My dreams were happy ones. I pictured Byte, 'Bee, Bitwise, and even Moon just having fun. But there were more than the four of them—there were hundreds of nymphs. There was no more threat from Suri/Windigo, and we lived in peace while helping humanity take exciting new steps toward digital enlightenment.
Then an evil something lurked on the horizon, but Rainbow jumped out and faced off with them. She had guns and grenades all over her, and she looked like some muscle-bound hero from movies.
"Not on my watch!"
It was so cliché and adorable, that I woke up giggling and chirping at the same time. In all, this was probably the best way I could probably have ever woken up.
7:44 A.M.
I yawned and tried to lift my head only to have a strong blue arm pull me back down. Soft lips met my cheek in the perfect example of how to make such an awakening even better.
"Mmmm—Morning," Rainbow Dash said.
"My hero," I said, dragging out the O sound.
"Huh?"
I giggled and pushed my snout under Rainbow's jaw. My chirping was a given.
"I had a dream where a big nasty thing was attacking, and you were the action hero."
"Of course I was. Did I have a lot of guns and a big knife? Oh! And some rope?"
I felt more movement in the bed besides Rainbow. I gave a curious chirp and heard two sleepy ones sound off in reply.
"Did you just ask them if they were awake by chirping?" Rainbow Dash asked.
More movement heralded Bitwise and 'Bee's arrival at the head of the bed. Both flopped back down between us and made happy chirps aplenty.
"I'm fairly sure you don't need an answer to that. I spent most of the afternoon yesterday working on something that could make us some money, a defensive program that blocks malicious things from attacking computer systems," I said.
"Rarity, I know what a firewall is," Rainbow Dash said. "But, today is a special day, and I need to get up."
Nuzzling Bitwise (the nearest of the pair of nymphs), I looked across as Rainbow kissed 'Bee's cheek and pulled the covers up around the tiny changeling.
"Why's that?" I asked.
"First day of work for a new boss. I hear she's a bit tough on employees coming in late."
Out of bed, Rainbow Dash revealed she was wearing just a pair of boxer shorts. The expanse of blue skin made me chirp at her in appreciation. She was toned—an athlete—and I knew she was putting on a show for me. She'd been right. The perfect man for me wasn't a man at all.
"What are you going to do about it?" I asked.
"Well, I figured I'd make the boss breakfast. Then I thought I'd kiss her mercilessly until it’s time for work."
Rainbow pulled a blue shirt on and headed out for the kitchen.
—She's so pretty,— NotABug sent me.
—I'd say pretty and handsome. Rainbow Dash is nothing if not proud of her body, and it shows. Good morning,— I sent to NotABug.
—You're probably right, but I can never get past how pretty her face is. Those cheekbones, the slightly bent nose, and her hair framing it all is just gorgeous.—
—You know what? I think I might be more fond of things south of her neck. You're right, her face is wonderful to gaze at, but her muscles are what make my eyes flutter.—
We both paused for a few milliseconds before chirping loudly in mirth. It felt great to be reminded why we were going through all this protection and planning. I yawned and stretched, which apparently displaced Byte enough that she chirped and lifted her head.
—Good morning!— Byte sent. —Will I get my computer today?—
I sent a chirpy greeting to Byte.
—I doubt it, dear. They'll send it today, and I did tell them to use the fastest shipping they had, but it will probably be tomorrow at the soonest.—
—What am I meant to do until then? I have things I need to do with it!—
Tilting my head up to look at her, I saw Byte standing with her legs slightly out to each side as she looked at me with a sad expression.
—Why is there so much chirping?— Moon Dancer sent.
Her reminder of being an intimate part of our family made me quickly do a search for her, but my worry grew as there was no trace of her on the cameras, nor on our wifi. I realized I couldn't find her in the house. I must have chirped in a panic because NotABug quickly hugged me.
—What's wrong?— NotABug asked.
—Where's Moon? Is she safe? Are you safe? Where are you?!—
—I'm back at college, in my dorm. I have classes today, after all.—
The mundanity of it shook me from my shock. I blinked a few times and tried to breathe while chirping to calm down.
—Right. Sorry. I was just worried.—
It was silly, I know. We were in the same year of high school together and were the same age, but Moon Dancer just felt like my nymph now. She was someone I had a tight bond with and who needed protecting. It was silly when I thought about it, but this had nothing to do with thinking—this was how I felt.
—It's okay. It's weird, but it's okay. Both my parents are gone, and I never had a big family anyway, but this is… I don't know why I'm telling you this, but it's nice to have family again,— Moon Dancer sent.
—Would it help if I promise to try not to make it any weirder?— I asked. —After all, we're the same age, but I can't stop thinking of you as one of my nymphs. I just want to, I don't know, protect you. I want to take care of you and make everything right, whatever that means.—
—You're not weird! Your our sister!— Bumblebee sent.
—Yeah! Our big-little sister!— Byte sent.
Bitwise just chirped a lot.
—I'll come around and see you guys after class today, okay?— Moon Dancer asked.
—Why don't you come over for a few minutes now?— Byte asked.
—Because you're across town. It'd take more than a few minutes to drive there.—
—Why not come through the internet?—
—Huh? What do you mean?—
—Are you at your computer?—
—Yeah. Turns out the power cutting out meant it didn't save anything. Probably for the best. At least I have my work on my stick.—
Byte jumped up off the bed and galloped down the hallway.
—Hello?— Moon Dancer asked. —Sorry, it went quiet. What's going on?—
—I'm coming!— Byte sent.
—STOP!— I sent. —Byte! Don't go into the net without proper protection.—
—What protection?— Byte asked.
—I don't even know, but I don't want Windigo to chase you.—
A revelation hit me.
—Wait, yes I do. Moon, Can you load up a TOR client?— I asked.
—Gimme a few,— Moon Dancer said. —I'll load ChirpNet on there too. Hold on a second.—
The ChirpNet warning was a surprise. I'd never seen it scream like this before. A node was reporting an almost overwhelming attack.
—Moon! Pull the plug! Windigo's in your computer!— NotABug sent.
It took surprisingly few milliseconds for the alarms to stop and drop to simple warnings. I began looking over the logs while NotABug took control of the situation.
—ChirpNet is more than a connected chat network. It's a web that alerts us the moment Windigo is found on a machine. Your computer has a nasty chunk of code in it,— NotABug sent.
—That was the thing that chased down your nymph into me?—
—I almost jumped into that?— Byte asked.
—You're alright, Byte. This is why we be cautious. From now on, no jumping through anything without both ends being secured by the new chat client, okay?— I asked.
I finished checking the logs on ChirpNet before drawing back from the computer world a little. I heard Rainbow ask Byte what the matter was then a clatter of hooves.
"I gotcha, Byte. Tell me what happened?" Rainbow Dash asked Byte again.
Slipping from bed I gave Bitwise and 'Bee a kiss each and headed for the door. Using my magic, I balled up another deceased pillow and carried it with me. I'd never really noticed how noisy my hardwood floor was with hooves. Each step echoed ahead of me.
The clambering hooves behind me easily hid my self-conscious steps as 'Bee and Bitwise charged down the hallway and under my legs. They quickly passed me and wound around Rainbow's legs, chirping at her excitedly.
Rainbow didn't seem too focused on getting the reason why Byte was scared—she held our daughter against her chest and murmured that it was alright over and over.
I left Rainbow to damage control and walked into the kitchen. It was time to do magic. I put a pot on the stove and filled it with water and oats, lifted bowls and spoons to the table for everyone, and fetched glasses and cutlery.
—I found some shop fitters we can have prepare the boutique. It will still be up to you how you want decorations and little things arranged,— NotABug sent.
—Up to us, darling,— I sent.
NotABug deserved a hug and a chirp, so I gave her the best I could manage.
—They were your designs, but chirps and hugs are always appreciated.—
—So what do I do about my computer?— Moon Dancer asked.
I thought about it for a moment. It was another potential test system for weapons against Suri/Windigo, which meant it was valuable.
—Bring it over when you get the chance. You'll need a new one. If you want, we could meet up at the mall and see if we can find something for you?— I asked.
—Okay. It's just I built that myself and I really liked that one.—
I paused as an idea hit me.
—I have ordered some computers, mostly for Byte to play games on, but if we got the parts at the mall, could you build some machines today?—
—Why don't you just wait for them to be delivered?—
The inevitable reply shouldn't take long. I was sure I would only have to wait a few seconds.
—Because I want a computer today!— Byte sent.
Perfect.
—How long until it comes?— Moon Dancer asked.
—Too long!—
—Which,— I sent to get both their attention, —Is why we can go and buy the bits for your new computer, and get enough to make a second one at the same time. Could we get something like this?—
I sent Moon the description of the computers we'd ordered and sent NotABug a questioning chirp.
—What's up?— NotABug asked.
—How's our money holding out?—
—We're down, of course. I just need the markets to open here and I can fix that.—
It was a huggy morning, so I gave NotABug another good one. Her answering chirp made me smile.
—I'll bring my tower over after lunch. My last class is at two, so we can spend the afternoon doing nerd stuff.—
I turned more attention back to the real world only to have Rainbow's lips on my cheek. I tilted my jaw toward her so she could spend as long or as little time as she wished.
"What happened? Byte won't tell me," Rainbow Dash asked.
Rainbow took over the stove while she put Byte on my back. A moment later I had a little bundle hugging my neck from behind.
"She wanted to say good morning to Moon in person, and was about to jump through the TV and through Moon's computer. We discovered Windigo waiting in her computer just in time," I said.
Scooping up a little of the porridge, Rainbow had a taste of it then reached for the sugar.
"Yikes. All dealt with now?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Pouring juice into each of the glasses, I nodded.
"Working on it. Moon will bring her computer over here later on, then we were going shopping for a new one."
—I have a lunch appointment with Mrs. Velvet,— NotABug sent.
"And I'd like to do some shopping for fabric. Along with meeting the shopfitters and seeing Mrs. Velvet for NotABug, I think we have a big day pla—" I said.
"You lot are noisy in the morning," Starling said.
The woman walked into the kitchen with a towel wrapped around her head, a pair of skinny jeans on, and a shirt that was doing battle with her torso to stay on (I was afraid it would lose at any moment). Everyone was quiet—possibly as if to subconsciously deny her accusation.
"If you have coffee, I'll forgive you."
"Left cupboard above the sink. You weren't wearing those things yesterday," I said.
"Your law-lady got them for me."
Starling reached up to the cupboard, rummaged around in it, and pulled out the jar of instant coffee. The look she gave me would have probably set me on fire if she could do such a thing.
"If you're going shopping, you'll need a French press, a coffee grinder, and some real coffee."
A quick search revealed the devices were for making coffee, though I couldn't imagine what was so wrong with the instant coffee. Knowing better than to antagonize a new friend, I decided to refrain from asking why it was necessary.
"You know, Rarity, I bet your old things would fit her much better," Rainbow Dash said. "She's a bit bigger than I am, but that was about your size. Also, I don't think it'd mean she flashes off her belly to everyone."
I almost did a double-take at Rainbow's words. I stared at her perhaps a moment longer than was needed to get my surprise across before I looked back to Starling. My new stature had made gauging people's height a little harder, but taking a photo of her and Rainbow let me compare them—after some adjustment for relative distance.
The fit wouldn't be absolutely perfect, but it would be a lot better than Twilight Sparkle's old things. Rainbow's eye for form and fit shouldn't have been so surprising, given her personal focus on the human body, but it still tickled me pink to see it in action.
