music form the century prior with disco music from the 1970s and some arcane sort of chanting from God knew where. Even now, in Mike’s mind, he could recall that memory with clarity, with DJ sitting on the bed in their home as she happily sang along in Japanese – another thing he loved about her; while he “only” spoke English and Spanish, she spoke those as well as Japanese she’d learned from her father and had a knack for picking up bits and pieces of other languages easily.
Even now, he could hear her singing along to that weird-ass song:
“Yuku ressha no chiri wa sakyuu ni moji wo kaku,
‘Hyakunen kanata no sora yori mimamoru’ to
Airisu ga saku nagai ame no yoru,
inoru yō ni kimi wo sagasite mati wo kaketa”
“What does any of that mean?” Mike asked as he plopped down on the bed next to her.
“We’ve lived in Japan for how long and you haven’t picked up any of the language yet?” she laughed.
“Hon, I’ve been, you know, busy focusing on my job, and I didn’t have the advantage of a father who spoke it,” he accused.
“Yeah, okay,” she admitted. “But if you want to know, it means:
“Dusts of the passing train write the words on a sand hill,
‘I’ll keep watching you from the sky at a distance of a hundred years.’
At the long rainy night when white irises bloomed
I ran and prayed to find you in the town.”
“Only in Japan would they make a song about romance using circus music and old-timey synthesizers,” he groaned.
“You don’t know the half of it,” she said with a grin. “The song is actually about….”
Okay, I’m going to die soon, he mused, and the last thought rolling through my head is about a song about a hotel in Peru known for being frequented by transvestites. And it’d be DJ, of course, that put that thought there. That, in turn, made him think about his wife and children, and how much they would have to endure without him in the picture now. And now with those final thoughts, he wished that he would live…
…with no chance of that happening at all, as he noted the ground not very far from him as he reached terminal velocity.
As DJ and the others winked back onto the physical plane near the balloon landing, they were witness to a grisly sight. Half of the airships and balloons there were destroyed or burning, and there were several dead pegasi – one of which was Afternoon Breeze, the port services stallion that had helped them earlier. Thankfully, there were only the port workers here amongst the fatalities and nothing else.
The scream of jets sounded from above, and DJ looked up to see a black fighter rush overhead. She didn’t know where it came from or what type of fighter it was, only that it was unfriendly. “Sweetie,” she began, but was silenced by a curt nod from her aunt. Immediately the four ran – or rather, Sweetie galloped, Cinnamon flew, DJ ran as fast as she could without going into four-wheel drive, and Butter floated along uncomfortably in a force bubble carried by the unicorn’s magic. The quartet raced towards their destination, the balloon in which DJ and Sweetie had arrived…only to find it aflame as they arrived.
“Twilight’s not going to be happy about that,” the unicorn commented.
“Can you come up with something else?” DJ asked as another explosion erupted in the distance, the result of another attack run by one of those fighters. Whoever they were, they were obliterating Cloudsdale with impunity, whatever forces were present having absolutely no hope of stopping them.
“It’s going to be very risky, but I think I can,” Sweetie answered absently as she started to concentrate on the papilio alis spell Twilight once cast on Rarity. “I’m going to assume you trust me,” the mare said, knowing her niece’s attitude.
“Even if I didn’t – and I assure you I do,” the humanized pony commented, “I don’t exactly have much choice in the matter, do I?” Violet eyes frantically scanned the skies, noting one of the black shapes arcing its way towards them. “You’d better hurry – one of those bastards is setting up an attack run!”
“Working as fast as I can!” Sweetie called back.
“Can’t you do something about it?” DJ asked.
“I could, but that would leave us open for a follow-up attack by his wingman,” the unicorn mage retorted. “Better option is to shield us and get us out of here!” Sweetie looked out of the corner of her eyes and noted that the fighter was inbound, clearly intending to attack them – and Sweetie knew she wasn’t going to be able to throw up a shield spell in time.
DJ, meanwhile, closed her eyes and prayed, the hoofspace of her hands melding together in a rudimentary attempt at templing. Um, God, this is Daisy Jo. Dunno if you can hear me out in Pony Land – I’m guessing you can – but I could really use a miracle or two right now. Love, DJ. Amen. She was jittery enough that she forgot to cross herself, something she usually did after prayer.
Now in range, the black fighter fired its guns, the high whine of the autocannon strafing a line of bullets through the clouds and towards the frightened mares. However, the shots were off by just a fraction and they passed to the side, the only damage being to their eardrums as the rounds burned past them, followed quickly by the gunfire report.
“That was too close!” DJ shouted, watching as the fighter turned a tight curve, the result of thrust vectoring. Frightened out of her wits, Cinnamon did the only thing that she could: she fainted.
“I’ll take ‘too close’ if it means I’m still alive!” the unicorn shouted back.
“Uh, hate to be the bearer of bad news,” DJ told Sweetie, “but looks like he’s headed around for another try!”
“Charging up a spell,” Sweetie replied, her horn suddenly flaring with blue energy. “If he misses a second time, I can blast him for sure!”
“If he misses!” DJ reminded her.
“There anythin’ we c’n hide behind?” Butter shouted from within the relative safety of her force bubble, her voice reverberating as it connected with the skin of the sphere.
DJ gave her sister-in-law a nonplussed glance. “In a city made of clouds?”
Without warning, the enemy fighter exploded. A second later revealed the answer why: a REN F-35F rocketed through the debris cloud, engines roaring. As if acknowledging the ponies below, the fighter waggled its wings a bit before banking hard to bear down on another attacker. The fighter soon disappeared behind the burning cloud buildings, but the message was clear: help was on the way.
Relieved looks came over the faces of the mares as the impromptu death sentence was pulled off them. DJ looked up to the sky and whispered a quick, “Matthew 7:7 all the way, baby! Woo!”
“Okay, time to get back to that other spell,” Sweetie said, cancelling out her other one. “We need to get out of here soonest.”
“Uh, gals,” Butter moaned in her protective bubble, “Ah hate t’ burst yer bubble, but mah water jest burst.”
Any jubilant looks on their faces immediately went away as what Butter said suddenly hit them. “How long are the contractions?” DJ inquired.
“Ah can’t tell,” Butter whimpered, frantic. “But…Ah’m….Ah’m afraid.”
DJ reached over and touched the bubble. “You’ll be okay, Butter.” Turning to Sweetie Belle, DJ said, “We can’t move her. If we do, we risk losing the babies. She’s going to have to deliver here.”
Sweetie looked at her niece as though she’d just gone insane. “As much as I’d love to agree with you,” Sweetie retorted, “we’re under attack right now and I’m draining my magic faster than expected. I can’t keep all these various spells on indefinite standby and I don’t know how much time we’ve got – assuming whoever that is will let us have any clouds underneath our hooves for much longer!”
DJ looked back at Butter, and the terrified look on the earth pony’s face steeled the humanized pony’s decision all the more. “Elusive asked….” DJ stopped, shaking her head before continuing with, “No, my brother asked that I keep her safe, Sweetie. I can’t – and won’t – go back on my word.”
Despite the danger, Sweetie smiled at DJ’s words. “Are you sure about what you just said?”
“More than I can say,” DJ said softly, her face sober and protective.
Time to start tapping the reserves. Sweetie immediately cast a spell Twilight once taught her that allowed her to start pulling magic from other ambient sources; the increasingly ruined remains of Cloudsdale would make for a sad, but plentiful, reservoir. “Okay, let’s get this done with, quick – we don’t have much time.” Her horn immediately flared violet as a huge shield suddenly enveloped them.
DJ maneuvered under Butter, and Sweetie cancelled the spell, allowing the earth pony to fall into her sister-in-law’s arms. DJ looked at Butter with a determined face, asking, “Not the best of places, but are you ready?”
The goldenrod pony was exhausted but lucid. “Ah dun have much choice, do Ah?” she mumbled.
The day had started out easily enough for Sunny Seabreeze, LT, REN. He’d been en route to a live-fire exercise off the coast of Norflank when the frantic call had come in from EQMILCOM – somehow, unidentified fighters pretending to be a Luftwaffe squadron had entered Equestria and were now pounding the stuffing out of Cloudsdale. Seabreeze had just enough time to land at Norflank Naval Air Station before they fueled him up, slapped on weapons, and sent him back out the door. His job was to identify the enemy and keep them busy until REAF reinforcements arrived. As to when that was going to happen, they couldn’t come fast enough.
Unfortunately for them, they hadn’t expected to face opposition so soon, so he was able to take down one completely unawares. He’d smoked the bandit from a distance with an AMRAAM, and saved the lives of four ponies in the process. Plus, the IFF had tagged the aircraft he’d shot down: a Q-313, a stealth fighter in use by a handful of nations. Based on that there, was a pretty good guess as to who it might be. A second later he buzzed past one and had his proof.
“EQMILCOM, this is Surfhoof 8. Have confirmed identity of enemy, over. Aggressors confirmed as…EQMILCOM, you’re not going to believe this one: it’s Iran?”
“Iran?” The voice on the other side was incredulous. “Please confirm, Surfhoof 8, over.”
A fighter slipped into position behind him and Seabreeze immediately ducked to evade. “Q-313 bearing IRIAF markings just tried to splash me – is that enough confirmation?”
“Can you transmit your guncam data?”
He did so immediately. “That enough proof for you?” Not waiting for an answer, he kicked in the thrust vectoring to engage his attacker. He almost pitied the human pilot who just attacked him; after all, Seabreeze was a pegasus and any pilot, four hooves or otherwise, knew that when a pegasus was behind the HOTAS, they ruled the skies. It was the reason why Equestriani fighter pilots, with few exceptions, were almost entirely pegasi.
Performing a flip in the fighter that would have been impossible for any other kind of flyer, he turned the tables on the attacker, opening up with his guns and turning the stealth fighter into a burning wreck. He then juked the HOTAS, moving his craft at an extreme angle that prevented follow-on attacks from others, because humans weren’t made for the kind of G-force tolerances that came naturally to his kind.
A new voice came over the audio, agitated and ready for a fight. “Surfhoof 8, this is Apple Raider 1, do you read, over?”
Seabreeze cued his line. “This is Surfhoof 8, you’re coming in loud and clear. You might want to get over here soon before I splash all the bandits, over,” he laughed.
“Save some for us; we’re coming in hot and heavy. How you fixed? Over.”
“I’ve got plenty of ordnance, ammo and fuel, and….” Seabreeze paused as he suddenly saw a black form inking through the destruction, moving fluidly in a way no fighter could. “Apple Raider 1, I have sighting confirmed: Nightmare Moon. Repeat, Nightmare Moon is on scene and likely leading these fighters.”
“Do not engage, Surfhoof. Keep the fighters off the populace, but do not engage the Nightmare until we are in position. That is a direct order. Do you copy?”
“Copy that loud and clear – she’s going to splash me hard if she sees me!”
“We’re supercruising and should be on station in a few minutes more. Hang tight; you’re their only hope right now. Apple Raider 1, out.” The voice faded out and with that, LT Seabreeze focused back on his mission. He had ponies to save and he wasn’t going to do that if he didn’t get into the thick of the furball.
It was then that he heard the sinuous, sultry voice of death in his mind: I have you now.
Seated on her private balcony after having finished the paperwork at Cadance’s, Celestia read a book, trying to keep her mind off several issues, all of which deeply affected her. Her failure to protect the ponies of Fillydelphia weighed on her mind, as did the affliction currently working its way through Twilight and the others. The attack, and near death, of DJ; only Luna’s timely and faithful intervention had warded off disaster. And, of course, being saved by Mike, and now her inexplicable infatuation with same.
