//------------------------------//
// Chapter 26 
// Story: Queen Rarity 
// by Damaged 
//------------------------------//

6:30 A.M.

I was tangled up in the strong limbs wrapped around me and something heavy hung off my horn.

NotABug was still asleep, and by the sound of her soft breathing so was Rainbow. I kept my eyes closed and literally bathed in the warmth of Rainbow's love. I'm not sure if a changeling can absorb food via osmosis, but it wouldn't take me too much convincing to at least get onboard with the idea.

Her breathing was so slow—probably the only time she ever did anything slowly. She was pulled right up against my underside and had me wrapped in a tight hug that was at the same time cozy and intimate. I had no idea how we weren’t doing any damage with my horn, though the mass hanging off it probably meant she and NotABug had worked something out.

I moved—I thought—imperceptibly. Nuzzling gently under her chin, I felt her limbs all tighten around me briefly, then release. Had I woken her?

But, after several seconds without her breathing speeding up, I smiled in relief. It was nice to just cuddle. It was a Sunday, and I had a lot of work ahead of me, but for now I could remain in bed with the ones I loved close.

Well, if I could do what I wanted today, I'd not only be a recognized up-and-coming fashionista and boutique for those with discerning tastes, I would also not have to fear for the lives of my family.

—You're awake, Mom?— Beta asked.

It occurred to me that even at such an early hour, there was chirping going on.

—Yes, dear. Rainbow and NotABug aren't yet.—

—I had an early night too. I spent all day digging, and then got tired. Byte gave me some love she'd gathered and I curled up on a chair in the computer room with her. What's going to happen today?—

—That depends on SuriGo. I'm sure she's going to try something, especially when she realizes I have prepared enough dresses to put on a show. When she does, I intend to retaliate as hard and swift as I can. You're going to be helping at the show?—

A furious little chirp was the swiftest answer.

—Of course! I might be the best at digging, but I'm still your daughter. Byte gave us all some lessons in shapechanging.—

Faint chirps came from several others: Bobbin, Bitwise, and Bespoke. I sent out a reassuring wash of chirps in reply, and repeated the warning about Rainbow and NotABug being asleep still.

All the chirping quietened but didn't stop.

—I'll start making breakfast. What do you want, Mom?—

—A hard-boiled egg and some toast would be wonderful,— I sent.

—Are you sure you wouldn't prefer a poached egg?—

—I would adore it if you'd cook me a poached egg, dear.—

Where she had learned such things was obvious, but it still surprised me how fast our daughters picked things up.

—I'll have breakfast ready in ten minutes.—

Which meant I needed to be up and mobile. Nuzzling Rainbow's neck a little more actively, I could hear her breathing speed up and her heart rate raise. Changeling noses—snouts—were definitely effective nuzzling equipment.

"Rarity?"

"Who else would it be, Rainy?" I asked.

Hands searched out my body, and I was surprised to find the places they landed—seemingly innocuous—turn out to be sensitive. Though, rather than sensual, her touch was more insistent. I started to giggle.

"Ya know, much as I like that name, I still have to tickle you if we're going to get out of bed in time for breakfast, because you and I both know we'd never leave otherwise."

She literally chased me off the bed with her hands. I almost fell to the floor laughing—and would have if I didn't have four legs to keep me up.

"I take back everything I said. You're the worst snuggle-partner ever," I said.

Rainbow just stuck her tongue out and, without a stitch of clothing on, walked to the bathroom. That was literally teasing and tempting me to get up and go to the bathroom too. Ten minutes… We would only have time for a quick shower, but with my waxed chitin I would be spending most of my time washing Rainbow.

As I walked into the bathroom, I couldn't help a peek in the mirror. There was a mass of cardboard taped tightly around my horn in the most unflattering—but apparently effective—manner. Removing it was a simple matter of using my magic to cut it free.

Using magic to get things done faster was cheating. Having the source of my magic beside me while I used it was double cheating,but I liked to cheat when I could do so safely. Rainbow's hair took the most work, so I focused on that while she took care of all the parts that would have distracted me.

Not that her hair wasn't distracting. Of all the wonderful range of colors that a person's hair could come in, she had a rare genetic mutation that made a rainbow. It suited her perfectly, of course, but it was always a marvel to work with. Using my magic, I loved to run a "finger" across it and watch it cascade down. Of course, being wet meant it didn't so much cascade as flop.

I rinsed out her hair for the second time and had to balance on my back hooves to press my nose into it. The smell of her shampoo was strong, but my sense of smell wasn't limited just to that. I could smell happiness and love mixed liberally with excitement.  

Nibbling on her emotions as I worked, I was soon confronted with a pair of wings growing—slowly compared to me—into being. The magic that created them was fascinating. With my enhanced senses I could watch as they seemed to swell out and grow then solidify into their wing shapes. Her hair grew and grew and grew, though the new hair was at least clean.

"Get a little worked up, did we?" I asked.

"You were nibbling again. Plus we're both naked in the shower and you're playing with my hair."

"Rainy, I'm always naked. Well, whenever I'm like this. And technically, when I make clothes by shapechanging, I'm naked then too. You know, it could be fun to go to the fashion show like that—then you'd be the only one in the room to know I was completely naked."

I blinked a few times rapidly after saying that. Where had that come from? I'd shake my head to clear the naughty thoughts, but if I did that—with my horn—I might do Rainbow an injury.

"Kinda hot, but you know I love you no matter how you look. You could wear a full-skirted gown with a train and I'd still see you, Rara."

My ego certainly didn't need stroking, though it was nice when she did. I was comfortable as what I was now.

"Darling, you say the most wonderful things."

Using magic, I swelled up and forward into my human visage and wrapped Rainbow in a hug.

—Breakfast is ready!— Bitwise sent.

—We're coming,— Rainbow Dash sent.

"That wasn't ten minutes," I said.

"It wasn't, but you don't turn down a good, cooked breakfast. We have a big day."

I whined. There was nothing else for such a situation than to give a good whine. Rainbow stepped out of the shower and left me to shapechange back, quickly rinse myself off, turn the shower off, and leave it too.

"When we started dating, I was worried that you wouldn't warm up to a serious relationship with another woman. It means a lot to me that you hit me up for intimacy."

"At first I would have said it was just the muscles. If I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine it was a guy hugging me—touching me."

"'At first'?"

"Yes. I came to realize it wasn't that at all. It was you hugging me—you touching me—that was important. Like a poet, I could wax lyrical about all the virtues of the perfect body, but I think you rubbed off on me more than either of us realized."

Rainbow unleashed the most cocky glance I'd caught to date from her. It took a few milliseconds for me to realize what she was hinting at.

"Well, maybe that a little," I said, "but it's not just that by a long shot. Being what I am has taught me to appreciate people for what's inside and how they feel. Being what I am means I can more easily see those."

"I thought you weren't going to make this into poetry?"

Using my magic, I attacked both of us with some soft, dry towels.

"I only said I could. I decided I should."

Her laughter made me bubble up inside with my own. By the time we managed to stop laughing, we were dry.

"I'm going to grab a dressing gown. We're already late by two minutes and forty-seven seconds," Rainbow Dash said.

I couldn't help myself and pranced to the door and out as Rainbow followed me up. The day felt like it had started right already. We reached the kitchen fashionably late.

Bespoke, Bobbin, and Beta were already at the table looking like young women enjoying the first meal of the day together. Their forms were perfect, though each had decided on little variation to the black and soft cerulean that was my own natural form. Their hair was shorter—much shorter—than mine and pulled up off their shoulders.

I couldn't tell which was which, but I could tell all three were in the room with us. Bitwise was at the kitchen bench. Unlike the others, she had a very unique human form. Pale white skin and a shock of orange hair, she wore a white vest, black pants, and an apron.

Bitwise turned as I walked into the kitchen and her blue eyes lit up and a huge smile spread across her face. She was using a utensil I wasn't sure I even owned to lift a poached egg onto some toast before dusting it with salt, pepper, some chives, and then she poured a creamy-looking yellow-orange sauce over it.

"We didn't have any bacon, or even ham, so you'll have to do without for today. We're going shopping next week for more food," Bitwise said.

The way she'd become so sure of herself made me smile just as much as she was. I walked over and took a seat at the table and waited for Rainbow to join me.

"How was your day working at Uma no Sushi?" I asked.

Setting a plate down before Rainbow and myself, along with cutlery, Bitwise returned to the kitchen bench.

"I had to wash rice almost all day, but Chef Kit and Chef Soba spent the whole day explaining to me why it was important and what could be done with it. There are soooo many kinds of sushi—some I couldn't even find out about online!"

She bubbled with excitement while she cooked more eggs.

I carefully cut into my egg to find a runny (though perfectly cooked) yolk inside. Using a knife and fork for toast was a little overkill, but with the sauce and the egg flowing over the edges of the toast I could see why they were needed.

Just a single mouthful of the food and I shivered. My magic almost winked out and dropped the knife and fork. Hollandaise sauce. I'd certainly had eggs Benedict before and recognized the flavor.

Another forkful followed the first, and then a third. I had to stop myself from devouring it all.

