It was well past midnight and into the early hours of the next day, and the streets of Canterlot were mostly quiet. The bars were open, making bits hoof over hoof with all the overnight celebrants. The balls around town were winding down, and a soft quiet settled over the city as it groaned at the seams, the world in full celebration of what was soon to come. Even if it had been extended an extra day, the fact was that Sunset Shimmer’s coronation would come soon and the young alicorn would become a princess of Equestria in full.
But that was hardly on the mind of Sommerset right now. At the moment she bounded from rooftop to rooftop, lightly moving as she made her way across the Canterlot skyline, her path illuminated by the starry sky above. Sapphire Essence had opted to stay at her foalhood friends’ house, and while they had invited Sommerset to stay there as well, the unicorn had stated that she had to get up early to practice for that day’s show, so it made more sense to stay at the tents set outside the train station that were set up for the circus performers to sleep. Believing her, they all said their goodbyes and parted ways.
However, she was not anywhere near the train station, but instead in the eastern district, headed towards the Great Cathedral of the Alicorns there. The seat of the Church of Alicorns and the headquarters of the Church Knights as well, it was a foreboding place at night and probably ringed with protective spells. However, the knights were likely either asleep, tending to their nightly duties or whatever. Chances were, their eyes were not focused on the night sky and thus not on the rooftops.
Finally, as she reached the great building, she cast a spell, and a thin, nearly invisible line of starspider silk flicked out towards the tallest spire, the central bell tower. Immediately, she began to climb it, not worried at all about the weight, as the celestial arachnids were known for creating extremely durable materials and she’d spent a small fortune having this line created for her needs. Scooting up the tower, she passed an opening that was for the bell tower’s great bells to utter into the sky. A knight was dozing off there, clearly asleep during his duties and Sommerset was thankful for that; it meant that she didn’t have to spend time trying to knock him out, if not worse – a death would definitely trigger alarm bells of some kind. So ignoring him, she continued her climb, up the spire until she was at the very top.
Grabbing on to the top weathervane, which was shaped like Queen Faust’s cutie mark, she remembered the trick she’d painstakingly researched. She turned it clockwise twice, and then counterclockwise once, then pushed back. The weathervane uttered a soft click, and below her, a portion of the spire’s broach roof slid away, leaving a small opening, just big enough for a pegasus or batpony to climb through. No doubt that had been the intent, and nopony had ever expected an earth pony, much less a unicorn, to make their way up to this secret chamber.
Sliding in, she knew she had to move fast. Given the secrecy of this room, it had to mean it was carefully guarded and she was surprised there were no spells in here that she had to break apart. Casting a night vision spell, she began to look around the room. There was nothing in it, save for a weathered, ancient chest, closed though without a lock. Even without examining it she knew that it would have what she was looking for. She also knew the moment she opened it she would be setting off every alarm within the church.
She immediately flung the thing open, grabbed the book from within, and sidestepped the instantaneous spell that had been cast on the floor to teleport her likely into the dungeon of the church. Behind her the opening that she came through began to shut, and without thinking twice, she blasted it with her magic. She had seconds to move.
With no fear, she dived out the opening and let herself freefall towards the ground below, making herself as small as possible so she could reach terminal velocity faster. She cast a quick sensory spell and noted that below, there was a lot of movement in the church’s grounds; even though they hadn’t expected this to happen, it was clear that they were able to react faster than expected. The flyers would be on her soon, and they were already looking towards the skies, expecting an airborne being lofting away from the building.
Well, that would be their undoing. With less than a second left before she hit the street, she cast her spell – teleportation – and with it in concert towards the gem she’d placed earlier in the day.
A split-second later, there was a massive splash at the swimming pool at Royal Canterlot University. The pool was typically open for students who wanted to swim at night, but there would be none due to the festivities and so Sommerset hit the pool, letting the water slow her dive. She pulled out of it just before her speed let her crash against the pool’s floor, and swam to the top, glad that the charm she’d placed on the book still stuck there and thus protected it from the actions of her escape. Now, due to planning and guile, she was miles away from the Church and while they would be scouring the skies for a flier, by the time they realized it was the wrong type of individual to be looking for, she could make arrangements to hide the book amongst her equipment until she was able to depart the circus and begin her true mission.
This book, after all, was the key. The key to her vengeance, to her rightful destiny and to her fate.
And she would enjoy every moment of rubbing it in the faces of those who had wronged her.
Something was very wrong right now, Princess Cadance realized. She wasn’t sure why – she could feel an intense and powerful love in the area, and that usually meant two special someponies were going to end up celebrating said love – but at the same time there was a wrongness about it. In a sense, it was like if someone had taken her favorite crystalberry syrup she used on pancakes and replaced it with crystalberry-flavored cough medicine.
Fortunately, I got back at my maidstaff for that little prank, she thought with a soft grin before refocusing on the sensation.
There was love going on right now and it was a sick and twisted love. Sure, the emotions were raw, pure and sincere, but they were coming out wrong. Had somepony had a spell cast upon them? If that was the case, that was a big problem – a really big one.