If I were a free mare, I w.... She didn’t finish that thought. Sure, she’d never married – not for lack of desire – but she was wed to the throne and to her duties just as tightly as any vow of matrimony. To go down that line of thought was ill-advised for a myriad of reasons.
“Your majesty!” an earth pony courier gasped as she raced up to Celestia. “There’s an urgent situation! Cloudsdale is under attack!”
“What?” The sun alicorn leapt to her hooves, aghast.
The courier passed over a letter, sent to her seneschal’s office; Black Rod had immediately ordered to missive to be sent to her. And as she read it, she realized why: Cloudsdale was burning, attacked by Nightmare Moon. But instead of bringing Chrysalis and her changeling armies, the demon alicorn had instead somehow enlisted the assistance of one of the human nations, one particularly vociferous in its hatred of ponies. She knew that firsthoof: during a speech she’d given at the United Nations a decade ago, most of the Middle Eastern nations had walked out, but it had been one lone nation that dared to shout obscenities at her even as their ambassador stormed out of the room.
But even still, why would they ally with Nightmare Moon? Unless…. Could the changelings be on Human-Earth now, meddling in politics? It was the only thing that made sense; while they wouldn’t follow a demonic alicorn, they would follow a changeling transformed into a human male, promising Tehran whatever it took to get them to destroy “the horse demons”.
“I’m leaving at once,” she told the courier. “Inform Princess Luna to meet me there immediately. Then have Black Rod apprise Princess Cadance of the situation if he has not done so already.”
“Your majesty, it is my understanding that her highness Princess Luna is already there,” he informed her. “She was apparently having dinner with several members of your family, including, if I’m not mistaken, the Lost Foal.”
The moment the courier said that, Celestia’s eyes grew wide, and her lips uttered a gasp involuntarily. Panic overtaking her mind briefly, she teleported the courier to safety before rocketing away herself. Her burst of speed was enough to cause a pressure displacement of air, a miniature sonic boom lashing against the balcony as the princess raced towards the City of Clouds.
As she picked up speed, her mind roiled. She wouldn’t – couldn’t – afford to lose any more members of her family. She had to save them. She had to save…. The near-admission was both revelatory and frightening. She was going for her subjects, of course; she was going for her family, certainly. But she knew, in her heart, there was a third reason for going.
The wall between denial and truth was growing thinner each moment, and even still, she couldn’t comprehend why.
Behind the HOTAS of his F-23A, Soarin’ looked at the distance between their location and Cloudsdale. They’d just departed Canterlot Mountainside Airbase, and at normal flight time it would take a little over an hour to cross the distance between the capital and the City of Clouds – and that number was cut in half when pushing the fighters to maximum. Unfortunately, this was a situation where seconds mattered, and seconds were all it took for the situation to already go from bad to nightmarish.
Thanks to Night Ranger’s untimely screw-up – the former Wonderbolt knew full well that he didn’t want to be a fly on the wall when Spitfire tore that idiot a new flank – they’d been caught with their metaphorical pants down. The attack had left everyone off-guard and he’d just happened to be on-base to work on paperwork and get his mind off of worrying about Rainbow. When the flightline officer came in and told him that they couldn’t get anypony other than the duty pilots already on the tarmac – one of which was thankfully his son – Soarin’ immediately started banging on doors and commandeering anyone who’d had flight quals for the 23s. After grabbing a variety of officers, he immediately slipped on his own flight gear and ordered one of the birds to be prepped for him.
And now here he was, strapped in the seat when somepony with more time with flight systems probably should have been there. But with a good number of pilots still out of action from the debacle at Fillydelphia just a couple of months ago, they were down to whomever was left, which meant a lot of pegasi who hadn’t logged as much time in cockpits were now directly responsible for the defense of ponies everywhere.
Opening a channel, he spoke. “Apple Raider 1 to all units: the moment we get there, weapons free, repeat, weapons free. Anything that doesn’t ID as blue, pop a missile up its plot. Apple Raider 6, take your half of the squadron and engage the TC-1s. They’ll be trying to keep us busy; I want you to do the same to them.”
“Roger that, Jack,” a female voice drawled. Soarin’ smiled slightly; Lightning Dust had been a pain in the plot more times than he could say and gave Rainbow no small amount of grief, but when push came to shove the mare chafed at the bit to hunt down the jerks that hurt her friend and promised Soarin’ that she’d do anything to help, and he appreciated that more than he could voice.
“The rest of us will go toe-to-toe with the Q-313s. Remember your training: even though they’re paper tigers, they’re still capable of hitting back and all it takes is one lucky blow, so keep on your hooftips. And lastly, do not, I repeat, do not engage Nightmare Moon under any circumstances. Leave that to Princess Luna – she’s there and should be able to deal with that monster.”
“No fucking way am I not going to leave that thing alone! I’ll kill that monster!” an all-too-familiar voice snarled over the line. Soarin’ sighed inwardly; as always, Rainbow Blitz was being as impetuous as his mother, and that made the older stallion think of his wife and the razor’s edge for survival that she now walked.
But that was for later; for now, he had a battle to manage. “Doug,” he said, addressing Blitz’ callsign, “go private channel.” A second and a switched channel later, he added, “Look, son, no one understands more than I do how much you want that demon dead – I do too. But I won’t have you risk your life in a suicide attack, understood?”
“Pops, I can beat her! All I n—”
“This is something only your aunt can handle, Blitz, trust me on this. And more importantly, your other aunt, as well as your cousins, are somewhere in that mess right now and protecting them comes before notching the Nightmare’s corpse, got that?”
“But I—”
If nothing else, Soarin’ knew how to punch his son’s buttons; they were, after all, the same as his mother’s. “Even your mother would prioritize family over glory,” he reminded the younger pegasus, and got silence for that. Once Soarin’ was sure he’d made his point, he continued. “Blitz, I need you on this. Lightning Dust is going to need an experienced stick mover to help her stop those TC-1s, and you’re it. If your mother were here, she’d do the job, but as good as Dust is, I need someone I can trust to run them into the ground – and I’m not trusting this to anypony but you, son.”
He could practically hear the younger pony’s chest swelling in pride. “Delta Flight, peel off and start hurting the bastards. No mercy, no quarter. General, we’ll take the right.” Not waiting for an answer from Lightning Dust, three fighters pulled away from the main group, banking right to start their hunt. As if an unspoken signal was passed, three others broke off and mirrored the action, rocketing away towards the left.
Switching back to the main channel, Soarin’ said into his mic, “I’m reading twenty-one bandits and one friendly. Let’s change the numbers, ponies. You have your orders – engage!”
Silver Platter stomped down the hallway of their family manor, a sneer on his face. He was going to teach that strumpet a lesson, if it was the last thing he did. How dare she? She was just a commoner! How dare she even think to say no to him? He was Prince Silver Platter of the Unicorn Dynasty, and if he demanded the very clouds in the sky to be brought to him, well, that was what supposed to happen, and happen now.
He heard some laughing from the balcony, and it intrigued him. Wandering over, he saw his father, Prince Blueblood, giddily sitting on a sofa, watching the nighttime sky and pouring himself a glass of some expensive and aged wine. “Hello, my son,” Blueblood said, a smile on his face. “Come join me in a festivity, won’t you?” The older prince conjured up a second glass and poured. “A fine vintage from my private cellars – for beasts with no sense of taste, the minotaurs somehow managed to come up with an excellent stock.”
Silver sniffed the air, knowing his father was drunk. “And where is Mother, in all this?”
“Off with her personal pursuits. You know your mother – dedicated to her craft, whatever it is.” He waved his son over. “And yes, I am drunk,” he added breezily, “Drunk on joy and happiness – quite the celebratory mood. And if you knew what I knew, you would be as well.”
“Oh, then praytell, dear Father, what was her name and how much did you pay her to go away? Or did Mother do so again?”
“Normally, I would slap that insolent tongue of yours back into its mouth, but right now I could care less, as it does little to spoil my joy.” He took another drink before continuing. “For the record, I happen to be celebrating my aunt’s most critical of failures. Did you know, at this moment, Cloudsdale is under attack? As to who did the deed? It really doesn’t matter – the only thing that does is that so soon after the death of Fillydelphia, ponies will be clamoring for leadership…strong leadership, the kind of bedrock firmament that Aunt Celestia is absolutely incapable of.”
“And you think you are?”
“Of course. Why else have we survived for so long? Because we are canny and await our return to the throne.” He got off his couch, wobbling towards his son before putting a foreleg around his withers. “Think of it: when I am king, you will be the crown prince – and you will learn what it means to wield true power.”
“But Aunt Celestia will not be displaced so easily, Father. She is an ancient and powerful mare, not one of your flighty conquests.”
“Which is why we have to strike when the time is right – and that time is soon coming. Did I not teach you that an iron fist must have a velvet glove in order to rule properly? I have my brute strength, and I have your mother for finesse. So too, one day will you have a wife to counter your own…proclivities, shall we say, hmm?” The look in Blueblood’s eyes was questing, curious, as if he expected his son to admit to something. But then moment passed, and it left the younger prince wary of his father.
Fortunately for Silver Platter, relief came at hand. “Your highness,” a guard said to Blueblood, nodding briefly to acknowledge the younger prince, “We have recovered her highness and escorted her back to her chambers as per your request.”
“Is there anypony with her?”
“Her hoofmaiden is with her at present an—”
“THAT HARRIDELLE!” Silver Platter snarled, and turned, storming off in the direction of his sister’s apartments.
“Do be careful,” Blueblood called out to the disappearing shape of his son as he ran down the hallway. “Sometimes they bruise…rather easily.”
As Silver Platter approached the door, he heard sobbing, following by a soothing voice saying, “It’s okay. You’re safe now.” Without any sense of formality, he kicked open the door and snarled to his sister, “Give her to me. Now.”
Gilded Lily looked at her older brother, and there was hatred in her eyes. “Get. Out.” At the moment, the princess stood between Silver and his quarry, a terrified mare, her maid’s uniform half-torn off. She showed the first signs of bruises, and had a cut down the left side of her face.
“She refused my attentions and that is an affront to my royal presence,” Silver said. “I cannot comprehend why you would protect one of t—”
“You tried to force yourself on her,” Lily said, in cool yet angry tones. “Or are you so stupid to think you can beat a rape charge?”
“Oh, please – as if she would. All it would take is a mere throwing of bits her way and suddenly she’ll have what she always wa—” He was suddenly shut up as his sister slapped him across the face.
“Get out, Silver. I won’t tell you a second time,” she warned.
The prince rubbed his face, both shocked and appalled. “You would take her side? You are a princess and a lady and are expected to act like one! It is your duty to rule w—”
“No, it is our duty to be servants of the people,” Lily snarled. “Or have you forgotten the lessons our aunts have given us?”
“No, I just pay attention to the important ones, the ones regarding power and authority,” Silver raged. “I suppose during those times you merely think about how much you lift your tail for that pathetic pegasus of yours.” She gasped and he knew he hit his mark. “Oh, you don’t think I didn’t know about that pegasus you toy with? One of those rejects Aunt Celestia claims as family?” He closed in on his sister and whispered in tones dripping with malice, “They’re commoners given a lucky break, mere pets for Celestia’s amusement. And you are one short step from just sleeping with common street trash.”
“Don’t you dare bring Blitz into this,” Lily huffed.
“What, did you think you’d just marry him and have a happy life? My dearest sister, you are an idiot. Marriages are about power and authority, and not whatever drivel our cousin Cadance spouts. Trust me: when you marry a proper stallion, that is when you lift your tail – so you will have control.”
“You disgust me,” Lily seethed.