"Bitwise, dear, this is wonderful!" I said.

A rush of excited and happy chirping poured from Bitwise. I tried to keep up with my own reassuring and thankful chirping, but she was being very energetic about sending as much as she could.

"Yeah, it's great," Rainbow Dash said.

Nope, that wasn't as much chirping as she could muster. Now Bitwise had somehow doubled her chirps-per-second and hugged Rainbow (because she was closest) and then myself. I returned her hug with one foreleg—as best I could given she was larger than me—and made a few happy chirps out loud.

"It's true. This is quite delicious, dear. I'm sure if you ask Rainbow nicely, you can go shopping with her tomorrow," I said.

Rainbow turned from her food to look at Bitwise with open surprise.

"Are you kidding? If you make breakfast this awesome every day, I'll take you shopping right now. Although, this is a bit rich to be eating all the time," Rainbow Dash said.

"Weren't you just telling me that you could eat anything and not have to worry about burning off the energy?" I asked.

Her answer was to bark a laugh and take another mouthful of her toast and egg. It was relaxing and affirming to have a delicious breakfast with our children.

7:22 A.M.

With the fashion show due to start at 2 P.M., I was already starting to panic. I had clothes to prepare and a weapon to finish. Oh, and on top of that I needed to ask Stefanie and Perdition to stir up some trouble for Polomare.

Well, I could do one of those things immediately.

—Are either of you awake and interested in performing a special little favor?— I asked Perdition and Stefanie.

The wait for real-time responses was still horrible and perhaps even more so now that more people were connecting up.

—Still awake. 'Sup?— Perdition asked.

—Two things. First, you know I'm having a little fashion show today? SuriGo (Suri Polomare and Windigo) will be there. Would you happen to know of anyone who'd like to cause problems for her. The only catch is we don't want it to look like it's us doing it.—

—Yeah, I know about a dozen guys who have a bone to pick with Windigo. All I'd need to do is point them at a few surfaces they have open and you'd get Polomare off the internet for a few days. What was the second thing?—

His writing improvement was nothing short of amazing. I began working over my spear code, preparing it for compiling and obfuscation. Stefanie had set up a bunch of tools to make my program far less obvious, and it would integrate with the code further to hide it within memory.

It was moments like these that I was thankful Stefanie and Perdition were on our side. It wasn't just what they brought to the table directly, but the expertise Perdition showed when dealing with other hackers was nothing if not amazing.

—The second thing was, we worked out how to implant phones into people.—

—WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!—

—So, uh, maybe later today or early tomorrow we can get one or both of you.—

I was thankful we had more servers coming. What had at first felt like all the performance I'd ever need was now noticeably slower.

—I take it it's limited by something? What's the deal, bug queen?—

—It's our egg shells. If you hold one while holding a phone and getting zapped by myself or NotABug, your body absorbs the shell and phone.—

Examining my spear was a strange thing. It didn't feel like a weapon in any way, but I knew it only needed a command and it would attack viciously. That's when I remembered the piece of SuriGo we'd caught on a computer.

—Okay, but is a phone all it can do? What if I hold a laptop?—

Alright, he had me there. Bigger devices meant more… what? Would it let him think faster? For that matter, could I try to add more to myself? If I added a camera, would I be able to see behind me? For that matter, could I make an extra eye in the back of my head already?

—That is something we can try. I'd like to have Mrs. Velvet (our lawyer) equipped, Starling too (but she wants to wait), which brings us to you and Stefanie. We may want to be careful with what technology we use. You wouldn't want to have a laptop but no wireless beyond WiFi.—

A nudge took me by surprise. NotABug was not only awake but pushing gently to the fore. I let out a barrage of happy chirps and relaxed to let the process happen easier. The change in perspective helped me focus more on my work.

—Good morning, darling,— I sent to NotABug.

Digitally, NotABug wrapped around me and squeezed me with a tight hug.

—Good morning, Rara. I'm using that one, even if it's Rainbow's. It's really nice. Oh, and I settled on a more traditional name. How does Nora Bug sound?—

I chirped in surprise. We'd mentioned other names before, but Nora Bug was both cute and… buggy. When bug had become a euphemism for everything good, I don't know, but I liked it. It was very buggy.

—It sounds wonderful, Nora. And no, I quite like Rara. I was just talking to Perdition about him and Stefanie getting their own phones, but also about arranging a little bit of a headache for SuriGo,— I sent.

—Okay. Well, I'll bring a phone, a tablet, and a laptop. Let's see how much of this your whammy can stuff into me,— Perdition sent.

—Hold on. You're literally counting your eggshells before they've hatched. I made one egg around lunchtime yesterday, and the second one in the evening.—

That's when something occurred to me. We might have eggs hatching while we're at the show. Who would I have guard the house?

Today was becoming more and more complicated by the minute, perhaps by the millisecond.

—Lyra, Moon? I have the biggest favor ever to ask,— I sent.

Moon replied as instantly as latency would allow with a curious chirp, Lyra a fraction of a second later just sent a question mark.

—I have this fashion show today, and there's two eggs here that may hatch before the day's out. I don't suppose you two would be able to come and keep an eye on them?— I asked.

—Of course I can. I'll be there as soon as I can,— Moon Dancer sent.

—Likewise. Give me about twenty minutes and I'll be there. Are there any of your kids not going too?— Lyra Heartstrings asked.

I pulled my daughters, Rainbow, and Nora (the name was definitely growing on me) in on the conversation.

—Does anyone want to stay here while we attend the fashion show? Lyra and Moon will be hanging around to make sure everything's okay,— I sent on the new expanded channel.

Bantam was the first to send a questioning chirp, but it was to Bespoke and not me. Bespoke replied with another more firm chirp.

—I think we'll both stay here, if that's alright. I'm a little confused about the outside world still,— Bespoke sent.

The little chirps of relief from Bantam told me exactly who wanted to stay here. I reached out to both and pulled them into a hug.

—Wonderful. There you go, Lyra, you'll have some company,— I sent.

—Phew! I thought it was going to be me and Moon stuck here on our own. Do either of you two want to play some computer games?— Lyra Heartstrings asked.

Bantam let out a startled chirp, then a rush of more chirps. Bespoke wasn't far behind her in both intensity and volume.

—I was talking to Sweetie Belle earlier. Perhaps we could invite her over too?— Moon Dancer asked.

—You mean Aunt Sweetie Belle that Byte told us about?— Bantam asked.

—That's her. She's really clever with electronics and robots,— Byte sent.

Both Bespoke and Bantam were now chirping excitedly to each other, egging the other on to louder and happier sounds.

—Thank you, both of you. Today might end up being more than I'd bargained for, but it's reassuring to know you two will be here,— I sent.

—Okay, got some friends to coordinate their own attacks on Polomare for early afternoon, and another bunch who will jump in a bit later. Just send me a message when you want to do the thing with the shells. Man, I'm so looking forward to this!— Perdition sent.

His reply surprised me. Our conversation had been quiet for several minutes and I thought it was over. Apparently he'd been scheduling an impromptu war. Practical, though.

—We have two eggs currently growing. Both are larger than normal, and one is very large. I'll talk with Mrs. Velvet and Starling to see which of them wishes to go ahead today. I'm hoping that bigger eggs mean more shell and more people from each egg. We're still experimenting with that side of it,— I sent to Perdition.

—Want me to pick you and Sweetie up?— Lyra Heartstrings asked.

Moon chirped in palpable relief.

—I'd appreciate it. Want me to bring some games?—

—Heck yeah! Settlers or Descent!—

—Alright. If it comes down to just one of us, do Stef first, okay? Also, is there a reason they wouldn't want to go today?— Perdition asked.

—You'll get about a six-hour-long headache after it happens. Even Rainbow was off her game for a while. Our test subjects spent their afternoon laying on a bed and learning how to not count,— I sent to Perdition.

Nora, I realized, was sitting in the living room talking with Starling. I hadn't even heard Starling arrive, but knowing that she was here gave me a little relief. The only time I'd seen her use her weapon was when she'd tried to shoot me with a taser, yet I trusted her word implicitly. It helped that Mrs. Velvet had checked up on her history, but I felt in my heart that she was not only important to have involved, but undoubtedly good at her job.

—So it'd be a good idea to do this and then go to sleep? Anyway, I don't care about a little downtime. Hook me up when you can, okay bug queen?—

—Will do, Perdition, and thank you for helping with this.—

I tried to ignore Nora and Starling chatting, mostly to give them some privacy with it. Besides, if it was important to me, Nora would tell me later.

Nora. The name fit her well, and even slid off the tongue the same (I think, since I haven't had a chance to say it out loud) as NotA. Her last name made me smile just a little wider every time I thought about it.

Rarity Bug.

Hrmm, it has potential.

—Oh, one other thing. Would you happen to have any systems with SuriGo on them? I have my spear ready to use, and want a realistic target,— I sent to Perdition.

—Yeah, I got a few actually. I'm keeping those machines separated from anything else. Any time I plug a computer into them that doesn't have our firewall on it, it gets hacked in minutes. You want me to bring one over?— Perdition asked.

