//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12: "Birds Of A Feather." 
// Story: Morning Meir Mysteries: Case 3: A Mayan Island Mishap 
// by XombieSlayr 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 12: "Birds Of A Feather."

I sat there in that, admittedly comfortable chair, not daring to touch the drink I had been given by the sky blue Pegasus who sat across from me, staring me down with those razor sharp eyes of hers. They felt like they were actually stabbing their way through me and out the back of the chair with the intensity they presented.

She smiled at me, or at least a shallow imitation of one. She knew I had been caught, and she was going to let it sink in. "Whats wrong?" she asked snarkily. "Not much for chatting?"

Enough. I wasn't playing her game. "I want to know what Simon is planning. And you're going to tell me." I demanded. 

Quill Feather's smile didn't waver. "What happened to questioning me? Isn't that your whole shtick?"

"No questions need to be asked." I said simply. "You and Simon are partners, and you and your cult want to end the world." I sat back in the chair and stared her down. "I suppose if there is any question at all, it would be why. So.....why?"

Quill looked at me for a minute, before she set her glass down and got up out of her chair. She walked over to a wall lined with many pictures, and stood up on her hind legs to examine them better, folding her hooves behind her as she scanned each picture.

I didn't say anything, but I knew she was stalling. Finally when I decided to demand she answer me, she spoke first. "Do you know why Simon built this place, Meir? Why he chose the Keyes to be the seat of his technological empire?"

"What does that have to do with my question?"

She chuckled, and then looked back at the pictures on the wall. "It was their dream. These are from the early days. Simon, his wife, Tropical Breeze and his father Benny. They came here with a vision: to build the world of tomorrow, today. You see, Benny and Simon didn't come from Equestria. They grew up, supposedly.....in The Science Kingdom."

I laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. The Science Kingdom hasn't existed for thousands of years. They're just a myth, a relic of an old Equestria from the past."

Quill turned and gave me a serious look. "But what if they aren't?" she asked simply. "What if they're still out there, watching all of us, as we toil about with magic and simple technology, while they utilize advancements beyond any of our understanding. Can you imagine what they could have accomplished after so many years, left alone? All that time to themselves, free of intervention and the boundaries of morals or the ways of the world. All that time spent creating more and more advanced technology, and making it better each time."

Quill turned back around. "That's what Benny wanted. To use his genius to make the world better. A simple goal. A noble one."

The Pegasus turned to look at the next picture. This one showed a younger Benny and a much younger Simon, standing outside a temple of some sort, set in the backdrop of a jungle among some ruins. "But of course, fate had other ideas..."

Quill turned to look at me, and after taking a minute to push back her thoughts, glared at me. The way she stood, and the look in her eyes, made her seem like a military general, about to scold one of their officers for misconduct. I didn't like the way her eyes stabbed into me.

"I'm not Simon's partner. I am but another cog in this machine of ours." She said simply, in an almost scolding tone. "Albeit, a very important one."

"That right, I scoffed. "And what pray tell is your part, that's so important, then?"

"Simple. Getting rid of ponies who find out too much."

A loud metallic click behind me made me turn around to see that the mechanical door back to the hall had shut and locked itself suddenly. 

I turned back around just in time to just barely dodge the blade aimed for my throat, rolling under it as it slashed, slicing a nearby training dummy completely in two. I looked up from the ground as a single strand of my mane had been cut and fell like a feather to the floor.

Stunned, and my heart racing I looked to see my attacker had been Quill, who had somehow managed to move from behind her desk to directly in front of me in the second it took me to turn around towards the door. The Pegasus stood directly behind me with her back turned, in a stance mimicking that of a crouching panther, ready to pounce, except she stood on two legs, brandishing a long metallic pole with blades at the ends. 

She turned her head just so she had one, glaring eye on me. "Quick on your feet." she remarked. "But I'm quicker."