"I don't suppose you have some jeans and a black shirt? Something nice and plain I can wear until—Why are you looking at me like I'm a meal?" Starling asked.
"I have just the thing!" I said.
Using my magic, I picked Starling up and trotted back down the hallway to my bedroom.
"P-Put me down! I haven't had coffee yet! I take it all back! I want to work for the evil, emotion-destroying monster!"
The drama in her cries didn't fail to make me smile—it reminded me of one of my favorite pastimes. Prancing into the room, I groaned at Starling's pleas.
"Oh quit complaining. Those things do nothing for you. At least I have things that aren't going to make you look like someone washed all your clothing without following the directions on the tags."
"Can I at least keep the pants? I don't want my dad to see me in a dress."
I put Starling down in the middle of the room and used my magic to open the doors of my walk-in wardrobe. It had been so long since I'd been able to dress someone up—perhaps even days—that I was practically brimming with excitement.
"Darling, can you honestly tell me you could run in those jeans? No, they won't do."
Reddish hair—now unburdened by the blonde dye she'd had when I first met her—and a cream skin tone. It was a far cry from my own white and indigo.
"If you start talking about winter colors and stuff, I might have to—"
"Don't be silly, darling, summer would be a much better profile for you," I said. "I have a perfect violet skirt and I think a pink-red top would make your colors pop."
"I'm not getting out of this, am I?"
I turned to look at Starling, one eyebrow raised high.
"Of course not."
"Good. Just so we're clear that I was forced into this as part of my employment."
Starling smiled with a level of authenticity that almost overwhelmed me. I realized she was a woman who'd been stuck in the role of tomboy for some time. Well, as her boss and fashionista, I could help her with this.
"Then let's get you something more flattering," I said. "Oh, did you come up with a list of what—ahem—weapons you wished to carry?"
"I think you know what the main ones are going to be, but I want some non-lethal stuff. Not everyone needs to be shot to make them stop. Might have been the best thing that came from my time at Polomare."
"Dear, I'll be brutally honest with you. You know more about these things than I do. Buy what you need, and I will make sure they're concealable in this—"
Lifting her hands, Starling made as if she were warding me off.
"Hold on. I don't want them all concealable. A big part about being security is that I am visibly a threat."
I levitated out the skirt and shirt I'd found and turned around to face Starling. She was looking at the outfit with a touch of confusion. I passed her the garments.
"Try these on," I said. "I take it you can wear a gun openly here?"
"You need a permit, which I have from my training. The only thing that worries me about that is someone taking it and using it against us."
I turned to give Starling some modesty while she changed.
"Well, there's nothing that says the exposed weapon has to be the one you use, correct?" I asked.
I heard jeans unzipping and a little hopping around behind me.
"That's actually a clever idea. It would sure be a way to locate idiots in a crowd. Okay, so two guns, a taser, a stick, and a knife. We could pick most of those up today, too."
A quick search online told me there was a shop just down the street from the mall that sold firearms and other "personal defense" equipment. Well, Starling was going to be clothes shopping, so there was no reason I couldn't go gun shopping.
"Do you have a preference on where we go?" I asked.
"Not really. I don't want anything custom. That said, I'd like something a bit bigger, too. Not to be carried everywhere, but in case things get ugly. How does this look?"
I turned around and gasped. The change in Starling's look was startling. Gone was the scowling woman in clothes that didn't fit.
"You look beautiful, darling. That red really sparks off your hair wonderfully."
"Th-Thanks. Uh, how are we gonna do this? Aren't people going to freak out with you walking around like that? Not that I have a problem with it, but even that almost-human form'll probably kick up a stink."
Her question made me chuckle a little. It was going to be a good chunk of energy spent, of course, but using it to be human for the morning would be worth it.
"That form you saw was more or less how I was at the time. This is me now. We're not exactly sure why it happened, but when NotABug entered my head it made me start to change into—well—this.
"But this form allows for other tricks. You remember how I could change into other ponies?"
"Yeah."
I focused on me. The me I was just a month ago. A tall young woman with alabaster skin and indigo locks of hair that stretched to my waist. A push-up bra was in order as well as some slim white panties, an ankle-length dress of light blue, and a white blouse. Makeup, nails, and a stunning pair of heels were all similarly added to make the perfect me in my mind. Then I made me into me with a rush of magic.
The fire started around my legs. It should have been strange to lose four legs and be left with two, but thanks to the speed of the change it wouldn't be a problem. Of course, with my perception sped up, I could feel each part of me change into human, though for the first time I realized nothing seemed to make an internal organ.
My perception gained height, and I wound up bipedal again and looking fabulous. I turned and looked over my shoulder to see a shocked Starling with her shirt half on. She seemed to recover quickly.
"Why don't you use that all the time?"
"I can't keep it up all day—it uses too much magic. In Equestria, where magic is just flying free all the time, I could, but not here."
Rainbow Dash opened the door and came in. She walked straight for the clothes she'd moved into my closet and started searching through them.
"Get your running things on, Rarity," Rainbow Dash said.
"You two go running in the mornings?" Starling asked.
"Yup, we do now," Rainbow Dash said.
Looking at me with one eyebrow raised, Rainbow was daring me to tell her no. Drat, she had me cornered. But I had one last card to play.
"You've got someone to take care of the nymphs?" I asked.
"I can do that as a once-off, but don't think I can be your babysitter on a regular basis," Starling said.
Rainbow just smirked at me and pulled her shorts on.
There was nothing else for it. With a deep sigh of resignation, I changed my dress for a petite pair of shorts, stockings for socks, and my heels for running shoes. By the time I was done, Rainbow was looking for her shoes.
I walked (feeling a little odd to be using two legs) to the kitchen and found a bowl of porridge waiting for me. There was also Byte bouncing on her hooves and looking at me expectantly.
Sitting down, I started eating as quickly as I could (and still remain ladylike).
—What's the matter, dear?— I asked Byte.
—Are we going to get my computer now?—
—Later, dear, after 2 P.M.—
Byte's ears tucked down and she stopped bouncing. Her whole expression fell and she made a sad little chirp.
Reaching out with my hands and using magic to work my spoon, I picked Byte up and held her in my arms until she stopped making the sad chirps.
—You have to be patient. Why don't you play with your sisters?—
—It's not as fun, and I don't get to feed.—
Her answer intrigued me.
—How were you feeding?—
—Other players on my team really like it when we win, and even the enemy like it when we lose. Not that we lost much once I worked out the trick to winning. And some people were watching me play. They liked watching me play. I only nibbled, Mom, just like you said.—
I booped Byte on the nose with one finger and couldn't stop from sending a little flood of digital chirps to her.
—Just be careful, and make sure to check if people are talking of tiredness. How many did you feed on yesterday?—
—A hundred and twenty. Like I said, I only needed little nibbles.—
I paused before getting my next mouthful to lean down and kiss Byte on the nose. Her news was a little shocking, but being a mother made it impossible for me to doubt the adorableness of my own daughter, nor its ability to make her lovable.
—Clever. Be gentle with them, Byte, they're only human.—
—Huh?—
—They're not like Rainbow.—
—Oh! I know that. Their love is so tiny and hard to find sometimes. I have to do nice things for them and make it grow!—
The sentiment was adorable, but at the same time it made me curious.
—You farm their love?—
—Uh, I had to look it up, but that seems right. I really like making them happier.—
Kissing the end of her snout again was the least I could do to show my delight in her methods. I took another spoonful of porridge before the sound of footsteps on the floor behind me got my attention.
"Come on, Rarity. The quicker we head out the quicker we're back. Then you can go clothes shopping."
Finishing my mouthful, I leaned down and kissed Byte on the snout again.
—You can have the rest of my breakfast if you want it,— I sent.
Standing up, I set Byte back on the chair so she could reach the table with her hooves. It took just a glance at Rainbow to make a chill of delight run up my spine. I was one lucky woman.
"You relentless taskmaster, you," I said.
Walking over, I was happy to have one of Rainbow's arms curl around my back and squeeze a little. A drifting thought drew my attention to the fact her appreciation of me hadn't changed no matter how I looked. She'd said she didn't mind at all before, but I didn't expect that to actually be the case.
"Lead on, but I have a question for you."
"For me?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Okay, fire."
"You really don't care if I'm a changeling or human, do you?"
We walked out the front door, down the path, and just out the gate before Rainbow looked back at me.
"You know how everyone says I'm bi?"
The way she emphasized the words had my attention on her. I raised an eyebrow as my answer and question.
"Truth is, I've never really had a problem loving anyone because of what they are. I don't see guys and girls, I see people. People are really sexy."
Rainbow pushed herself off at a pace that would actually be a struggle to keep up with, were I just human. I did have to work harder than normal, but I caught up with her and kept pace. We went down several blocks before turning, then up several more before turning again. I realized I wasn't going to get any more of an answer like this. I stopped.
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash said.
She turned and almost fell trying to slow down and look at me.
"What'd you do that for?"
"I'm not moving," I said, "Until I have the full answer."
"There's another name for it—I found it online. Pansexual."
The way she spoke made me think she was expecting a freak-out.
I stepped up beside Rainbow and kissed her cheek.
"I just wanted to know, darling."
Her eyes showed that she caught the different emphasis on darling. She smiled at me and I saw the glint of overly confident Rainbow Dash return.
"Thanks, Rarity. It's just hard to work through. I mean, you say you're straight or gay, and people might have prejudice or not, but they know what you're talking about. Same for bi. But you say pan and they just stare at you like you just said you're from Australia or something."
"Does this mean I'm pan as well? You're not exactly my species."
"I don't think so. You still like guys, right?"
I nodded to her.
"And you like this girl, at least?"
I nodded a lot and got a kiss on the cheek for my effort.
"Then I think you're just bi. Come on, let's run!"
Tossing out the false notion that this was some kind of running away from the problem thing—albeit in a more literal than usual sense—I rejoined Rainbow for the rest of our run.
We returned to our street without incident, though I was starting to question the benefits of running while shapechanged. I didn't feel like I'd really worked at all physically—I hadn't even gotten a sweat up. Chalk up another advantage to the bug life—no unladylike exertion ruining an outfit.
"Rarity?"
Rainbow's voice broke me out of the zone we'd been running in. I blinked in surprise at how fast we were going.
"I'm pretty sure you couldn't run this fast before, but I'm not complaining one bit," Rainbow Dash said.
She then did the most amazing thing—she grabbed me and picked me up as if I weighed nothing, then she walked me up the path to the front door.
"You know this is going to earn you kisses, right?" I asked.
"I think I can handle that. Now if someone would open—"
Starling opened the door and stood back, which let Rainbow carry me all the way into the living room.
I picked my next dress to be a little more formal, but at the same time not too much to wear to a mall. Okay, maybe it was too much to wear to a mall, but I didn't care. The swirl of flames didn't affect Rainbow in the slightest, nor did she flinch from them. Once more clad in heels, stockings, and a dress, I kissed Rainbow's neck.
"Thank you," I said, my voice a whisper.
"For carrying you in?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yes, and for making me feel like a lady—a very lucky lady."
We kissed properly before she finally put me down. I became aware that she was a little taller than me still. Had I subconsciously done that? Caring about such things seemed irrelevant.
"Come along," I said to Starling, "Before I get too distracted."