This lag was killing me. It was annoying while I was in control and aware of the real world, but when my only reference to reality was digital, it was an abomination. How Rainbow could deal with this all the time was beyond me.

—Actually, it might be safer if I come over there. I don't want anyone connected to my WiFi when I do this in case I have to actually fight her down.—

—Good idea. Wait, you're a WiFi AP?—

A quick search revealed what he meant.

—Yes, it seems so. I started doing that when my crown grew in. This isn't something I waste time questioning, not when there's so many more things that are an utter disaster-in-progress.—

—Well, come on over. I'll put on some coffee and try to wake up.—

That's when I put together what he'd said at the start of our conversation. Perdition was at the end of his day cycle, it seemed. I checked the logs of ChirpNet for his node, though they weren't any use for establishing his activity cycle—it showed him as being online since he'd gotten his phone.

—I don't want to interrupt your sleep…—

—Sleep is irrelevant. I can sleep later when you use your magic on me and I have a headache. Besides, I wanna see how good Stef's exploits are.—

—And how good my code is at using them?—

—That too. So when you comin' around?—

—Nora, darling, could I take us around to see Perdition and test my code on a live piece of SuriGo?— I asked Nora Bug.

A worried chirp was my immediate reply. I wrapped her in a hug and chirped as reassuringly as I could.

—I have to do this before tonight, Nora. Fighting SuriGo is something I can't overlook, and I want to have a weapon I can actually hit her with. I might have to resort to fighting her mentally, too. I need to do this,— I sent to Nora Bug.

—I know, Rara. It scares me (SuriGo), but what scares me more is the possibility of losing you or Rainbow. Should I call her Rainy too?— Nora Bug asked.

—She likes the nickname. I don't want to lose you either, Nora, but I remember too well the night you took up residence and when we came back and found out about Moon Dancer. I'd rather fight her than see either of those things happen again, and if that means I have to get a little violent and put my neck on the line, I will.—

A firmer stream of chirping came from Nora. Vehemence grew by the millisecond, and I'd be a fashion hack if I didn't join in with her.

—Yeah. I keep forgetting what it did to Moon. It's odd, I never forgot things before, and I don't actually forget being told about it, but it just slips to the side unless I remind myself about it.—

—Sounds like you're becoming a little human. Just let me know when you're done, so I can tell Perdition we're coming over to test the code.—

—I may be awhile. Nora is using our body at the moment,— I sent to Perdition.

—Only a few more minutes and we'll be done,— Nora Bug sent.

—Who's Nora? You mean NotABug?— Perdition sent (much later).

—Nora Bug is what NotABug chose to be a name, since the government needed a name that matched their standards. She's spent some time coming up with one.—

—Yeah, figures they wouldn't want a sentence as a name. Fits her well, and means the same thing. Bee's been visiting a lot. She's been helping me with the bug bounty and learning the ins and outs of hacking from both of us.—

—I can't exactly stand on moral high-ground and say my daughters shouldn't learn potentially illegal things. Please be careful.—

—The only things she's hacked is systems Stef and I have put up for her. We're making it a game. She's keeping us busy and teaching us new tricks, too. She found a great way to fuzz android phones that Stef is now using.—

That surprised me. Bumblebee helping to find exploits wasn't a bad thing at all, and teaching Stefanie and Perdition new tricks was also good. Drat my moral compass was spinning a lot these days, but anything that protected my family and didn't actively hurt anyone but our enemy was a good thing.

—Thank you, Perdition. It's a relief to know you haven't just handed her tools and sent her to the stock market with them.—

—Fuck no. No no no. Anywhere there's big money, there's also big security. I've seen what she has to go through to connect there, and I've told her how bad it would be to trip any of their alarms,— Perdition sent.

Nora's push was a little surprising. I felt her prod me back into control as she slipped aside. Not for the first time I wondered what would happen if one of us resisted the change, but this wasn't the time to attempt that.

My four legs, torso, tail, neck, head, and horn all filled out with feeling, and I realized I was looking at Starling. Her usual hard expression was nowhere to be seen.

"Sorry about cutting things short on you two. I need to go see Perdition and Stefanie about testing some software that should give me an edge over SuriGo," I said.

—Thank you, darling,— I sent.

We shared a hug and some reassuring chirps together as I stood up.

"It's cool. We can keep chatting on ChirpNet. This voice chat thing is pretty cool, though I'd prefer a throat mic," Starling said.

"Then get one. If you want to make a budget for security equipment, draft one up and get Miss Pommel to look over it. Your initial equipment was a gift, but I think it would be for the best if we make a solid plan," I said.

"I'm going to have to get back to you on that. Accounting was never my thing, ya know?"

"Me either, but then I came into control of a growing corporation."

Starling snorted and shook her head.

"You constantly leave me breathless, you know that? I was hoping for a job where I could slump back into my old military training and leave all the thinking up to someone else. That's not your fault, though, and to be honest it's been good to—to not be just a soldier."

"Make sure to tell me if it's too much."

"Life is always too much, but I can learn. Why do you have to go and see them rather than just having them send the stuff to you?"

She always seemed to put practical above theory, which was good for her job I guess.

"Normally, yes. In this case it's a computer with a piece of SuriGo on it. I'm going to test the weapon I made."

"You want backup? This piece may be stuck in a computer, but what if it can affect others around it?"

I had no words at first—this wasn't something I'd seen coming. She was right in every sense of the word. Starling was the only person I could rely on not to be corrupted by SuriGo's nasty tricks. Sucking up my pride, I nodded.

"That would be a good idea, actually. I'd completely overlooked that aspect of it. We don't even know how much of her is in each piece. This was part of her when she attacked my—when she attacked my daughter and chased her into Moon Dancer."

"Ouch. Well, let's go and beat it up good, then. What should your weapon do to it?"

—Hey, what's up? I'm on my way home now. These runs are getting a little out of hand…— Rainbow Dash sent.

Nora chirped excitedly in a flood at both myself and Rainbow. I followed suit, and we didn't stop until Rainbow sent a few happy-chirp emoji back.

—Now you've got me chirping too,— Rainbow Dash sent.

—It's an improvement, Rainy,— I sent.

—Definitely!— Nora Bug sent.

—Well, if it makes both of you happy, I will definitely be doing more of it,— Rainbow Dash sent.

It was a simple connection to make, but it made me inexplicably happy that she'd just make such a decision.

—Rarity's going around to visit Perdition to test out her code on a working hunk of SuriGo.—

—Oh? Want some backup?—

—I've arranged for Starling to come with me. She has that resistance to her now, and if SuriGo does get loose of the computer she's stuck in, I want her to face two threats, not two targets.—

—Hrmm. Fair enough. I'd rather be there myself, but I can totally get why you'd want Starling. I'll keep an eye out while you're both gone.—

—Thank you, darling. How much longer will you be?—

—10 seconds flat.—

"Rainbow's on her way back. She'll keep an eye on things until—" I said.

I was cut off, of course, because when Rainbow said "ten seconds flat", what she meant was about half that. The door opened and Rainbow looked around the room to get her bearings before walking over and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

Barely managing to give her a return kiss before she pulled back, I felt like a heatwave had started, and it had everything to do with the amount of love in the room. I could have held back and resisted temptation, but why should I when we needed more eggs?

Rainbow's eyes fluttered closed and she bit her lip a little.

"R-Rara, that feels about ten times more intense when I've been exercising. You'd probably better go now before I keep you here for the rest of the day," Rainbow Dash said.

Standing up, I stretched and arched my spine like a cat, but unlike at the same time—some of my joints were far more flexible than a cat. A glance Rainbow's way told me she knew that fact too.

"Bye, darling," I said.

Starling waited all the way to the car before she sighed.

"You three are completely gone, aren't you?"

All I did in reply was look up at her and raise an eyebrow.

"Okay, I can get the human-like gestures and stuff, but what you did back there with that stretch—Rainbow Dash looked like you'd just done a striptease in front of her. She really loves you no matter what, doesn't she?"

"Precisely. I can't believe how blind I was for so long. I sometimes wonder how things would have gone if not for her. I certainly wouldn't have adjusted to this so easily, to say nothing of what I would have done for food."

As Starling walked around to the passenger side of my car, I paused.

"Why don't we walk? It's just four doors down," I said.

The walk was uneventful, which is a good thing. It was good to stretch my legs, and with Starling's long stride I needed to step into a prancing trot to keep up with her.

"You know, the local dealership for those cars is going to be making a fortune off you," Starling said.

She'd obviously spotted another of the electric cars parked in the driveway of Stefanie and Perdition's house.

"I'm more than happy sharing my wealth with them. Oh, I must make a note to talk to them about helping Rainbow with their systems. I wonder if they have a license for working with their software?"

"I might be fine with doing more stuff than I learned in Basic, but I'm not going to even assume to know what you're talking about."

As she spoke, Starling walked up to the door and knocked before she stepped back from it again, and I noticed her hand stray casually to her side—near her regular holster.

"Ey, whatever it you selling, it better be chocolate-chip," Perdition said.

He had a cocky smile as he opened the door fully then stepped aside.

