//------------------------------// // How to Read a Sundial // Story: Dawn of the Vanguard // by Mystic Song //------------------------------// Splashes of golden morning light fell in beams through Zecora’s window. In dawn's soft glow, the tribal masks that would usually raise the fur of whoever saw them looked mundane. Though it was also a possibility that Twilight had just gotten used to the once frightening things. She carefully watched as the reddish-pink liquid in Zecora's cauldron bubbled and popped. This chemical reaction was interrupted every time she stirred the heavy cast iron pot. The somewhat viscous liquid was the last talisman that Zecora had for her, or at least the last one that she could make in such a small time frame. Twilight dipped a spoon into the mixture, drawing some of it out before pouring it onto a stone. The stone’s appearance did not change as the liquid ran off its grey surface. Muttering, Twilight turned back to cauldron. It had been a few weeks since she left Cadence as the de facto ruler of Canterlot. The ponies easily warmed up to Cadence's presence, going so far as to cheer for her every time the court opened. Luna, on the other hoof, was being pushed to her limits. For weeks, Luna had been personally holding up Celestia’s prison. Celestia was getting worse. There were moments that she attacked the prison in a blind rage, trying to break free. From what Luna told her, these moments were happening more and more frequently. Due to the pressure, Twilight had wanted to rush the talismans to get back to Celestia and Luna as quickly as possible. The only reason that she hadn’t shortened her trip to Ponyville to a couple of days was because of Zecora’s urging. “Making a talisman to curtail that kind of evil would take time,” the medicine zebra had said although with much more rhyming. No matter how much it pained her to take it slow. No matter how much the Ponyville days made her sick. It was decided that having Applejack stay in Canterlot would be against all their best wishes. In Canterlot, she was surrounded by ponies that wanted to know about her connection to Zachery. Applejack was also being crushed under the questions of ponies who wanted to know how she would pay them back for the losses they suffered. They figured that if she was back in Ponyville, the crowd that followed her everywhere would lessen. Applejack would feel less pressure and would have the room to start making amends. Though, that wasn't the main reason Twilight wanted Applejack away from Canterlot. It wasn't a secret that Zachery hated Applejack. In hindsight, telling him what her rash actions meant for the other ponies was not a great idea. Of the few things that Twilight knew about Zachery was that he cared deeply about his family and closely-knit friend groups. Rainbow Dash confirmed that much when she stressed how important it was that they didn't bring up said family. Zachery was a nomad. Nomads put a lot of trust in their travelling groups. This was doubled with humans, seeing how dangerous their homelands were. How would one from that background react if they found a human that let their pride hurt their group's livelihood? Good news Applejack wasn't around when Zachery found that extra tidbit out. The bit where foals and others that depended on her gotten hurt. Bad news Zachery’s feelings on Applejack were now firmly on Sto. They could not be in the same castle wing with each other. Zachery radiated pure hate whenever he got a feeling that Applejack was close. She couldn't blame him in the same way she couldn't fault Rainbow Dash and Rarity for radiating a lesser, but similar, dislike. Big Mac told them all exactly how the curfews and shutting down of the school affected Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Cheerilee can't test them on what they don't know. Without those prerequisites, other institutions wouldn't even look at her students. None of the students had proof that they met the national average, thus none of them could continue their education. For the class to be on par with the national average, they would have to take summer classes or risk taking another year. It was a lot of stress on the children and their families, and it could be all traced back to Applejack. Needless to say, their return to Ponyville wasn't filled with cheering and excitement. Applejack had locked herself away on her farm and she herself had gone straight to Zecora. Here, Twilight had stayed for the past few weeks, helping the zebra potion artist make talismans and wards. Strong wards. Wards that made her stomach clench and horn ache if she stayed near them too long. These measures had to be taken. Anything to keep Equestria safe. Twilight removed another spoonful and poured it over the grey stone. Immediately, a soft white glow came from it. A few more