Book Three: Uncertain Days
Chapter One
Earth. Fallow Meadows timeline. While friends new and old were searching for Merlin and Starswirl, Shining Armor and Agent Marsh were attempting to interrogate the captured Orcish prisoner. He was, of course, singularly uncooperative. Shining Armor had cast a translation spell on the prisoner, but he would answer no questions. Indeed, he barely even acknowledged that anyone else was in the room, simply singing a chant about 'the quiet darkness, the third law, and the end of all things.'
On the third day after making the capture, Armor and Marsh were sitting across from each other at a conference table, discussing how best to proceed over lunch. "He's not gonna talk." Shining said. "We've got a true believer in his cause here."
"Probably, though I still wonder if he's just more afraid of what they'll do to him than what we would." Marsh argued.
"Possible... Either way we're not getting anything out of him." Shining took a sip from his soda.
"You wouldn't happen to have any magic for forcing the truth out of someone? Because I have to level with you, the longer he stays quiet, the higher the odds some agency will decide to risk sodium amytol or some other truth drug." Marsh shook his head.
"Do those actually work?" Shining wondered.
"On humans? Kind of. On orcs? Who can say?"
"Well I hope they don't kill him. If only since it'd be a pain to catch another one."
"Tell me about-" Marsh was interrupted by a junior agent at the door. "Agent Marsh? Captain Armor? We have a high priority contact from the Equestrian government. You can speak with them in the war room."
Marsh and Shining rushed through the narrow halls of the forward base until they reached the designated room, where they found a large monitor screen turned on, with Princess Luna waiting for them. Shining bowed. "Princess."
"I won't mince words Captain." Luna said. "It has started here as well."
"Where?" Shining asked.
Luna replied "Gryphonica. Hour by hour we receive more and more refugees. They are being overrun, and based upon the reports I doubt we have more than a week before the front lines of our foe reach Equestria's own border."
"Assuming they even have to advance." Marsh muttered.
"What was that agent?" Luna asked.
Marsh had the decency to blush slightly. "Apologies Princess... I'm just wondering something: If these armies are coming from other worlds or dimensions or whatever, well, sending everyone to one place and advancing from there might make sense at first... You'd want a beachhead. But once you have that, why not just appear everywhere all at once? It doesn't make any sense for them to just keep marching from the one arrival point."
"Now that's a disturbing thought." Shining Armor sighed.
"Disturbing and valid." Luna answered. "You are correct Agent Marsh. This makes no sense."
"Or, more likely, it makes a sense we don't see yet." Shining suggested. "Princess, if I may ask, do you wish for myself and my team to return?"
"Not as yet. That is why I am speaking to you rather than Tia. She is exhausting herself in several trips bringing a team of human specialists here to work with our own army."
"We'll keep working this end as well Princess." Marsh said, "Though we're gonna need a miracle and soon."
"Indeed... I must go. There is much to do in aiding the refugees and calming the populace, the senate more than the people I suspect." Luna snorted at this last. "Keep us informed. And pray for that miracle." The screen went black.
"I'm open to ideas." Marsh said after a moment.
"Yeah, me too." Shining agreed...
XXXXX
Unity. As soon as they had arrived, Gandalf, Starswirl, and Merlin took over the basement laboratory of Golden Oaks Library, setting to work on Gandalf's plan. None of the three would reveal what they were doing, and Twilight was nervous enough that she and Spike temporarily moved out. This didn't prevent her from trying to investigate what they might have been up to, though, especially when the chance to ask questions of others knowledgeable in magic presented itself. On one occassion, she was having lunch with Tess and Nigel Baker, and decided to pick the young elf's mind for anything that might be useful.
"So, Tess... You wouldn't happen to know any uses a wizard might have for a very large amount of mythril would you?" Twilight asked, trying too hard to sound nonchalant.
Tess pondered for a moment. "Not really... I mean, as I assume you already know, metal is generally a poor substitute for gemstones or crystals in holding enchantments, though if you had to use metal mythril would be the best choice by far... But a specialized need for a lot of it? Yeah, not that I can think of."
"Nuts." Twilight complained.
"Okay Twilight, what's this about?" Nigel asked.
"Gandalf will probably be mad at me for saying anything..." Twilight sighed. "Tess, remember those two big carts the princesses sent back with us at Gandalf's request?" Tess nodded. Twilight continued "I peeked inside. They were both full of refined mythril ingots."
"Full!?" Tess' eyes went wide with shock. "But that's..."
"I know right?"
"Care to fill me in?" Nigel asked.
Twilight explained "I can't give you a precise number, since gold isn't worth nearly as much on Eqqus as on Earth... But based on what I do know of your economy, and adjusting for differences as best I can, I would estimate that a single mythril ingot is worth as much to us as over five hundred equally sized ingots of gold are to you."
Nigel was stunned. "And your princesses sent it here?"
"There were at least two hundred ingots in each cart. That's an Alicorn's ransom. In each cart. And they sent it here because Gandalf's plan needs it somehow."
"I hope it's worth it." Nigel said.
"All I know is I'm about to pull my mane out. I've offered to help but they refused me!"
"Wizard's prerogative." Tess chuckled. "Still... I could ask around. Maybe the Dwarves would know something, they do mine the stuff after all."