She was just about to call it a night when there was a knock at the door. Already by it, Shining looked at his wife. “I’ll get it – it’s probably for me, anyway.” He opened it to find Arrowswift standing there.
“Heya, Shining. We have a problem.”
“Yeah….” Shining said a few minutes later. “This is a problem.”
The ballroom, which had only been cleared of patrons a few hours ago after the coronation gala ended, was now occupied once more – but in a way it hadn’t been in a few years. Tens of thousands of glowing, glittering cocoons lined the walls and ceiling, all of them strobing a soft prismatic light.
“Well, on the bright side, they’re not changelings,” commented Divine Right, who had also shown up. “Problem is, I don’t know what these are.”
“And the maidstaff found this place like this a few hours ago?”
“Yeah. Fortunately, the maid in question was a Hoof.” He gestured to a mare standing next to him.
The Hoof bowed. “Lentando Fury, at your service, Captains.” Wearing a traditional maid’s attire, she looked like a willowy and frail earth pony, seemingly all the more so by her mist gray coat, midnight blue mane and gentle cyan eyes. However, this was belied by the pair of sais she had tucked into her waist sash.
“Not being subtle, I see,” Arrowswift noted wryly.
“Given the circumstances, would you be?” the Hoof asked. “Personally, these things give me the creeps.” She shivered. “They kinda remind me of stuttermoth egg cases.”
“Stuttermoths?” Shining asked. “I’ve heard of those.”
“Yeah. You get bitten by one and you’re stuck with a stutter and jitters for weeks until the venom wears off,” Lentando commented. “My team and I were on a mission for the Princess a couple of years ago and we ran into a swarm of them in the Badlands. I got bit and I was bedridden for close to two months. Not fun at all, let me tell you.”
Something about the Hoof’s words instantly triggered a recall from Arrowswift. “Wait – stuttermoths? As in moths?” She looked at the room again and gasped, “Uh, I think I know what these are, and if so, we have serious problems.” She turned to one of the guards nearby. “Find Princess Twilight and Lady Rarity; if they’re asleep, awaken them immediately.”
Divine stopped her. “Actually, just head to Pony Joe’s. Twi usually has her after-ball party with her friends there.”
Shining looked at him. “And you would know that how, Div?”
“Um…captain of her guard division, Shining?” the younger stallion pointed out.
“Oh, yeah. Anyway, what do you have in mind?”
The Hoof looked interested as well. “I’m quite aware that Lady Twilight is versed in many things as well, Capt. Arrowswift, but I’m curious as to why Lady Knight Rarity would need to be here as well.”
“Because I think Rarity can identify these,” Arrowswift told them, “and if they’re what I think they are, we’re going to need to find a way to quarantine this part of the castle immediately.”
Precious Jewel lay her head on the bar, her mascara smeared and her eyes red from crying her heart out. She reached for her shotglass, only for another hoof to push it away gently.
“Look, kid, I get that you got dumped by your special somepony,” the bartender told her, “but it’s not healthy to just come in here and start downing apple brandy like it’s going out of style.”
“I don’t care,” she slurred. “Hit me with another. Maybe if I drink enough, I’ll forget everything.”
“Nope. What you need is some strong coffee, mare. I don’t make that here, but thankfully the diner next door is open. I’ll go get you some.” With that, he took the shotglass away and vanished from Jewel’s alcohol-soaked sight.
As he walked away, she lifted her head up and stared at the alcohol. Dozens of different varieties, from different lands and for different species. Most of it was safe for ponies to drink, though ones that were hazardous to their health were in a locked cabinet. Maybe one of those would do the trick. After all, what did she have left to live for? The love of her life was a sham, and her cutie mark as well. She would never get to live up to her cutie mark and somewhere the mare that was supposed to be her dearest intended was off canoodling with some strange alien.
Always a bridesmaid, but never a bride, right? Who am I kidding? I’ve never even been a bridesmaid! That was her life, it seemed: Precious Jewel, whose cutie mark was to be the truest love of a royal, only to be jilted by the pony she dared to have fallen in love with. Even now, she could see in her mind’s eye, her being left at the marriage altar while Princess Sunset went off and practiced “look at the mirror” with that…that…human!
Well, maybe if she was lucky, Tirek would come back from the dead and blow the place to smithereens. It wouldn’t be like she would be missed, anyway.
“I just want the pain to end,” she muttered.
“Yeah, you and me both, lady,” an equally drunk voice slurred. With what was some effort, she lolled her head in the opposite direction to look at the other end of the bar. Sitting next to her was the stallion she’d encountered earlier that night. He looked just as drunk, and unlike her, he was drinking those fancy cocktails, with the empty glasses of what were clearly downed cosmarepolitans surrounding him.
The two looked at each other, and Jewel slurred, “The love of my life dumped me for another mare.”
“So what? At least you got paid attention to.” The look in his eyes was angry, as if he had a complaint with the world and it was going to listen to him whether it wanted to or not. “I’ve spent years – years! – doing my duty and nopony ever remembers that I’m here! Do you even know what it’s like to slave away selflessly and not even so much as get a single iota of appreciation?”