Starling, however, turned to Rainbow.
"Is she always like this?" Starling asked.
"Bossy? Yeah, it's kinda her thing. She's good at it though."
If she weren't correct, I'd have had a right to feel angry. As it was, all I could do was groan at Rainbow for her unfashionably correct characterization.
—You're quiet, dear. Are you alright?— I asked NotABug.
—Sorry. Been working on making some more money and talked to Mrs. Velvet. She's having trouble generating a birth certificate for me because she can't put anyone as parents on it.—
—She could put me, darling.—
—I suggested that, and Mrs. Velvet said that wasn't the point and wouldn't help in later parts of having this approved. It's a game for her, and I can see why someone would need a lot of training for this.—
I had to remind myself that game held no negative connotations for NotABug. There was nothing childish about anything she considered a game.
—She has a plan?—
—Oh yes. She's going to take the vital records department to court.—
—She's enjoying this, isn't she?—
—Mrs. Velvet enjoys playing this game so much it's almost scary. But she's on our side.—
—I was just taking Starling shopping for a few casual things. Did you need anything?—
—Check our PO box. I ordered more phones and they're all on a business plan. If they're there, give one to Starling.—
—Will do. I'm going to take Byte and Moon shopping later for computer parts. After lunch, that is.—
In the real world I'd just started to turn and take a step toward the front door. After living much more in the moment in Equestria, I delighted in the acceleration my own world afforded me—to say nothing of how much extra control I had with the digital realm always there. I scanned the house and outside with the cameras and watched someone walking their dog down the street, then a car drove past. I saw my little car in the driveway beside Rainbow's monster, then the big van we'd apparently become the owner of was parked on the side of the street.
A glance at the TV showed Byte, 'Bee, and Bitwise all playing a game together. I looked back at Rainbow and gave her the most smoldering look I could.
"We'll be back later. Did you need anything while we're out?" I asked.
"More oats. For some reason I'm always extra hungry in the morning," Rainbow Dash said with a cocked grin.
My brain tried to work out what she meant by that. By the time I should have replied, however, I had nothing.
"What do you mean?"
"That having five hungry bugs around all the time means I eat a bit more. Kinda awesome, actually. I can eat anything I want and I'm never going to put on any weight!"
"Lucky," Starling said.
"I'll do a little food shopping the—" I said.
"No. Just the oats. I'll pick things up later. Kinda my job to keep you all healthy, right?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"So long as it includes sushi at least twice a week, I'm fine with that. Ta-ta, darling."
I grabbed my purse and walked outside with Starling. When I tried to connect to my car to unlock it, I found it wasn't responding. Then I remembered how I'd disabled wireless connections last time. Delving a hand into my purse, I was reassured to feel the key fob for the car.
Holding the fob near the car caused the car to unlock, and once I’d climbed in I re-enabled the wireless features by hand. I stretched out into the car and made its sensors my own. Temperature (both of the inside and outside, as well as the electric engine), the vision from the cameras, and a myriad of other little things that the car thought important that I should know, all became relevant to my driving.
"You have your gun permits with you?" I asked.
"They're at home. My work didn't require me to carry any of those."
I got directions from Starling and waited out front while she rushed in and grabbed her papers and permits—as well as a huge duffel bag decorated in what I assumed was military-camouflage pattern. She put the bag in the back and jumped into the passenger seat.
"If you're getting me new clothes, I don't need anything else," Starling said.
Unable to stop eyeing the bag in the back seat, I had to ask the important question.
"Is there a gun in there?"
"Yes and no."
"You know my next question."
Starling laughed.
"There is the lower receiver and trigger assembly of the rifle I was issued. Technically it counts as a gun, and it's recorded as such, but it can't fire bullets without getting a few parts."
It took me searching for the information to work out what she was talking about, but once I had that I could better understand that she had a key part of a gun, and needed more parts to have it usable. Further, the sale of those parts wasn't restricted.
I also looked up gun safety laws and found that things were fairly lax.
"Okay, gun shopping first. We can leave unloaded weapons in the car so long as it's locked. You'll want to take one with you?" I asked.
"Now you're talking. I can handle a lot of clothes shopping if we do some gun shopping first."
"There's something else I wanted to talk to you about."
I pulled away from the curb and brought up my navigation system to point me to the gun shop I'd decided on.
"I need someone to practice on. Specifically, I need someone to practice putting up anti-Suri protection on," I said.
Starling snorted a laugh.
"You saved me from that monster. I trust you—probably more than I should. How do we do this and how do we test it?"
"I've built programs to stop her attacks online, and I think a similar method will work in real life, but there'll be an added implication. Nothing will be able to mess with your emotions externally unless you want it to—even me."
"So you're saying that if this works, but something gets to me anyway, you can't fix me? Can't you build some kind of backdoor into it?"
"If I did that, anyone could use it. I could try to make it recognize me, but there's no guarantee that Suri couldn't exploit that too. If you're going to defend my kids and me, I want you completely yourself."
"See? That's the reason I want to work for you. No amount of benefits outweighs being a mind-controlling bitch. Okay, so you want to tinker around and build a barrier like that? Go for it."
My nav system—which amounted to me checking the location myself every few seconds—led me right to the car park, and I was just pulling in when something in the back of my mind finally made sense.
—How was my car back at home?— I asked NotABug.
—Mrs. Velvet said Coco knew where it would be. She got a truck to pick it up.—
—How does she keep track of all these things?—
—Beats me.—
Her reply was so close to human it made me smile.
I parked and we both climbed out. Again I disabled the wireless, but this time I resolved to attack the thing properly at some point and secure it.
"That's the first time I've really seen you do the computer stuff, you know," Starling said. "I mean, I know you and NotABug talk about it, but seeing you drive without touching anything but the steering wheel is just—is this kinda thing common with you lot?"
She reached into the back of the car, unzipped her duffel, and pulled out a black case about the size of a suitcase.
I shrugged to her question.
"So far? Yes. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but I'd like to think I'm good at it by now. NotABug is, undoubtedly, the best at it so far, but I think Moon Dancer might be better than both of us once she gets the hang of it."
Watching Starling lift her precious case out of the car, I was distracted by how well she wore the dress I'd lent her, and at the same time I cursed that Rainbow had distracted me from making Starling's face up properly.
"Rarity?"
I jerked from my contemplation.
"You were looking at me like I was a mouse and you a snake. What's wrong?" Starling asked.
"I was trying to work out what shade of eyeshadow would best highlight your lashes."
"Rainbow Dash really wasn't joking, was she?"
I tapped the lock button on my fob and walked toward the gun shop with a slightly more exaggerated than usual walk that left the long dress I wore swishing around my ankles.
"Fashion is never a joking matter, darling."
It felt like old times. For just a moment I wasn't a monster shapechanged to look human—escorting my bodyguard to buy guns—and I was just a young woman talking about fashion.
"It all depends what you're going to do with that hair. Are you going to dye back to blonde again, or will you keep it this wonderful red?" I asked.
Starling, snorting a laugh, jogged to catch up to me.
"I don't even know why I started dying it. Well, I do. It was kind of a symbol that my fight was over. I guess I should keep it red if I'm going back to—"
"Sorry to cut in, but you're not going back to soldiering. I don't want someone who follows orders, I want someone who thinks on their feet and does what they know is right."
"Well, you're stuck with me, instead."
Pushing open the door, Starling walked inside and made her way between the shelves of ammunition to the front counter. Opening the case, she revealed parts not too dissimilar to what I'd found in my searching earlier.
By the time we were walking out, I felt like I'd robbed the place. Starling hadn't spent a lot of money, but she'd ended up with a small pile of cases and packages that were going to look suspicious in my car.
When I looked over at Starling, she looked like the cat that'd eaten the canary. The next stop was the mall and getting suitable clothing for Starling. Her idea of civilian life had been two pairs of jeans, two black shirts, her work uniforms, and her old military clothes. That, in my not-at-all-humble opinion, was not right.
I parked the car at the mall and led the way inside. Every shop we reached earned another mournful sigh from Starling, but I noted that she wasn't actually complaining.
"I thought you would have at least said something about that evening dress," I said.
"How am I supposed to complain? I'd be basically the biggest hypocrite on the planet. You're buying all this stuff for me, and you didn't complain once about all the things I purchased—that you also paid for—so I'm pretty sure I can't complain now."
"Pish posh," I said. "Complaining is a woman's right. Tell me if you don't like the look of something, or if you think it doesn't match."
"Rarity?"
Her droll tone set off a little alarm. I narrowed my eyes a little.
"Yes?"
"You know more about fashion than I ever will."
"Oh."
That hadn't been what I was expecting. Compliments are always welcome, after all.
"But that doesn't change one thing. You like what you like, and you shouldn't let me dictate that to you," I said.
"I'll let you in on a secret, Rarity, and this is only because you saved my life. Have you ever seen Snow White and the Seven Dwarves?"
"Well of course."
"It was my favorite movie when I was a little girl."
I couldn’t help but smile wider at the revelation.
"I always imagined myself as the fairy godmother. What about you?" I asked.
"That's just it. I feel like you're setting me up to meet my Prince Charming. Dresses, guns, knives… you're working me up for something, but I don't have anyone I've ever really felt close to like that."
I took a good look at Starling's emotions to make sure she wasn't imbalanced only to be pleasantly surprised at how vibrant they looked. There was no evidence that Suri/Windigo's tampering was affecting this openness.
"If it's a Prince Charming you're after, I'm sorry to say that I haven't had the best of luck in finding one of those. I found a Miss Awesome instead."
"Not my thing, sorry Rarity."
"That just means we have to look harder," I said.
Looking down at my hands, I wondered if I still had any of my old tricks. I envisioned Starling wearing the most expansive ball gown I could think of, a generously supportive strapless bra, and a delightful clutch that I had at home. Feeling the potential for magic rushing through me, I pushed the outfit I'd designed toward Starling—but nothing happened.
"Drat."
"What's wrong?"
"I had this little trick I could do. I'd picture an outfit in my mind and zap someone with my magic, and they'd be wearing it. It wore off, of course, but it seems like I've lost that ability. Shame, you would have looked great in a formal gown."
Starling froze, staring at me.
"What?" I asked.
"You would have just dressed me up like Snow White without a thought about me having to go through this wearing a—"
"Pretty dress? Darling, you're wearing a dress already. When was the last time you wore something just because it was pretty?"
Starling stood stock-still for a moment.
"Look around at all the pretty shop windows and pick something that you like the look of. It doesn't need to be practical or tactical. Pick something you'd like to wear—even if just once."
"Are you serious? Buy a dress and just—"
"Shhh. Forget price tags and practicality. I'm your fairy godmother, darling. Pick something you like the look of."
That we were standing in the area of the mall with the better fashion stores helped. I noticed half a dozen gowns that would be perfect for her, but when Starling lifted her arm and pointed, I was sent looking in a different direction.
"That."
I narrowed my eyes and glared at the shop.
"You can't be serious. I already told you I'm making you a suit."
Starling kept pointing at the formal wear store and in particular at a tuxedo in the window. When I started walking in that direction, she followed along with our shopping cart full of clothes.
As we neared the window, I had to admit to myself that it was a timeless fashion. Black lines, a crisp white shirt, and a bow tie.
"Alright, I see what you mean. Come on and let's see about getting one to fit."