minutes and the potion should make the stone glow a blinding white, meaning that the ‘ink’ was done. The cauldron should have enough to fill the last eight jars, making forty-eight jars in total. Enough to completely cover the outside and inside of Celestia’s chamber in sigils. Five hundred paper wards to make a strong axis stronger, two hundred stone wards to strengthen the naturally weaker axis's. On top of that, Zecora had found eighteen purring hugs, a strange plant that is said to eat the malicious thoughts of creatures around them. Apparently, cats had the same effect, hence the name. It should be enough to contain Celestia. After that, it was a simple task of finding a way to banish a malicious spirit without the elements. Simple enough. Was it too early to start drinking? The room grew brighter as the door to Zecora’s home was pushed open and Spike pushed his head in. “Twilight?” Right. Spike was supposed to give her his report today. She needed to keep her head together. “Come in. I’m just pouring out this last batch.” Spike stepped into the house, his arms full of scrolls that seemed to sag with the ink that was splashed on them. He dropped them in a neat pile, careful not to have them spread into the organized chaos of dried and fresh herbs. “If you’re not up to it, I can come back later.” “No, no, I’m fine,” she said, picking up eight glass jars in her magic and funnelling red-pink liquid into them before tightening them. “See? That was nothing.” She smiled at Spike as she carefully placed the jars down and began pouring the water needed for the next batch. “Go on, tell me. I need to know what's going on.” She heard more than saw Spike scratch the dorsal spines on the back of his head. “I’m not going to lie to you; it’s not good.” Spike gave her a moment to stop him from opening one of the scrolls. “You already know what happened during the first few weeks. All normal, no incidences. Nothing other than Daisy accidentally cutting too many leaves off a rose and running through the town center crying.” He rolled open the scroll further. “An increase in ponies coming to sightsee. Looks like Ponyville is gaining a little bit of fame because of you guys.” “Spike,” she said, shaving bits of orange tree bark into the cauldron, “you’re stalling.” “Yeah, well, it’s kind of hard to describe weeks of complaints,” Spike muttered. “Big Mac told everyone about Applejack’s letter, then the majority of the Apple family came down to fortify Sweet Apple Acres, then they went in groups across Equestria to help fortify their own farms. That’s how the militia started and the rumours spread. Canterlot wasn’t doing anything, but Big Mac was, and I guess ponies wanted to feel safe by doing something.” He went silent. “And?” “Ponies are not happy with the Apples,” Spike said with finality. “They think Big Mac and Applejack did this deliberately, and now are boycotting Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight, a lot of Ponyville’s money comes from the farm’s profits. Worse, Ponyville isn’t the only town taking a hit. A lot of businesses are run by one pony, and a lot of those ponies joined the militia, or had their profits go down because of it.” Spike breathed in and a small tongue of flame left his lips on the exhale. “Long story short, Sweet Apple Acres and Ponyville itself are being sued by a number of businesses.” Twilight’s magic flickered as she almost dropped the stirring spoon into the cauldron, “How-” “A lot of farmers missed most of the planting season, so they’re suing for lost profits. There are parents suing because their kids will miss the opportunity to go to specialty schools. Others are suing for the general loss of profits, and some think this was a prank gone wrong so they're suing for mischief, and, uh, et cetera,” Spike said, letting the scroll in his claws roll out. He looked at her sheepishly. “The Mayor wants to know what to do. Ponyville doesn’t have the money to settle out of court. To be honest, we don’t have the money for the basic legal fees. If we were targeted by one or two businesses, or one by or two towns, we would be fine.” Spike’s claws clutched the scroll tighter. “But half of Equestria is after us, Twilight.” Twilight rubbed her face, shifting some of her thoughts away from Celestia. “Ponyville will have to file for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy protection should give us the time to gain the funds necessary to pay off the business and towns that lost money.” Twilight looked up at the ceiling as she went through a step-by-step process only she could see. “We cannot go to court with this. We will lose. Badly. If we promise a set amount as compensation and fulfill it, we should be fine.” Spike looked up from his scribing. “Wouldn’t that raise taxes?” “Yes,” she said in a way that was more of an explosion of