“I don’t know if you were aware, but Mother has is just a hair’s breadth away from arranging your betrothal. I’m sure we’ll just have to wait until this year’s Gala to see if there are any suitable stallions this time around. Baron Fuzzybottom’s son Milquetoast is a blithering idiot, but he has money and prestige. Now he would be someone worth allowing the mount.”
Lily’s horn flared with the color of sunlight as she charged a spell. “Get. Out,” she said for the final time.
“When you’re married, don’t worry – I’ll take good care of your hoofmaiden,” he said, leering at the other pony. “Now, I think I’ll go enjoy that drink that Father offered. Good day, dearest sister.” Nothing more to say, he departed.
As he departed, Lily breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re safe, Meadow. I promise he’ll never touch you again.’
Frightened as a lamb, Meadow Glade looked at the princess with fear. “But you cannot protect me forever, your highness,” she said sadly.
“One, yes I can. Two, stop calling me that, Meadow. We’ve been best friends since we were fillies. You, of all ponies, never have to use titles or anything like that when we’re in private.”
“But things are different from when we were just schoolfillies, Lily,” Meadow said, her eyes stained with tears. “Someday you’ll be wed and sent off with your husband, and I will still be here because I am a vassal of this manor. And then he will get me and….” She broke down in sobs. “Your brother is a monster, Lily. He…he hurts others, and he takes pleasure in it. Remember Nightrose?” Lily remembered; she was a country pegasus that had come from a distant town to serve as one of the housemaids. “She didn’t break her legs because she fell down the stairs, she broke them because he….” Meadow began her hysterics again, leaving Lily to comfort her foalhood friend.
“I promise you’ll always have me to protect you,” Lily whispered to the distraught earth pony. “And when Blitz and I marry, you’ll come to live with us and we will find a way to ensure your happiness.” Lily held on to her friend as if she was a precious object, determined to protect her from the monster that prowled the hallways of the manor – a monster that, sadly, shared the same blood as her.
A Q-313 had no sooner began an attack run on Cloudsdale City Hall when a shot came from Surfhoof 8. The stealth fighter broke to evade, the missile barely missing its target but driving it away from innocent ponies below. Not letting it get away, Seabreeze slammed his fighter hard to the left, putting the fighter into a repeated barrel roll that let him get his aim in. Triggering guns, the fighter’s autocannon roared, sending rounds tearing into the fighter and turning it into scrap metal. The black aircraft detonated directly over one of the city parks, raining down wreckage onto the clouds, and in some cases, through them.
“Surfhoof 8, this is Apple Raider 1. We are now approaching the AO. What’s the situation, over?”
“Just took out another bandit, sir,” Seabreeze replied. “Gonna go after another, but there’s still plenty to deal with here an...oh, shi—”
Standing on a building, Nightmare Moon watched as the City of Clouds burned. The fires, little funeral pyres, warmed her demonic heart, and she smiled softly, knowing she was bringing death to the innocents that remained on the streets of the beleaguered town. So far di Tacco’s hired hooves were serving quite nicely and—
Oh, that will not do at all. One lone Equestriani fighter had somehow managed to arrive and was making a mess of things. From the looks of it, he was a talented pilot, and was probably a credit to his unit and his crown. However, that sort of thing would be problematic for the Nightmare’s plans, and so he had to be stopped. Looking at the fighter with dark intent and a malicious grin, she willed a ball of indigo balefire into existence before her. Pushing it forward as if blowing a kiss, the darkfire sliced through the sky, boring through the fighter and starting from the cockpit. The pilot had no time to react and Surfhoof 8 exploded in a shower of flames, the burning wreckage crashing to the city streets below, then through it as it plummeted towards the earth.
“Well, that should attend to that problem,” Nightmare Moon said to herself, before reaching out to speak to her “associate”. Colonel, I’ve reason to believe that reinforcements are inbound. You are to continue your attacks and ensure that the target is neutralized, understood?
“Understood, my lady,” the voice floated in the air. “Do you have any indication of how much opposition we will be facing?”
Nothing that your men cannot handle, the Nightmare replied. Now, I will let you get back to your work while I take care of mine. Remember that your success determines both your riches…and if you live to see tomorrow. Not waiting for an answer from Colonel Khalid, she prepared for the next part of her plan. She noticed a group of REAF fighters streaking overhead, and while the idea of dealing with them herself was tempting, she couldn’t afford to waste the time.
On the street below, she noticed it had begun to fill with various pegasi evacuating the shelter, headed towards the nearest evacuation area. Seeing them, she knew they’d be the perfect target to test her new toy on. Rising into the air, she called forth a storm at her disposal, one wild and uncontrollable by all but the most practiced of pegasi. Clouds nearly as dark as her coat began to float around her in an unusual circular pattern, a great vortex of power that had never been witnessed before on this earth.
“Ponies of Cloudsdale!” she shouted down to the crowd below, instantly commanding the attention of everyone in the area. While the majority of citizens below were worried about the attack, what they saw from above chilled them to the marrow of their bones as Nightmare Moon’s voice carried on the winds. “Carry this message to every species: your days of freedom are numbered – they were never yours to begin with! I rule now and I will decide your very existences!”
“The Bearers’ll get you!” one stallion shouted, shaking a forehoof at her. “The Knights beat you before, and they’ll do it again!” Although the crowd agreed with him, almost as one they began to back away from him, knowing that his fate wouldn’t be long for the world.
“The Bearers?” Nightmare Moon laughed. She landed brutally, smashing the street below, cracks appearing in the magically-created permanence. “The Knights Elemental?” she said, calmly and coolly as she sauntered towards him; as he suddenly realized who he’d just mouthed off to, he began to lose his bravado fast as the demonic alicorn approached. “I believe you said the Knights will defeat me, am I correct?”
“Yes,” he said, looking at her evenly, his boldness now gone. He was not quite cowed, but he knew that he’d bitten off more than he could chew. Even still, someone had to tell her that her days were numbered.
She smiled, but there was no joy in that rictus. “What if I told you that I’ve already killed four of them? What if you were to discover that Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were no longer amongst the living? What if you were informed that the Bond of Harmony has been shattered forever?”
“You’re lying!” A little filly, tiny as could be, ran in the direction of the stallion, anger in her eyes. From the replica choker she wore, it was clear she was a fan of the Knights. “The Knights would never lose to a meanie like you! And get away from my dad!”
The stallion’s eyes opened wide in fright. Heedless of the threat before him, he turned and shouted, “Get out of here! Go find your mother!”
Nightmare Moon gave a close look at the stallion before her, and then with a flicker of her power froze the stallion in his place. Finding he couldn’t move, the act shattered the remaining vestiges of whatever bravery he had left and it was clear that he was doing all he could to prevent himself from panicking in front of his daughter. The black alicorn then turned her attention to the foal, giving the filly the kind of grin reserved for the truly wicked. “Ah, poor foal. You have so much to learn about the world – you see, sometimes the villains win.”
“Please, don’t hurt her,” the stallion pled. The look of courage in his eyes was long gone, terror now having replaced it. “I beg of you, please…don’t hurt my foal.”
“What is your name, child?” the Nightmare asked.
The filly looked at the monster before her, and a sense of worry started to sink in. “Summer Memories,” she murmured.
“Your daughter?” she asked the stallion. “She’s a lovely child. I can see where she gets that misplaced sense of bluster from.”
“Please, if there is any good in you at all,” he begged, “don’t hurt her!”
“Oh, fear not. I have no intention of doing such a thing,” the demonic alicorn cooed. “After all, I’ll need future generations to know the folly of their parents’ attempt to dream of a world without me – a lie that I will crush today,” she said, her voice almost affable. “Do you have a wife?” He nodded and she turned to the filly. “Child, return to your mother.” Needing no further prodding, the foal scampered off towards the crowd, where a random pony grabbed her so she would be safe from the Nightmare’s wrath.
Relieved that his daughter was safe, Autumn Memories watched as the stranger carried her off to safety. It would be the last thing he would ever see as the Nightmare lashed out with her wing. Her appendage connected straight with his head and there was a sickening snap as the stallion fell to the cloudfloor, his head twisted at an unnatural angle.
“I promised you I wouldn’t hurt her,” she said as she heard his death rattle. “I never said anything about you.”
Seeing the murder that had just been committed before them, every pegasus in the vicinity took to wing like bats out of hell, racing in every direction in a frantic attempt to escape. Nightmare raised her wings to the sky, and at her command the swirling winds already blowing turned into a deadly event that slammed into the flock trying to flee; a derecho strong enough to rend and wreck everything in its path, including pegasi too slow to be able to avoid the path of destruction.
With the winds obliterating everything they encountered and her human underlings turning the rest of the city into a slaughterhouse, it was time to focus on the main thrust of her plan. Nightmare Moon shook her head in a disturbingly girlish manner as she sang, “Oh where, oh where is that little bitch now; oh where, oh where can she be?” Knowing that the target in question was one of a mere handful in town, there were just a small number of places she could have gone to – and only one in this part of town. Taking to wing, she headed towards the balloonport, ready for a meeting with destiny.
Dinner, Pip decided, was the best he’d ever had. As flutters, unlike regular changelings, had a need for physical nourishment, the drones appointed as castle staff trained to be the best chefs they could be, as they were preparing food quite literally for a queen. The secret program Shining Armor had put in place hired a range of Equestria’s finest chefs to train the flutters in question, then promised to silence via a quite healthy fee for their services. As a result, Sweet Basil and Dorigo Pepper, the two head chefs, had studied under such masters as entrée expert Main Dish and master pâtissier Gustav Le Grand. If Pip remembered correctly, the most recent one had been master confectioner Mulia Mild, who had spent two weeks training flutters in disguise this December; it had been her third time and she’d been given a large enough paycheck the first time to retire from her business.
The end result of all of this was that tonight’s dinner of sautéed daisies and artichokes, paired with a tulip consommé and braised mushrooms-and-carrots with a maple drizzle, was nothing less than exceptional.
But this dinner’s also been one of the noisiest, he chuckled silently, with his bouncing daughter buzzing happily despite repeated reminders from Maggie that Rosedust’s behavior at dinner was unbecoming of a princess. He grinned slightly, noticing the family moment between the three of them and wondering if this was what his life was meant to be: he, Maggie and Rosie, alongside the dozens of flutters – one happy, if overly large, family.
As he’d spent time discussing the issue with Maggie – yeah, right, “discussing”. A whole lot of communication going on, but not actually talking, per se, he mused with an inward grin – he’d realized that the flutterqueen needed him. Not because he was the father of her foals, or because he was the one she’d decided was her mate, but because she genuinely loved him and could not be without. So he’d settled on his choice, one that pained him, but one he felt honorbound to. He was a stallion with a family, and one that both adored and needed him. Though the drones were grown up, there was no less a need for a father in their lives and they pined for it in a way that only he could fulfill.
“Is this what you want?” she’d asked him as they lay in bed, she nuzzled him, hearing the beat of his heart.
“I don’t know,” he’d told her honestly, “but Peppercorn, Rosie and the others…they need me. They need a father and I’ve let them grow up without one. Yet they still need me. So yes, I’ll be staying.”
In response, she kissed him, tears of joy welling in her eyes. “I will be the best wife I can be, my Pip,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” he’d said, clearly conflicted.
That “conversation” had been a few hours back, followed by an address to all the drones, all of whom were thrilled to have their father back. Afterwards, the drones got back to work while Maggie attended to official duties and Pip spent some time with Rosie, who had gone into a practical high-speed frenzy of bliss at having her father finally present. The young filly had completely monopolized his time until dinner, not that Pip minded in the least. If nothing else, the time spent was a poignant reminder of how much things had changed for him in the past few days.