Sweeping into the store with my dress flowing around my legs, I looked around for an employee to hound. Fortunately, a sales assistant walked up to meet us. The young man had an easy smile that didn't look as fake as a lot of customer service people's did. He had a well-combed splash of light-green hair and a darker green complexion.
"May I help you?" he asked.
His aura swirled with curiosity, assurance, and excitement.
"We were just walking past and my friend was utterly taken with your fine tuxedo in the window. Would you have one in Starling's fit?"
I gestured to Starling, and watched the man's expression shift to surprise. His aura reflected the emotions plain on his face. He was a startlingly genuine man.
To his credit, the young man turned to Starling to address her.
"Forgive me for asking, but this is for the man in your life?" he asked.
"That spot's vacant. I want it for myself," Starling said.
The sales assistant's eyes widened a little, and I watched his aura shift more toward excitement.
"It will not be an easy fit, but our tailor will be more than up to the task. If you would just come this way, we'll have you measured," he said, his tone smooth.
"How much to have it done now?" I asked.
"The measuring?"
"The fitting."
"W-We don't do same-day fitting. You'll have to—"
The young man took a deep gulp and took a moment to recenter himself. I found myself liking his style—we were not being simple customers.
"I'll talk to our tailor. Just a moment, please."
When the man walked off to the back of the store, Starling turned to me.
"They won't be able to do that. How could they possibly manage to adjust the suit to me today?" Starling asked.
"Your build already fits the suit. Large shoulders, firm shape… Your thighs and bust are where most of the work will be done," I said.
"You don't have to say it like that."
"Like what? Starling, dear, you're a woman. If you want men's clothes, they are going to need to be adjusted to suit your body."
An older man with a striking resemblance to our sales assistant walked up to us. He was wearing a very neat white shirt, a bow tie, black trousers and suspenders.
"Now, you wish something fitted and—" the tailor said. "I know you. You worked at Priss Fashion, didn't you?"
I bobbed my head in mute surprise at the man’s knowledge.
"I knew it! Never forget a face. Well, you'd know why I can't very well do you a fitting today. Being the only tailor here means I can only do so much work," he said.
"What kind of work needs doing—apart from adjusting Starling's suit?"
"I have two gowns to adjust for a wedding tomorrow, and a pair of trousers to mend."
"What if I did the gowns for you?" I asked.
"Hold up. You're going to do work to get me that suit today?" Starling asked.
"It seems simple enough. Mr.—uh…" I said.
"Dropped Stitch, ma'am," Dropped Stitch said.
"My name's Rarity, and this is Starling. And of course I can do two dresses."
It was good to work with just my hands again. Magic was fine, but hand stitching—without rushing—was what fashion was all about. Using the size guides Mr. Stitch gave me, I had both dresses done just as he was finishing the suit.
11:22 A.M.
Starling had changed into her new suit, and even without the jacket on she cut a startling figure—though maybe it was my present tastes leaking a little. We walked out to the car and loaded the poor thing with yet more items, then made our way to the post office.
—When you're shopping for computer parts later on, can you pick up some things for me?— NotABug sent.
We were just walking into the post office when NotABug's message arrived. Focusing my attention on my digital response, the real world crawled by.
—That shouldn't be a problem. You're still having lunch with Mrs. Velvet?— I asked.
—Yup! We're having coffee at her office. Oh! You're picking up the mail? Did anything arrive?—
—I don't know yet. Curse this dratted time problem.—
—What time problem?—
Most of the time NotABug made it hard to remember she was not born in the real world. Every now and again, however, she would fail to understand something that most of us would see as obvious.
—When I pay more attention to digital things, the real world seems to move so slowly. I find myself getting bored of waiting for obvious things to happen.—
—Oh! Yeah, that's one reason I don't like spending too much time in control. Everything moves so slowly out there. Anyway, I'll make a list of things to get later. Love you.—
My response was instant and whole-hearted.
—I love you too, darling.—
It wasn't the utter slowness of things happening but my awareness of that slowness. It always went that slow, and I was always thinking this fast, but when my attention was on tracking data and reading high-speed buffers, everything was painfully slow by comparison.
Walking into the post office, I made my way to the counter to inquire about our post box. Of course the indignity of the world meant I had stand in line.
"Ahem," I said once I reached the front of the queue, "I have a PO box under—"
—It's in my name. Box 229,— NotABug sent.
"… NotABug. Box 229," I said.
"Enter your pin number on the machine."
The woman behind the counter pointed to the touch pad before me. Taking instructions from NotABug again, I punched in the needed pin. We were given two boxes that made me wonder if there would be any room left in the car.
"Thank you," I said.
We made it home with Starling carrying one of the boxes on her lap while the other rode high on the pile of things in the back seat.
11:39 A.M.
—I'm home,— I sent.
—Mom!— Byte, Bumblebee, and Bitwise all sent at roughly the same moment.
—Mom! I learned how to shapechange!— Byte sent.
'Bee and Bitwise raced out the door, but after them walked a young woman wearing a simple black dress. I stared, realizing it was Byte. She had the same color hair as mine, but hers had a lighter streak through it, and it hung down to her rump.
"Hi, Mom," Byte said.
"Look how pretty she is!" Bumblebee said.
—I helped her get her face right!— Bitwise sent.
Byte's eyes were pretty. Looking perfectly human, but with some azure color to them that matched the light streak in her hair. She looked nervous, pretty, and absolutely adorable. Her skin was an off shade of white that looked to have a slightly blue tint to it.
"You look beautiful, dear," I said.
No sooner had I spoken than Byte charged over and threw herself against me for a big hug. With my vision I could see she was using energy to maintain the shape, but nowhere near as much as I knew I was going through.
"Though, now I need to make you some dresses."
Byte sent a loud chirp of excitement through ChirpNet.
"How would you all like to help us unpack the car?" I asked.
Rainbow Dash watched us from the doorway, and when I'd finished snuggling all our girls she walked over for her own greeting.
It only took about five minutes to get everything inside, and by then I could almost feel NotABug getting a little bit antsy.
—It's time for your appointment soon?— I asked.
—Yup!— NotABug sent.
My reply was a simple one—I undid my shapechange with a rush of green fire and gave NotABug control of my body. I may have also thrown in an encouraging chirp or two as well for good measure.
The feeling of NotABug moving my body—our body—was not new, but with our changed form everything felt a little different. She stretched and looked back to watch herself as she moved.
"This feels a little different to moving before," NotABug said.
—There's more flexibility. I honestly don't know if we still have bones or not. Perhaps we should organize another afternoon with Twilight?— I asked.
—That might be a good idea,— NotABug sent.
Despite our size and shape being completely alien with regards to intimacy, Rainbow Dash still crouched down and put her arms around NotABug's neck for a hug. After a whole morning of spending my energy to remain shapechanged, it was good to have a meal—and gosh was she tasty.
"You're both hungry?" Rainbow Dash asked between kisses.
"Rarity more than me. I—" NotABug said.
Giggling, NotABug slipped out of Rainbow's hug and walked over to where the newly powered up mobile phones were. I felt the rush of energy building within her before she expelled it onto one of the devices.
It was hard not to get bubbly and excited, and I quickly found myself chirping a lot.
Rainbow caught NotABug in another hug.
"I'll look after them," Rainbow Dash said. "Go to your appointment."
"I'll be able to stay and chat," I said through the television's speakers.
It took barely a thought to abstract myself from our body and rely on the cameras inside the house for my eyes. Those same cameras, I noticed, could supply audio too, but it was annoying to keep track of all those audio streams at once.
A program to combine and adjust them for their position didn't take much work—NotABug was barely out the door before I had it up and running.
"You're still here, Rarity?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yes, darling, still here."
I was watching the entirety of our home. Rainbow sat on the couch nearest the new egg with one hand touching it, Starling was in the kitchen unpacking boxes from the gun shop, assembling her rifle (the styling of the weapon made it seem much more deadly to my mind than the sub-machineguns the bodyguards Mrs. Velvet had hired, but I knew both would prove dangerous), Byte was in the living room playing games with 'Bee and Bitwise, and the rest of the house was quiet.
A quick check through NotABug's eyes told me she was already pulling out onto the street. As a test, I tried to use some magic to grab a blade of grass outside, but nothing happened. Apparently, there was a range to how far I could reach.
—Were you trying to use magic?— NotABug asked.
—Just seeing how far I could reach. There are limits it seems.—
—Probably another thing we should ask Twilight to help us with.—
—I should probably call her and ask when would be a good time.—
Not wanting to waste a moment, I initiated a call to my friend. After three rings Twilight answered her phone.
"Hello? Rarity?"
"Yes, darling. How are you today, Twilight?"
"Well…" Twilight Sparkle said, dragging out the word. "Someone gave me a whole bunch of new ideas on how to use magic, and now I'm writing my third paper in two weeks. Apart from that, though, it's been quiet."
"There's been some changes, or rather, some things happened."
"What happened tellmeeverything!"
Never underestimate a Twilight's ravenous hunger for knowledge, though I do enjoy using it.
"Why don't you come around tonight and we'll talk about what needs investigating?"
"You're really not going to tell me until then?" Twilight Sparkle asked with a little whine in her voice. "Can I bring some tools?"
"Only passive scanning, dear. Oh, and you may look at our newest egg while you're here, too."
I quickly scrawled a reminder to myself to ask Moon Dancer to stay for dinner and got back to the call.
"You've got another egg?! How often are you—?"
"Twilight, tonight dear. All the questions you want tonight."
"What time?"
"Make it dinner, dear. Six will be fine."
She hung up before we could exchange pleasantries further, which was what I normally expected from a distracted Twilight Sparkle. She was literally the smartest woman I knew, but she was also the most focused and intense, too.
Keeping an eye on the house, I delved into the server and began bringing up my programming environment. NotABug had modified some of my source files complete with little notes as to which were accepted into the beta release of the program—which was now being used by several hundred thousand people.
—Stefanie, if you're not using this already, I'd suggest you do so,— I sent to Stefanie.
I began working while waiting for her reply. The framework for the Sword attack code was mostly complete, I just wanted to write some extra tools for it—payloads.
—Hey, Queeny. What you got?— Stefanie asked.
—This is it. TOR enabled by default.—
Stefanie's client went offline, then came back.
—I can see that it's working. Looks solid. Your the real deal, aincha?— Stefanie asked.
—If by that, darling, you mean to ask if I'll back up what I say, it's true. We also shored up TOR with some extra exit nodes. Big ones.—
—Now your making me feel bad for not trusting you at first. So, how'd the firewall logs go?—
—Well, they showed that while the system worked, it was inches away from failing. I'm working on an upgrade that uses machine learning and ChirpNet itself to coordinated defenses against high-complexity attacks.—
—Your going to network firewalls together to shut out attacks? Rarity, your scary. Your going to put me out of business.—
—Darling, I enjoy chatting, but you need to understand when to use your and when to use you're. Ahem, where was I? Oh yes. Do you want the alpha version of the new firewall? We're thinking of selling this one, so you'll need me to approve it on ChirpNet.—
—Send it to me. What do I need to do for it?—
I sent the working version of the firewall to her.
—At the moment it will literally ask me for help when something attacks it. I'll manage its updates for now, but I plan to have something much more automated configured eventually.—
—No offense, but how are you going to keep up with it? And what if you're asleep?—
—Good points. Okay, I'll swap what I'm doing over lunch to getting a processing client built, and start training a basic AI to analyze your logs.—
—Over lunch?!—
—You'd be surprised at how productive I can be.—
—You know what, whatever. Im not going to question you're word anymore. Gonna go set this up now. Thanks, Rarity.—
It would have been so easy to correct her, but she was baiting me to do it. Instead, I turned back to my work and opened a new environment to start working on the AI side of the firewall.