air than actual words. “It’s going to hurt. A lot. But Ponyville makes good products. When some of the anger fades, ponies will buy.” Spike wrote down each word she said the tip of his quill was reduced to a blur as he scratched along. He paused tapping the thick parchment in thought. “What about Sweet Apple Acres?” he ventured carefully. “They're being hit as well.” “They make more than the rest of us. They’ll pay higher taxes.” Spike flinched. “I mean, how are we going to help them?” “They’re are good at negotiating; they’ll figure something out.” She watched as he shifted on his feet, and when it became clear that he wasn’t going to say anything else, she turned back to the pot. It was boiling along nicely. A few more minutes and she’d add the next ingredient. Behind her, she could hear as Spike fidgeted. “Twilight,” he said, “do you hate Applejack?” She stirred the pot. “I don't know.” “Oh,” Spike whispered. Leaving him to dwell on those words would be bad. Though everything she told him was the truth. She felt the anger and the tension in her shoulders, felt it in the stiff way she worked ever since Spike voice Applejack’s name. She wanted nothing more than to yell, but if she couldn’t control herself, she would never be able to outlast the vindictive evil that plagued Conquering Wind and his followers. She needed to manage her emotions, no matter how angry she got, because most, if not all, of the problems they faced now, was because of her uncontrolled emotions. From panicking when she first found that book, to almost blasting that Mulberry Mare during what was supposed to be a peaceful press conference. Gathering her thoughts again, Twilight spoke. “I don't want to speak to Applejack. I don't want to help her,” Twilight said, grinding the tree knots of a singing willow to powder. “I'm worried about what will happen to Applebloom, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith.” Twilight sighed as she dusted the powder into the cauldron. “Spike, I've never been this mad at a pony before, but I don't want to hurt her. I’m still processing how I feel.” She snorted out a bitter laugh. “Lystor.” “Lystor?” Spike said, rolling his tongue over the unfamiliar sounds. “What does that mean?” “It's one of Zachery’s words. It means ‘hate within reason’ in human,” Twilight said. “It’s a very contentious language.” “Yeah, I noticed,” Spike said. “So you lystor her? Isn’t that hate?” Twilight paused. “Yes and no. I’m not happy with her, at all, but I don’t want anything bad to happen to her. Something should happen to her, but not now. There’s too much going on and I don’t want to worry about fighting with her until after all of this is done.” Twilight blinked, working what she just said over her head. “Huh. Zachery said almost the same thing about me.” “He did?” “He added a lot more swears, and the wording was strange, but yes,” Twilight said absentmindedly as she poured the mixture on a stone. “The meaning stays the same. I don’t want to add to the infighting until we are safe. After that, I don’t know.” Spike walked up to the now glowing rock. “The clean up shouldn’t be too hard. Don't Luna and Cadence have some ideas? No offence, Twilight, but they have done this longer, and will probably be better at this since you don’t want to do anything to Applejack. Luna can be scary, but whatever judgement they pass will be fair, right?” Twilight didn’t look at him, only nodding in what she hoped was an agreeable way as she focused stinging eyes on the bottles she filled. “Yes, their judgement would be fair.” She hadn’t told Spike what she did. Like the rest of Equestria, he only knew what the papers told him. Unlike the rest of Equestria, he ignored the accompanying rumours. Spike knew that he couldn’t rely on second hoof information. Of course, he ignored the rumours that said Cadence seemed to be acting colder toward Twilight. That was ridiculous. Cadence was Twilight’s babysitter and they loved each other. Spike laughed at the rumours and Twilight laughed alongside him. She hadn’t told Spike what she did. No one knew what she did. Spike looked away from her and she could hear the smile in his voice. “Good, then you guys can be friends again after this, and everything will be back to normal.” He brushed through more scrolls. “That’s about everything interesting that happened when you were gone. After the press conference, most of the complaints have been retracted. Nopony else is trying to get an audience with Celestia because of her sickness. That being said, there are loads of get-well cards that need to be sent to her. I know that she’s not really awake, but maybe she can read them in the moments when she is,” Spike said hopefully. “We can burn them afterwards to make sure the sickness doesn’t spread.” “No, Spike. The risk is too great,” Twilight said repeating the