She moved like a living lightning bolt. Bright blue sparks flew and crackled as she appeared in front me. I managed to block the blow, but I felt the impact vibrate the bones in my arm, causing me to stumble back in pain. Quill then took this opportunity to land a heavy spin kick into my ribs sending me over the desk and onto the floor.

I struggled to breathe as my lungs screamed out in pain. I would've probably screamed as well, if I had the capacity to do so at that point. My vision blurred as I stood back up, but the pain sent me back down to the floor. I didn't need to take a breath before I felt my ribs crack. Not broken, but one more kick like that, and that would be it.

"Whats wrong, little pony? I thought you could fight!" the mocking voice of Quill buzzed in my ears, as I tried to focus.

I had to get her out of my head. Think this through. If I messed up here, I was dead. Quill wasn't like those cultists me and Daring had fought in the warehouse. No. Her training was far more advanced, refined....lethal. She could kill me very easily, and that was clearly her intention.

If I wanted to find out what her part in all this was, I had no choice. I had to defeat her.

I let the pain fade away as my brain worked to its capacity. Everything in the room became mapped out in front of me, one series of plans that I could execute at any moment. Slowly, but surely, it all became clear to me.

Combat Analysis 

My opponent: Quill Feather, A high ranking executive of Cobalt who clearly had far superior training to the cultists I've encountered..  Strengths: Lighting fast movement speeds, extremely powerful and possibly lethal physical attacks, Ruthlessness. Utilizes a metal bo staff with bladed ends as her weapon.

I scanned her for any weaknesses. But, physically, she didn't seem to have any whatsoever. Perfectly toned and psychically fit, clearly trained to her peak if not beyond, and leaving no room for openings or giving away any signs of psychical weakness or fatigue. She hadn't even broken a sweat.

But then my eyes saw something else. A small blue light blinked slowly along her arms, just barely visible through the sleeves of her suit. Looking closely, I saw they were embedded into her arms, surgically implanted to boost and power her nervous system and reaction speeds. I saw another set of these small lights at her legs. They sparked with electrical energy. 

So that was it...

Weaknesses: Ruthlessness, overconfidence, Lighting like movements are attributed to advanced speed augmenting technology surgically embedded in her body. At the speeds she moved, she was next to impossible to take down. Removing the power granted by the implants was the first step. Scanning the room, I spotted a fuse box along the far wall. My plan came to me in seconds, and I made my move.

Standing up, I rolled under the next sword slash, but was caught from behind by Quill, wrapping her arm around my neck. She laughed in my ear. "Oh! I had heard about this little trick of yours, Meir! Impressive....against an amateur." she mocked. "But your not the only one with tri-GUURK!" I elbowed her hard in the side, and caught the staff as it dropped from her hooves. But she grabbed onto the other end. We sparred with each other from both ends of the staff, knocking furniture away and smashing everything in our way as we fought.

I gained the upper hand, as I used the wall as a surface to propel a hard kick towards Quill, which hit her square in the face. Yet the Pegasus didn't even flinch. She smiled at me as she shook off the blow. "That it?"

I smiled back. "Nope." My cutie mark let out a massive flash of purple light as it glowed and burned at my side. I watched as Quill leaped back in surprise, only for the staff to be wrenched from her grasp and pin her to the wall, my magic enveloping it in a purple aura.

The Pegasus looked dumbfounded as she struggled to free herself from the staff holding her. I looked at her, my cutie mark's magic weaving around me like a mist, healing my injuries and mending my wounds. "Ready to talk now?" I asked. Even though I already knew the answer.

Quill glared hatefully at me as her arms and legs began to crackle and spark as large arcs of electrical energy surged forth, shattering the paneling of the walls and smashing out the windows in the room. As I had planned, Quill was pushing her power past its limits in order to free herself.

As the room was ripped apart by wild bolts of lightning, the Pegasus yelled out as she wrenched herself free from the wall, grabbed the staff and surged towards me, lighting snapping at her ankles, the blade of the staff aimed right for my chest.