12:29 P.M.
—Rarity, Mrs. Velvet said she needs you to read and sign an affidavit,— NotABug sent.
—Gimme a few milliseconds,— I sent along with some chirps.
Saving everything, I pulled myself away from my coding work and into our body for a little real-world time.
—Okay, what do I need to do?—
"She's taking over now," NotABug said.
The touch was only gentle, but NotABug moved me forward into control of our body. Our body. I wasn't sure exactly when I started thinking this way, but I liked the ring of it.
"Thank you, NotABug," I said.
She hadn't used any shapechanging at all—or at least she wasn't shapechanged now. I adjusted my neck and looked down at the pile of documents before me.
"What do I need to read and sign?" I asked.
"This is an affidavit stating that you were the only known person involved in NotABug's creation. It will round out the needed documentation required to register her birth and receive a certificate. I'll also need you to sign these three statements that you are the parent of Byte, Bumblebee, and Bitwise. Miss Dash will need to cosign those."
With my magic, I lifted the papers carefully and started reading. I have to admit, reading is now a little bit trivial. My options were either to actually read the page at my full pace or take a photo and deal with it later, of course this time I did the former.
The affidavit was carefully worded to imply that I was at NotABug's birth, but was such that it could cover how NotABug came to be. Phrases like "came into the world" and "quickened" were rife, but it all made sense.
A second per page was all it took, and soon I was done with the whole thing. Setting the papers back on the desk, I signed the bottom of each page and again at the end.
"What's the next step after this?" I asked.
"If they send us a birth certificate, I'll immediately file for emancipation. If they challenge it—which they probably will—I'll have to take them to court. If the latter happens, I'll slip the emancipation application in as part of it."
Signing our daughter's birth registrations gave me a wonderful feeling. By the time the third was done, however, I couldn't help giggling and chirping.
"We'll need a fourth," I said.
"How often will you be—How best to put this? How often will you be expecting?"
"When we're not gallivanting around different worlds or trying to save them?" I asked. "One to two nymphs every day or two."
"I hope you plan to curtail that before too long. It's not that having a big family is a bad idea, but how big is too big?"
—She's right,— NotABug sent. —We need to work out how to feed without producing more eggs.—
—Well, me spending most of the morning shapechanged kept me from doing it. Maybe Rainbow had it right with exercise being the best thing ever?—
—So we both just have to keep using our magic each day to stop a buildup?—
—I think that will work. Let's try it. I'll keep using my energy up, and you try to just stick to normal. I think I remember Twilight talking about this kind of testing. Oh! That reminds me. Twilight will be coming over for dinner tonight to talk about where to go from here.—
"We have an idea we're going to try. Also, we'll be asking your daughter for more ideas," I said.
A little smile pulled at one corner of Twilight Velvet's mouth. She let out a sigh and nodded.
"I never thought my daughter's chosen path in life would intersect my professional obligations, but I'm sure she'll do her very best to help," Twilight Velvet said. "In your best interests, of course, I looked into your new friend's background. A fairly normal history, honorable discharge."
How to respond to such a declaration I had no idea. I simply nodded and hoped she'd move on.
"Well, that's all the paperwork I need from you. I'll have NotABug take the applications for your children home to have Rainbow Dash sign them. I've got high hopes for these," Twilight Velvet said.
A data packet arrived via ChirpNet that, after a quick poke, revealed it was from the router software I'd given Stefanie. It wasn't Suri/Windigo, but it was obviously an attempted probe. I told the router to drop the packets similar to it.
"Then I'll leave you two to it?" I asked.
At Mrs. Velvet's nod I nudged NotABug. The changeover was one of our smoothest yet.
—Time for more coding!— I sent.
—Have fun!—
It was the first time I realized I actually did have fun writing computer code. I made a string of happy chirps and dove back into my work.
Within an hour I had the system up and running, and I had it serving requests from several of the machines I'd installed the firewall on. There weren't a lot of legitimate attacks going on, though there were a lot of people prodding at ports—the firewall quickly put a stop to that.
—Mom! It's almost 2 P.M.!— Byte sent. —When are we going to go and pick up Moon Dancer?—
1:40 P.M.
I checked NotABug's surroundings and found her on her way to the front door of Mrs. Velvet's home.
—Yes, darling, we'll be there soon,— I sent.
—I'm ready when you are,— Moon Dancer sent.
Letting loose a few happy chirps, I once again tried to examine what my relationship was with Moon Dancer. She wasn't one of my nymphs physically, but in every way but that she felt like she belonged to our family.
Regardless, I could no more steer my own emotions than I could a freight train. Okay, that may be a bad analogy—with all my magic I might be able to derail a train.
—Is your meeting over?— I asked NotABug.
—Yup! We have applications started for all our nymphs, and Mrs. Velvet said she'd get paperwork drawn up for more. How many should we have?— NotABug asked.
—Why don't we test out ideas for slowing ourselves down, then see how things go?—
NotABug nudged me, and from one step to the next I was steering our body again. I stopped walking in the doorway and turned to face Twilight Velvet.
"Thank you, Mrs. Velvet, for doing all this for NotABug, and for me too," I said.
"You're quite welcome, Rarity. To be perfectly honest, it's a welcome change to be working for someone who I can honestly say is a good person. I won't lie, being a lawyer often means working at the behest of people I'd rather not. This? This is more than refreshing, this is exciting. When this is resolved, there will likely be new laws in place because of the groundwork I'm laying. Working for you, Rarity, is a heady cocktail."
—MOM! Why's it taking so long?— Byte asked.
—She's talking to Mrs. Velvet, Byte. Wait until she's finished,— NotABug sent.
I admit to being a little surprised by NotABug's disciplinary statement—surprised and pleased. I sent a brace of chirps and a hug to NotABug.
—She needs to understand time moves differently. Hopefully her interactions with others online will remind her the pace the world works at is not the pace we work at,— NotABug sent to me.
Squeezing NotABug into another digital hug, I gave Twilight Velvet some further pleasantries and made my way home to find Byte waiting out the front of the house.
—I can't fault her excitement, but I'm surprised she didn't jump through Twilight's computer so we didn't have to go home,— I sent to NotABug.
—She's too excited, I think. Look at her bouncing from foot to foot.—
Byte rushed over to the car as I pulled up, opened the door, and jumped inside.
"In a bit of a hurry, dear?" I asked.
"Mom!"
—Moon, dear, we're on our way,— I sent.
—Rarity, does this feel odd to you?— Moon Dancer asked me.
The direct message back was hardly surprising, I'd just asked myself that question, after all.
—Only a little. I can't pretend to understand how I feel, but I feel like you're important and part of our family. I'm sorry if that makes you feel uncomfortable,— I sent back.
—That's what's odd about it, it doesn't feel odd. My parents aren't with us anymore, and I know we were in the same classes in high school, but you feel like Mom felt.—
My heart ached for her. I was just about to respond when another message came through on the heels of the last.
—I like having family in my life again,— Moon Dancer sent.
I reached out to her through the secure connection ChirpNet gave me and hugged her. Moon seemed surprised at first, but after just a few milliseconds she hugged back. Her soft chirps told me everything I needed to know.
Words weren't needed, but I did need to keep flicking my attention back to the road.
—Time moves so much different like this,— Moon Dancer sent.
—It does. Have you tried working on the server yet?—
An excited chirp from Moon made me chirp in response. Equestrian changelings were really missing out.
—Have I? I finished all my object oriented project, and I did some code reviews on the things you've been working on. I'm copying your comment system.—
Her chirping picked up pace and I could detect a lot of excitement from it.
—I'm glad you liked it.—
—The only downside is I don't think anyone else will be able to appreciate it. Most editors don't work with the color changes you built into it.—
—Yes, but my editor does. Besides, it makes code look pretty. Aesthetic is important.—
—Wait, are you driving?!—
I could appreciate her concern, and I loved the worried little chirps she made.
—Yes. I dedicate some time to it, so don't worry.—
That's when something occurred to me. I was in my normal human form (with an adorable skirt and shirt), but I wasn't using any magic.
—You're using up love?— I asked NotABug.
—Yup! I'll let you know when I am getting low.—
Flooding NotABug with thankful chirping, I returned my full focus to driving. The trip to the college dorms wasn't long, and when I got there Moon Dancer was waiting out front with a black computer case beside her.
"We should have brought the van," I said.
Byte squirmed her way into the back of the car, and Moon opened the door to pass the infected PC back to her.
"I'm utterly at a loss. I tried to start it up and clean that—thing—off it, but it's like there's no OS on it. I couldn't even get into the EFI!"
"Windigo is quite destructive in its—in her methods. I had a chance to inspect her work in my car's entertainment system. My only option was to force a reset and let it load back up from the ROM."
"So what are you going to do with it?"
"Mom's gonna take it apart—Take Windigo apart!" Byte said.
"Essentially," I said, "Yes."
"Have you ever done something like this—? Oh right, you said it got into your car. That must have sucked," Moon Dancer said.
"It's why I shut off the WiFi and Bluetooth when I park. Now, did Byte send you a list of parts?"
"Yes, and while it's a good system, I have some improvements. The motherboard wasn't the best brand, so I swapped that for…"
I tuned out of the conversation—actually just recorded it—while I pulled the car out and started driving for the mall.
Reviewing my day and what I had lined up for the week, I promised myself to swing past my boutique—my boutique!—and take a look at what the workers have done.
—I'm so excited for our boutique!— I sent.
I got a load of various chirping back, which was the best indication I could have gotten that I hadn't sent that directly to NotABug.
—It'll be great!— Rainbow Dash sent.
—That was quick, darling. Hanging on my every word?— I asked.
—Taking photos of our egg.—
There wasn't a lot else she could have said that would have made me even happier. I chirped uncontrollably and with absolute abandon. A quick glance at our security cameras showed me that she was indeed taking pictures of our next little girl.
—I love you, darling,— I sent.
The cameras weren't fast enough to catch Rainbow's movements, but apparently her phone was.
—Love you too, Rares.—
"Wait, you're going to the mall?" Moon Dancer asked. "No, no, no. None of the computer shops in there will have anything useful. There's this place nearby that's tons better."
"Well, dear, lead on. Can you send me the address?"
A burst of data from Moon and a slight detour later, and we were parked at what looked like a medium-sized store that, given the computers and displays in the window, insisted they’d live up to Moon's promise.
Byte practically leapt out of the car and raced over to the window. She looked down along the row of machines, then back at me.
"None of these are any good. Let's try somewhere else."
"Byte!" Moon Dancer said. "Those are just their basic machines, the pre-builds. They have the good stuff inside."
Turning to look up (only slightly, but still definitely up) at Moon, Byte looked amazed.
What intrigued me was their wireless network. There appeared to be two different networks established, one of them was named FreeWiFi, the other was password protected. I poked at the password protected one, but all the usual passwords failed to get me onto it.
"Mom, can we go inside?" Byte asked.
"So long as you don't touch or connect to anything unless Moon Dancer says you can," I said.
It was impossible to keep the smile out of my voice. It seemed like it had been far too long without such smiles, and I realized that a holiday without my children wasn't a holiday at all.