same line. The line she always said, because Celestia raised Spike as much as she did. So, of course, he always asked the same question. “Twilight, can’t I see her?” Spike asked, and she could feel him looking at her. “The sickness only hurts ponies, right? Doesn’t that mean I could-” “Spike,” she said, heartbreak tingeing her voice. “We don’t know how her sickness will react to, or how it could affect dragons. We can’t take that risk.” Rather, she would never be able to live with herself if Spike got hurt. Spike, who was young and couldn’t keep a secret. Spike, who was incredibly brave and would try to fix all this horror by himself. Her little brother, whom she couldn’t help picture whenever she read that book overflowing with the cruelty of ponies to ‘lesser species’. He would be safe in Ponyville. He would be safe if he thought she was making 'medicine'. She carefully put the bottles down and hugged him. “I’m sorry, Spike. It’s just too dangerous. When it’s safer, I promise you’ll be the first one to see her, okay?” He hugged her back a careful endeavour that had him watching his claws. “Okay.” He paused. “Does that mean I can also see Zachery?” In her mind, all she could see was Spike asking Zachery about the bandages and Zachery’s pleasant smile as he told him the truth. She petted the back of Spike’s head as excuses came to her mind. “If he wants to meet you.” Spike. Sweet and kind Spike laughed as he pulled away, “Right. He’s really timid, huh? I don’t want to scare him.” Teeth, sharp flawed blue eyes, and ink-black puffed out wings flashed in her memory. “Yes, timid. Don’t worry about that right now. I still have a few more things I need to do before I can go back.” She picked up Spike’s list. “Other things happened in Ponyville while I was away. Why don’t you tell me about them?” “Well, nothing that interesting happened,” Spike said, taking the scroll from her grasp. “Lily Pad had her foal. It’s a unicorn colt. There have been a few tremor reports lately, but that’s probably just the Diamond Dogs in the outlands. As long as they continue to stay away from ponies, we should be good. The Cutie Mark Crusaders have been, well, themselves.” Spike stopped and levelled a flat look in her direction. “This is going to take some time, but it starts with a failed surprise apology party and ends with a roof collapse.” The early morning was always the coldest. Deep in her family's Apple Orchard, Applejack dragged a teetering cart full of apples by herself. This was troubling, as this acre should have been harvested weeks ago. They did hire ponies to tend the land for them, but there were large swathes that needed to be re-picked. The ponies that Big Mac hired weren’t bad, per se, but they didn’t have the years of know-how needed to properly harvest crops. When she had seen the state of the orchard, she immediately hitched herself to a cart and got to work. Somepony had to make sure that they didn’t lose more money. More money then they were already bleeding. No pony was buying their apples. At least, no pony in Ponyville or the small towns around it. The bills were beginning to pile up and lawyers were banging down their door. No pony in town would even look at her. Granny Smith looked so disappointed. The severity of her stomp broke the silence, shaking the ground and sending nesting birds into the air. A sharp ragged breath, a quick back-hoofed brush to clear her nose, and she began to pull the full apple cart home. These apples had to be fresh if they had any hope of being sold in the bigger cities. If she could get at least two businesses to work with her, and if they start upselling Zap Apple Jam when the season comes around, they might have a chance. There had to be a business pony willing to sell Zap Apple Jam. Not Filthy Rich; he would only take advantage of their situation. Also, they wouldn’t be able to give any of the jam to their family. They needed the money. She sniffed in and spat out the mess that collected in her throat. She wasn't crying. She didn’t have the time to. The trek up to the barn was Tartarus on her already sore muscles. They lost money every time she rested. Big Mac was still working, who was she to complain about her legs? Applejack dropped the cart at the entrance of the barn and went to the next empty cart. The old harness slid on easily enough, even though the metal in the old yoke shrieked in protest. Not that she could do anything about it. They had to use all their resources if they wanted to keep their heads above water. Ancient wheels squealed as she pulled the cart out of the near-empty barn. There were two carts left, both of them more decrepit than the one she was currently hitched to. Once she finished filling all of them, she could sort the apples and start the trek to Salt-Lick City. It was far enough away that her influence