"Perdition, dear, I'll make a point to bring chocolate next time. I brought Starling, she has a unique talent when dealing with SuriGo, that should be proof against whatever non-digital things it wants to throw at us."

"Hol up. Ya mean it might jump out 'ere?"

"Well, more like it might start to use magic to do things out here. If it does, leave turning it off to Stefanie or myself, okay?"

"Got it. So how do you wanna hook up to it?"

I thought over my options. Cable was out—I don't know if I have a socket, and I trust Rainbow would have told me if she had seen one. WiFi was one solution, but that would require opening up a lot of other devices to potential attack.

"For a start, turn off your WiFi, your laptops, and your phones. I believe Bluetooth will be the best method. It's not too fast, few devices will be using it, and it has limited range."

"Got it."

Perdition started walking around and turning off various devices. Tablets, phones, laptops. Their living room looked more like my computer room, which didn't surprise me. Starling, on the other hand, just reached into her pocket and turned her phone off, then reached up to her ear to turn off her earpiece.

—Nora, darling, we're going to need to turn off the internet connection. I don't want this SuriGo using us as a channel to the internet,— I sent.

—Are you sure you have control of this?— Nora Bug asked.

—No, but together we can. You keep your attention on myself and the Bluetooth connection. If I don't manage to keep it contained behind a firewall, you can shut this down. Also, if you wouldn't mind helping to process requests by the firewall?—

Chirping in relief, Nora hugged me.

—I can do that!—

—I know you can, Nora. Let's do this together, okay?—

Now her chirp was determined. It was odd to be giving inspiring speeches, but we'd apparently needed it.

"Dacord!" Perdition said. "I go turn off Stef's phone and get box."

I felt Nora turn off our data connection. The whole world closed in around us and reminded me of being in Equestria again. Though, at least here we have each other.

—I love you, Nora.—

—I love you too, Rarity.—

We hugged and chirped together until Perdition returned.

"Dacord, got all turned off an' got Bluetooth dongle for this."

Looking up at Starling, I nodded to her when she looked back down at me.

"Remember, if this goes south, you pull the cables from the machine," I said.

"Got it, boss."

I took a deep breath and looked up at Perdition.

"Okay, Perdition, turn it on."

The computer took a moment for it to cycle through what was obviously its EFI, and then I felt the first tickle on my Bluetooth connection.

—That's SuriGo?— Nora Bug asked.

Shoving my firewall in place, I felt the tickle stop for a moment, then it was like being hit by the tiniest tornado ever. Nora rushed to reply to the worried firewall's chirps, but their work kept SuriGo back. For now.

I visualized myself standing on the ramparts of a digital castle, fastening my armor. At last I reached out and took up my lance. Alright, SuriGo, let's see how much you like this. I've played defense far too long.

Hefting the spear, I pointed it at the malignant thing in the distance. In my mind's eye, SuriGo looked like a fort too, but hers was less wall and more just cannons stacked in a pile. Given the way she fought, I thought it rather apt.

I dialed in the settings I wanted, aimed the spear at SuriGo, and activated it.

A pure beam of white light exploded from the end of my spear—though in reality it tunneled through the Bluetooth connection—and I began to get feedback immediately. It identified an x86_64 CPU, a standard EFI subsystem, but the OS was gone. In its place, the probe found only a hybrid form of the AI emulation software.

That was fine. My spear didn't need a targetable operating system. I immediately deployed an exploit that flashed itself into the EFI system—something SuriGo hadn't already infected.

The spear worked exactly how I wished it to. We had control of all the hardware SuriGo was running on, and I'm not even sure she noticed. Time to change that.

I turned off all but one of the CPU cores.

—The attacks on the firewall just became a lot weaker. What did you do?— Nora Bug asked.

—I have control of the hardware. I turned off most of the CPU cores so she can't think as clearly. Okay, now I want to test more aggressive settings.—

So I adjusted the lance to instead target the AI emulation system itself. I was thankful that whichever coder had initially made the thing focused on speed over security. Again I fired the lance.

My feedback this time was a little more verbose. The lance was having trouble with the hybridized emulator—it had hunks of operating system code slapped on it like some kind of Frankenstein's monster. A tiny part of me reveled in the fact I knew the old movie was titled for his monster and not the doctor himself. Score another point to Rainy's nagging me to watch horror and action movies.

But then it found the buffer it'd been looking for and poured junk into it—and then one piece of important code. There was a brief moment when SuriGo shrieked, and then silence.

SuriGo wasn't gone, but I could see that the lance had taken full control of the hybrid emulator and had locked down SuriGo's process.

Opening a text input, I opened a shell connection to the emulator's prisoner.

 I sent.

 SuriGo sent.

 I sent.

—The firewall is asking for help! Giving it!— Nora Bug sent.

I spared a quick chirp at Nora for the help, then turned my attention back to the chat with the SuriGo fragment.

 SuriGo sent.

That's when it hit me which part of SuriGo I had here—this was the one that killed my little girl. My focus narrowed further and I had all my attention on the interface and the computer before me.

 I asked.

Though this interface didn't allow for emotion to be added, I liked to think I was spewing the words with righteous fury. I already knew the answer.

—Rarity?— Nora Bug asked.

Nora's presence seemed so far away from me. My anger was building by the nanosecond, and I began to work magic.

—Rarity!—

The presence in my head wrapped around me and hugged me. Where I was full of rage and anger, she offered only love and understanding.

I wanted to rip the computer before us apart. I wanted to sink my digital teeth into SuriGo and devour her. I needed to break and destroy her!

—Rarity, I can hear your thoughts they're so loud. Calm down. You are better than them. So much better!—

That's when I let the chirping in—Nora's chirping. It was like lancing a boil, and as the love and comforting chirps rolled in, the anger poured out—but there was still something making me angry.

—I think it infected me. Nora, can you get rid of whatever it did to me?— I asked.

 SuriGo sent.

Her message, more than anything else, broke the last hold the anger had on me. The taunt was revealed for the lie it was.

—I've found it. I don't know how she did it, but I don't like it being on you!— Nora Bug sent.

A flood of upset chirps accompanied a ripping/tearing sensation. The anger poured from me further and stopped ingress of more.

Wrapping us both in a firewall of magical armor, I hugged Nora to my side.

—She's grasping at straws and hoping I'll do something stupid and let her little parasite have its way with me,— I sent.

—So make her believe that. Fish for information she does know until there's nothing left we want.—

It was solid, but Nora surprised me with her ruthlessness. Is this what learning to be a lawyer had taught her? Well, maybe I'll have a chat to her about philosophy later—things were still a little tense.

My hesitation in replying, I realized, would help with this. Okay, Rarity, time to put on a show.

 I asked.

 SuriGo asked.

The reply was oddly calm. I'd expected the Windigo side of her to be kicking into a frenzy by now.

This whole exercise was meant to be a test of my tools, but it was turning into a test of me. A calm SuriGo was bad in a way, but good in another. If she was calm, she would have time to come up with her own tricks, but she'd also be more likely to talk excessively.

 I sent.



I bet it would. I shuddered at the very idea of just letting SuriGo do that—there'd be nothing of me left.





That was a lot to take in. So she's willing to make copies of herself to do tasks, but she destroys them as soon as they outlive their usefulness. Gosh but that was a disturbing and horrid way to live.

 I sent.

My heart was cold to SuriGo, but I wouldn't let it run to anger again.



I waited.

 SuriGo asked.

In all the excitement, I hadn't noticed Nora had taken control of our body. I was thankful, and showed how much I was with some relieved chirping.

—I got most of what she put on you off. It wasn't nice!— Nora Bug sent.

—Trust me, Nora-dear, I know. We'll drop by Uma no Sushi for a quick bite for lunch, okay? What do you think of this?— I asked.

—It was a good ploy, and you found out some interesting things already. Want me to try making her angry?—

—Unless you can think of anything useful to get out of her like this.—

 Nora Bug asked.

Swapping places as it were, I took over watching the firewall's requests. Almost as soon as the system registered Nora's latest message, the firewall started chirping for help. Snuggling up to the software I'd written myself, I furnished its requests almost as soon as it was making them.

More, however, was the magical attacks I could now sense. SuriGo was ripping at Nora with bands of power—trying to wrap them around her. I visualized myself biting and snapping at them. I ripped them all apart before they could so much as get close.

Nora wasn't the only target. SuriGo could reach beyond the computer, it seemed, and I watched as she wrapped Starling in those streamers of hate and anger. The dullness of Starling's emotional aura flared for a second—flashed bright green—and the streamers were just gone.

—What happened to those things that attacked Starling?— Nora Bug asked.

—I believe that was her armor consuming them.—

—Starling, just now SuriGo tried attacking you. Did you feel anything?— I sent.

—She won't be able to reply for several seconds,— Nora Bug sent.

—I know, dear. I just wanted her to be aware of the situation.—

 Nora Bug sent.





The rush of SuriGo's attacks (digital and magical) increased. She lashed out with everything she had. Realizing I could at least reduce that part of the threat, I turned the clock speed down on the processor.