“What are you even talking about?” Jewel told him. “I dedicated my life to my sweetie! Me and my honey were supposed to be together like cherries and chimichangas! And yet she dumped me for somepony else! And I don’t know what to do!”
The look in the stallion’s eyes was dismissive. “Then if you pine for her so much, why don’t you go fight for her? Why are you giving up? Don’t you have enough faith in your love for her instead of sitting here, getting drunk like an old painted nag that’s let her life pass her by?”
Something about his words seemed to press her buttons the wrong way. Lifting her head, she looked him once over and snarled, “Well, what about you? You’re here whining about how the world owes you something when it sounds like you never even really tried? What, can’t tell the boss what you want? Have you even given it a shot?”
The two stared at one another, with the same answer on both their minds: neither could really answer the question. For Jewel, it was a sobering thought. From the moment she saw Sunset Shimmer, she knew she was the one that she loved and had been willing to devote her life to. But…had Sunset ever really said anything to her about that? Had she even had more than a few fleeting words with her so-called life’s heart?
She turned to look at her cutie mark. She had always known that her cutie mark meant she was meant to love a royal, to be the wife of a prince or princess, and to be with them forever. That she would be their strength and wither to cry on when needed and their special somepony to snuggle up with when called for. And from the moment she had set her eyes on Sunset Shimmer, she had naturally thought it would be her.
But I never thought…. Her mind swam back to a few days before and despite the alcoholic haze remembered meeting the human mare that had kissed Sunset and how vulnerable that creature had been at the time. The look of confusion and despair that had been on her face and how Jewel had told the human mare how things were and how she was destined to marry Sunset. She now realized the reason the other mare had acted so strangely was because that was Sunset’s true special somepony and Jewel had just talked up grand plans in front of the one person who was living those plans.
Her love…was a lie.
Her life…was a lie.
The tears began anew, once again.
“Hey, hey, stop that,” he told her, walking over and putting his foreleg around her. “You’ll find somepony new, right? Just because that pony turned out to blow you off doesn’t mean there aren’t better hippogriffs in the sea or something like that.” He looked at her intensely and blinked. “Someone as pretty as you should find somepony with no problem at all.”
Bleary-eyed, she looked at him. “Really?”
“Trust me, you will.”
She gave him a smile.
A couple of minutes later, the bartender returned. “Hey, sorry I was late,” he commented. “The diner had to make a new pot and—”
He found himself by an empty bar, with a few bits on it; of the two ponies that had been there a few minutes ago, there was no sign. The other patrons were at their tables, still too busy drinking to have noticed that the countertop had been vacated.
Sweeping up the bits from the surface and then cleaning up the used glasses, he decided he’d just drink the coffee pot himself. Something told him it was going to be a long, long night.
In another part of the palace complex, two lovers were enjoying the moonlight and each other’s company, giggling between kisses and breathless sighs. Both of the two were in seventh heaven at the moment, their worlds filled with joy and giddiness as they celebrated their love. Seated on a marble bench in front of the rose garden and in-between kisses, Pinkie practically felt her worries and cares melt away. She was with the woman she loved and she felt desire, a sensation she hadn’t felt in quite some time, rising within her. She’d tamped it down for so long because of what had happened to her, the thing that Atlas and Cicely had taken from her – and the thing that the local ponies of the same name had unintentionally reminded her of. And yet, here it was, building within her once again.
She felt shame from that, followed by internal war with herself: should she feel this way? This was her girlfriend, after all – she should feel this way about her, more than anyone else in the multiverse! And it was clear they belonged together. The universe had long determined that she was the bride of this magnificent creature, this alien goddess, this woman that meant so much to her.
She was Sunset’s as much as Sunset was hers.
Leaning to the side, Pinkie gently pulled away from Sunset’s lips, pushed ruby and gold strands of hair to the side and began planting soft kisses on the other girl’s jawline. Sunset melted into that, her head drooping against Pinkie’s own mass of curls.
“I…” Pinkie said, partially breathless and partially not sure how to continue. She looked at her lover with an expression filled with fear and anticipation. She blushed slightly, her cheeks filling with a rosy hue. “I want you, Sunny.”
Instead of answering, Sunset gently pulled Pinkie’s to her own, bringing their lips together once more. Pinkie moaned in anticipation as the older girl gently ran her tongue over her own, and instinctively, she brought her body even closer together.
There was a flash of light and in a second, the two were gone.
“Oh, my,” pony Fluttershy said as she looked at the egg-filled chamber. “I remember seeing these when we went to help the dragons when their volcanoes started freezing over due to the Winter.” When the guards had been dispatched to Pony Joe’s to go get Rarity and Twilight, the other Bearers had elected to come along as well as several of the humans that were with them.
“Wasn’t Applejack with you at the time?” Rainbow asked her, ruffling her wings slightly as she tugged on her uniform jacket’s collar. “Speaking of which, where the buck is she?”
Princess Twilight, not wanting to lie for her friend but at the same time not wanting to fan the flames of her friends’ ire with their companion, did the split decision: “She, ah, came here with Boomer, so….”