I stepped out of the way at the last second, and the blade stabbed directly into the open circuits of the fuse box on the wall, sending at least five thousands volts through the pole and to Quill who spasmed wildly as electricity blew out each implant on her body, one by one, popping and sparking off her like firecrackers.

The Pegasus's wings shot out and flapped in a futile attempt to fly away. Finally she seized up, as the last blue light popped, and fell back, knocked out cold from the shock, the pole clattering onto the hard wooden floor. She hit the ground with a thud, sprawled on her back, with her arms and legs still twitching as electricity tried to find its way out of her nervous system. Final Analysis: Internal nervous system shot, arms and legs seizing due to massive electrical voltage, rendered unconscious from extreme electrical trauma. Recovery period: Several weeks at best, with possible extension due to any minor damage to nervous system from exploding implants. Capacity to continue fighting: Neutralized.

End Of Analysis 

I restrained the unconscious Pegasus to a chair, and checked her out. Her nerves were shot, but they would recover in a few hours. Her heartbeat was naturally slow, as she was unconscious and her breathing was steady. She surprisingly showed no signs of physical trauma or fatigue. It was possible she may even have woken up in a few short minutes.

Sure enough, when I had tied the last bit of rope around her, binding her to the chair tight enough that she wouldn't escape, Quill awakened, in a daze.

"Ugh...my head..."

"Your head? Are you sure you don't mean your arms and legs that just exploded?"

"Heh. Nothing compared to training back home." Quill joked.

She looked around, her eyes quickly getting that razor sharp look in an instant. She then looked down to see her arms and legs bound to the chair, her wings gently tied down as well. "Huh." she remarked. "I....lost?"

"Yes. You lost."

Quill looked down at her feet. "Serves me right for trusting technology over instincts. I relied too much on Simon's fancy toys, of course I lost! Its a disgrace!" She scolded herself angrily.

She let out a sigh as she looked back up at me, a defeated look on her face. "So....what happens now?"

"Now,' I said, taking a seat in the chair in front of her, "I have questions. You're going to answer them." I said sternly.

Quill chuckled to herself, letting her head go back as she closed her eyes. "Course." she remarked. "Fine. Lets have it then."

Questioning (Quill Feather, High ranking executive of Cobalt, Connected with the cult, Knows much more then she is letting on)

My cutie mark had stopped glowing as the magic swirling around me set the last of my bones back into place (Being a doctor was certainly going to be a more interesting job now) I thought of the list of questions I had for Quill. And I had quite a few of them.

Question one: "Why did you try to kill me?" I asked, trying not to sound demanding.

"Because I'm an assassin." she answered. "Next!"

"Wait, so you were hired by Cobalt to kill me?"

Quill chuckled to herself. "No, I was trained to be one. Raised in fact." She looked up to me. I was surprised by how her eyes had softened. Her expression looked....sad. Pained. She clearly had something to say. Something that brought back....painful memories. "You see....I lived in Ponyville for a long time. I was a librarian, actually." she began, talking in a tone that I had never heard her speak. Soft. Almost melancholy. She was no longer a killer Pegasus with a stabbing glare. She was a pony, just like me.

"You're from Ponyville?" I asked politely.

"I was." she answered softly. "One day....I was kidnapped from my home. Taken somewhere, stuck in a cage like an animal. A wild animal. I never found out who they were. They....came and talked to me a few times, said they had to run these experiments on me. For the greater good, they said."

My eyes widened in shock. "E-experiments?" I struggled to say the word, as if speaking it would make me sick. "They....they couldn't have been doctors...."

Quill looked down at her feet. "They were monsters." she said, her voice beginning to break. "They tortured me for weeks. Starved me. Asked me all these meaningless questions, and not once did they ever show sign they were going to let me go. I knew they wouldn't. I was their tool. If I ended up dying because of it, they would just throw me out and grab somepony else."

Tears welled up in her eyes, as she choked them back, desperately trying to contain her emotions. "Finally, after three weeks, of tests and poking at me with instruments, they cast a spell on me. It broke me. My mind was a hollow shell. I wasn't even dead, but I felt all the pain of it. They tossed me out, where I lay in the mud, staring up at the sky with dead, listless eyes like a fish."