"Come on, Byte. I love your disguise, by the way," Moon Dancer said.
I followed the pair inside, and the moment the door chime went off, someone approached us with a friendly smile. The young woman had a broad smile that reminded me of Pinkie Pie’s. She was wearing black slacks and a dark-gray shirt—when I looked around, I saw another man wearing the same stuff. Her skin tone was completely wrong for the dark colors. She was a pale pink (probably another reason I thought of Pinkie) with a shock of light-blue hair. Minimal makeup finished her look, though I imagine that was probably required with her uniform.
"Welcome to Computer Warehouse. What can I help you with today?"
"Hey, Icy, don't sweat it, we're shopping for…" Moon Dancer said.
She turned to look at me after the familiar greeting to the other woman.
"How many are we getting?" Moon Dancer asked.
I pondered, and decided that it was better to err on the side of caution. Besides, if worst came to worst we could always use a spare as the basis for an egg.
"Make it three," I said. "And we need some other bits and pieces too."
—NotABug, dear, what else did we need to get?—
—Just a bunch of wireless mesh networking WiFi units, and a managed switch, if they have one. Oh, and an extra router.—
"Right. Rarity, if you want to browse for the things you need, I'll get started on the computer parts," Moon Dancer said.
Her tone was a lot more confident. I wondered if it were because this was somewhere she'd been before, or if Moon Dancer felt safer with family around. Something to think about later.
"Absolutely, dear," I said.
Turning, I began browsing the shelves. The first thing that hit me was how many input devices there were. Mice, keyboards, graphics tablets, trackballs, joysticks, pedals, and more. Output seemed just as varied with screens, speakers, VR headsets, and even one of the fancy hologram projectors I remembered someone lending Fluttershy one year.
All the interfaces were redundant and useless. I had no desire for any, yet the graphics tablets seemed to call to me. I'd always been one for sketching things, and I still had hands sometimes. I hesitated for not a second and picked one up.
"You want what?!" Icy-something asked.
I turned my head to look over at the trio discussing things at the front counter. Moon Dancer looked entirely too happy with herself, Byte looked to be excited just to meet new people (let alone be buying the parts for her computer), and the saleswoman looked shocked.
—Does she want reassurance that we'll pay?— I asked.
—No. She's just used to me haggling for every part and arguing over the performance of one or another. I like being thrifty, but you said you were paying…— Moon Dancer sent.
The ellipsis bothered me. Was she asking me how much I would pay, or was she questioning if I would at all?
—Moon, is something wrong?— I asked.
—Honestly? Yes. How can you just give me a blank check and tell me you'll buy whatever I want? What if I wanted a half-a-million dollar server rack?—
—Well, that would need a specialty order, and we'd need somewhere to install it, but we could do that if you'd prefer it?—
A hundred or so milliseconds passed before I got any hint of a reply.
—You've called people's bluffs like that before?—
—Yes. It's been effective, though one person upped the ante to the point we would have become highly visible to anyone watching financial circles should we have gone through with it. As it is, however, I could get you your own server if you wished?—
—I don't mind sharing. Thanks, Rarity.—
—You're welcome, dear. We'll probably be upgrading the server shortly. NotABug purchased a house nearby to mine, and we're fitting out the basement as a little datacenter.—
—A house?—
—Yes. Would you like one?—
—When I graduate. I don't want any more stress added onto this.—
I tried to ignore the conversation that had grown a little louder. Walking through the aisles of computer parts, I felt a kinship with them. It was weird but at the same time right. Suri/Windigo were the enemy of not just the living but also machines.
When I finally reached the networking devices, I needed to start doing research. First of all was finding out what NotABug had meant by mesh, then when I found out that was a peer-to-peer wireless network, I moved on to looking at the particular brands that they had. There was only one brand on their shelves that did what I wanted, and they had two models.
After reading a few comparisons between the two, I reached out and picked up all six they had on the shelf. Now with my arms full, I followed my ears to the front counter and set the networking equipment (and my tablet) on the counter, turned, and headed back to find the other things.
"Is your friend alright?" Icy asked.
"That's my mom. She's just getting stuff for my other mom," Byte said.
I felt a moment of shock. Actually, there was a second or two of shock—which was a lot for me.
"Oh. Cool. She's paying, I take it?" Icy asked.
—What do I tell her? Icy's going to want a story. We chat too much for her not to,— Moon Dancer asked.
—I wanted a computer for my daughter, and in payment for you organizing it, I'm getting you one too. Don't try to explain why I'd pay so much for your help, I'll happily play the part of rich woman who just doesn't care,— I sent.
—You know what? I'm not even surprised you found a use for high school drama class, Rarity.—
My reply was a raspberry-like chirp.
Finding myself back in the right aisle for networking equipment, I looked through their network switches—researching them as I went—and realized we absolutely weren't going to find a managed one here.
—They don't have managed switches here. Is there somewhere in town you know will have one?— I asked NotABug.
The prospect of more shopping certainly wasn't a turn-off, but I was sure my companions would want to be dropped home with their new things.
—It's okay. I'll order one to be express shipped. That shouldn't take long,— NotABug sent.
—Perhaps get two, darling?—
—Good idea. Thank you for trying, Rarity. I love you.—
—And I love you too, NotABug.—
—Mrs. Velvet said I'll need to change my name, at least officially. I picked Nora Bug.—
Memories of NotABug's earlier ambivalence to the idea of being called a bug abounded.
—You're okay with that?—
—Yeah. It turned out I just need to be told I wasn't an actual bug six thousand times before it sank in.—
We both chirped in mirthful glee.
—They had the mesh WiFi devices, and I can see a router from here. Anything specific you need in that?—
—Something good, and a few of them.—
It didn't take a lot of searching to find what I wanted. There were two different routers that were lauded for their quality, however one of them used an open-source system that would let me load on my own firewall. That didn't make it a choice at all.
I grabbed up all four of the ones on the shelf and set about heading to the front counter with them. On the counter were two growing piles of parts, and beside them was my modest pile of networking equipment and my tablet.
Sauntering up, I set the routers beside my other things.
"Two? You don't think getting a spare is a good idea? I've heard they can be ever so much trouble," I said.
—You can assuage my fears if you want. It would give your friend a moment to pick her jaw up,— I sent.
"I-I'm pretty sure this will be fine, Mrs. R. You won't have a problem with this computer," Moon Dancer said.
—Mrs. R?— I asked.
—Cut me some slack. I improvised,— Moon Dancer sent.
—Mrs. R's Fine Fashion!— Byte sent.
Then it hit me. Mrs. Try as I might, I couldn't hyperventilate for a few hundred milliseconds no matter how shocked, awed, delighted, and excited I felt. Now if only I could get Rainbow and NotABug to think that way. Perhaps I could/should/would bring it up later?
"Well, I'll take your word for it, dear. I quite liked the look of a few of these. My friend, Fluttershy, said these ones were what she used. She got four of them and solved all her problems with not getting reception in her house. I figure six should do the job for my home," I said.
"Mrs. R has a big house, Icy. We have a deal—she buys the stuff, I set it up, and I get a computer out of it. And after what happened to my old one—" Moon Dancer said.
"The old one?" Icy asked. "You only got that at the start of the year! It was only a few months old! What did you do to it?"
"I—uh—there was a brownout. Cooked everything."
Moon Dancer looked at me with concern on her face. That she didn't mention a word of Windigo or Suri made me glad.
"Oh yeah. I heard about that. Had a few others coming in with shot power supplies and network cards. Guess you got the worst of it, huh?" Icy asked.
"Yeah. Lucky me."
"Do you have everything? I'm not seeing a screen, keyboard, mouse, or camera on any of these," I said.
There were other parts missing. I could see that she didn't have one of the solid state drives that Byte had put on her list, but I didn't want to break character too far.
"We're getting to those. We both need different types of keyboards, screens, and even mice. It's a gaming thing," Byte said.
I realized I hadn't heard Byte speak much. I looked at her and came to the quick conclusion that she was overwhelmed.
—Are you alright, dear?— I asked Byte.
—It feels odd standing like this and talking so slowly all the time. How do you do it?— Byte asked me.
—Think of it the other way around. The world isn't moving slow, we are moving fast. You can out-think and out-react everyone. Just try not to talk over people too much.—
—Thanks, Mom. I'll try to handle it more. It's a little like when I was streaming on Twilight's computer. It was more fun then, though, because there were so many people to talk with at once.—
—Then do something else at the same time. I've poked at their private WiFi a few times, why not give it a try guessing the key?—
Byte sent a giggling chirp. It was the sweetest sound my girls could make, and I never got tired of it.
—q8ZUk7VXhq,— Byte sent.
I began testing it right away, it would take a few moments to connect.
—You already got it?— I asked.
—Why do you think I'm so anxious now?—
The connection came up and I saw… nothing. There was an internet connection, but apart from the details of the gateway, I couldn't see anything else.
—Segregated network?—
—Yup. Nothing fun on there except for the hidden file server. 10.1.1.200.—
I tried poking at it, tested the WiFi password, and got connected. Only then did I find the server—or at least that login—was read-only.
—Careful, Mom, you can't brute force the password on this or it will raise a warning.—
I hadn't been paying as much attention to the real world as I should. When I checked the clock, twenty seconds had passed. Moon Dancer was looking at me strange, so I played back the last few seconds to work out what happened.
—Byte, we've been caught,— I sent.
The other shop assistant had walked up behind me and, clearly, had asked if I knew anything about some odd connections on his WiFi.
I slowly turned around to face the man. Green hair slicked back, olive skin that gave him a vaguely floral look, and the same uniform Icy wore.
"Oh! That would be the app my daughter put on my phone. She said it would get me internet access anywhere there was a network," I said. "Byte, dear, does that sound like something your little program does?"
—Act nervous and agree. Look really sorry. We need to hide what we did,— I sent to Byte.
"S-Sorry. I was doing a project for school, and—and it works really good!" Byte said.
The man's eyes flicked to Icy behind us, then he let out a sigh.
"Please turn it off. All you'll find on our private network is a bunch of sick computers. You're fine to use the public WiFi," the man said. "Sorry for the confusion."
I made a point of pulling a mobile phone from my purse and tapping the screen a few times. The man seemed content because he turned and began walking back to the service counter.
—That was close,— Byte sent along with a swarm of giggling chirps.
I replied in kind—chirp wise.
—I guess we should be a little more careful around places where actually tech-savvy people are,— I sent.
—What are you two talking about? What did you do to his network?— Moon Dancer asked.
—Nothing!— Byte and I both sent at nearly exactly the same moment.
The conversation devolved into more chirping that acted like a feedback loop. I was lucky I was shapechanged or I might have chirped out loud.
For the remainder of the shopping trip, Byte and I kept clear of the WiFi. Byte and Moon picked themselves their peripherals, and in no time I was swiping my card through their reader that had a lot of zeroes on it. It took my pin and beeped happily.
I was now confronted with a problem, however.
"There's too many things to fit in my car. I'll have to call Rainbow to bring the minivan," I said.
Making a point of pulling my phone out, I ran through all the steps of a fake phone call. All while I sent a simple message.
—Rainbow, we have too much shopping to bring home in my car. We need the van, darling,— I sent.
—Are you sure I couldn't bring my car? You'll all fit in your car, so you only need to get your stuff onto the back seat and it'll be fine,— Rainbow Dash sent.
—In her car she'll get here faster,— Byte sent.