probably didn’t reach the ponies there. She had to believe that it didn't reach the ponies there. “Applejack?” It took her a moment to realize that somepony was talking to her. Applebloom was watching her. She was wearing her backpack. That was right. School had started again, now that the parents and guardians knew that their children weren’t in danger. If they crammed hard enough, they would all be able to get into the specialty schools they wanted. Applebloom hadn’t said anything yet. “How’ya doin’, Applebloom?” Applejack asked. “Oh, you know. Going to school,” Applebloom said scratching the back of her foreleg not quite looking at her. “Cheerilee says we got a lot of work to catch up on.” She tried a smile. “Don’t worry, Applebloom you’re smart. You’ll get the grades you need.” “Yeah.” Quiet. Neither of them moved to approach the other. Neither of them moved to continue the conversation. The sun grew warm. The day was just a little bit shorter. Time passed and their family, their farm, their livelihood hemorrhage money. Applejack walked away. “Tell me about it when you get home.” She didn’t say to her as much as she did to the idea of ending a conversation. She didn’t hear Applebloom say okay. She didn’t see Applebloom walk away. There was too much work to do. Ponyville proper was a bright place. Ponies ran to-and-fro, buying and selling wares in the beautiful late morning sun. They shouted at each other, they yelled with each other, they laughed as if they would never see hardship. As long as they had each other, they would be fine. Why wouldn't they? Ponies drew their strength from each other. Applebloom was being ignored. She would be lying if she said that she wasn’t mad. It wasn’t her fault. None of this was her fault. The adults talked around her and the foals glared at her. It wasn’t her fault. She thought that they were going to be attacked by monsters. That’s what her brother had said. All the adults were getting ready for a huge fight, and the foals didn’t know what to do. They had been scared. Everypony huddled together in small groups and every noise made them jump. They needed a leader. Her brother was the leader of the Knights, so it made sense that she should be the leader of the Foals against Human Invasion. They made lookouts in treehouses. They created heavy battlements out of wagons that were piled high with bricks that had sharp sticks jammed into them. They had aerial and ground patrols. Then things escalated. Somepony told Silver Spoon that her pigtails would be easy for the Humans to grab. Then somepony else said how long manes and tails would also be easy to grab. It seemed like a good idea at the time to cut them all short. Like shorter than Babs’ short. Their guardians were shocked until they explained their reasoning. Then she got so much praise. She was brave. She was smart. She was a leader. Other towns began copying them, and word came to them that Big Mac was going to talk to Twilight about the humans. They were ready. She increased their patrols, their weapons, their battlements. The result of that meeting was going to determine what further steps the F.A.H.I would take. She stood proudly at the entrance of the town, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo at either side of her. Their manes were short, they wore their medallions proudly, and the scrap metal they used as armour was polished to a blinding shine. Those first newspapers were the worst things she had ever seen. The weight of those papers was the worst thing she had ever felt. Big Mac and Applejack were in Canterlot. Granny Smith was back on the farm, resting. The excitement of the last few weeks had really gotten to the older mare. It was only Applebloom against the town and their dawning realization that Applejack misguided them. That the element of honesty, her sister, lied to them. A whole town of ponies angrily turned to her, demanding answers, and she ran away crying. Some leader she turned out to be. F.A.H.I.T disbanded. They took down the battlements and the lookouts. The patrols ended. The scrap metal went back to the junkyards. And everypony stopped talking to her. Midstep, she stumbled as somepony bumped into her. She looked up into Sweetie Belle’s soft smile and wobbled as Scootaloo patted her on the back. Almost everypony stopped talking to her. “Another week, another ten-hour school day,” Scootaloo chirped, walking in step with them. “I know, right!” Sweetie Belle said, rolling her eyes. “I got so much homework I swear I thought I was going to drop dead.” Applebloom smiled with them. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” The weight on her back made itself known by choosing that moment to shift. She grimaced. “If we work really really hard, we might not lose all of our summer.” “That sounds like a plan,” Scootaloo answered her wings buzzing at an alarming pace. A short summer was a small thing to get excited for, but it was enough. The past months may have been terrible, but they had the future to look forward to. Even if the other students didn’t speak to her, even if Cheerilee gave her tight-lipped smiles and didn’t call on her in class, even if no pony accepted their apologies or went to their forgiveness party, the summer was still coming, and they had plans. Plans that they couldn’t really work on because of their homework, but plans nonetheless. They walked past their scowling classmates and proudly into their classroom. “Oh. Scootaloo, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, you’re here.” Cheerilee greeted sparing the barest glance at them, “Your desks were moved to the back.” Sweetie Belle to her credit was the first to react, “What?” Cheerilee shifted through piles of work and recited, “Some parents were saying that you were distracting the students. Since none of you are planning on going on to specialty schools, I’ll allow it.” “That’s,” Applebloom tried getting words out, and she stumbled. Cheerilee wasn’t really going to banish them to the back. That wasn’t. It wasn’t. “Cheerilee, that’s not fair!” She recoiled as Cheerilee, in her frustration, knocked her desk rather forcefully, spending pencils and papers flying. “Sometimes things are not fair, Applebloom. Sometimes you work and work, then out of nowhere something happens completely out of your control!” Cheerilee shook as she paced through piles of assigned and unassigned homework. “Sometimes your brightest students come to you crying because they won’t go to the school you helped them get accepted to. Sometimes ponies who ignored you come to you for help, and you have to help them!” Cheerilee snapped. Cheerilee snapped. At them. Applebloom didn’t quite realize that she had sunk to the floor until she felt Scootaloo’s wings nervously beat against her. In this atmosphere, Cheerilee deflated as the last of her air fizzled out. “Girls. Girls, there are fifteen minutes before class starts. Go outside and play with your friends.” They left. Why won’t they leave? Hidden behind a sheet of vines, Zachary clawed into the underhang of one of the castle's balconies. It was sometime past noon, the most perfect time for a late lunch. Or it would have been if he was able to get some alone time. Another frenzied cloud of dust kicked up under him. It stopped briefly as the ponies inside it scanned around for him. Hoof picked reporters clutching pens and papers in their mouths stretched their necks to their fullest as they tried to find him under one bush or another. Their ears swivelled, and quite suddenly, pointed sharply to some sort of sound. He heard it for what it was: a door slamming in the wind. Braying loudly, the cloud of reporters took off once again, following the sound. Of course, one impromptu meeting wouldn’t be enough for the ponies of Equestria. A new species? Infighting among the elements? Celestia is sick? They needed to know more. Luna and Cadence were vehemently against all of this, but they needed to give the ponies something. Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were alright with giving a short, edited account of their adventures. Unfortunately, the ponies didn’t want to talk to them. They knew the elements. Above him, he could hear ponies trotting around and calling his name. His mistake. Weeks had passed since that meeting, and his apprehension was getting to him. He was just going to leave the disastrous silence of his room and go for a walk. Pace. He was going to pace because of the lack of confirmation, which he knew he wasn't going to get, was killing him. A short walk was all that he needed. One step outside, twelve paces down the hall, and he was completely surrounded by ponies. He was okay with this. This was fine. This was normal. They wanted to snap some pictures and ask inane questions? Fine. He could do that. They wanted to ask questions for four solid hours? And he was done. He ‘went to the bathroom’ and didn’t come back. Too bad they figured out his ploy after only one hour. Thankfully, it wasn't as stressful as the last few times he hid from a pony. Now, he hid from them and waited for the perfect moment to bolt. He just needed to get back to his room. The ponies above him left and the ones under him were nowhere to be seen. Okay. This was good. He crawled out and skirted down the surface of the castle. With a smooth motion, he flipped down and through a window. He landed on his feet, making no sound, and dusted off some of the leaves he collected while hiding behind the ivy curtain. “Um?” He didn’t mean to snap, but he was tense and there shouldn’t be anyone here. The reporter dropped to the ground, covered his head with his hooves, and shriek out a panicked, “I’m sorry, please don’t hurt me!” “No, no. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Zachery said, hands out, trying to placate him. To keep him quiet before his mouth attracted the other reporters to him. “Really? I mean, I mean that I know that you’re not a fighter, but that growl. I've never seen you do that before.” The pegasus reporter slowly got to his hooves. He wobbled as he tried to keep his bags straight on his back. “It’s to ward off enemies, right?” “I. Yes, sometimes,” Zachery said, blinking hard as the reporter wrote down everything he said, fully ignoring the fact that he had just been begging for his life. Finally, the soft green mane and off white coat jogged his memory. “Dried Ink? What are you doing here?” Dried Ink stared at him, the pencil hanging from his mouth. “Ah. I heard that the castle was letting reporters in, so I came. Then I heard that only royal appointed reporters were allowed in. So I, snuck in?” The pegasus had the gall to look bashful. “We had good chemistry going on,” he said. While his smile did reach his eyes, Zachery could see the strain on his shoulders. From what Rarity had told him, all of Equestria was 'positively buzzing' with the news of his arrival. Being a reporter right now had to be a raw deal. “I thought it would be okay if I came.” Really. He did not want to be stuck with this. It was unfortunate that Dried Ink was feeling pressured, but he had other things to worry about. Like getting lunch before he was dragged into another whirlwind of interviews. Zachery pulled his façade tightly around himself and smiled. “I would love to answer questions, but I’m on a schedule.” He carefully stepped around Dried Ink. “I didn’t even get to eat lunch yet, so if you would excuse me.” He cracked the door open. “Zachery, please show yourself. There’s so much we need to learn!” He shut the door. “You’re avoiding them?” Dried Ink said, his amber eyes lighting up with recognition. Leave it to the reporter to read the situation. “I just want a little quiet,” his stomach took that moment to growl, “and to eat lunch.” “If you’re hungry, I don’t mind sharing.” Dried Ink said. He dug into overflowing saddlebags to pull out a cloth bag dusted with crumbs. Don’t snarl. Don’t snarl. Don’t snarl. Zachery kept his face open and interested, “What’s that?” Dried Ink place the bundle on the ground, “The best snacks on this side of Canterlot. My boss told me about them. Hay and blueberry squares wrapped in orange vines. They’re great!” Breathe, dammit! “Thanks for the offer, but I can’t eat that,” he said nicely, sweetly, and his arms were crossed so his hands did not claw at the air. Dried Ink looked confused. So Zachery smiled as widely as he could without outright baring his teeth. At least that was the effect that he tried for. Dried Ink blinked once, then twice, and then his eyes promptly shrank. “Oh, Oh.” The pegasus worried over his lip and looked out the window. “I don’t know the arrangement you have, but I can wait here while you," Dried Ink's voice barely wavered, "hunt. The garden, i-it’s filled with animals, right?” He didn’t mean to snort. He really did not need to laugh. “No. No. I’ve already had arrangements in place.” At Dried Ink’s inquisitive look he explained, “You’re not the first to suggest that I use the garden to hunt.” Stress fell off of Dried Ink like a heavy blanket leaving him freely relaxed in Zachery's presence. “So, you’re just trying to avoid ponies and get to the kitchens?” Dried Ink said. “I’m a little tired of people watching me eat,” he replied honestly. “Let me help you,” Dried Ink said. “It’s the least I can do for surprising you.” He shifted on his hooves. “And maybe later, it doesn’t have to be today, you can give me an interview? You know what? Forget I said anything.” “Fine,” Zachery answered. “My days are pretty boring. I need something to fill them.” The waiting was killing him. He may not want any more meetings today. He had his fill. But if he had nothing tomorrow, the day after, the week after. Whatever happened next was fully out of his hand, and it was slowly crushing him. “Alright!” Dried Ink said brightly. “Leave it to me.” He darted around him and dashed out of the room. Just down the hall, he could hear Dried Ink scream, "I saw him go this way!" The resulting stampede sent the hairs on his arms up. He breathed out slowly, forcing stress curled in his chest out on his next exhale. One day at a time. Now to see if he could ‘hunt’ himself up some food. Dark. Graciously, the moon was hidden behind a thick layer of clouds. Equestria’s weather ponies, a disturbing thought on its own, seem to be preparing for a storm. The air was thick with the scent of unfallen rain. Ripe soundless thunderheads tinted the world in dark grey colours. Already heavy canopy shadows turned pitch black and within this thin