And yet, he kept admitting to himself, he couldn’t stop thinking about the beautiful unicorn mare who he still loved, and whose heart he’d broken. He’d never meant to do it, and he’d throw himself in front of a tank if it meant sparing Sweetie Belle the hell she was likely going through right now. And as he set down his fork and looked across the table at the mare that was now his wife, he once again couldn’t help but notice that she was somepony a fraction of his age.
I’ve been with Sweetie Belle longer than Maggie’s been alive, he thought to himself. How did I let everything become so tail-twisted?
Maggie saw the look of confusion in her beloved’s face and felt his pain nearly as deeply as he did – one of the few times she wished she didn’t have the natural empathy to let her comprehend what happened. “Pip, I know this is hard for you,” she said gently. “We’ll work through this, I promise. We have much to do before we yet formally marry—”
“We’re not married?” he wondered.
“Well, we are in the changeling sense, bonded by our love,” she answered, “and that much of my heritage I can’t escape. But I want to marry in the pony way as well. I want to teach our foals that they are just as normal as their pony counterparts, and that they have every right to love anypony they choose. If I were to marry normally, after all, why couldn’t they?”
A question formed on Pip’s tongue, which was silenced as Peppercorn burst into the room. “Mom! Pop! Come quick – we’ve got a problem at the edge of the valley!” Both queen and soldier rose to their feet, heading to a nearby window, where a fire burned at the mouth of the entry to Dream Valley. Maggie was about to inquire further when an earth-crunching crash occurred outside, rattling the castle. Something had fallen to the ground and it was aflame. At first, the flutters thought it might be a comet of some sort, the remains of one of Luna’s shooting stars, but it only took a second for Pip to recognize it as an aircraft wing – a fighter’s wing, to be exact. This was confirmed a second later as the missiles attached cooked off, causing a huge fireball that miraculously injured none even as it sent a plume of flame into the sky along with a thunderous BOOM in accompaniment.
“Peppercorn,” Maggie said, her voice carrying the authority of a queen instead of a mother, “have everypony gather up a fire brigade in case more of whatever that is falls into the valley. We’ll want to put out the flame as soon as possible.”
“Already did that, Mom – Oregano’s getting his group together,” he told her and her heart swelled with pride at her sons’ preparedness. Somehow, Pip felt that, and not in just a general way – is that the bond she was talking about earlier, or am I feeling it as well? he wondered.
But she wasn’t done yet. “Pip, the three of us will go to the checkpoint and see if there’s anything in trouble and what we can do to help.” Turning back to her servers, she said, “White Cinnamon, please escort your sister back to her room.” When the chef flutter nodded and picked up Rosie, she said, “Gentlestallions, let’s go.”
“Are you sure it’s safe for you?” Pip asked. Granted, he was still trying to figure out how he felt about her and where he fit in, but when push came to shove, it was his duty to ensure her safety for Equestria’s sake. Having a family and fur in the game made it that much more so.
But she shook her head and looked at him evenly. “I could stay behind and wait…but that’s not what a ruler does,” she answered him, her eyes filled with determination. “Celestia wouldn’t sit by idly while her ponies were in danger, and neither can I.”
Luna rocketed towards Elusive’s protective bubble and swung around the bottom, beating her wings furiously in order to slow the speed of the sphere to the point where she could take control and rescue him.
“SAVE HIM!” Elusive shouted to her as she nullified the spell. “Forget about me – save Mike!”
“I can’t,” she said mournfully, her voice breaking. “I won’t let you die. I love you too much to let you die, nephew.”
“And what, he’s not family?” he begged. “What abou….” His words trailed off as he looked up into his aunt’s face and saw the pain and horror of her decision, etched into her face. From the look alone, it was clear that she’d have nightmares about the choice for weeks. “Aunt Luna, why? She needs him,” the stallion pled in a hope she’d let him be sacrificed…and she’d be saved from the direction she was hell-bent on travelling down.
Luna grabbed onto him and teleported both her and him to the ground directly, the pair coming back to normal space in a daisy orchard well north of Cloudsdale, almost near Ponyville. Knowing he was now safe, she slumped to the ground, feeling unable to do anything else. “Because that’s the nature of his duty,” she replied sadly, unable to look at anything but the ground. “To save others and give his life as needed. And your wife and foals will need you,” she added, as if trying to justify her choice.
“But what about DJ and her foals?” he asked, knowing it was selfish to challenge her decision. His aunt had just risked everything to save his life, and every word he spoke was a further stab in the heart.
“She’ll hate me for what I did,” Luna said, her voice devoid of emotion as her eyes filled with tears. “All I ever wanted to do was to show her the stars, Elusive. And now all I’ve shown her is death.”
At her own words, reality kicked in. Death…Nightmare Moon! The monster still prowled and predated on Cloudsdale and so long as she was free, death ruled the skies. Forcing herself back to her feet, the moon alicorn rocketed back into the sky, pushing herself like never before. Her subjects needed her, her family needed her, and she needed to face down the monster.
Knowing the odds were against her, Luna raced into battle, girding for a fight.
The final thought on Mike’s mind was of his wife and children, those three that he’d never see again as he was mere hundreds of feet from the ground. He’d never hold his sons again, never kiss his wife again, never grow old with her as he’d promised. No more birthdays, graduations, weddings, anniversaries, joyous post-deployment reunions. No third child, as DJ was thinking about – she wanted a girl this time. No going to see his sons’ Little League games. No more sharing of tender moments with the love of his life.
The loss gnawed at him, but he could do nothing, save to die as he lived: facing the challenge. He refused to close his eyes, even though every instinct in his body told him to as the ground rushed at him like an unavoidable wall. He would face death bravely, going towards it sans fear. He’d said his last prayer; that DJ’s soon-to-be wounded heart would know peace and that she wouldn’t grieve forever – God, he didn’t want that for her. They’d discussed it once and she’d swore that if he died, she’d never love again, that he was the only man she could ever give her heart to.
Then the ground became all he could see, and he knew death had come.
Angel’s wings carried him towards heaven, all pain enveloped in a golden light.
He saw the beautiful face of an angel, felt its kiss of peace, the purest love imaginable.
And then there was nothing but eternal white.
“Push just a little more, Butter, just a little more!” DJ said, shouting. Tonight was supposed to be simple, DJ thought to herself. Who the hell decided to ramp up the difficulty? A second later, though, she admonished herself: Bullshit – tonight was going to be hard enough. This just puts the icing on the fucking cake.
Butter screamed as she began to give birth, the cry somewhere between a whinny and an outright roar of pain. DJ knew that sound well enough: she’d produced something very similar five years ago when Tyler was born and probably freaked out all the delivery staff in the process.
“How’s it going?” Sweetie asked, her focus on both keeping the shield up and sterilizing everything within range of said shield.
“Let’s see,” DJ snarled. “I was already in for a rough night of meeting my biological brother for basically the first time ever, and now I’ve got my hands practically shoved up the twat of my sister-in-law, who I just met thirty minutes ago. I’m tipsy from the wine, we’re getting shot at, I’ve got Little Miss Useless passed out over there,” she added, nodding her head derisively towards Cinnamon, “and I’ve never exactly delivered a baby! Add to all that the fact that we’re surrounded by dead ponies, I’m here in Equestria because I was afraid of seeing more dead ponies – and that’s all on top of me nearly getting killed last week! How the fuck do you think I feel?!”
“Glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor,” the older mare said sardonically.
DJ ignored her aunt and said, “Conjure me a Ginsu – I’m going to need to cut the umbilical cord. Oh, and some kind of clamp, too. I think I saw this on some YouTube vid or something like that.”
“What’s a Ginsu?” the unicorn mare innocently asked.
DJ’s limit had been reached, and breached at that point. “A GODDAMN KNIFE! JESUS, FUCK, DID YOU JUST TAKE THE EXPRESS TRAIN FROM STUPIDVILLE?” she roared.
“DJ….” Sweetie admonished in a magisterial tone, “Some of us didn’t grow up on Human-Earth, if you recall.”
“Right. Sorry,” DJ said, forcing herself to calm down. “Look, I need a knife, some kind of clamp and swaddling clothing.”
“All you had to do was ask,” the white unicorn said, bemusement in her voice, and what DJ asked for was suddenly at her side. “You sure you can do this?” Sweetie asked.
“Not a clue – I have no idea what I’m doing,” she admitted.
“Then let me do it,” a voice at DJ’s side spoke. To the humanized pony’s surprise, Cinnamon had not only regained consciousness, but was getting back to her feet. Furthermore, there was a determined tone in her voice that DJ had never heard before. “I’ve helped Dad deliver some of the animals around the farm,” she explained. “I can do this.”
“Do Ah look like Ah’m an animal?” Butter shouted, then gasped once more before screaming in pain again.
DJ, however, looked at the pegasus. “You sure about this?”
“Trust me.” The tone was so sure, so confident that DJ nodded and moved aside. There was something so unassailable in her tone that DJ felt the Hand of God was somehow at work. As Cinnamon moved into position, she said with a soft smile, “I’ve got everything under control.”
“Didn’t think otherwise,” DJ lied with a straight face as she patted her cousin on the shoulder. She then stepped away and went to Sweetie. “You sure this is a good idea?” she asked the older pony.
“You’re the one who stepped away, not me,” Sweetie reminded her. “Besides, I know that tone. If you knew Fluttershy a little better, you’d know it too.”
DJ couldn’t answer that. “Look, Sweetie, I….” she began.
“You don’t have to say it,” Sweetie answered. “I know, and I forgive you. It’s a tense situation right now; I’d probably have done the same if our positions were switched,” she lied gently. Luna’s right – she’s growing up, Sweetie thought to herself.
Meanwhile, Cinnamon was focusing on Butter. “Now, just a little more, okay?” the sienna pegasus said, her voice slipping into an approximation of her mother’s clinical but warm tones. “We’ll get this done soon enough.”
DJ moved to the butter-hued mare’s side and looked at her sweaty, pained face. Taking Butter’s right forehoof into her hands, the humanized pony gave her sister-in-law a smile. “I’ve done this twice already, and it’s worth the pain in the end, trust me.”
“It is?” Butter moaned, feeling like her body was being torn apart.
“Well, then again, I gave birth to children, not foals, so the shape’s a little different, but it still felt like hell, though.” She flashed another smile, adding, “You’ll be fine, I promise. We’re all here with you.”
Butter was about to reply when she felt as though she would practically split in two from the agony. She let loose a scream loud enough to be a death cry, but her tones faded as they gave way to the first sounds of a crying foal, soaked from the waters of birth. The newborn was an earth pony with a soft yellow coat not unlike Fluttershy and had a caramel and red mane and tail. The foal’s eyes opened, revealing soft pink eyes. But there was one final, unexpected detail….
“It’s a filly!” Cinnamon said, a smile on her face. “Butter, it’s a filly!”
“A gal? But Ah thou—” Her words gave way to an incomprehensible scream as the second batch of constrictions kicked in. With practiced ease, Cinnamon took the first of the clamps and locked off the umbilical to the filly, cutting away with the knife. She then wrapped the foal in swaddling, passing her to DJ as she then focused on the second birth. Cinnamon’s motions had been so practiced and perfect, that DJ couldn’t be anything less than impressed at her younger cousin’s demeanor.
“How’s she lookin’, DJ?” Butter asked weakly. The newborn had just stopped crying and was now cooing softly, a beautiful sound if there ever was one.
DJ looked at the young life in her arms; other than pictures of herself as a baby, she’d never seen a pony foal before. “She’s absolutely beautiful, Butter,” the humanized pony replied.