"Thanks, but aren't you busy helping the Doctor and Krel?" Twilight asked.
"I might be. They know science but not magic, so they asked for my input if they find anything magic related in the design or programming of those nanites. But that's for later, they've only just started examining them."
"Yeah... I kinda think everything is for later." Twilight conceded. "Okay, I've gotta go. Talk to you both later." She paid her bill and trotted out the door...
XXXXX
Fluttershy sat on a park bench, watching as the Crusaders and their friends played a game of hoofball. She was pleased to see that the children, regardless of species, were still cheerful and active; she had been concerned that fears over news of attacks on Earth, and now Eqqus, would dampen their spirits. So far, though, they seemed fine.
"Kids are resilient." A voice spoke.
Fluttershy looked to see the speaker, Micheal's mother Amanda, sitting next to her. "I'm sorry?"
"You're worried about them. But kids... They seem weak to us as adults, but they can pull the most amazing strength out of themselves when they need to."
"How did you know what I was thinking!?" Fluttershy asked.
"Let's just say 'mother's intuition' doesn't only apply to our own children."
Fluttershy mulled that over. "I see. And I'm sure you're right, but... What if they're only acting okay because they're denying the stress and fear of the news?"
"Then we deal with that. But I don't think that's it. Look.They're really playing, not just going through the motions." Amanda motioned towards the game where Scootaloo's team was winning, primarily because they had Nyma as their goalie. It was hard to get a ball past a shapeshifter after all, though Apple Bloom had managed it a couple of times. As they watched, Micheal passed the ball to Silver Spoon who bounced it off the top of her head to Sweetie Belle. The unicorn tried for a goal, only for Nyma to stretch a foreleg to nearly triple it's normal length, deflecting the ball back onto the field where at least their team managed to catch it again.
"I think you're right!" Fluttershy said, managing a smile.
"So, which one is yours?"
"Oh! Well, none of them are actually mine... I've just been taking care of Silver Spoon, what with her father still in jail."
"That was the cult kidnapping thing right?" Amanda asked. It had happened just a couple of weeks after her arrival.
"Right. Platinum Spoon still has a long time on his sentence. And even when he does get out, well, they're not sure they'll trust him with custody." Fluttershy shook her head. "It's such a tragedy. Even if Silver herself is handling it okay."
Amanda gave a slight smile. "You said she wasn't yours, and by blood no. But it sounds like she is in every other way that matters." She stood. "I have to get to work. It was nice talking to you."
As for herself, Fluttershy sat watching the game, but also thinking deeply on what Amanda had said...
XXXXX
Bert Gumbal was in his back yard, working diligently on a private 'project' that would have most certainly gotten him arrested back on Earth, had the authorities known. Here, he was working with the Sheriff's full knowledge and blessing. Before him, lined up on a table, were several glass jars which he was carefully filling with, in the words of another survivalist, "Just a few common household chemicals in the proper proportions." With the news of a new enemy, and at least a remote risk of Unity itself coming under attack in time, the survivalist had decided it was time to boost the town's arsenals to a new level. And so here he was, cautiously prepping the- "Hi! What'cha doin'?"
Bert stumbled back, nearly dropping a pair of now highly explosive devices in the process. "Damnit Dash! How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me!?"
"Seventeen." The pegasus answered honestly.
"Then why do you keep doing it!?" Bert demanded.
"Because I'm bored!"
"Bored?"
"Yes! Bored! Boooo-oooo-oooored! We had a big awesome adventure and it was sweet but now we've been back here for a week and it's boring! There's nothing happening!" Dash eyed the glass jars with unnerving interest. "These do something cool right?"
"Yeah they kill things." Bert answered bluntly.
"Well... I guess that could be kinda cool if it's bad things."
"With you around I wouldn't count on it."
"Hay!"
"I call 'em like I see 'em." Bert insisted. "But yeah, stay back from these eh? It's not C4, but this stuff still packs quite a wallop."
"Are you sure there's nothing I can do? The boredom is making me wanna scream."
"Sorry. Not today."
"Phooey."
XXXXX
Big Macintosh had never been so afraid in his life. Not when Discord escaped. Not when his sister went off into the Everfree after Nightmare Moon. Not when he had been covered in mud to hide from the whatever-it-was that stalked the farm an entire night when he was there alone. Not even when his parents had died. "Gotta do it." The stallion psyched himself up and trotted through the door labeled "Jewelry."
A bell rang as Mac entered, and a short balding man with enormous glasses so thick Mac felt sure he must be legally blind without them appeared from the back room. "Mister Apple! How can I help you today?"
"Don't rightly know how humans do this sorta thing... Looking fer maybe... ....An engagement ring?"
"Ahh yes! Well, I'm here to help. Though, the first thing we'll need is her ring size."
"Aw horseapples. How am I supposed 't get that!? Especially without her knowin'?" Macintosh hung his head.
The jeweler thought for a moment. "You know, I don't normally suggest sneaky behavior. But if you could obtain another ring that belongs to Miss Stanz and bring it here, I could size what need off of that."
"Tricky. But I can manage." Mac replied.
"Remember to find a ring you are sure you've seen her wearing since we've been here. Something old won't do."
"Right. I'll be back in a day or two. I hope..."