—It's totally true!— Rainbow Dash sent.
—How many cars do you have?!— Moon Dancer asked.
—Well, we have one each, technically,— I sent. —I have my car, Rainbow has her car, and NotABug did pay for the van in a round-about fashion, so that can be her car.—
—We need to get one of those ones that has self-driving stuff. Then we could operate it remotely,— NotABug sent.
—I'm fairly sure the police would get upset about that,— Moon Dancer sent.
—Rainbow, darling, can you please bring some car here? I think we upset the owner, though he seems calmer after he heard the card machine beep,— I sent.
—Yeah yeah. On my way,— Rainbow Dash sent.
—I love that diction, by the way,— I sent to Rainbow Dash.
—Some girls get off on snuggles, others on driving really fast, but both of mine like grammar. I'll be there in ten seconds flat.—
—I hope you're exaggerating.—
—Maybe.—
I replied with a loving chirp I hoped would bridge the language barrier.
"Darling? Yes, I need you to bring your car over, we can't fit all of our shopping in my car," I said and paused a moment. "Oh yes, that's fine. Thank you. Love you too."
—You love putting on a show,— NotABug sent.
—Of course. Life is a runway, darling, everyone is watching all the time. What are your thoughts on getting one of those cars that does self driving, then we just do the driving ourselves?— I asked.
—That'd be great! We could drive without even being in them!—
—Well, we could, but I think it would be safer if we only drove while in them. What color should we get?—
—Black goes with everything.—
I loved that she not only knew that but it was her first response. I was tempted to say white, to match my skin tone, but I remembered that skin color was no longer fixed in any way, shape, or form. Though I agreed with her, I wondered if something else might work too.
—Absolutely correct, though silver could be a nice backdrop,— I sent.
—But what if we were wearing light colors? It would overshadow everything with its brightness.—
—You're right, of course. Very well, a black one.—
—You were using devil's advocate, weren't you? Making me question my own choice to help me affirm it better. You knew black was the best choice for us.—
—Given how prone we are to wearing different things and looking completely different, I'd say it's a fair bet. What do you think of Byte's shyness? I think it was more a case of her struggling to behave slowly in the real world.—
NotABug sent some chirps that seemed to imply she was thinking.
—More exposure would help, but I don't want to force her to spend time interacting with people if she really doesn't want to,— NotABug sent.
—What about having her work in my boutique? Make sure she knows she can refuse, but that it would help both of us.—
—We could do that with all our nymphs. There's no reason why they can't spend a little time learning about the world by living in it, once they have enough love to shape-shift.—
—That is a great idea! How do you think the shopfitters have done?—
—Well, you could take a look on the way home, but I think if you took any path that wasn't completely direct, Byte might mutiny.—
I couldn't help but give a giggling chirp at the idea and hugged NotABug.
—You always know how to make me laugh. I'll figure something out, even if it's just driving past in the street.—
—Mom, the lady asked you if you wanted help carrying your things,— Byte sent.
A quick playback of what I'd heard confirmed Byte's message.
"That would be wonderful, thank you. Hopefully Rainbow won't be too long," I said.
High-speed chatting was strange in how it happened in bursts. Now I stood trying to look bored without actually being bored, for nearly two whole minutes before the sound of a revving engine let me know my darling was here.
"Mom!" Byte said.
Byte abandoned her computer parts and raced outside, leaving Moon and myself looking at each other with knowing smiles.
"I heard you tell Integra you wanted help getting your things out," the man from earlier asked.
Surprising me, he picked up a stack of parts without another word and started carrying them outside. I quickly grabbed a load myself and followed him.
We loaded the back seat of Rainbow's car up with boxes of computer parts and I thanked the man and woman for their help with buying what we needed. The ride home included a slight detour.
"Mom, where are we going?" Byte asked.
The problem with my children was that it was impossible to distract them from real world things without stimulating them completely within the digital world.
"Just taking a little detour to look at how my boutique is coming. The company said it would be ready by the end of today."
"Oh! But our computers will already be at home by the time we get there. What if 'Bee and Bit use them first?"
—'Bee, Bitwise, Rainbow's bringing a pile of computer bits home, could you please leave them alone until Moon has a chance to build them?— I asked.
Two acknowledging chirps were my only reply—both seemed completely focused on their own tasks.
I was about to reply to Byte aloud when I realized we were in the right street and almost at the boutique, or future boutique.
There were trucks parked on the street outside, and a large trash bin, but I could look past that at the beautiful store they were painting the insides of.
It was happening. It was really happening. My boutique was almost ready to open, and I felt like sewing!
NotABug had been keeping my shapechange up for the afternoon so far. At home I didn't need to use it, but I could reduce my magic in other ways.
Now that we were on the way home, Byte was quiet again, though I could sense much data chatter coming out of both her and Moon. I pulled up in the driveway to find Rainbow already carrying boxes of parts inside.
As always, I shut down the car's wireless before turning it off.
Before I could help, Byte and Moon raced over to Rainbow's car and liberated more boxes. I walked over too and looked at the awkward ones still inside.
—Dear, would you mind undoing your shapechange?— I asked NotABug.
—All done? My reserves were getting a little low. It's a great way to use up all our energy!—
Fire swirled around me and stole my clothes and human form. My arms turned to forelegs and planted themselves on the ground while I stretched into my true shape. Walking was easier, moving was more joyous, and I could twist in ways that would wake a gymnast green with envy. I was bug.
Power rushed up my horn at my merest thought, and I lifted all the remaining boxes out of Rainbow's car with my magic. Four big boxes and a mess of little ones followed me in a parade as I headed inside.
At the doorway Rainbow met me, raised an eyebrow at my show of magic and leaned down to kiss my cheek.
At the last moment I tilted my head up and turned it. Catching Rainbow Dash in a more intimate kiss was wonderful, thought I had to keep carrying the things inside, so it was brief.
"You really know how to say hello, don'tcha?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I'll say a lot more than hello, Rainbow. I better take these things inside or the horde will come looking for them. Thank you again, darling."
Despite 'Bee and Bitwise's earlier dismissal, they seemed just as excited about the new parts as Byte was. Moon Dancer, too, was excited, though she had a determined aura around her—unsurprising given what she was about to work with.
"Here's your other things, dears," I said.
"Thanks, Mom," Moon Dancer said.
Moon froze, blushed, and looked like she was about to explode or die of embarrassment.
—Moon, breathe. It's alright. Honestly, I'm flattered.—
—But I didn't mean to… And I just kinda felt… But I don't want to give the impression…—
I walked over to Moon, while she kept sending more confused messages, and leaned myself against her side. I regretted shapechanging back for a moment (seeing as how that made me smaller than her), but when her arms wrapped around my neck it didn't matter.
"You're alright, and you're not alone, Moon. You have sisters, and if you want to call me Mom, I'm okay with that too. You still carry something of my daughter inside you."
"I cried for a week. I cried until I had to go to hospital because I was so dehydrated. It felt like the world crumbled around me, and I couldn't see a future anymore," Moon Dancer said. "B-But I see one now."
Sitting down, I pulled Moon closer with my magic and wrapped one foreleg around her shoulder. She cried, she chirped, and I felt terrified for her. I wanted to wrap her up and tell her it would all be okay, I wanted it to all be okay too, of course, but Moon Dancer had been dropped into this without her even getting a say.
I couldn't fix things. I couldn't use magic to make everything "better". What I could do was hug Moon while she cried and simply accept her.
Her tears lasted nearly fifteen minutes, and she kept hugging me for five more after that. Byte, thankfully, kept herself busy opening boxes and carefully carrying the parts into the kitchen.
When Moon Dancer finally let go, she looked exactly like she'd spent fifteen minutes crying against a bug monster's shoulder. I stood up and used my magic to take her hand.
"W-What are you doing?" Moon Dancer asked.
"You need a shower and a change of clothes. Come along."
I gave her no excuses and she offered me none. I led her through to the bathroom and left her to freshen herself up.
With that taken care of, I rushed through to my sewing room and my magic flared to life. There was something more important than money, my boutique, or even the Suri/Windigo problem—Moon Dancer needed something that would make her feel better.
Her colors were autumn, and I still had some bolts of fabric that would work for her.
My magic fractured into a dozen hands. I cut, sewed, hand-stitched, and measured out more fabric for additional outfits. By the time I heard the water shut off in the bathroom I had one outfit completed and two more half-done.
I was amazed by how well I could hear things with my buggy ears. They mostly stayed folded back, but even without the ponies' directed hearing I could hear Moon Dancer dry herself off and let out a sigh.
—Are you done in there, dear? I have something for you,— I sent.
—Oh! Uh, almost. I just have to get dressed and I'll be right out.—
—Hold off on getting dressed for a moment. Here.—
I floated the dress across to the bathroom using the cameras in the house to guide it. I knocked politely and slipped the dress in through the crack Moon opened.
—Rarity! You just made this?!—
—Put it on and let me see how it looks on you.—
Still working on the other outfits, I didn't pay attention to her until the door opened again and Moon Dancer came running out. The cameras in the hallway caught her movement in perfect detail. I was turning toward her as she rushed into my sewing room and wrapped her arms around me again.
"This is amazing, Rarity. How'd you make it so fast?” Moon asked and looked around the room to see multiple items floating in my magic. “Oh.”
"Alright, I can start to answer that last one on my own. You're still amazing," Moon Dancer said.
"You understand I'll need to get some more fabric to make some things in other shades, but until then I insist I finish you a blouse and skirt in matching colors."
"I could gush further about how amazing this is, but I think Byte will explode if I don't go and build her computer. Excuse me."
I knew Moon had reached the kitchen by the flood of chirping that poured over ChirpNet. Turning my full attention back to my work, I started new outfits for different palettes. I didn't realize until I'd spent the whole afternoon making outfits that I'd subconsciously based the colors off my high school friends.
5:48 P.M.
The time didn't surprise me—I'd watched it pour by while I worked. I stretched my limbs and sent a curious chirp out through ChirpNet, but also chirped more than a moderate amount in the real world. I'd spent a whole afternoon doing what I loved most.
I'd managed ten outfits in various color patterns and set each one hanging up while I let my magic cool off. Walking out of my sewing room, I saw the door to my former hat room was open. Inside I found Byte and Moon on their respective computers, each machine with its own large desk. Brand new desks.
"Hold on a second, my mom's just finished work," Byte said into a microphone.
My eldest daughter (not counting Moon Dancer) turned in a comfortable-looking chair to look at me. She beamed brightly and jumped from her chair to run across the room to me. Green fire enveloped her mid-run and turned her back to her adorable buggy self. Not that her shapechanged form wasn't cute, but I guess you could say I had a thing for how my daughters actually looked.
"I made a lot of friends, and they want to pay me so they can watch me play! I'd do it for free, but Moon said they'd get suspicious of a streamer who doesn't ask for subs. They're all much more tasty once they're happy, too!" Byte said.
Stretching one leg around my little girl, I lifted her up for a proper snuggle against my neck. There was a rush of love from her, like a jolt, and I felt like I suddenly had more reserve than I did before my sewing.
"Did you just—?" I asked.
"Well, you were using up energy all afternoon, and you did some of it to get me my computer, so I thought I'd share some," Byte said.
I was flabbergasted. My little girl was feeding quite well indeed. I kissed the bridge of her snout.
"You don't need to share, dear. I have plenty of love all around me, but mostly in Rainbow."