“Well, good for her, I suppose,” pony Rarity commented, looking closer at the iridescent gossamer casings on the wall. “And if this is what I think it is, we could have some problems on our hooves.” She then related her incident earlier in the day with the nostrum shopkeeper and the butterfly that had been accidentally released from the safety jar. “I’m glad that Sassy and I survived that ordeal, but it appears we will not get off as scot-free as I had hoped.”
“Not in the least.” Reading from a book floating before her face, Raspberry Beryl. The book gave off a disquieting aura and based on the cracked leather cover that seemed to glow as if it were made from lava, it was clear who the book’s previous owner had been. “From what I’m reading here, it’s bad. Real bad.”
“Bad enough that you have to refer to that?” Princess Twilight asked her friend.
“The Clavicula Sombras Regis?” Raspberry asked. When the alicorn nodded, the archmagus gave her friend a sad look. “I had a bad feeling about it when we were called, so I summoned this immediately. Glad I did – like Rarity said, we have problems.”
“How bad?”
“At one point during the war between Equestria and the Empire, Sombra considered weaponizing them. Unfortunately, they don’t do well in cold, so all of them died.”
“Is it something we need to worry about, Razz?” the human Twilight asked, nursing her cup of hot chocolate and trying to type down what she could on her tablet at the time.
“Yeah. According to his research, ponies are extremely susceptible to the effects of an Allucinor Wing.”
“Yeah, that’s totally not good,” pony Rainbow groaned, only to receive a sympathetic pat on the head from her human counterpart.
Undeterred by her friend’s outburst, Raspberry continued to look at the others. “Other species impacted are those with magical abilities as well, especially like kitsunes and kirins.”
“Both of which are in town as well,” Princess Twilight noted.
“Yup. And last but not least, as for humans….”
“We have no idea if we are or not, so it’s best to assume that we’re in danger as well,” the human Applejack stated.
Sonata looked at her sister. “Looks like we’d better go muster the troops on deck and inform the Admiral of what’s going on.”
“Do that,” Adagio ordered, and both sisters departed. She then turned to Princess Twilight and asked, “Thing is, it was just a single butterfly and it was already in the adult stage, so how would it come up with a single egg, much less all…this?”
The alicorn, taking a cue from her fellow spellcaster, had summoned a book of her own: Lacywing’s Everything You Wanted to Know About Exotic Butterflies. “Well, it says here that Allucinor Wings aren’t really lepidopterans, but instead psychophagipterids, which may or may not be genetic ancestors of changelings.” She buried her nose in the book again. “Hrm…fascinating.”
“Twi-Twi, now’s not the time,” Pinkie admonished, pushing the book away from the alicorn’s face.
“You know shit’s hit the fan when Pinkie is taking this seriously,” pony Rainbow whispered to her counterpart, who chuckled.
“Sorry,” Princess Twilight told her fellow pony, then turned to the rest of them. “From what I’ve read, they don’t breed like normal insects do. When they feed on a strong enough source, they explode and the remains turn into eggs. Typically, the stronger the psychic energy they intake the more pieces they morph into and thus more offspring, but on average it’s no more than four or five.”
“Except that Sombra theorized if it fed on an individual with extreme repressed thoughts and a lot of magic, the Allucinor Wing could do something like this,” Raspberry added.
“Wait – something like burst in a flash of light?” pony Rarity asked nervously. The other humans immediately caught what she was hinting at.
“Tavi, Dagi, with me,” Twilight told her cousins.
“Why, unless….” Adagio instantly put two and two together and blushed furiously. “Yeah, I get it.”
The two teleported directly onto Sunset’s bed, the sea of sheets and pillows spread out for the two lovers as they continued to kiss and explore. They stopped just for a second, as if to take their breath and then started again. Pinkie’s hand came up to Sunset’s chest, fondling and caressing, and the older girl moaned, seemingly electrified by the sensation. Pinkie went forward and laid a series of kisses down her lover’s neck and Sunset pulled her in closer, as if wanting to merge their bodies.
“You’ve no idea how long I’ve wanted you, Sunny; how much I’ve wanted this,” Pinkie gasped as Sunset straddled her. Sunset’s body arched reflexively, and with a flare of light, her clothing melted away from her, leaving the redhead in a stunning black bra and panties. Pinkie knew what to do and undid the clasps, freeing Sunset’s ample chest from its bindings. Sunset shivered from the slight chill as much as the sexual anticipation coursing through her.
The scent of Sunset’s womanhood hit Pinkie hard; to her it seemed like a medley of chocolate and wild honey. Definitely a reminder her lover wasn’t really human, but Pinkie didn’t care. Nor did she care as Sunset tapped Pinkie’s clothing, leaving her only slightly more dressed. Hands went for Pinkie’s bra, and a second later a deep red one joined the black one on the floor.
Pinkie’s heart beat with desire and anticipation…but something else as well. This was what she wanted, sure, so…why did things suddenly feel off? Why was something in the back of her mind telling her that the whole situation was off? This was how things were going to be for the rest of her life: her and Sunset, two lovers, joined for eternity, right?
She reached up to kiss Sunset once more, desperate to lose herself in the abandon of her girlfriend’s lips.
And that’s when she saw Sunset’s eyes. They weren’t radiating love, or desire or anything. Her beautiful eyes – the cyan treasures that Pinkie always knew were for her – were blank and empty, as if something wasn’t there.