“Can Ah see ‘er?” DJ checked with Cinnamon to see if that was okay, and the pegasus gave her a curt nod before returning to her work. DJ held the cooing foal so that Butter could see; the earth pony mare knew she couldn’t hold her daughter until the second delivery was done but she could look. “She’s…beautiful,” Butter gasped. “Hello, li’l sugarcube!”
“Do you have a name for her?” DJ asked as he reached down and stroked her newly-born niece’s cheek, feeling the downy fur on her face and muzzle.
“Ah…uh, well…. We hadn’t thought of one if’n we had a girl,” Butter admitted. “Han’t ‘spected one. You got an idea?” Butter then paused before adding, “But nothin’ human, mind. No ‘fense er nothin’, but that’s none too common ‘round these parts.”
“I understand,” DJ replied, combing through her mind for names. “Apple clan uses Apples in their name, right?”
“Eyup. Well, our Orange kin don’t, but they’re a little weird.”
“Applesauce?”
“Third cousin in Appleachia.”
“Red Gala?”
“Cousin over in Appleton. Funny, they say she looks a li’l like cousin Mac, but Ah don’ see the r’semblance.”
“Bitter Apple?”
“My aunt over in th’ Breton Valley, an’ unfortunately, her name makes ‘er live up t’ it.”
“I see.” DJ was drawing a blank, when a flash of inspiration suddenly came to mind as she blurted, “What about Apple Scruffs?”
“What’s ‘n apple scruffs?”
“It’s…a social gathering of people who love music. And apples, obviously. It’s a human reference, but it’s not exactly a human name,” DJ answered, as she suddenly realized the mistake she’d just made. Inwardly she cringed as she thought, Please don’t like the name, please don’t like the name….
“It’s perfect!” Butter replied. “Hello, li’l Apple Scruffs,” Butter said to her daughter, just before she turned to scream off another birthing pang. Irritated, the newly-monikered Apple Scruffs decided to start crying in unison, the shrill sound biting into DJ’s ears.
I deserved that, DJ thought as she tried not to look too guilty. It was just something off the top of my tongue – Elusive’s going to kill me! Apple Scruffs, depending on context, either referred to an old fan club of the Beatles, a song George Harrison wrote about said club, or a recent nickname for the infamous glitch in the iPhone 17’s iTunes player that quite literally caused the phone to catch fire. In any case, it wasn’t the name for anyone.
Well, anyone except my niece now, DJ ruminated, a guilty feeling shivering through her. Sorry, Scruffy. Wait…maybe I can work with that….
“AAAAAH!” Butter screamed as the second one arrived. Cinnamon followed the same procedure, clamping, cutting and swaddling. “It’s done now,” Cinnamon said aloud. “It’s a colt, Butter.” Sweetie risked the distraction to her focus and turned to look at the exhausted mother and the two newborns. Apple Scruffs and her younger brother, Applestem, were now in their mother’s forehooves as she lay on the cloudfloor, spent but jubilant. The second of the foals was, unlike his sister, a unicorn. He was a bright green in coat, with a dark brown mane and tail and purple eyes.
“He’s so beautiful,” Apple Butter cooed, looking at her sister-in-law. Both Sweetie Belle and Cinnamon Star looked at the colt, then both other adults, and the duo agreed.
“Well, now that it’s over, we need to get out of here,” Sweetie warned. “Cinnamon, you carry Butter; your innate magic should make it easy. Butter, I’ll wrap the foals in a protective bubble. DJ, I’ll need to go over with you about how the glitterwings spell works.”
“Wings?” DJ looked at her aunt with skepticism. “You’re going to turn me into a pegasus?”
“Not exactly. I could probably do it with a quick amniomorphic, but that’d take too much energy and you’d need a focusing stone, which we don’t have on-hoof. I’ve charged up another spell instead – this one will create temporary wings, but they’re very fragile. Very fragile,” the unicorn warned. “You’ll have t—”
“And there you all are.” The voice was eerie, reverberating, unnatural. The ponies looked in the direction of the ruined city, and the foals suddenly grew deathly still as all recognized the black, winged form walking towards them. “Time for your worldview to change, Foal,” Nightmare Moon said as she walked towards the small group…
…only to have someone face her down.
“I’ve got tone, I’ve got track. Fox Two, Fox Two!” The missile roared away from Blitz’ fighter and the engagement was so quick, he didn’t have time to feel sorry about how lopsided the victory was. The fighter’s remains spun away, falling towards the Shetland Valley; the pegasus hoped that the remains would fall in the Ghastly Gorge as it was uninhabited and wouldn’t hit the citizens living in the nearby town.
“Apple Raider 9 to Apple Raider 6 – General, we’ve nearly cleared out their backups,” he informed Lightning Dust. But before he could say anything further, his alert siren chimed, the tone indicating that he’d been bracketed. Immediately, Blitz deployed countermeasures and pulled his fighter into a “coinspin”, a flying technique that, to date, only pegasi pilots had been able to pull off. The missiles fired at him passed by, too close but thankfully having missed. However, his opponent course-corrected and opened fire with guns, tearing holes through Blitz’ wing, but fortunately not hitting anything serious. Blitz moved to dodge, but a second later another shot from a friendly tore the enemy fighter to shreds.
Blitz didn’t have much time to celebrate, however, as the friendly that had saved him detonated, taken out by a lucky shot from one of the opposing fighters. Enraged, Blitz dispatched the enemy as brutally as possible, switching to guns and making sure he fired right into the cockpit of the TC-1.
“Delta Flight, this is Apple Raider 6. Wipe the fuckers from the sky!” he snarled as he bracketed a second enemy and sent an AIM-120 right up its exhaust. The plane, now without the latter half of its structure, fell from the sky as Blitz immelmanned his fighter and fired a second time, blowing up the remnants and sending it to crash, relatively harmlessly, in a lake below.
“Apple Raider 9, this is Apple Raider 6. Come in closer – we’re going to need to capture one of these enemies and we’re going to have to do so intact.”
“Roger that, General,” he responded. Now that the anger was gone, it was replaced by sadness. He’d lost one of his pilots, a pony under his command. Killing the bastards wasn’t even going to start to make up for what he’d have to tell 1st Lt. Daffodil Dreams’ now-widowed husband tomorrow. Daffodil had been a great wingpony and a cool gal – almost as cool as him. But now she was gone and all Blitz had at the moment were memories and survivor’s guilt.
The third crash was not missed as it impacted onto one of the almond groves in the Valley. The moment they saw it, Imago grabbed Pip and the group raced towards the entrance to the Valley where the checkpoint was. Upon arrival, they ran into the major that had been given orders to report to Pip earlier, but instead was gathering troops in preparation for an all-out assault on the flutters. “What the hell is going on here?” Pip demanded.
“Changelings are attacking Cloudsdale!” Major Fleetfoot shrieked as the trio arrived. “And we’re going to put a stop to those damn changelings down there, once and for all!” He pointed at the newcomers, ordering, “Guards! Arrest that traitor and kill the changelings!” At his words, the soldiers present drew beads on them all, carbines at the ready.
“We’re not changelings!” Imago shouted as Peppercorn instinctively moved to protect his mother. She nuzzled her son briefly before nudging him out of the way. Looking directly at Fleetfoot she said in the unassailable voice of a queen, “My name is Imago. I was born a changeling, admittedly. But I have a mother and father, two ponies who loved me more than anything and raised me to be the best mare I could be. As a result, I transformed into this – I am no longer a changeling, but what changelings should be! I might superficially look like one, but on the inside I bleed pony, just like you! I am a flutter, an ally to ponykind, and I beseech you to stop what you are doing!”
“You’re a monster and monsters should be slain,” Fleetfoot shrieked. He withdrew his pistol, pointing it straight at the flutter queen.
Now it was Pip’s turn to move in front of her. “Don’t do this,” he whispered back to her, “our foals need you.” Then he looked at the major and brought himself up to full military might. “You will stand down now, Major, or I swear on Celestia’s mane I’m going to make you eat that gun!”
“I’ll stand down when our world is protected from traitors like you,” Fleetfoot replied, “and threats like changelings and humans are forever removed from it!”
Great, a specist, Pip realized, so small wonder he’s the way he is. “Major, last chance. Stand down or I will make you stand down – and you won’t like the way I do things.”
“You couldn’t force me if you tried, Colonel. After all, I believe in a True, Pure Equestria, not bowing down to the whims of humans or the needs of changelings or anypony. We are ruled by goddesses; why should Holy Celestia or Sacred Luna ever bow to the needs of someone as flawed as President Cantwell, King William or any human ruler – or any of the ones in this world? Why should another pony soul be ripped apart by changeling desires or corrupted by human fobiles, as was the Lost Foal? Were I Duchess Lippizan herself, I would run a sword through the barrel of that creature wearing the skin of her dead foal. Equestria is for ponies, not for lessers!”
“You’re a fool,” Pip snarled. “What about somepony like Spike? What has he to prove to you? He’s a friend of mine, I know him – he would turn against all of dragonkind before ever harming a pony…because as far as he’s concerned – and as far as I’m concerned – he’s one of us. More than you’ll ever be!”
“A base reptile like him should never be trusted. And if somepony such as the Archmagus considers him so, she’s frightfully deluded,” Fleetfoot crowed.
“Then you have no business being in command, Major,” a new voice barked. Fleetfoot turned around and found the area suddenly swarming with Destriers, all of them fully armed and ready to fire if somepony wrong so much as blinked. Out of the darkness of the night, an unarmed REA pony walked into the room, striding with the confidence of authority. “Sorry we’re a little late, Colonel,” Goldengrape replied. “There’s a war going on upstairs and we had to make sure we landed outside of the battle zone so we didn’t get caught in it. We let the chopper go do CSAR, so we had to hump a bit. Rescuing civvies, you understand.”
“Roger that, sir,” Pip replied, somewhat surprised that his boss was present. “But what are you doing here, sir?”
“We’ll talk about that in a minute.” Turning to his escorts, he ordered, “Take the major into custody. Disarm the guards and place them under arrest as well.” Goldengrape walked up to Fleetfoot, a grim smile on his muzzle. “Major, you’re relieved for cause, and under arrest for various charges that I’ll let the JAG sort out.” Turning to his seniormost escort, he said, “Head over to the garrison and get me the unit XO.”
Pip then added, “Also have Corporal Sweetpine report along with the XO.”
“A corporal?” One of Goldengrape’s brows lifted in curiosity. “You mind explaining that one for me, Pip?”
“You first, sir,” Pip replied with a grin.
Goldengrape laughed sadly, shaking his head. “First I’ve got my own troops slipping the leash and threatening each other, and now I’ve got my seniormost Destier playing rank-flip with me as though he’s going to win. Hell of a day.” He then turned to Imago. “So you’re what this is all about, your majesty?” he asked.
“I suppose. I take it you’ve been briefed, General?” she asked delicately.
“Lightning round of debriefing by both her highness Princess Cadance and General Spitfire as well. My head’s still spinning from the whole explanation,” the grizzled stallion admitted. “But, in any case, your majesty, you have my sincerest apologies for the malfeasance of the troops here at the garrison. Had I been aware of the situation, I would have dealt with it sooner, I assure you.”
Imago seemed a bit off-put by his initial response, but she recovered quickly. “No, you needn’t blame yourself, General. Each pony is required to behave of his or her own accord, and you cannot take responsibility for others’ equine natures.”
“That may be so, but I expect my troops to be responsible regardless of the situation.” He turned to Pip. “As to what I’m doing here, I’m here to give this document directly, an issued order from Princess Cadance. From now on, your Destrier unit is assigned to this garrison, with you taking command. In addition, you will be assigned as the Crown’s direct liaison to the Flutter Protectorate.”
“Isn’t there a bit of equinal confli…” he began, but as Maggie was shaking her head, he chose not to explain further.