Quills eyes finally let go, as tears poured down her face, which was twisted in an angry scowl. I let her finish, before I said anymore. "I laid there for....hours? Weeks? Months? I had no concept of time anymore. My brain was jello at that point. The tests had taken away my ability to walk or fly. I....wanted to just lay there, forever. I wanted to die."

"Then,' she said choking back more of her tears. "He came."

"He?" I asked. "Simon?"

"No." Quill said quickly. "Not Simon. Not a Pony." She said this in an almost hypnotic tone. Like she was lost in her thoughts of that day. "I don't know how he knew where I was. I didn't care. He took me away from that horrible place, back to a sanctuary in the East, hidden away from the rest of the world. They healed me, fixed my mind, gave me food. They all took me in like a lost sister. They taught me to be strong. Stronger, faster and smarter then I had ever dreamed possible. I became a weapon, forged from my pain and grief. And no one was ever going to hurt me like that again..."

As Quill finished her tale, I had no words. For a while we just sat there, letting the horror of Quill's past sink in. Silence.

She broke the silence. "But then...I came to the Keyes. I met Simon and he shared with me his theory."

"His theory? Let me guess..."

Quill's sadness and pained expression faded as she said "That the world was broken. Needed to be fixed." She explained. "Ever since he and his father made that little trip into those tombs....he's been, well-

"Different?" I suggested.

"Insane." Quill corrected. "The stallion is completely out of his mind. He truly thinks that once this little plan of his works, that he'll become a god of a new world."

"So if you know it's insane, I said, then why are you helping him?"

"Because of what this world did to me." Quill said softly. "It does need to be fixed. And if this lunatic has a way of doing that, then by all means I'll help however I can, and in return, I gain access to technologies that improve my already enhanced skills."

So that was her reason. Quill was on board with this because she blamed the world for what happened to her. There was no excuse for what those scientists did to her, it was appalling and inequine to say the least. She deserved to have some closure on that. But the world, didn't deserve what Simon had planned for it. The world didn't kidnap her, or starve her or torture her. Quill had to see reason. Maybe I could convince her if I reached out to her. I was a doctor after all, perhaps I could get her to come to grips with how she felt, and convince her to change her views of the world.

It was worth a shot anyways.

"Ms. Quill Feather, I-

"Don't bother with the miss or ma'am, Meir. If you have something to say just spit it out." The Pegasus quickly said, sounding annoyed. 

"Fine. I'm deeply sorry about what happened to you-

"Gee, thanks." she spat back. She wasn't being rude. She was hurting inside, and naturally she would lash out when it confronted her. But I wouldn't give up so easily.

I gave her a stern look. "But you're no better." 

Quill looked up at me. "Excuse me?"

"You think that what happened to you, gives you the right to condemn the world? Just because one horrible thing happened to you, you would rather let it all burn, then even try to see one more day, where things can be better?" I demanded. "You were taken in by a group that taught you how to be strong. They fed you, took care of you. Made you family. And you turned your back on them, relying on this so called advanced technology to give yourself an edge. I ask you, Quill Feather, what warrior fights with such dishonor? What warrior relies on machines and wires rather then the strength of their own body and mind?" I looked down at her as she looked away in disgust. "Are you still going to feel sorry for yourself?"

Quill glared up at me. "I am not some helpless pony anymore! I trained alongside champions to become one of the greatest warriors in the world! Nopony can beat me now!" she yelled, her eyes flaring like blue fire.

I shook my head. "I did." I said simply. "And it was because of your arrogance, your reliance on this technology, that you lost."

At this, the Pegasus fell silent. She looked down at the floor, pondering my words. "You...you don't know me." She growled.

"But you do." I replied. "Tell me. Is this who you wanted to be?"

She didn't answer. She sat there, unmoving, not saying a word for several minutes. When she didn't talk again for around thirty minutes or so, I was worried.