And then she realized: Sunset hadn’t said a single thing to her in the past couple of hours, instead just physically going through the motions.
“Sunny?” she breathed, reaching out to cup Sunset’s face to get a better look at those eyes. Eyes that normally said how much she loved and was loved, how much they desired being together.
Instead, she looked up at a face filled with lust…except for the eyes. Those empty eyes.
Something was very wrong.
“Sunny, I….” Pinkie despite feeling her body ache with desire and her nethers becoming wet with arousal, forced that from her mind. She was more than just Sunset’s girlfriend and future bride. She was Sunset’s protector, too – and that meant defending her from everything that could harm her, even if that thing might potentially be Pinkie herself.
“Sunny, no,” she said as Sunset began to tug away Pinkie’s panties. She felt her body wriggling with Sunset’s motions, moving in tandem to let the redhead free the younger girl’s womanhood from them. Pinkie’s mind railed at her body’s betrayal as Sunset finally magicked them away. A second later she moaned in ecstacy as Sunset began to kiss her body, leaving a trail of tender touches as she worked her way down.
No! Pinkie’s conscious mind screamed at herself. I need to stop this! And yet…she didn’t want it to stop. She had the chance to finally make love to the one person she really and truly wanted to, the one that was hers and that she belonged to.
But is it really love if….
With a last-gasp burst of willpower, she reached up and pulled up Sunset’s head as it was mere inches from delight. The room filled with a brief flash of blue light, and both were thrown away from the bed as if a blast of energy had slammed them both. Pinkie felt herself soar briefly through the air and straight into a vase, hearing the crash as the ceramics broke.
Ignoring the pain of the uncomfortable landing, she immediately ran to Sunset’s side. Sunset had crashed into the coffee table in the room, breaking it in two from the impact, with glass and wood scattered around the impact. “Sunny? Are you okay? Say something!”
“Ugh,” Sunset muttered, shaking her head. “I feel like I got stabbed in the side of my head, and I don’t know why. Last thing I remember is us dancing and….” She paused. “Why the fuck am I naked?” She turned to look at Pinkie, and her eyes opened wide in shock and horror.
That was not the response Pinkie had expected. Her body blushing fully, she asked meekly, “So, ah, I guess tonight is out after all?”
Back at the circus, Sommerset went into the residential tent she shared with a lot of the other performers, opened her steamer trunk and pulled out a small crystal. Time was of the essence, and the Church knights by now had to have figured out what was going on, which means they would eventually trace the book here.
Moving away from the tent, she rushed into one of the train cars, the one where the trained bugbears were kept in their cages. Because of the sensitivity of the creatures, only the bugbear tamers tended to come in here and right now they were all asleep.
Tapping the crystal, it began to glow with a rosy light. Speaking into it, she said, “I have the book – it was right where you said it was. But the knights are on the way and I need to get it out of here.”
The crystal depowered for a second, then started to glow once more. A tinny voice rang out from it: “Good. Is it ready to be sent?”
“Yes, but I don’t know how much time we have left.”
“Put the crystal on the book and I’ll activate the teleport spell. After that, you get out of there. If you’re anywhere within a hundred feet of the spell, they’ll immediately suspect you.”
“Got it. How do I get a hold of you?”
“Meet me in Clydesvale in a month. That should give me enough time to decipher the book and give you the information you need then. Now go!”
Sommerset didn’t waste any further time. She placed the crystal on the book and rushed out of the car, only catching the barest flickers of light and magic at the edge of her vision as the crystal – and the mysterious tome – vanished. Not taking a chance, she rushed away from the circus’ cars, but not to the tents. Instead, she wandered over to an old abandoned train, where she’d stashed something she had in mind for this situation.
Casting the spell, she winced as the enchanted object – a truncheon – began to beat her mercilessly. It left several bruises and she would end up with a black eye tomorrow, but it would be worth it to cover her tracks. A second later, after it drew blood, the spell ended and the truncheon burst into billions of unidentifiable wood shavings.
Staggering and in genuine pain, she stumbled back to the tents, where the circus performers were being awoken by the knights, who had, as expected, traced the path of their quarry to the trains. She stumbled and collapsed on the side of one, a surprisingly burly unicorn whose armor made it clear he was the one in charge.
“What happened to you?” he asked her.
“You can…you can stop them if you move fast enough,” she gasped, then reached for her horn, whimpering in pain. The blow there hurt like hell, but if it got her out of this, it would be the sweetest sensation ever. “I was coming back from a friend’s house when I overheard two voices. I thought they were locals looking for an autograph, but then they hit me over and over. Said I was delaying them from getting to Klugetown in time.”
“Klugetown, you said?” the knight asked.
Sommerset was just about to continue, when a pegasus in knight’s armor appeared. “Sir Thunderhooves, we just found out the red-eye train left two minutes ago. Destination is Hatchaway Falls.”