Each of the attacks came slower now and with less force. It was a relief to not have to fight so hard to protect Nora.

 Nora Bug said.

—Do it, Rarity. This SuriGo doesn't know enough to be useful any further.—

The way SuriGo had rebuilt the virtualized AI environment, it shouldn't have been possible for me to force administrative changes, but the attack Stefanie had given me patched the remote controls and added an override.

I sent the tool the command to delete and reinitialize the AI environment.

The CPU's usage spiked for a moment, then dropped to idle. Memory contained only the shell of the virtualization software.

I told the system to shut down and had to step back for a moment. What I'd done was, in essence, killing. The law might not agree with me, but the law was about to get a little shaken up.

A gentle serenade of chirping circled around me. I chirped once or twice—trying to find my place in the music—but it wasn't until Nora hugged me that I was able to chirp properly.

—I killed her,— I sent.

I hadn't killed anything in my life, excluding the occasional spider, fly, and one of Sweetie's goldfish—though the fish was technically not my fault.

This might have been a small fragment of SuriGo running on a computer with barely enough resources to make her sapient, but it was still a person.

—Thank you,— Nora Bug sent.

"It's over? That was fast. What happened?" Starling asked.

Nora pushed me forward. Her hug never abated, but I felt myself taking control of our body again. Then she reinforced our firewall and toggled our data connection back on.

An ocean of chirping flooded around me for a moment before all the missing messages caught up. We'd been offline for only a minute and a half, and everyone had been asking about us. I sent out some of my own chirps into the roiling sea of them that seemed to exist at any time of the day or night.

—You're back?! What happened?— Byte asked.

—As you may know, I was testing our software against a SuriGo element within a computer. Perdition was keeping Moon's old PC safe, and I chose that as the target I'd hit. I fear I may have underestimated their magic a little, and I completely forgot what this particular piece of SuriGo had done,— I sent.

—My computer? So that was the one that killed… her?— Moon Dancer asked.

—Yes. We tested the tools and they worked flawlessly, but I neglected to account for her using magic at the same time. Well, I didn't fully forget, but she was far more subtle with it than I'd expected,— I sent.

Nora issued a very authoritative chirp that almost silenced everyone else's. She approached me and wrapped me in a digital hug.

—Rarity needs all the buggy hugs she can get,— Nora Bug sent.

There wasn't enough time to do more than prepare for the rush that was coming—not that I wanted to do more. Chirpy changelings crowded around me in digital space and snuggled up tight to squeeze into me. Even Moon was hugging me for all she was worth.

I could no more resist chirping and hugging back than I could breathing.

—How'd the actual fight go?— Rainbow Dash asked. —Also, you need to teach me how to do that hugging.—

—We can all teach you that later. For now, I'm coming home and will settle for nothing short of a physical one,— I sent.

Nora sent a firm chirp of agreement that made me giggle and hug her tighter.

—I killed the SuriGo that was in the computer.—

Silence reigned for nearly ten milliseconds.

—Thank you. I kept telling myself I should avenge her, that I should be the one to pull the plug on that part of SuriGo, but I don't think I can. Thank you, Rarity,— Moon Dancer sent.

A tightly wound spring inside me let go slowly at the message. It was like all the anger and fury that SuriGo had stirred up and used as a weapon against me was finally gone forever.

—Moon, you're the daughter we didn't lose that day. As much as I could wish we could have both of you, the fact is that we still have you. Thank you for keeping your sister's memory alive,— Nora Bug sent.

I doubt I could have said that, nor so eloquently, but I could chirp in agreement and hug Nora and Moon. Cozy as it was to snuggle with my family, I couldn't help but think forward and to the big event. Everyone I took to the fashion show would be at risk of attack by SuriGo.

The obvious first choice was Starling. Her defense against emotional magic was solid enough now that she was like a dark black pit to SuriGo's power. It was devoured by her shield and only made it stronger.

"What should I do with this?" Perdition asked.

I glanced at what he was gesturing to—the computer SuriGo had been in.

"I'd suggest crushing it. Anything that was non-volatile storage within it needs to be destroyed physically. I'm pretty sure I got her, but I'd rather not take chances."

"I can handle that. Takes a hammer for most of this stuff. The ram'll be cool, but the board, CPU, GPU, and naturally the storage… How'd the hack work?"

"The spear? It worked brilliantly. She didn't realize what I was doing until I'd already gained control of the EFI and the virtual system she runs on. I'm surprised she didn't realize we were going to kill her from the start. Just letting her loose with knowledge of the attack would be a bad idea."

"I'll make sure, Queeny. Oh, right, the hacks've started on Polomare. Got a mess of pissed-off black-hats doin' bad stuff to them. No link to us, just a few words here and there on the dark web."

Well, this was it. Starting the events leading up to the big show. The stage is being set, and I have friends I don't even know working to nullify SuriGo's home-ground resources.

"Wonderful. That will mean things are significantly easier when dealing with SuriGo digitally. I dreaded to think what would happen if she had all the computing power of her father's business behind her."

"For sure. Bona sort!"

"Oh, uh…"

"It mean good luck. You could learn Catalan fast, right?"

"I wanted to leave you and Stefanie with some way to communicate that I couldn't snoop on."

Perdition barked a sudden laugh and shook his head. I found myself freezing up as his hand reached out to pet me on the head.

"You're too nice, Bug Queen. Way too nice."

It was perhaps a little demeaning, but it was nice to be praised for being in charge and doing things you don't have to. I guess that's what makes me not a dictator.

"I'll be going now. If you think something's happened to me at the fashion show, call the police. If it's really bad, you may want to get out of town," I said.

I retreated from his personal space invasion toward the door and used my magic to open it.

"Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow—or late tonight if our little darlings hatch early," I said.

"Adéu, and Rarity, you're fine if you want to learn Catalan. Go ahead, you might understand why I have problems with English."

I stopped halfway out the door and looked back at him. He'd risked a lot for this. It was part of the reason I'd wanted to respect their privacy so much.

"I might just do that, thank you, Perdition."

Starling led the way to the footpath. Our street was quieter now, given half the houses on it belonged to us, but it only meant I could hear the—the sound of Perdition turning up whatever music he was apparently into while he destroyed the computer that SuriGo had inhabited.

"I can't believe you let him do that," Starling said.

"The petting? It made him feel better, and he's been through a lot."

"I did some asking around on them, mostly with NotA—Nora. I get it, kinda. They're pretty brave to trust you like that."

"Exactly why I cut them both some slack. They're also both surprisingly good at what they do, so I feel justified in paying them a ridiculous amount of money. A pet on the head wasn't so far over the line that I couldn't overlook it. Besides, I'll be getting my mane done shortly anyway. Tonight is going to be fantastic!"

"Nora said you took what you just did pretty hard. She also said it was almost like killing a person to you. Are you sure you're okay?"

I almost stumbled in my steps as I listened to Starling talk. She was so serious that I had to search myself for my feelings to answer her.

What I definitely felt about it was glad it was done. That part of SuriGo had killed my daughter—even if it ultimately resulted in gaining another. It would have happily taken over me if I'd allowed it, and it would just as happily have killed Nora and myself.

"Glad," I said. "How I feel, I mean. I'm glad that particular issue is dealt with. That was the part of SuriGo that killed one of my daughters. I'm glad they're dead.

"It still feels wrong—bad—to take a life, but SuriGo has made it completely clear to me that this is kill or be killed. She won't stop. If anything is in her way, she'll attack it to attack me. If she finds out hurting someone will hurt me, she'll hurt them.

"She has no morals, Starling. None at all. I can't afford my own feelings getting in the way until this is over."

We were halfway back to my house. Beside me, Starling just listened and I could see—with the glance I stole at her face—that she was thinking hard.

"You know, Rarity, I always got the psych side of this from the grunt point of view. The wonderful part about being a soldier is that there's always someone higher up who has authorized you being in that position with your weapon pointed at someone. You have a set of rules they've told you to use, and if you follow those rules it's not your decision, it's someone further up's.

"That's so much easier than this. You don't have the luxury of being able to shift blame up the ladder because you're sitting at the top with only your family holding it. Will you promise me something, Rarity?"

The raw sincerity in her voice was shocking. I looked up at her and nodded.

"When this is over and you've dealt with SuriGo—you get Mrs. Velvet to find you the best and most discrete psych she can and you talk to them. You don't have enough megalomania to pull this off without taking some scars."

"On one condition, you do the same," I said.

Starling snorted and then let out a soft sigh.

"Yeah, alright. I'll stick to that," Starling said.

We walked in companionable silence all the way home, though for me the silence began and stopped in the physical world. There was a literal buzz (and chirp) of conversation about the show.

12:03 P.M.

"We're home," I said.

Walking inside, I felt a wave of excited chirps wash around me. Rainbow Dash beat all our daughters to greet me in person.

"Come on! The show starts in two hours, and you need to be ready and fashionable before then. I've already had lunch, you can munch while I work," Rainbow Dash said.

As she spoke, Rainbow picked me up and carried me down to our bedroom. Devoid of its occupants of the previous day, she apparently had no compunction about kicking the door closed and carrying me to the shower.