But Goldengrape wasn’t done yet. Turning to the disgraced officer, he spat, “Fleetfoot, you disgust me. Our job is to protect innocents, both pony and ally – not to wage a war of superiority.” He barked to the sergeants to remove the major before he turned back to Pip. “And now I want to hear your bit, Colonel. What’s with this Corporal Sweetpine?”
“I’d like that answer myself,” Imago said to Pip. While there was no tone of jealousy or suspicion – a good thing too, as Pip had just proven himself to her – she did look interested.
Fortunately, one of the garrison’s HMMVs pulled up, with both an Army captain – the XO of the unit, Pip guessed – followed by Sweetpine. Both saluted, and the captain introduced himself. “Captain Placid Days, reporting as ordered, sir.”
“Corporal Sweetpine reporting as well,” the mare answered before turning to Pip. “You asked to see me, Colonel?”
“Yes I did.” Turning to Goldengrape, Pip said, “General, I don’t know about Captain Placid Days, but as far as I can tell, Sweetpine has been doing more than her fair share and meager rank from this whole situation turning into a powderkeg. If it wasn’t for her, the flutters would be dead now.” And as he saw the sudden look of surprise come onto the faces of Imago and Peppercorn, he realized that Sweetpine had done more than just stopped an atrocity – she saved my family. “We owe her a serious debt, sir,” the stallion answered, his voice catching slightly as emotion briefly overcame him.
“Is that so, Corporal?” Goldengrape asked. “Don’t be afraid to answer; you’re not in any trouble.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, happy to finally clear the air. “For the past few months, under the direction of Captain Placid Days, I’ve been investigating the Major. We’ve discovered that he’s a member of the Purehooves, and he’s been recruiting several members of the garrison. Up until recently, we haven’t been able to definitively find a way to get a report out to you, General, but thanks to the Colonel’s timely arrival, all that changed.”
“Purehoof?” Peppercorn asked, looking at Sweetpine with a flush coming to his cheeks. Pip immediately caught that and wondered if the oldest drone had been the one to bring Sweetpine lunch that day.
“It’s a pony surpremacist group. They believe it’s the mission of the Divine Alicorns to purify the world for ponies only and to lock the other species on human-Earth, then throw away the key,” Pip informed his son. “The Crown considers them a potential terrorist group, but they haven’t taken arms up against the government – yet.”
Goldengrape didn’t seem too surprised, but there was a difference between surprised and expecting. “And you’re sure of this, Corporal?”
In response, Sweetpine reached into a pocket on her uniform blouse, pulling out a small sheaf of paper. “I was assigned cleaning duty one day for the Colonel’s office. He left a roster of the soldiers he turned and I used my magic to create a copy. I pretended not to notice it, but he came in rather quickly, telling me that I didn’t need to clean and that he dismissed me. He kept a close eye on me until he was sure I didn’t know.” She looked at Pip and said, “I would have reported it sooner, but shortly after that they started keeping an eye on both Captain Days and I.”
“I see,” Goldengrape said, taking the list. Looking at it briefly, he passed it over to another sergeant and said, “Get a copy to the JAG and to Sgt. Silent Shot. Have the Sergeant arrest everypony on the list and have JAG start prepping for courts-martial.”
“General,” Pip interjected, “Corporal Sweetpine is due for a transfer to a new duty station. I think it would be a mistake to transfer her.”
“You think she should be promoted and reassigned here so we can have a sergeant you trust in position?” At that question, Sweetpine’s jaw dropped. A promotion?
“Not exactly, General.” Pip shook his head and Sweetpine’s smile collapsed. “What I think we should do is take as valuable a soldier as Sweetpine and send her where she needs to go: Officer Candidate School. Since she’s shown incredible leadership and duty, well, I could always use a support officer like that – she’d do wonders as a second lieutenant.” The squee Sweetpine uttered could be heard for miles around. “As for Captain Placid Days, I hear there’s going to be a spot open for a major soon.”
Watching the red spark in the distant sky, Spines didn’t understand what was going on. There had been a sudden alert – complete with a message via the Vomit Express – and suddenly Star had to go. She didn’t say where, only that she hoped to be home for dinner. But now, as the baby draconess held a new note saying that the unicorn had no idea when she’d be home, something inside Spines knew something was wrong.
And then the rumors came. Somepony said that Cloudsdale was under attack and that, horrifically, it was being attacked not by changelings or even historical enemies like gryphons or diamond dogs, but…humans. Humans were up there and slaughtering innocent ponies. But it didn’t make sense! She knew humans – their next-door neighbors were humans – and from a time she and Star had gone on vacation to Cloudsdale, she knew it was hard for the average non-winged creature to get up there, let alone humans. Yes, they had magical equipment that let them do things that even the alicorns had a hard time accomplishing, but that didn’t make them evil!
“HUMANS!” somepony shouted and she suddenly noticed a crowd of ponies standing in front of Mr. and Mrs. Walker’s house. They were some of the nicest beings she’d ever known, even if they weren’t ponies. And yet, what the crowd was accusing them of scared her. Saddest of all, she saw some of her friends’ parents there, and they were carrying pitchforks and torches. Both of the humans looked scared.
“Spines!” The purple draconess turned around and saw her two best friends, her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders, racing towards her. “C’mon, let’s get out of here,” Buttercup said. “Mom said you can stay at our place while your sister’s out of town.” At the pegasus’ side, Sugar Sprinkle nodded.
“But they’re going to hurt Mr. and Mrs. Walker!” Spines cried. “They didn’t do anything!”
“But we’re worried about you,” Sugar said. “They might just decide anypony who isn’t a pony is dangerous, and you’re our friend! We’re the CMC, and we always stick together!”
“We have to call Sheriff Caramel!” Spines pled. Things were getting dangerous, and one of the more roughhouse ponies had knocked over the sign by the Walkers’ house.
“Mom says that the Sheriff and his deputies – Mom included – are trying to protect all the humans living in town, but there aren’t enough ponies. Plus…Mom said that another group attacked Mr. and Mrs. Duke’s family.” The Dukes were diamond dogs who lived in town and were, like most diamond dog refugees, outcasts from their society because they were far smarter than the average of their kind. But they were of a species that was once a pony enemy and so now they were being targeted.
Just like Mr. and Mrs. Walker had just been. Just as Spines’ friends were afraid she was about to.
“Hey, look! It’s that damn dragon!” somepony shouted. “I bet she’s responsible!” Spines’ eyes widened and she turned to run as her friends shouted, “Let’s get out of here!”
Star! Spines’ mind roiled. Save me!
The answer to that was a ground-shaking thump. Spines was knocked to the ground by the quake, but when she turned she saw the ponies of the town suddenly standing there, looks of fear in their eyes. And a second later, as she saw the great muscled mass of amethyst standing there, borne on magical wings of angry green fire, likely courtesy of his version of the Glitterwings spell.
“Picking on fillies?” Spike snarled. “Do any of you want to tussle with me, instead?” Not a single soul moved; the dragon was much taller and bulkier than they – and if that wasn’t enough, they knew his adopted lineage. “What has gotten into you all? This is Ponyville!” he retorted. “This is my hometown – and to see all of you treating someone different-looking like they don’t belong is disgusting! You should all know better!”
“But the humans—!” one shouted.
“—are being dealt with by our military,” Spike answered. “And for those of you who don’t know, there are many human nations on Human-Earth, and not all of them like us. Most of them do, but not all. And you can’t blame all humans for this any more than I can blame you for hurting humans. Or am I wrong?” Almost as if a spell was broken, the crowd began to look at each other with shock and shame. “Go home and back to your families,” Spike answered. “The town is protected. From any threat.” Looking at the former resident, they turned tail and walked away, looking embarrassed.
“Are you guys okay?” Spike asked the Walkers.
“Thanks to you,” Mr. Walker said, relieved.
“SPIKE!” For once, Spines saw the drake of her dreams before her…and she wanted to cry instead of just convincing him why they should get married immediately. Spike wordlessly responded, picking her up and holding her close to him as she began to cry, the adrenaline and fear washing out of her.
“Hey, Spike, glad to see you got my message.” Caramel came up, flanked by a few of his deputies. “As usual, the strangeness that’s Ponyville almost got out of control again.”
Spike gave a nod to his old friend as he held the sobbing baby draconess close to him. “Yes. Too close this time.”
“Good, an extra flier,” DJ said, relieved as the newcomer approached. “Hey, we could rea—” DJ did a double-take as Cinnamon immediately dashed behind Sweetie, while the unicorn’s eyes narrowed in hatred. Her horn’s glow intensified and the shield suddenly seemed to grow slightly darker in color – had Sweetie just strengthened the shield? Butter was no less behind Cinnamon, and looking just as frightened.
“Um, something I should be aware of, ladies?” the humanized pony inquired.
“D-d-d-don’t y-y-you know who she is?” Cinnamon stuttered from her position behind her aunt.
“No. Should I?”
Seeing the non-plussed look on DJ’s face, the black alicorn laughed, walking through Sweetie’s shield as if it wasn’t there. “Oh, this is beautiful! You mean to actually tell me the fool here has no idea as to who I am?”
DJ crossed her arms. “Okay, now granted, I’m not the most acquainted with Equestria and whatever, but you didn’t just call me a fool, did you?”
“I’m being kind. Refraining from what I actually should say,” the Nightmare cooed, though there was no humor or happiness in the accompanying smile. “So we finally meet, Lost Foal.”
“DJ! GET AWAY FROM HER!” Sweetie shouted. In response, Nightmare Moon waved a wing and a gust of wind came from nowhere, tossing the unicorn mage into the air, with Cinnamon thrown completely off the cityscape. Fortunately, the gust had just missed Butter and the foals, and Cinnamon was able to recover fast enough to save Sweetie before she tumbled off the cloudscape.
DJ saw all that – and reacted. “Hey, I don’t kno—mmph!” The humanized pony found herself, to her absolute shock, being kissed as by the black alicorn as she got frisky. DJ tried to break out of the grasp of the alicorn, but she found herself held firm – was that tongue? What the fuck, over? Finally, DJ used the only avenue available to her: she bit down on the alicorn’s tongue hard.
In response, the Nightmare seemed to vaporize into nothingness for a second before darting back and rematerializing. “Sorry, I don’t get caught twice. But you’re a very clever filly, I can tell – you’re fast on your hooves, just like that monkey you call a husband. I like that in a plaything.”
“Plaything my ass, you cunt,” DJ seethed. She’d just been humiliated in front of her family – the looks that the others were giving her seemed to indicate that. And in an even bigger insult, the moron before her had just taken a pot-shot at M…wait, how does she know about Mike?
“Oooh, and you fi—” Nightmare Moon started, but was immediately silenced as her head snapped back courtesy of a punch to the face. The demonic alicorn stood there for just a second, amazed that a mere mortal would dare to take a punch at a god. “You just made a horrible mistake, foal.”
“As if I give a fuck, you bitch,” DJ said, her anger rising. “You and I are going to dance, and you’re not going to like the results.”
“DJ! Get away!” Sweetie begged, charging up her horn to use some spell – any kind of spell – to save her niece. “She’ll kill you!” Cinnamon passed out again, and Butter looked on in horror at the act her sister-in-law had just committed; punching Nightmare Moon was tantamount to suicide. Possibly worse.
“You pathetic little harridelle!” the black alicorn spoke. “I am a goddess and you are less than an ant. I am the shadow of death itself and I could kill you in less time than it takes for your pathetic heart to beat again.”