“That’s in the direction of Klugetown,” Thunderhooves commented. “Okay, we know what we have to do.” Turning to Sommerset, he said, “You rest up, Miss. Sir Flagflyer will stay here and ask some additional questions just for the record.” Looking at the other circus workers, he added, “Take care of this mare – she’s given us a critical clue towards catching a vile criminal.” Nothing more to add, the other knights rushed off towards the train station to see what information they could glean.
Flagflyer reached over and gently led her to a barrel where she could sit down. “It’s okay, ma’am,” he told her. “You’re safe now.”
“Thank you, sir knight,” she commented, wincing from the pain and at the same time laughing inwardly.
Sunset didn’t have time to say anything as the door to Sunset’s room slammed open and a second later, Twilight, Octavia and Adagio rushed in. She saw both girls in flagrante and then just lost it.
“YOU BITCH!” Twilight immediately tackled Pinkie, slugging her across the face. “I TRUSTED YOU AND YOU DID THIS TO MY SISTER!” Angry as hell, the teen immediately threw blow after blow, not worried that it was actually hurting her more than it was Pinkie.
As for Pinkie, though Twilight’s punches really didn’t hurt her at all, the fact that one of her closest friends had just attacked her shocked her to the core. “Twily! I didn’t do anything! I swear!”
“You lying bitch! It’s obvious!” Twilight cocked back another fist, only to find herself pulled away by Adagio. “Dagi! What the fuck?”
“That’s enough, Twily,” Octavia commented as she moved to Sunset’s side and was covering her with a blanket. “I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation here.” She turned to the shell-shocked Sunset, who was seated in a chair, shivering from the shock. “You okay?”
Sunset said nothing, unable to even look at Pinkie and that, more than anything, ripped her heart out.
“She’s innocent.” They all turned to see Princess Cadance standing there, looking somewhat tired, but clearly awake. “I knew there was something going on, something twisted.” The alicorn’s horn lit up and a glow surrounded Sunset’s head. “Sunset’s been under the influence of something strong enough to make her lose all willpower.” She turned to Pinkie. “And you had no way of knowing that, Miss Pie.”
Pinkie felt utterly helpless; she was still naked as a jaybird but given the circumstances, getting dressed was probably going to be very awkward, not to mention that she was still reeling emotionally from what happened. “I love her,” she said in a plaintive voice. “I would never hurt her, not in a million years.”
Cadance walked up to her and nodded. “I know. I can see that clearly.” She cast a spell and the bedsheet tore away from the bed, wrapping around Pinkie and becoming a makeshift dress. “But you’re emotionally fragile at the moment and you don’t need to be here. I’ll take care of her.”
Pinkie winced at that; she was being sent away. “But I—”
“Pinkie, just go.” Sunset couldn’t even look at her, and that hurt most of all. “Just go,” she sobbed.
Pinkie reached out to the girl she loved. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Not tonight, not ever. “Sunny….”
“C’mon,” Adagio told her, taking her friend’s arm in hers. “We can talk on the way and you can tell me what happened.” The look in the golden-haired girl’s eyes was sympathetic, and it was just enough to get Pinkie moving.
Twilight, who had just begun to digest Princess Cadance’s words, looked at Pinkie with guilty eyes. “Pinkie, I’m—”
“I know,” the girl said dejectedly as Adagio led her to the door. “I know.”
As Pinkie departed, Twilight moved to her sister’s side. “Sunny, I—” Nothing more was said as Sunset grabbed the two girls closest in her life and started crying unabashedly, and soon they wept along with her.
Seeing this, Cadance sighed. “At least some good came of tonight,” she said to no one in particular. “I just wish it would have been here.”
Jewel woke up. She found herself in an unfamiliar bedroom and in an unfamiliar bed. She then turned and found that strange stallion, sleeping next to her. She put two and two together, and….
Her ruination had finally been complete. She was no longer worthy of being married to any royal, for what royal would want a soiled mare like her? She would have to settle for second or third-best.
She sighed; maybe this guy wasn’t going to be a total loser, right?
There was a knock at the door, and a stallion in butler’s attire came in. “Ah, rise and shine, Your Hi—” He blinked, looking at Jewel. With a surprised look on his face, he said, “Well, this is unexpected.”
The stallion yawned and said, “I’m up, Spurlington.” He then turned and looked at Jewel and an equal look of surprise came over his face.
The stallion named Spurlington looked at both of them and drawled, “I’ll inform your office that you, er, will be coming in late today. And if I may be so bold as to say? It’s about time.” Giving them a playful wink, he then closed the door.
The stallion looked at Jewel. “So, uh, hi?”
“Hi yourself,” she said uncomfortably. “We…um….” She looked over at the table, seeing the remains of a magical prophylactic device. They were usually used in cases when a pony was either unfamiliar with or for some reason couldn’t cast the spell, so the crystal emitted an aura that did the same thing. Jewel recognized it as one she carried around in case of emergencies. Clearly, it had done its duty and still would, for at least another few hours, if she recalled correctly.
“Yeah,” he said, running a hoof through his mane. “I guess we did.”
“Look, I’m sorry about last night,” Jewel said. “I didn’t mean to use you like this. I think we were a bit drunk.”