"Quill? Are you alrigh-

"What do you want to know."

"Huh?"

"I'm done, Meir. You got me, literally tied to a chair. Ask me whatever you want and I'll tell you. I don't care about anything anymore."

"Hey, it'll be alright. I know its tough to comprehend right now but-

"Just. Ask me what you need to know."

I had gotten to her. I only hoped I didn't push her too hard. Studying her eyes I saw she had quite a a lot on her mind. But if she was willing to help me out now, then I had to find out what I could.

"What is Simon's plan? All of it." I asked. 

"Simon plans to release Tezcatlipoca from his eternal prison beneath the Keyes. To do that he needs the Heart Of Oceana, to undo the spell that binds him and to perform the ritual that can restore his power. Once Tezcatlipoca is freed, he and his cult will unleash his power onto the world, burning everything in unquenchable unholy fire." Quill explained. "When all is said and done, Simon plans to rebuild the world using his resources and the vast think tank of scientists he's kidnapped."

At those last words, my heart caught in my throat. No... It couldn't be. "What are you talking about, what kidnapped scientists?" I asked, my voice rising in panic.

Quill looked confused "I thought you knew. Simon's been kidnapping the brightest minds from all over the world to help him rebuild once Armageddon hits. He tried to get your friend, Dr. Seastone as well. I had her taken from the hotel you are staying at on his orders. Said she make an excellent addition to his collection."

At the look on my face, Quill coughed nervously. "Oh. Right. Uh. Sorry for that, I guess."

"You guess!?"

"Okay, Sorry! I was just doing what I was told. And....from experience, I knew how she was feeling. I made sure she wasn't hurt, and taken care of as best as possible. I swear that."

I didn't have a reason not to believe her, but I had that final burning question in my brain, which now felt like it seared the inside of my skull. 

"Quill" I said trying to stay calm. "if Simon has been kidnapping all the brightest minds in the world for his doomsday plan.....then....d-do you mean that-

She looked up at me, and narrowed her eyes. "That Simon is the one who kidnapped your parents?"

She gave me a sullen, almost apologetic look. "I'm afraid I do." she said simply. "They were the biggest part of his plan actually."

My heart sank deep down into my chest, I felt anger and betrayal ignite inside me, boiling like fire beneath my skin. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It had been him. Simon had kidnapped my parents for his little project. But why? Why lure me to this island? Why have Breezie let Celestia and Luna know about it? Why get me involved if he already had them?

So many new questions, mashing together with the ones I already planned to ask. A giant smashed together puzzle inside my head.

And this time, I had no idea how to solve it. 

"I'm sorry."

I looked up, not realizing I had let my eyes wander to the ground, as my mind struggled to piece together what I had just found out. "You....are?" I asked.

Quill nodded. "You're right." she said in a defeated sigh. "They would be ashamed of me. I let my grief and hatred for what happened that day, come back to twist me around again. I told myself I was better then that, stronger then that. But no. I'm still weak. I let myself be pulled into the plot of a madman, just to give myself the excuse that I was getting revenge for what happened to me, all those years ago. I...have dishonored myself. And The Hashashin."

The word triggered a synapse in my brain. "Wait....you're Hashashin? That's the group that raised you!?" I said surprised.

"You sound surprised."

"I am!"

Quill chuckled. "I told you I was an assassin. I guess I figured that once you saw me in action, you would figure it out yourself." she said. "Plus, I was planning to kill you, so it wouldn't have mattered anyways."

I narrowed my eyes at her. She looked up at me. "Oh. Sorry about that too. Especially that, actually." 

I sighed to myself. I had encountered Hashashin before, in my first case. He had proven difficult to take down as well, but with him I got lucky. Quill Feather, was on a whole different level then he had been. Just how many others were there? Who was this Master that led them and taught them these things? And were there others, even more skilled and dangerous then Quill?

With my luck? Almost definitely.

In fact...

I couldn't help but think it was assured.