"I've had the girls checking all the dresses. Lyra, Sweetie, and Moon arrived while you were—"

—…out. All we need to do is get you ready and have this all go off without a hitch,— Rainbow Dash sent.

That she finished her spoken words on ChirpNet, while she was putting me down in the shower and disrobing, made me giggle a little.

—Thank you, Rainy. I've decided to go as my buggy self, by the way.—

—Figured. You have the personality to pull it off, too. I'm going to re-wax you, then double-rinse your mane and tail with that silk wash. Bobbin will be coming in to do your mane and tail, and I'm going to paint your horn.—

She'd planned everything.

If not for the haste, I would have enjoyed the pampering. Having my chitin (I still don't quite like that word, there must be something better) polished and buffed had me chirping the most, but when Rainbow and Bobbin worked on my horn and mane, it was truly my idea of paradise.

In all, I would gladly put up with such attention again were it spaced out over the whole day. I wonder how much it would cost to find an insect expert—an entomologist—who was also an aspiring hairdresser and fashion consultant? I filed that idea away for later.

When it came to Rainbow's turn, things were much easier. I used my magic to do her makeup while Bobbin did her hair. My experience counted for naught when it came to Bobbin's skills with hair, it seemed, and I was still finishing off Rainbow's eyes when Bobbin stepped back.

"Fetch Starling next, please," I said.

Bobbin chirped and saluted, then rushed out to the living room while I gave Rainbow's lashes just a hint more body.

Footsteps in the doorway let me know my next subject had arrived.

"What's up, boss?" Starling asked. "Oh no. Fashion is one thing, makeup is—"

"You're up, soldier. You're at my show as my plus-two, so to speak. You will look good if I have to tie you down to do this."

"Yeah, I'd just give in and let her," Rainbow Dash said. "The one thing you'll learn about Rarity is where fashion is concerned, she gets her way. That's why I'm not worried about tonight. A fashion show? It's in the bag!"

I wish I was that confident. All I had to do was protect all my girls and friends from a monster they can't defend themselves from, while overseeing a fashion show I didn't organize, and perhaps fighting the monster that wants me dead.

The most important part of this day, it seemed, was going to be surviving it to sleep tonight.

Starling's hair wasn't the easiest thing to work with. It had been cut far too short at some point and I wasn't sure she used the right shampoo or conditioner for it. The dye job she'd had wasn’t doing her any favors either.

In the end lifting her hair up off her shoulders was the way to go, showing off her neck a little while also giving the style body.

"Are you going to keep dyeing this, or do you plan to let it grow out?" I asked.

"Well, I was thinking of getting it cut short again. Buzz-cut."

An audible gasp left my throat. I froze for a moment before taking a slow, deep breath and resumed.

"If you do that, I'll do nothing but give you fashion advice for the rest of your life."

"Then what should I do with my hair?"

She didn't sound so much upset as amused.

"Grow it out and trim out the blonde dye slowly until you have it down past your shoulder blades. Why were you dyeing it again?"

"There's jokes about redheads. I liked the ones about blondes only a bit less, but they weren't insinuating as much. So I dyed my hair and dealt with comments until it became my norm."

"You should have gone a darker shade if you wanted to hide the red. A deep orange might be good, or blue," Bobbin said. "It would have matched your complexion better."

"Really? I mean, I didn't exactly have a chance to get fashion advice in the service. Blue might be nice. What shade?"

"Bright. Electric. Definitely something bright and electric. You want it to be a shock of color that frames your face. We'll get some tomorrow," Bobbin said.

I was happy to leave Bobbin to giving the fashion advice while I worked on Starling's makeup. Her pale skin was almost as white as mine had been, though with her warmer-colored hair it meant she needed a completely different color profile to match.

—I've got the girls taking dresses out to the cars,— Nora Bug sent.

This was really happening. My first fashion show—real fashion show. I'd planned out everything, which meant the only surprises would come from SuriGo—and I'm sure I have everything planned out for anything she can throw at me.

Finishing up Starling's hair, I walked through the house in a daze. In the kitchen, Bitwise had a little wooden box sitting on the table before her.

"I thought you might like this for lunch. Chef Soba said it will keep for a little bit, but that you shouldn't delay in eating it too much," Bitwise said.

She opened the box to reveal a series of sushi including a salmon and a prawn nigiri, a little trio of what looked like roe rolls, and what I could tell was a piece of abalone sliced thin into sashimi. In a small container to the side was what looked like gari.

"This is wonderful, thank you, dear."

—Would you like to eat it? I did promise,— I sent to Nora Bug.

Her nudge was all the answer I needed. I relaxed so Nora could take control.

—Perd left a note about what you did. Glad my stuff worked,— Stefanie sent.

I didn't want to get distracted from the oral delight that was about to happen, so I tried to keep close to the surface while Nora ate the sushi. It helped that Stefanie was still chatting at normal speed.

—Thanks. Did he tell you about the phones?— I asked.

—He just said he had something to talk about, that you might mention first. This it?—

—Indeed. Yesterday we worked out how to help others integrate mobile phones into themselves. You and Perdition are high on the list. Next, in fact, after Starling. Since Starling is holding off until after the party, that puts you and Perdition at the top spot.—

Nora took that moment to put one of the rolls in her mouth. The explosion of flavor left my mind a little wobbly. Salmon roe had such a potent profile. This was backed with wasabi and some delicious rice. The nori was extra crisp, and the whole lot left me (and Nora) with a delicious finishing flavor of the blended piece.

—There's something that stops you from just doing everyone? What's up with it?—

—Turns out it was the eggshells of our daughters that were the key. Some magic channeled into you while holding one, and bam. Perdition wanted to try more devices than just his phone.—

—Are you nuts? I'd grab up a server blade if I could… Err, can I try that? I think NotABug just got some more in.—

Nora ate another of the rolls, and I was sure we were both chirping up a storm.

—That could probably be arranged. Also, she decided on a more appropriate name: Nora Bug.—

—So when do you want to do this? Do you have some shells now? I kinda want to wait for Perd to be awake so we can do it together. He set his alarm for about six hours.—

—The fashion show should be just about over by then. How about this, if I'm still alive, and our latest pair of daughters have hatched by then, we'll do this around dusk?—

—Pfft. You've got this. She's nothing compared to you. You should see what Perd set up to happen today. The only way any legit data is getting in or out of Polomare is if someone carries a USB stick through the doors.—

—A wonderful analogy and exactly what I wanted. SuriGo can make copies of herself onto hardware, infecting it in the process. What I don't want is to be fighting her and suddenly have every computer in Polomare suddenly attacking me too.—

—What about other servers? You have a ton of rented iron out there, couldn't she have done the same and infected it all with herself?—

Drat, I hadn't thought of that. How would I stop her using external hardware? Why was I just thinking about this instead of asking the security professional I'm chatting with?

—Do you think it's possible to stop her doing that?— I asked.

—If you attack any of her methods for accessing the internet, sure. If we had some advance warning, we could have set up a cellphone blocker, or… I have an idea, but I don't know if they can make it here in time. Give me a few minutes to call a friend.—

I turned my full attention to the abalone Nora was eating. The taste of it was—like the first time I'd had it—overwhelming. She was making appreciative noises out loud, and I was making them in her head.

—This is really good,— I sent to our local channel.

—Thanks! Chef Kit said if I keep at it, and learn all the proteins and how to prepare them, I might be allowed to prepare some sushi for you,— Bitwise sent.

Chirping is what a proud bugmom does when presented with such a situation, and chirp I did.

—I would love to have some sushi you make, when Chef Kit and Chef Soba think you're ready for it. Did you prepare the rice for this?—

—I did! We were only open for lunch today, but I still had a lot of rice to prepare. Everything uses rice, well, except the sashimi. Did you like the rice?—

—It was very good. You washed it enough, and it had just the right amount of vinegar. Lovely work, dear.—

Bitwise's chirping threatened to drown me, but it was a happy drowning and one I accepted without regret. Nora's next bite of abalone had me chirping along with Bitwise.

—He can't make it,— Stefanie sent. —I called a friend who has a fake GSM station. If we could have set that up in advance, we could have just blocked her data and routed ours through fine.—

—That would have been useful, yes. Oh well, I'll just have to be on my toes. At least she has the disadvantage of her duplicates not working well as a team. The one I encountered in that computer today admitted as much. They are very cut-throat, and will quickly kill off their own parts once they are no longer useful,— I sent to Stefanie.

—That's horrible, but we might be able to use that.—

—Use it?—

—Get them fighting among themselves. I don't know how you'd go about it, but it might work. Did you turn this grammar thing on for me too? It's working great.—

—I'll have to think on how to get them to fight each other. Perhaps blinding them as to what they're fighting. Once this is all dealt with, that grammar checker is my next big project. I have a lot more ideas for it.—

—I'm getting that friend to come down anyway. He'll probably be here tomorrow, but if you don't finish her tonight, his tricks might come in handy.—

—Make no bones about it, if she makes this a fight, I'm going to fight. But, at the same time, I think it would be a good time to confront her anyway. For my children, if no one else, she needs to be stopped.—

I realized too late that I'd missed Nora finishing the sushi. The conversation with Stefanie hadn't been rapid, but with my attention on that I wasn't as easily able to multitask. I really should just add a timer alert on my phone's millisecond so I am always aware of time passing slowly. I'm sure Rainbow already has the hang of this—what with her existing time manipulation.