“Yeah,” he admitted. “I was angry at the world because my family keeps forgetting I exist. I mean, it’s my job to keep the nation’s museums running, and yet because I’m not as famous as the other princes, they forget about me all the time. I was supposed to have a meeting with Aunt Cellie last night and yet they seemed to have had a ball instead. One I wasn’t invited to.”
Jewel blinked. “Wait – are you…?”
He blushed. “Oh, I guess we didn’t even introduce each other, did we?” He gave her an awkward smile. “I’m Prince Exhibition. So far down the line in succession that I don’t even bother using my princely title half the time. You can just call me Exi. And you are?”
Jewel looked at him, thought about it, and smiled. “The mare who just decided to give love a second chance,” she said, leaning forward to kiss him.
Adagio took a drink from her cup of coffee; it was already her third one and the sun was just barely starting to peek over the horizon. “Yeah, so….”
Pinkie looked forlorn. The cup of tea in her hand had long grown cold, and it would likely remain untouched. “Dagi….”
“I believe you, Pinkie. And I know you love Sunny, you don’t have to convince me. But you know how Twily is. She’s very protective of family, and given that we’re all more like sisters than cousins, I….”
“I would never hurt her.” The tears began to sting Pinkie’s eyes once more.
Adagio went over and hugged her friend. “You had a rough night, Pinks. Probably more than any of us. Just…get some rest. Things will be better in the morning.”
“Yeah, I don’t believe it either,” Pinkie told her. Adagio gave her an apologetic smile and departed. Pinkie waited until the door completely closed and her friend was well away from the bedroom before Pinkie said to the air, “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”
“‘T nev’r is, Dawn-hair,” a familiar voice said from behind her. The figure turned and walked to where Pinkie was and for a change, she was in a tunic and slacks, not in armor. But she still carried herself regally and the look in her eyes was sympathetic. “But yond is the price we payeth f’r protecting those we love.”
Pinkie threw the tea aside and buried her face in her hands as she wept. The figure went over and embraced her, being there for her fellow Swordbearer in her time of need.
Simple Science yawned in as exaggerated a manner as he could while keeping it natural. He was exhausted, and the pony who woke him would damn well know it. It was mere minutes ago that he’d been rudely awakened in his cell by a stern-faced guardsmare, who told him only to follow her as she led him down the dark hallways of the garrison. It was bad enough that self-righteous Element Bearer had treated him like a criminal, even as she invited herself and her lackey into his shop. Now, even the lowly guards of this place looked down their muzzles at him. Didn’t they realize he was a stallion of science and magic, a veritable learned pony amongst the unintelligible cretins that made up this place?
The guardsmare escorted him into the featureless interrogation room that by now had become so familiar to him. A simple wood table and a couple of chairs filled the room, with a couple of odds and ends on shelves along the wall. The large two-way mirror dominated the wall to his left, where he imagined more guards were seated, studying his every tic.
He yawned again as he took his seat. Science wasn’t sure what ungodly hour he’d been rousted at, but his bleary vision told him that it was not an hour most ponies were awake for. To his surprise, the guardsmare that brought him here sat down at the table opposite to him. The guardspony that had interrogated him previously wasn’t present. Nothing about her really stood out to him except for the hairclip holding her auburn mane and the no-nonsense eyeglasses she wore. Her cold expression unchanging, she passed him a steaming cup.
“Drink up,” she told him. “You’ll need it.”
The disheveled stallion took the cup graciously and downed a scalding gulp of the hot liquid, already feeling more awake and alert. “I assume there’s a good reason why you’re getting me up at Celestia-knows-what hour this is?” he asked.
“A little past three in the morning,” the guardsmare replied curtly. “Now, if you don’t mind, I was hoping you’d answer some questions for me.”
“What do you ponies want now? I’ve already told you everything I can!” he retorted. “If anything, you should be arresting that Bearer bimbo for trashing my store and causing the release of the Allucinor Wing!”
“About that: there’s been a new development. We found that butterfly of yours – or rather, the room full of eggs it left behind.”
Science was about to answer but was suddenly overcome by a phlegmy coughing fit. “Wait – room full? How many are we talking here?”
“We don’t have an exact count yet, but hundreds at the least. Enough to fill the palace’s grand ballroom.”
His eyes widened. “That shouldn’t be possible….” he gasped.
The guardsmare folded her forelegs. “And yet something tells me you know that it is.”
Science cleared his throat of more phlegm as the mare continued: “And that’s not even the worst of it: the original Allucinor Wing got to a very important member of the Royal Family. Information has not yet been made public, but let’s just say that as things are now, this is not looking good for you.” She picked up some papers that she’d brought with her and read from them. “Your original charges were gross negligence, producing large-scale restricted magical compounds without the proper permit, and possession of dangerous magical creatures without a license. An hour ago an additional charge of assault with a magical weapon was added when we found a pony in the hospital who was affected by the Allucinor Wing and thus seriously injured as a result.
She leaned over the table. “Now we can add assault on a royal person to those charges, which by itself carries a penalty twice as long as the others. You’re going to need a damn good lawyer if you ever want to live outside a cell ever again.” She snorted. “And that’s assuming Princess Celestia or Luna don’t get involved. You might end up spending some time not in a prison, but in Tartarus – or worse, you might even get fitted for your very own marble plinth.” She leaned back. “I don’t think I need to explain further what that means.”