tree line the vanguard of humanity's attack laid in wait. Smack dab in the middle of a clearing that none of them dared approach, Alec swore he saw the patch of upturned dirt heave. Quick. They needed to be quick about it. The clearing needed to be crossed, the base needed to be infiltrated, and the device, whatever it was, needed to be destroyed. He couldn’t do it. He wasn’t fast and he wasn’t sneaky. He also didn’t know how to use transformation spells without the aid of an amulet. No, the infiltration was down to the team from Dissimulare. Krane was going with his team while the rest of them stood as support. Thankfully, the days of nothing allowed them time to drag in more magi-tech from the ship. Tech that directly tapped into their own magic and did not draw from mana stones or whatever Mara was studying nowadays. It was honestly a marvel of technology. As long as a person had magic, it worked. The only problem with it was the reach, or rather the lack thereof. Pure magic radios can connect across any distance, but their signal strength could be finicky. Magi-tech radios had a strong signal, but a short-range. Pure tech radios had a weak signal strength, but a longer range then Magi-tech. Magic drawn radios and optics were shorter range than all of the above, but their signal strength was also stronger than all other technologies. It wasn’t good enough. There were still so many things that could go wrong, but they had no choice. Every day, the field grew larger, and they came closer to losing their element of surprise. Once that was gone… He sat up against a tree. The laptop that they pull from the sub was thick, cumbersome, and the only thing that worked. He looked at three different angles of the same mound. At least their optics worked fine, even though Krane and his team had complained about the thickness of the contact lenses. Earbuds drowned out the forest sounds around him, leaving only the soft mutterings of Strike Team One. He had Kim and the rest of the teams to act as his ears and eyes. Red hair dashed around the periphery of his vision and he allowed himself to completely forsake the world in favour of the mission. “Strike Team One, on your mark.” The words spilled from his mouth like a fast-moving viscous liquid. Thick enough to not disturb the night creatures around him. Krane’s voice came through the link in a short whisper. “Copy that. Transforming now.” The screens were washed in green as they turned. The shift in perspective was dizzying as always. Strike Team One would be approximately the same size as they were when they first spotted the ponies in the Dividing Woods. Three, how long had that been? A soft buzzing filled his ears as the strike team flew low on insect wings. He scanned their feeds, looking for things that they might miss. Ears sharp, he listened for anything. A crunch of leaves, the shifting of dirt, the braying scream of a pony. Anything. The team made it to the mound undisturbed and he forced his off-hand to stop twitching. “Made it,” Krane said as he touched down on upturned dirt. “Alec, status.” From a variety of points that he could not see, a chorus of ‘Clear’ rang in his ear. “You’re clear. Start digging.” There could be a door on the other side. Or a group of ponies waiting for them, or a million other things that they could not see. On his screen, magic claws ripped into soft dirt as the team made unstable tunnels into the earth. Another reason why the team from Dissimulare was going. A collapsing tunnel was nothing for a group of people that spent most of their life underground. Though there were still a thousand other people with specialized jobs that would be better for this. A job made for a construction worker should not be given to a soldier. “We’ve breached,” Krane said when his hands broke through the ceiling. “Entering now.” Alec’s glance through each screen taking in the views that only he could see. Three different pairs of eyes looked in three different directions. A claustrophobic cavern. A tight lantern-lit tunnel that delve deeper into an unknown compound. A series of cubby holes on a far wall that seemed to be overflowing with papers. The strike team clung to the ceiling as small near-invisible beings hidden in the natural divots of the cavern. He cycled through their feeds and the confirmations in his ear, “You have five hours to find the device and destroy it. At that point, you will retreat, whether you've found it or not,” Alex said, repeating a plan they had already agreed to. “Any other information that you find on these ponies would be helpful, but it is not a priority.” The words felt sticky. He knew he should say something else, but nothing came to mind, “Until the day we breathe our last breath in battle.” “Until our last breath,” Krane muttered back. “Alright, team, let's get to hunting.”