Undeterred, DJ stepped forward. “You just threatened and hurt my aunt and cousin,” she snarled, “and then tried shit with me. You call yourself the shadow of death? Well, there’s a phrase where I come from: ‘Yea though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil because I’m not giving two shits about anything named the Valley of the Shadow of Death.’”
“So you’re not afraid of me, are you?”
“No – but I promise you, you will learn to be afraid of me.” The humanized pony went up close and personal with her foe. “You fuck with a Sailor’s daughter, you get schooled in lubberly ways, asshat.”
Nightmare Moon laughed. “Oh, this is rich! A fly thinks to kill a lion! You will be so much more than I hoped you could be when I break you!” The demonic alicorn then summoned her full power and the sky, already filled with the deep blue of night, went pure black, the stars winking out and the moon vanishing. Her voice in a reverb, she snarled, “I came just to get to know you, and I know your measure now. I am the Nightmare, the killer of ponies, the scourge of the ages, and when I am done, you will beg to be my playtoy. And mark my words. You will be mine, little Sandalwood. You will be.” And with that, just as simply, she reached out with her forelegs and as easy as a foal could break a toothpick, Nightmare Moon snapped DJ’s left arm in three spots, the earth pony screaming out in pain before slumping to the ground.
As DJ fell to the ground, the black alicorn cooed, “And that is just a gentle reminder for you to learn your place. For we have only begun to break you, little foal. I will break you piece by piece,” she added, giving a swift kick to DJ that broke a rib instantly. The pony screamed, spitting up blood. “I will break you into countless shreds and then when I am done you will beg me to take you, to make you mine. You will beg for me to violate you and think it’s love.”
“No.” DJ looked at her, hate in her eyes. “Not one fucking iota.” Her head spinning, barely hearing Sweetie’s cries. “I don’t know what your fucking game is, you lesbo cunt, but the only person I’ll ever call my lover is my husband, get that?”
“Then all you will know is eternal pain, Sandalwood. I threw your husband off the side of Cloudsdale a short while ago. He should be a smear somewhere on the earth below by now,” the demon alicorn said in dramatic tones, casually looking off the side of the cloud to underscore her point. “Well, that or your baby brother, but I’m guessing that traitoress Luna probably saved the unicorn instead. Oh, and humans have no way to protect themselves against a fall like this, do they?”
DJ went into shock, as Mike’s words from only a few days ago flooded her mind. “And after that little bucket of fun, then I get to see the only woman I’ve ever loved crushed to a Goddamn bloody pulp and dying before my very eyes!” And now those words were taunting her, because they were in reverse. “You’re lying! You couldn’t touch someone like Mike!”
“I can, little pony and I assure you, I did. Your husband is dead and this is just the first step in what will end in my successful claim of you and the end of everything you know and hold dear.”
“NO!” DJ screamed, even as Sweetie took her into her arms. Despite the pain of her injuries, the humanized pony was beyond caring. “I will rip your fucking head off and shit down your neck, you bitch, do you hear me?”
“I don’t know what your game is, Nightmare, but you’re not getting DJ!” the unicorn mage snarled. “I’ll die before that happens!”
“I’d see that those words are etched on your grave, Sweetie Belle, but when I’m done with you there won’t be enough of you to put into one. You might believe yourself to be an accomplished magic-user, but compared to me you’re less than a neophyte.”
In response, Sweetie fired the higher-level offensive spell she’d been saving; they weren’t commonly used by mages due to their destructive power, but considering her opponent, it was worth it. Fireballs began to orbit her horn, as the very object itself began to glow with pulsating violet energy. A second later the mage lowered her head and discharged a great beam of energy straight towards the Nightmare, the fireballs merging with the beam, adding to its destructive power.
The beam drove forward…and did nothing else. In fact, it sputtered and died as it approached the demonic alicorn, and she laughed. “If you’re fast enough and strong enough, you can unravel a spell even before it reaches you. Granted, it wouldn’t have harmed me if it hit,” she said as she approached, “but I guarantee you would have died. So let’s get something straight before I kill you, Margravine Welara. I unraveled your spell so I could save Sandalwood – I could have cared less if you and the rest died.” And with that, she began to charge the same spell right in front of Sweetie Belle, much to the latter’s horror. At that range, it wouldn’t miss and there’d be no way for the mare to block the attack – as if blocking an alicorn’s attack was even possible for her.
“Prepare to meet your end, unicorn!” Nightmare Moon hissed, triumphant.
Without warning, the blast suddenly veered away safely from Sweetie Belle. A split-second later, the Nightmare was hit full-force by the impact of a raging midnight-blue alicorn. “YOU WILL LEAVE MY FAMILY BE, MONSTER!” Luna roared as she lanced a blast of orange spellfire at her stunned opponent, sending the Nightmare skidding back. The Princess of the Moon didn’t waste a moment to check on the others, knowing that she had only one chance to repulse the enemy, and that was to push her advantage against the Nightmare. She hurled herself against the larger black alicorn again, ramming her through an ensorcelled building that was made of physical materials instead of clouds. As the structure collapsed around them, Luna turned and bucked the creature as hard as she could with her hindlegs. The kick was strong enough to launch the Nightmare several blocks away.
Undeterred, Luna continued her pursuit, rage and righteous fury in her eyes. “I won’t let you do to her what you did to me, Nightmare, do you hear me?” she snarled as she approached. “I WILL KILL YOU BEFORE YOU DO!” From her distant location, Nightmare Moon blasted a ray of lethal force at Luna, but the younger mare pushed through it, determination burning in her eyes. “You’ll never touch anypony again!” She came to a stop before the black alicorn, slashing at the larger one with her horn.
“You care about her, don’t you?” Nightmare Moon said to Luna. “Or is it that you just want to fuck her little brains out, isn’t that the truth, Princess of the Night?”
“Watch your tongue before I remove it,” Luna said angrily. “Not everyone thinks as basely as you, monster. And I’ll have you know, she’s my niece. Some of us have loved ones.”
“Planning to show her all those forbidden things I showed you? The truths I revealed to you?” Nightmare cooed. “Why don’t you tell everypony the truth, Luna? Who knows? Celestia? Your mother? I’ll bet Faust knows, that bitch.”
“Don’t you dare—” the moon alicorn began.
“I’ll do as I wish, and you can’t stop me,” was the retort, sinuous and taunting.
“We did it before, we’ll do it again,” Luna said, dangerously. “Whether it’s by the Elements or your death, we will stop you.”
“Then you’re welcome to try,” Nightmare said, breezily. “But that is for another time. For now, I leave you the wreckage of Cloudsdale, the wreckage of your family, and the wreckage of your own reopened wounds.” She then launched forward, giving Luna the same erotic kiss as she had DJ and then a second later, vanished into nothingness. The voice carried the taunting laughter as she disappeared to where she came from.
The alicorn princess stood in the center of Cloudsdale, finally seeing the full destruction. Whole ruins of square blocks could be seen in every direction and when the sun rose tomorrow, it would ultimately reveal that a good third of the City of Clouds had fallen to the ruin of combat and strife tonight. But the night princess forced herself to ignore the corpses of her subjects strewn around her – not for the moment, anyway. Instead, she shivered, her body shuddering for a thousand different reasons. She jittered for fear, for anger and worry. But it was the part that frightened and disgusted her most that truly unnerved her: part of her body felt excitement, raw lust and eroticism, craving for the touch of the Nightmare again. Her mind recoiled from it even as her body became aroused from it and that frightened her more than anything else; worse, it told her that she would never truly be free of the monster’s touch so long as the Nightmare existed.
But it also girded her for battle: somehow, DJ had come to the interest of the demon, and Luna would not stand for that, not one bit. Luna had to endure a millennium of tortures and violations, things she would never wish on another soul, before she’d been freed by the mares that would become her sisters. DJ would never be so lucky – nor, for that matter, would the pony that currently served as the host for the Nightmare.
Luna wanted to do a million things right now, none of them positive or comforting. But she had duties to perform and ponies to protect…and to deliver horrific news to the one pony whose heart she was about to break.
It was absolutely amazing, Blitz thought, how little humanity studied their own tactics, especially ones relating to air combat. In a classic display of cluelessness that any professional pilot worth his weight in jet fuel would have noticed in a heartbeat, the last two fighters chased down one of Blitz’ pilots, unaware they’d just been maneuvered into a Thatch weave. While the fighters, both Q-313s, managed to damage Apple Raider 4’s fighter, causing him to have to RTB, it left the bandits as easy pickings from two well-placed AIM-120s.
As the fighters turned into blossoms of flame and scrap metal, he noticed that the enemy had failed and was falling hard, but it had come at a brutal price: though it was dark down below in Cloudsdale, he didn’t have to see to know that it had become a smoking wreck, and the beautiful city of his parents’ foalhoods had been reduced to virtual cinders. Part of him was glad his mother was still down and unable to see this, as he knew this would break her heart.
Had he known his son’s thoughts at the moment, Soarin’ would have wholeheartedly agreed. Switching to open channel, he said, “Enemy units, this is General Soarin’, REAF. There are, by my count, nine of us left and eleven of you. You might have the numbers, but at this moment the REN is scrambling more birds, and you’re going to get swamped real fast. I don’t think I need to explain the math to you, but you guys are running out of time. So here’s the deal: you can dump ammo and empty your guns by coming about to 37° north, 75° west. Think fast, over.” That done, he switched back to missiles, ready to fire at a moment’s notice. Up here, he could see the damage done to his hometown and the lives that had been ruined; even for a pegasus town made mostly of clouds, Cloudsdale had a large number of ensorcelled physical structures within it. Many had collapsed or were burning or obliterated, and by his estimate, maybe a third of the city, including the central entertainment district, was a graveyard.
Lightning Dust’s voice came over the line. “They’re not saying anything, Jack,” she noted. “Think they’re calling our bluff?”
He didn’t answer; instead, he waited for their next move, his hoof ready on the trigger. Surrender, he wanted to shout over the general line. Surrender. Don’t make me fire, don’t throw away your lives. Despite his military command, all his years in the Guard and then the REAF, he was still a pegasus that believed in peace – he hadn’t become hardened to the horrors of war. And that, he reasoned, was the only reason his people were better than theirs.
“Apple Raider 1, this is Rooster Tail 1 online, Captain Tailrotor in command. I’ve got six squadrons coming in hot and heavy and we’re ready for your orders, sir.” As expected, the REN would come in and avenge their lost pilot, and they were going to play hardball.
“Stand by, Rooster Tail, and wait for instructions.” He then opened the public channel once more. “REN is inbound. This is your last chance. Make your move, or surrender.”
After a few more seconds, a voice came over the line. “This is Col. Khalid, IRIAF, commanding. We surrender.”
Thank Celestia you came to your senses, he exhaled in relief. “Okay, as ordered, head to the assigned coordinates; once there, empty all your ammo and ordnance. Once that’s done, you will stand by for further instructions, understood?”
“We understand and comply. Shamshir One, out.”
Able to relax, Soarin’ hit some switches, putting the safeties on his weapons. “All units, good job – damn good job. RTB. Rooster Tail, have your wing meet at the following coordinates and make sure they comply, then escort them back to Canterlot Mountainside – we’ll have a welcoming party standing by for them. Thanks for your assist, REN.” With that, Soarin’ went quiet, looking again down on his hometown and seeing the rebuilding that would have to occur. Nothing could replace the loss of lives or innocence that was removed from the scoreboard today.
Then he saw it, and he swore. Oh, Dear Celestia on her throne…. In the biggest pile of flames was the Central Weather Facility, the factory that controlled the weather for the general Canterlot and Everfree provinces. But worse, it was the main training center for weather service personnel and a backup facility for regional weather facilities like Pransing or Las Pegasas. The Cloudsdale CWF had the ability to support four different RWFs if they went down, but the opposite wasn’t true. Unless it could be repaired quickly, weather around the world – possibly even the world’s very climate – would be catastrophically harmed.