The mare paused for a moment to let this knowledge sink in. Science tried to take a deep breath, but was finding it difficult to breathe. A bead of sweat traveled down his brow.
After a second, she shifted papers. “However, because of circumstances, the Royal Ministry of Justice is willing to reduce your sentence significantly if you’re willing to cut a deal.”
He gulped, then nodded slightly. “I’m listening.”
“Tell us where you acquired that specimen,” she told him. “Where you really acquired it – we already know you haven’t left Canterlot in the past six months and Allucinors don’t typically live past a month without feeding. Therefore, you had to have purchased it locally.”
“But I—”
She hammered the table with her hooves. “I don’t have time for your lies! If you want to see the outside ever again, you’ll tell us, now!”
Science looked around as his heart rate steadily increased. Something’s not right here, he thought to himself, but he had to focus on what was before him.
“Shouldn’t…uh, shouldn’t I have an attorney here if—”
“We don’t have the time for your little antics,” she spat at him. “We have information that this was an assassination attempt against a member of the Royal Family. We already know there’s a plot to attack the princesses during tomorrow’s coronation! And either you’re a willing lackey of these criminals, or you’re an idiot who got in over his head! Which is it?”
“But I’m not—”
“If you don’t want to end up decorating the palace gardens for the rest of existence, you’d damn well better start talking!” she hissed. “If you have any information about who gave you the Allucinor, you need to tell me now!”
“Okay, okay!” the stallion relented, coughing a little more and taking another drink to clear his throat. Am I getting sick? Of all the times…. He took a breath and looked at the guardsmare. “Look, Sergeant, I’m not a bad pony, okay? I don’t want to see anything happen to the princesses. Just…please make sure I’m protected. My source made it pretty clear that his group wouldn’t tolerate me talking.”
“No harm will befall you while you’re within these walls,” the guardsmare said solemnly.
That comforted Science a little more, though he was still finding it hard to breathe. He coughed up some phlegm and took another drink to wash it back down. “The stallion who arranged the delivery of the Allucinor Wing…I never got his name, but right away I could tell he wasn’t right in the head. Went on and on about ‘the importance of faith’ or some nonsense, and I’m pretty sure he was coming on to me at one point.” Science coughed again, then continued. “Anyway, he had a beige coat. Black receding maneline, dirty mustache and a lot of scars on his face.
“He told me I could keep it for study as long as I didn’t tell anypony I had it, but that he would need it back around the day of coronation. Didn’t think anything about it at the time, but now?” Science was about to say more, but another coughing fit cut him off.
The guardsmare, however, had apparently heard all she needed to hear, but her reaction wasn’t at all what Science had been expecting. She simply sighed, shook her head and muttered, “Dammit, Barkeep, why am I always the one cleaning up your messes?”
“Excuse me?” Science asked, and the guardsmare looked at him, but something about her expression changed. Gone was the impassive, righteous fury of a guardspony, replaced by a look of disinterested disgust as if she was looking at an insect. The change was enough to set off every instinct of danger in the stallion.
“Barkeep may be a constant source of annoyance in my life as of late,” she told him, “but you, Simple Science, are merely a disappointment.”
“What? What are you talking abou—” Science was suddenly wracked by more coughs, and a sense of panic began to set in as he realized he couldn’t stop coughing. I…I can’t breathe!
Then he looked down at the cup of coffee still steaming on the table and realized with dawning horror what was happening. As if on cue, the guardsmare who Science now knew was most certainly not a real guardspony reached into a compartment somewhere under one of her wings and pulled out a small vial.
“All you had to do was keep your mouth shut just like he told you and I would have let you have this antidote,” the mare said as she put the vial back.
A note of indignant anger rose within Science despite the fear. “You lying—!”
She looked at him as if he were a bug she had little interest in squashing. “I told you no harm would befall you within these walls, and I meant it. Come the morning, however, the guards will find you in your cell suffering what appears to be an extreme allergic reaction. They’ll have you rushed to the nearest hospital, and if the doctors are quick enough, they’ll be able to keep you alive – albeit in critical condition – for a few days. However, they’re sure to give you healing reagents that won’t work well with the specialized toxin I just gave you.” She smirked. “Either way, you won’t die here.”
Heart hammering in his chest, Simple Science crawled out of his seat and staggered to the door. He tried to call out for a guard – a real one – but all he could do was cough out disgusting wads of mucus and phlegm that still weren’t enough to clear a path through his precious airway. As his breaths became quicker and shallower, and his lungs felt ready to burst with hot mucus, he looked back at the strange mare as darkness began to claim him.
She had removed the hairclip holding her mane and where once there was a simple gray coat and auburn mane, there was now a dark green coat and a mane of red, white, black and yellow. His eyes widened as he realized he’d seen her before: her picture had been in the newspaper as the pony responsible for blowing up a Guard train, leaving a body count in her wake that was getting longer by the day.
Notorious cult assassin Corner Shot gave him a disgusted look as he passed into unconsciousness.
He knew he would never wake again.