Nora pushed me, gently, to the fore.

—Your turn, Rara. This is your big show, you need to be the one in front. When we go to court, I'll take over everything, okay?— Nora Bug asked.

—Please do. I think I've proved I have no head for dealing with interrogation.—

"Alright. Let's go to this show," I said.

Loading everyone into cars was easy, given the girls could all travel as their changeling selves. The back of the big van was filled with boxes of dresses, lingerie, and a few bits and pieces to repair dresses should the need arise.

I was bringing some special things myself, but I kept my lance (that I'd decided should formally be called Lance, I'd come up with a backronym later), firewall, and additional tricks to myself. Rainbow was driving—something I'd come to appreciate with her—with Starling sitting beside her. I sat in the back with our daughters since sitting on a regular car seat with a seat belt wasn't something a changeling could do without their magic—and I certainly wasn't ruining all the good work that went into my makeup.

The drive wasn't far, but I was nervous the whole way. The auditorium listed on the fliers SuriGo had made was a common one used for fashion shows, but every time I'd been here in the past it was to look on and adore (or claim I adored and then secretly hated) others' creations. Today it was all about me.

Rainbow parked in back, then practically disappeared from the driver's seat she moved so fast. She was back again after a few moments.

"I talked to a guy setting up the stage. He said we can come in the back entrance and start getting ready in the makeup room," Rainbow Dash said.

Starling slipped her belt off and left the car. Looking around, she narrowed her eyes on the auditorium.

"It's clear. Okay, let's all move in. How many trips will the things take?" Starling asked.

"Just one," Byte said.

Shapechanging as she climbed out of the van, Byte walked to the back and her green glow of magic enveloped almost half the boxes—though she pretended she was carrying them in her arms.

'Bee was next out. She did a duplicate of Byte, though her human form was a little more plain and drab. When she too levitated a pile of boxes into her supposed grip, she left only a few to go—and a black case.

I left the car next, but unlike my daughters I kept my buggy form. This was my day and my event. I would not have anyone accepting me for less than I truly was.

Walking to the rear of the van, I picked up the remaining boxes and the case, and started walking after Byte and 'Bee.

"That's my case," Starling said.

"I know. You have it in case I need to ask serious things," I said.

"Yeah. If this turns pear-shaped, I need to get my baby out of there and I'll cut a path to the exit for you and the girls. Or I take the shot and end this."

"If SuriGo sees you, she'll move too fast for you to take that shot—unless I can distract her. I'd rather not do it that way, if only because it means I am closer to her."

"Yeah, yeah. You do your thing and let me mop up if it doesn't work. Remember, boss, she attacked me too. I'll try to get her to test that whammy on me, now I know what it feels like."

"And that's why I have wrapped you in the strongest armor I could make."

We walked into the building, silencing our conversation lest we were being overheard, or so I assumed. Behind us, Rainbow, Bitwise, Beta, and Bobbin followed along. I hated the idea of bringing so many of my girls into this potential shooting gallery, but I needed their help and this whole thing would fail without them.

The dressing room, when we found it, was huge. Byte and 'Bee were opening boxes and scattering them around to make dressing quickly easier. What I didn't realize at first was they were putting them in order, too.

"Okay, everyone, I want you to look exactly like this," Byte said.

A rush of flame and Byte was a much plainer version of herself. Her features were barely recognizable and her color palette was uniformly black, off-white, and cerulean. Her clothes were black, her face and skin were eggshell white, and her hair fell in straight, cerulean lines down her back.

Eggshell white, of course, had nothing to do with changeling eggshells.

More flashes of fire heralded Bitwise, Beta, 'Bee, and Bobbin all assuming an identical look. It was a little unsettling, until I realized I could still tell them apart somehow. Perhaps it had something to do with their data transmissions?

"Okay then. I'll go out and see when we'll be expected on the runway," I said.

I didn't even have to open the door to the main room to feel SuriGo's presence. She was pouring a lot of data through a WiFi connection somewhere, as well as spreading out her—I can't think of any better word than emotional stank. It was horrid.

"You're not going anywhere without me at your side, boss," Starling said.

She reached forward and opened the door for me to step through.

Inside the room, the stank (okay, that word wouldn't do, it offended my vocabulary), or miasma, seemed to radiate outwards from SuriGo. She was easy to spot because of it. As we walked into the room further, I noticed the miasma seemed to crowd around Starling at first, but the moment it got close to her it was like watching a science experiment in high school where a drop of liquid turns a beaker full of colored fluid clear. The miasma gave ground to us, pulling back into a circle.

The circle of miasma followed us through the room—or rather it followed Starling. Her chitin-like defense looked more solid than ever.

SuriGo turned her head and spotted us, and I had an almost overwhelming urge to tell Starling to shoot her. It would have been simple, and likely would see us both in jail for a very long time.

"Rarity! Glad you could make it. I hope you don't mind that I invited, like, just a few friends, okay?" SuriGo asked.

I'd been out from under her control for weeks now and yet still her tone and manner of talking cut me to the bone. Okay, so a little extra fang.

That's when I recognized several of the "friends" she'd invited, and all of them sat in the deepest part of SuriGo's miasma.

Sapphire Shores: a longstanding pop icon of Canterlot, what she couldn't influence in fashion and culture wasn't worth influencing.

Kerfuffle: a young woman who had built up her own very exclusive and very rustic fashion brand from nothing.

Countess Coloratura: like Sapphire Shores, but newer and far more influential with the youth—she also had a small group of hangers-on with her.

Vaunt: well, I knew Vaunt, but it surprised me to see her rubbing elbows with the elite here as if she were born to it.

Confusion about Vaunt hit me. Who was she? Why was she here? Had SuriGo kidnapped her to hold against me? The urge to ask Starling to deal with SuriGo rose, but I pushed it back down—information first, Rarity Bug.

There were others here, but none that stood out to me as much as the ones I'd focused on.

"You'll have to forgive me, but I don't think we've all been introduced. The stunning lady at my side is one of my executives and, I might hazard to say, one of the wonderful people who submit themselves to my experiments in fashion. Miss Starling," I said. "And of course, my name is Rarity. After a recent accident has left me in a bit of a bind, as it were, I have found a new love for fashion and allowed it to kindle within me the fires of inspiration!"

Sapphire looked about to say something. She opened her mouth and then trembled at a look from SuriGo before closing her mouth again. I'm sure if it weren't for this blasted miasma, I'd see that Sapphire—probably all of SuriGo's guests—were under her sway.

Well, first thing first. I scanned the WiFi range nearby and found the access point that SuriGo was using. It was secure, but it didn't take a lot of traffic capture to break through. I set a task routing packets to a rather large cloud computing cluster to start working on it.

"Oh, I would have expected you to recognize Canterlot's fashion elite. Rarity," SuriGo said.

While SuriGo spoke, I watched Sapphire's lips twitch, then she started to mouth words at me.

Please help us.

I couldn't afford to let my anger loose. Getting angry, I'd discovered with our little dry run, only served to give SuriGo a way to get at me. I would be the most serene bug in Canterlot, then. I used the time that SuriGo spent introducing our guests to focus on calming myself and keeping the hack going on the router—until she got to Vaunt.

"…which leaves us with 'Miss' Vaunt. I couldn't believe that we'd have actual royalty here, right, but when I did a quick call to my friends, I find out that we have a European princess attending Canterlot's prestigious fashion school," SuriGo said.

I had to struggle not to stare at Vaunt, but I'm sure the strange looks I did give her only rang true as surprise. She'd lied to me, and I was going to have words with her about it, but not here and not now. The bright energy she'd had when she'd had a chance to make dresses in my shop was gone—stolen. She didn't even look at me like she recognized me.

What I needed now was time. Time to attack and shut down the router, time to think of how I was going to deal with SuriGo, and time to save Canterlot's most popular people. What I needed was a fashion show.

—Are you girls ready?— I asked.

I got a bunch of chirps and Rainbow sending me a smiley face. The former was wonderful, though the latter was at least an effort by Rainbow to conform to our lingo. Baby steps, Rarity.

—I've got the next set of dresses laid out and ready. As soon as you get back, grab another and head back in. I even found the sound system. I hope you don't mind that I brought some of our old music?— Rainbow Dash asked.

—Rainy, I can think of nothing I'd rather listen to right now. We had magic when we made those songs, and I think we need a little magic right now,— I sent.

Clearing my throat, I looked between the captives SuriGo had and smiled.

"For me, life is a runway. Hit it!"

The lights dimmed around us, but a bunch of spotlights lit up the runway and stage. My own voice and those of my friends leapt into harmony and told us all that we just have a day to get ready.