This was the mark of war, and humanity – even if only the most irrational, most hated part of it – had just brought it to Equestria.
Tomorrow, Equestria would have to respond in kind.
DJ fought back tears as Sweetie Belle set her arm in a magical cast and accompanied with a wrap for her broken ribs. “I swear, when I get my hands on that bitch,” the humanized pony began.
Sweetie looked at her niece straight in the eyes; her green eyes flickered with worry and fear. “Don’t, please. Just…don’t. You could have gotten yourself killed, DJ, don’t you understand that?”
“What was I supposed to do?” the humanized pony asked. “Let her push you off the edge? Kill Butter and Cinnamon? And what….” She paused, the look in her eyes finally switching to worry. “What if she was telling the truth about Mike and Elusive? We haven’t seen them since we split up.” The injured pony looked down at both Butter and Cinnamon, who were out due to one timely sleep spell in order to prevent both from going into hysterics; the foals were also asleep next to their mother, snug in their protective bubble.
“What if Elusive is dead?” DJ continued. “Or—”
“Don’t believe her. Nightmare Moon is a trickster and a liar,” the unicorn mage assured DJ, though in truth she was hardly assured herself. “She’s a demon and a destroyer. She lives for this sort of thing.”
“She’s right, you know.” Luna arrived, walking slowly and carefully, much to the relief of the other two. As she arrived, she noted DJ’s arm in a cast, Sweetie with cuts and bruises, and the unconscious other two, plus their newest arrivals. “So she gave birth,” the moon alicorn said, a wan smile coming onto her face. “Elusive will be glad to know.”
“He’s alive? That’s great!” DJ chirped, before wincing. Luna nuzzled the humanized pony, then placed her horn on DJ’s arm to accelerate the healing process.
“What happened?” the moon princess asked.
“Nightmare Moon threw Sweetie off the side of the city, though Cinnamon caught her,” DJ explained. “I then punched that bitch, but she clocked me hard. Also got a rib busted.”
Luna looked at her niece with surprise and pride. “Small wonder she hurt you so – it was to teach you a lesson.” A few more seconds later, and DJ’s arm was as good as new; Luna then started working on the second injury.
“Eh, I never really listened to my teachers,” DJ said with a grin as she flexed her healed appendage. But the grin disappeared as she asked, “What happened to Mike and Elusive?”
The Princess of the Moon sighed; this wasn’t going to be easy. “DJ, I…managed to save Elusive, like I said. He’s fine. But Mike…DJ….” Her eyes began to water and Luna turned away, feeling as guilty as the day Nightmare Moon had possessed her. “I’m sorry,” she finally whispered. “I’m so, so sorry….”
“No….” DJ said, her voice suddenly devoid of emotion, her eyes showing that she was going into shock. “No, please, no…. It...it can’t be. Please, not him. Not him!”
If a miracle was needed, one appeared. A flamefax scroll winked into existence, and seeing what it was, Luna immediately tore it open, reading and then laughing in relief. “DJ…he’s safe!” She floated the note over to DJ as the pony reached out for it like a lifeline, reading it the moment she got her hooves on it:
Lulu,
Mike’s safe – when I heard what happened, I flew to Cloudsdale as fast as I could and managed to save him a mere four feet before impact. He’s got some bruises and scrapes; I’ve healed those and he’s currently asleep.
Tell DJ I’ll make sure he’s taken care of.
- Tia
Luna, seeing the look of joy and utter relief on DJ’s face, decided now was not the time to inform her niece of the ordeal she was about to endure. Only later, when everypony was safe, and Elusive had a chance to see his newborn foals, when everypony’s wounds were attended to and DJ and Mike were reunited could Luna gird DJ for the perils she was about to face. Right now, there were other things and concerns more paramount to the situation.
Luna just hoped that she could face her greatest fears once more and that Twilight and the others would rise to the occasion and defeat what was killing them, so they could stop Nightmare Moon for once and for all…because the alternative was having somepony very precious and special to her suffer and there would be no way to right the wrong this time.
Standing in a field, Elusive waited for his aunt to return and retrieve him. The fires of Cloudsdale could be seen from this distance, and it wouldn’t surprise him if everypony on the ground for miles around noticed the attack on the City of Clouds. The world had changed for ponykind, and not in a pleasant way, either. They were about to enter their first human-style war and all its brutality – and from what he knew, humanity’s ability for war was very much like the otherwise-erroneous legends.
He stood there for a few more minutes before a note suddenly appeared before him, which he took. He opened, read and gave a cheer – something beautiful to top off a night filled with ups and downs. He’d lost his innocence in hoping to never see a war, but he’d gained a sister tonight – as well as foals:
Elusive,
Butter gave birth to two foals, one colt and one filly (the older one.) The girl’s name is Apple Scruffs, courtesy of DJ’s quick thinking of a name. The boy will keep his name, Applestem. I’m going to get them to the nearest hospital to have them checked out and I’ll be back for you shortly. Congratulations!
On a note just as beneficent, Celestia managed to save Mike, though it was close – he’s safe at the castle, she reports.
- Luna
Congrats on the kids, bro!
- DJ
Elusive, Count Lusitano and only son of Rarity and Silversteel, smiled. Tonight, there would be peace in his heart.
The group ended up spending the night in Ponyville instead of heading back to Canterlot directly. Once she was sure they were okay, Luna returned back to Cloudsdale to assist with the rescue efforts, taking with her both Sweetie and a very reluctant Cinnamon. DJ and Elusive remained at Ponyville General, where Butter would be kept overnight for observation and the foals given a full exam to ensure that nothing happened to them, considering their unusual births.
Seated in the waiting room, Elusive leaned back in the chair, spent even though he really hadn’t been involved in much. “Thank you, DJ,” he finally said after the spending the longest time in silence searching for the right words. “I would have lost everything tonight if it wasn’t for you, sister.”
Laying down on the sofa, completely spent, was the earth pony. Waving an arm up, she commented, “Don’t mention it.”
“DJ, I’m serious.”
“So am I.” She leaned up, saying, “Look, Luse, I don’t know what your relationship is with Minty, and it’s really none of my business, but I did for you tonight the same thing as if my brother Sam needed me. Family is family, after all.”
“Are you sure about that?” he asked.
She knew what he meant. “Look, it’s not going to be easy for me. I can’t promise that I will…. I know you want more than anything for me to rekindle with Rarity and Silversteel, even if you haven’t said so.”
“I wasn’t going to press you on it,” he replied. “It wouldn’t be fair to you.”
She gave him a small smile. “I appreciate that. But I came here because Twilight needed me. I love her very much and there have been times I’ve wished that she or Sweetie had been my birth mother – it would have made things easier. But we don’t get easy in life, we get what God gives us, or so they told me at Sunday School.”
“Well, I won’t pressure you, I promise you that,” Elusive commented. “But think about it. Mother deserves to know the person you are now, and while she may never accept it, she needs to accept you as you are.” He sighed before adding, “And if I may be so bold, I think you owe her and Father the recognition that they are your birth parents. I know you have a relationship with your adoptive parents and I don’t think anypony’s asking you to give them up, not that you would in any case. But you need to acknowledge that you were once Sandalwood just as much as our parents need to accept that you’re now and always will be DJ.”
“I get the point, Luse, you don’t have to keep beating me over the head with it,” she groaned. “But…I’ll do what I can. I’m only expecting to be here for a few weeks; hopefully that should be plenty of time to think things over. Besides, it’s not like things can get any worse, can they?”
“Swenson! Get over here with some carbines! Found another hole!” The sun rose on another day at Quarantine Zone Alpha, formerly known as Fillydelphia. Due to the necessary cleanup that would be needed before they razed over, and to doublecheck for survivors, military personnel were asked to do the cleanup. But since the virus was deadly to Alter-Earth species, Canada had offered Equestria assistance in the matter. Thus, the Canadian Army’s 5th Combat Engineer Regiment was taking care of the cleanup. Using a mixture of human technology and magic crystals – the latter part of which caused no small amount of amusement to the soldiers – they were making good time, both in ensuring that any survivors were found, and any surviving changelings were dealt with. So far, thirty-seven changelings, including one princess, had been dealt with, much to the horror and creepiness of the troops’ morale. Making it worse were the number of survivors: zero, to date.
Then the news came, delivered by their contact from the REA: somehow, forces from Iran had entered Alter-Earth and destroyed one of their cities. There was no sense as to why it happened; even with the irrational hatred many Middle Eastern nations had for Alter-Earth, there had to be some reason why the IRIAF would lash out deep into Equestriani territory. But it had cost the Equestriani government hard, and as a result, many of the ponies they were assisting in the nearby refugee camp were giving the humans the evil eye. While their counterparts in the REA understood, the civilians’ thought patterns were an entirely different story.
So here it was, a massive pile of dried goo and destroyed buildings at the intersection of, according to the map, what had been the corner of Celestia’s Way and Trotsbury Avenue. At the moment, the master corporal was holding his “Harry Potter” – a blue crystal placed inside the flash-hider of a spare rifle muzzle, creating a strange sort of magic wand, and that wand was strobing with power, indicating there was a lifesign down in the rubble. The rescue dog had confirmed this, and so the first hope that there’d be a survivor arose. Unfortunately, due to the depth of the hole and some interference from other magic in the area, there wasn’t anything clear, and a variety of scents were messing with the dog’s sense of smell, making it even less clear whether a pony or something else was down there.
No choice; they were going to have to go in. Taking a rifle handed to him by Swenson, and with a couple more armed troops and a medic on site, the small group descended into the hole. Stepping into what was probably a wine cellar or a basement storage room, the five troops began their search, fingers on their triggers and ready to fire if needed. “Okay, you know the drill – if anything like those Alien wannabes even so much looks at you, rock n’ roll, got it?”
“Anyone down here?” the master corporal called out. “Canadian Army on behalf of the Equestriani Crown! We’re here to rescue you.” Silence reigned in the room; unnatural, eerie quiet, just enough for the humans to hear themselves breathe.
One heartbeat.
Two heartbeats.
Three.
The silence almost caused the soldiers to turn around when a weakened voice called out, “Don’t leave me!” At that, the four rushed in, breaking out flashlights to see what was in there. What they saw made their collective hearts break. The various stenches in the room were nauseating, a mix of rotted food, body waste and the stench of someone who hadn’t washed in as many days. Though it wasn’t too clear, there were signs of rotting corpses that lay in the unlit corners of the space.
In the center of the light was a pony, a mare, heavily scratched up and emaciated, as if she’d been trapped within the room for weeks on end. Her coat was covered in so much dust it wasn’t clear as to what her colors were – in fact, the only thing clear was that she was an earth pony. Her eyes were glazed, barely alive and holding on by pure willpower.
The medic took the lead, pulling out a pony-shaped oxygen mask and an IV drip. “Steady, ma’am. We’re here to help you. You’re safe now.” The soldiers caught the barest nod of her head, as though she couldn’t rasp any further words out. The master corporal ordered, “Someone flag EQMILCOM – we’ve finally found a survivor,” he said with a grin. About time, too; the number of dead ponies they’d found was nothing less than utterly demoralizing to the rescuers. Bending down to the pony as the medic called for a stretcher, the master corporal whispered, “We’ll get you to a hospital and safety, miss. You’ve got my word.”
“Thank you,” she rasped, clearly straining to speak. She looked like she’d been through hell, and not just via the physical signs alone. “Just…please, don’t leave me.”
“I won’t, Miss…?”
“Minty,” the pony said, struggling to speak. “My name is Minty.”