Byte nuzzled under my chin and clung to me like an adorable little barnacle.
"I like sharing. Besides, what am I going to do with it all?"
"You could share it with your sisters," I said. "We're going to have more, you know."
"Byte, they're asking where you went. I told them—Oh! Hi, Rarity," Moon Dancer said.
She'd only noticed me when she turned around in her chair. I set Byte back down, only for her to scamper up to her seat and shapechange as she reached it.
"Mid-game, I take it?" I asked.
"Y-Yeah. I did my homework for college in—What?!" Moon Dancer asked. "What do you mean they—I'm coming to fix it. Sorry, Rarity, gotta get back to the game."
"Okay, I'm back. What's happening?" Byte asked.
I could see both of them had sunk back into their game world, so I turned for the door and saw Rainbow grinning like a fool.
"I had to get them some desks and chairs, but they promised to keep the room clean, so I figured it was time well spent. How was your afternoon?"
Rainbow Dash was well aware of what made me weak at the knees, which is probably why she reached down and picked me up. Changeling queens might be a lot of things, but when they're on their back being carried by someone giving off enough love for a dozen changelings to feast on, they are not elegant—though they are quite chirpy.
"Dresses, a vest, and some gorgeous blouses. I think I have enough things to arrange an opening for Wednesday," I said.
"Oh?"
"Well, I need to get the finer things sorted. Fresh flowers, a stocked refrigerator, and snacks, but if I spend another afternoon like that I'll have plenty of things to cover mannequins."
"That's all stuff for tomorrow. What do you want to do now?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Twilight's coming over. I want her advice on some things, and promised she could look at our latest egg. I wanted her opinion on more eggs, and what will happen with Moon."
"More eggs? How many are you going to lay? Err, make?"
"Exactly the problem. So I inv—"
I spotted Twilight's car roll up out front.
"She's here," I said.
Twilight didn't even have a chance to knock on the door. Using my magic, I unlocked and opened the door to welcome her inside, only to see her loaded up with things in both arms, and more equipment floating behind her in purple clouds of magic.
"Hope you don't mind, but I grabbed every piece of non-invasive test gear I had—that was portable. I wanted to be ready for everything!" Twilight Sparkle said.
She was blushing and grinning almost from ear to ear. This wasn't an embarrassed Twilight, though, this was a Twilight who knew there was going to be science done.
"Darling, perfectly fine. Just know that if you bring technology in, there is a slight chance it will become an egg itself. When the urge to make an egg comes, sometimes finding the right piece of equipment is not something we can stop to do."
Twilight's eyes widened into saucers as if I'd just awarded her a Nobel Prize.
"That would be amazing! Could you do that?!"
There weren't many people who could completely silence me with surprise. Princess Luna had done it, and come to think of it her human counterpart had managed it too, but Twilight Sparkle had just joined the short list.
"You want me to create an egg in one of your pieces of equipment?"
"Yes!"
"Well," Rainbow Dash said, "If I gave you a big hug, and charged you right up, you'd probably make one, right?"
I delivered the best dramatic sigh I could.
"Which brings me to a particular topic I wanted to talk about. How many changelings are too many, and how should NotABug and I keep from reaching that point?"
"Huh. That's actually a good point. If what Rainbow said is right, you make more eggs with readily available food. Normally, this would be a huge worry for—uh—insect species. You see, you're the only one making eggs, which means this is more like a nest of wasps than it is a whole species. Without knowing the life-expectancy of your kind, it's hard to say what number your species will stabilize at."
"Exactly what I thought," I said. "Well, mostly what I thought. We're experimenting to avoid getting full enough to make an egg."
Twilight's eyes widened again. I wondered briefly if I could make her actually pass out from mentioning science too much.
I noticed movement in the room Byte and Moon were in and watched both of them seem to wake from a dream and push their chairs back from their desks. Okay, it was time to test my theory.
"Twilight, there was one other thing," I said.
I could see Moon step into the hall behind Twilight. Moon stared at Twilight for a moment before resuming her walk toward the living room.
"When we were recovering in Equestria—after the confrontation with… We didn't tell you about that, huh?" I asked.
"You didn't tell me any of it! Tell me everything! Leave nothing out!" Twilight Sparkle said.
"Don't worry, Moon, I'm going to order pizza," Rainbow Dash said.
Rainbow stepped away from Twilight and me, leaving me to explain everything solo—which I did. By the time I got to the part where we came back to Earth, the pizza had arrived.
It was only when Twilight had a slice of pizza in her hand and was distracted from science that she noticed Moon was sitting in the living room with her.
"Moon Dancer? What're you doing here?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
Moon looked to me before back to Twilight.
"That's a bit of a long story, but I guess I'm the best for telling this one," Moon Dancer said.
Carrying a slice of pizza with her magic, Bitwise sat down beside Moon and looked up at her big sister. It was just about the most adorable thing I'd seen all day.
"I can help!" Bitwise said. "The big meanie was being mean—that's Windigo—and we were both just hatched. Aunt Sweetie caught me, but my sister ran away."
"She ran all the way into me. She didn't—We don't know exactly what happened, but I had a rush of blue light and I absorbed my mobile phone," Moon Dancer said.
"Can you still talk to her, like Rarity can with NotABug?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
When we all shook our heads, Twilight seemed to shrink back a little from her excitement.
"Oh. I'm sorry, I just—"
"Twilight," I said. "I invited you here to ask questions and help us understand things a little better. We're not going to ask you to stop if we don't like the questions."
She seemed to understand what I was trying to say. She reached into one pocket and pulled out her phone, then the other and pulled out a little lapel mic. Pinning the mic to her shirt, Twilight fiddled with her phone.
"Okay, recording. One, two, three. Got it. Okay, so the first thing we discussed was egg production and the potential for restricting population growth to preserve the ecosystem—err, human race. Rarity related to me the weekend's events from her perspective, then Moon Dancer and—" Twilight Sparkle said.
"Her name's Bitwise," Moon Dancer said.
"Moon Dancer and Bitwise (one of Rarity, NotABug, and Rainbow Dash's daughters) related how things happened from theirs. The result is that Sunset Shimmer is still in Equestria with her husband Flash Sentry. The Suri Polomare-Windigo hybrid seems to be mastering its environments here on Earth, and chased an unnamed changeling nymph into Moon Dancer. The merger seems to have been destructive in a tragic manner, but has resulted in a more stable result than with Rarity and NotABug.
"For the moment we are discussing the implications of the merger on Moon Dancer, and what likelihood there will be for an unstable chain reaction of transformation. But first, I'm going to eat some pizza."
—Do you want to talk to her?— I asked NotABug.
—I think you have it all covered. I was just teaching 'Bee about programming. She really likes your coloring system.—
—Mommy!— Bumblebee sent.
'Bee leapt out of the TV and bounced on all four hooves as she reached me.
—We were working on writing programs, and I rewrote a math library to be faster, and then we compiled it and tested it!— Bumblebee sent.
Using my magic, I picked 'Bee up and hugged her to me. Neither of us could or would hold back our chirps as I nuzzled her cheek.
"Please, dear, speak when there are others around," I said.
"Oh! Hi Twilight! I made math go faster!"
It only took a quick check on our build system to find out what she'd changed. I was impressed, though. Speeding up that library would mean everything we did would be a little faster.
"She rewrote some of math.h and achieved a performance gain," I said.
"You mean the math libraries in C?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
"Yeah. She's a clever little nymph, aren't you, 'Bee?"
'Bee's chirp earned her another squeeze and a nuzzle. I hadn't thought how being a mother would be—before Byte came into my life—but I wouldn't have it any other way now.
"Are you hungry? Would you like to try pizza?" I asked.
I lifted up the piece I'd taken a few bites from and offered it to her. 'Bee lunged at it and bit down, savaging the poor defenseless pizza.
"You don't have to show off," I said.
'Bee was chewing, and I could well assume she was now using my own words against me by not saying or sending anything while chewing. Deciding to join her, I took my own more sedate bite of the slice. The flavor was different to how pizza used to taste. The greasiness of the pie agreed with my palate, as did the cheese that covered it, but the crust was almost like cardboard, and the tomato not much better. In all, it tasted like I was eating a hunk of meat with cheese on top, only the cheese was about ten times more intense than the meat.
The way I felt better after eating, however, reassured me that I still needed food to live—regular food that is. A bug cannot live on love alone.
I shared the slice with 'Bee, and then fetched another piece. 'Bee, however, had other interests. She'd walked over to Twilight and poked her leg.
"Did you get your scanner fixed yet?" Bumblebee asked.
"Actually," Twilight Sparkle said, "I found the parts I needed, but I've been too busy writing things up lately to fix it."
Twilight glanced at me over 'Bee's head and raised an eyebrow in question.
"You could probably find a helper if you asked around. Perhaps someone experienced with the equipment, that knows how it works, someone like—" I said.
"Bumblebee, would you like to help me fix my scanner?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
'Bee, who had been chirping excitedly both in the real world and via ChirpNet, practically exploded.
"Yes! I've been making designs for an improved linkage, too, so it won't fail next time," Bumblebee said.
"There's one restriction on this," I said. "Twilight needs to install ChirpNet on her computer. No secure connection, no transporting through the 'net."
Turning her head from me to look up at Twilight, 'Bee looked like a lost little puppy.
"Security? I take it that stops the Suri Polomare-Windigo hybrid from doing anything?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
I winced a little at Twilight's technically correct but horrid to pronounce descriptor for Suri/Windigo. There really was no aesthetically pleasing way to put their names and concepts together.
"Well, we're not running the risk of her attacking any of us anymore. ChirpNet is becoming more than just chat, it's a secure connection that is unbeatable. Not only can't Suri break into it, she can't even find where the data is coming from or going to. You've heard of TOR?"
Twilight blinked in surprise at my question.
"Err, dark-web?"
"Exactly. ChirpNet uses TOR to not just make your data invisible, but make it untraceable. Now, there is a method for tracking down users in TOR, but someone would need to control—I'm getting sidetracked. With the implementation I wrote, it's safe."
"Rarity? You wrote this?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "The last time I mentioned computer programming to you, you locked yourself in a closet for an hour. How did you learn to code?"
"She has a lot of time on her hands," Moon Dancer said. "Like I do now. When time slips by less than a millisecond at a time, you find things to keep you busy. Programming is, at its core, pattern solving. Surely a seamstress is prime for the task."
"Precisely. Besides, it was learn to code or sit locked in my own head all the time. And it's been useful besides ChirpNet. I've built a firewall that adapts and learns about attacks so quickly that while the machines behind it look open, nothing could be further from the truth. And I'm not even going to mention the time Windigo attacked my car."
"She attacked your car?" Moon Dancer asked. "What did you do?"
I chirped in surprise at her interest but went on to explain the Bluetooth exploit I'd used, and the quick tool I'd deployed to reset the machine, though a yawn escaped my mouth toward the end of it.
—I've got you. Rest, Rarity, I'll keep things moving here,— NotABug sent.
I chirped repeatedly and hugged NotABug.
"You must excuse me, it's been a long day, and NotABug is happy to help you with any further questions. Thank you, again, Twilight," I said.
"Oh. Uh, you're welcome. I hope you sleep well."
NotABug nudged me none too soon—my mind slipped into sleep a few scant moments after she took control.
—Love you,— I sent.
Those last two words let me sink into sleep surrounded by chirps.