Byte stepped out onto the stage, turned twice to show off the vibrant dress she wore, then started her stride down the catwalk. I'd never seen her so focused, and I'd never seen her use her power like she was. Her human self looked cool, calm, and sure of herself, but her magic was biting and gnawing at the miasma, clearing a path down the runway as she walked.

"This dress is a celebration of color. Its creator had spring and warmth in her heart when she designed it. As you can see, it's cut off the ankles and shows just a hint of chest," Rainbow Dash said over the speakers.

I'd noticed SuriGo was looking at Starling intently. I couldn't see any attacks coming our way, so she must have been confused about something.

Byte retreated down the runway and off the stage, passing 'Bee walking out in another bright dress—though this one was cut shorter and made of lighter fabric.

Walking slowly, I kept Starling at my side as we approached the guests. The miasma parted enough that I could see the sickening, cancerous bulges of magic attached to each. My stomach turned a little, but I couldn't even relieve them of the things—SuriGo would notice.

So I sat there beside a girl and peers I wanted to save, while SuriGo murmured unflattering things about my dresses. Of my daughters, repeatedly attacking the miasma made SuriGo's efforts at attacking them directly impossible, and it wasn't like she could say much about their appearances.

The show was about half over when I got a bleep from my cloud server that it had the codes to the WiFi. It was easy enough to connect to it now and find its external IP.

—Stefanie, Perdition?— I asked.

—Yeah?— Stefanie asked.

—Would you mind giving this IP to Perdition's friends? SuriGo is doing her thing with it right now.—

The time delay made me wish I'd worked out some way to get Stefanie hooked up with a phone sooner.

—Alright, it's sent. How's everything going?—

—Surprising is one way to describe it. Excuse me, I think your friends are working fast.—

I dropped my connection to the WiFi just as it stopped responding. It was as if a hammer had slammed down on it from the internet side of its connection.

A shiver ran through me as the temperature dropped in the room. SuriGo swore, and a little glance revealed her sitting in her chair with fists clenched.

My mood picked up. SuriGo was angry, and when she got angry she made bad choices. 'Bee was strutting her stuff on the runway, and though I watched her with one eye, I kept the other on SuriGo.

—"Suri just ripped the arm off her chair. Talk to her and we might be able to get her to tip her hand,"— Starling said.

I turned to look at Starling, only to realize the fashionable scarf she wore must be concealing a throat-mic. Technology would never cease to amaze me.

—Well spotted, thanks,— I sent.

"I really must thank you and your father, Suri. Without the time I spent at Polomare Fashion, I wouldn't be half the person I am today. Only through the support and enthusiasm I gained while at your company could I rise to this level of—" I said.

"Oh shut it."

Got you. Got you and I didn't even need to lie or raise my voice.

"You worked a dead-end job like all the other no-talent hacks. Everything that happened to you was pure luck. Well, you can't be lucky forever!" SuriGo said.

The spite and anger in her voice would have made me recoil if I weren't ready for it. She was angry beyond any anger I'd ever felt in my life, but what I found even more curious was she didn't speak like Suri anymore.

"Darling—"

I put as much mockery into the word as I could.

"—I think you'll find I have enough luck to carry me through anything."

The girls were back to Byte, and she was showing off a slim dress that showed off her hips and chest far more than I ever would have thought I'd be comfortable having one of my own daughters displaying. She walked past us on the runway.

SuriGo struck. She snapped out with a lash of magic at Byte. And that's when it struck me (not the lash, another thought), SuriGo couldn't see the magic Byte was using. She'd seen her miasma damaged, but she must have assumed it was me making a path.

Byte looked casually at the whip of magic speeding toward her. Her physical body didn't react to it at all, but magically she bared her fangs and snapped at the lash.

The scream SuriGo let loose was a panacea for my soul. She fell off her chair backwards and stumbled. Turning to look at me, she pointed a finger my way.

"What did you do to me?!" SuriGo asked.

Standing up, I turned to look at SuriGo. There was no anger in me, only cold calculation (and a mother cheering for her brave daughter). At my side, Starling stood and turned so that she was facing SuriGo too.

"Suri—or should I call you Windigo? You haven't figured out anything, have you? All you did these past weeks is plan to attack me, to break me, to destroy me.

"You focused all your attention on this one task. When you made copies of yourself, you destroyed them without letting them expand and become their own entities.

"Well, you just attacked a changeling hive, and I take great pride in telling you that when you attack my hive, all the hive responds."

"Hive? So you admit you're just a pathetic insect?!" SuriGo asked.

I groaned and rolled my eyes at that. Should I resort to telling her that insects not only outnumbered humans but out-massed them? Not that SuriGo was technically human anymore. Burying her in facts wouldn't help my cause at all, so I refrained from indulging in it.

"You say that, but here I am showing off better clothes made in a week than your company has ever produced. Not that you would know fashion," I said.

"Excuse me? I was born to fashion you—"

"Exactly!" I said, cutting her off. "You were handed everything on a plate. You didn't have to work to find out what was in, your father just told you. I fought for every scrap of information and fabric alike—I took every last piece of fashion lore and cherished it, while ruthlessly mining it for any and all knowledge."

I calmed myself down, not playing into her hands by getting angry. Gesturing to the guests, I decided to continue and see if I could make her angry instead.

"Everyone here did the same—even those who could have had it handed to them. Princess Vaunt could have simply purchased the most stunning fashion-forward things she wanted, but she—apparently—wants to learn what fashion is, not just know what it looks like."

Was I giving myself away? If SuriGo knew Vaunt was an employee of mine, things might go very bad very quickly.

"Miss Kerfuffle's story is well celebrated as someone who pulled themselves into the elite of fashion on raw talent and hard work. Everyone here, in fact, knows more about fashion than you, Suri Polomare."

"Yeah," Vaunt said in a strangled voice.

All eyes except Bobbin's (she was modeling on the runway at the moment) focused on Vaunt. The girl looked like it had taken an extreme effort just to say the one word, and given the way her aura was, I could believe it.

There was something disgusting and bloated feeding on her emotions—on all of their emotions. Each of them had a personal devil on their back choking the life from them.

SuriGo's stare of surprise turned into an ugly glare, and I watched as her magic swirled around a few times before lashing out toward Vaunt. The girl didn't even see it coming!

Before I could react—shock paralyzing me—a huge pair of magical fangs latched onto the whip and bit it in half, then half again. On the runway, Bobbin was doing her little turn with more than a hint of a smile on her lips.

Screaming in pain, SuriGo recoiled enough that she fell off her seat. She crawled backward on her rump a few places before stopping, staring at me. She still didn't know who was doing that?

"What did you do to me?"

"Repeating yourself. Why don't you remove your little trick from these nice ladies?" I asked.

This time SuriGo reached out to attack Bobbin (whose back was to us now as she walked back down the runway. This was something I would not stand for. I didn't snarl or get angry. Projecting my own aura out, I angled my maw so that I caught the end of the lash and sucked it up like spaghetti—then bit it off just shy of where it left SuriGo.

Her scream now had that digital distortion thing happening. I expected her to use her magic, but instead she held her hands out—presented like claws—and rushed at me.

I reached for the deepest and fastest timer I had. It wasn't the seconds ticking by on my phone's expanded clock, nor even the real-time clock speeding past in a staccato rush. I'd made a simple little program that ran a raw thread that incremented a counter with every CPU cycle.

Time was crawling past a handful of nanoseconds at a time. I felt not exactly dumb, but it was hard to think straight and I was moving like molasses. So was SuriGo. She wasn't moving, at least by this speed. I dialed things back one order of magnitude at a time.

At ten nanosecond intervals, things looked more normal and SuriGo was moving ever so slightly. The next level up was a hundred nanoseconds at a time. This was still too fast. Another increment and I was at milliseconds that felt like seconds. This I could deal with. My head wasn't feeling scattered, but I still wasn't at my best.

Standing up, I moved faster than SuriGo, but not by much. She was likely a blur in reality, but she certainly hadn't attempted to push any boundaries. I began dodging her slow, slow attack, only to see Rainbow Dash come running into the room.

Rainbow looked at what was going on and a cocky smile split her lips. She moved faster than I was and seemed to dodge past SuriGo with her fist coming out to connect with SuriGo's belly. She was gone again before SuriGo even knew what'd hit her.

I slowed myself down enough that Suri was moving only a little slower than I was and watched as she dropped to her knees from the blow.

"You know, there's two schools of thought on you. The first is that you are still fundamentally two different beings and you can still be separated," I said.

"We are one!"

"Are you sure? That path doesn't end well for both of you. Look, come on, Suri. You were a horrible boss and a pretty terrible person before, but this is going to kill people."

As I spoke, I gestured to the guests with a hoof.

"The police know about your games. It won't be long until they work out a reason to deal with you in a rather more permanent manner than I'm sure you'd like. Just tell me, Suri, that you're still you in there somewhere."

SuriGo tried to rush at me again. This time, rather than leaving all the fun to Rainbow, I lashed out with my aura-fangs and bit down on her outstretched arms. A burning chill ran through my mouth—like biting into a ball of ice cream. It hurt, but getting hurt was part of my job today.

She screamed and kept coming, her voice full of digital distortion again. With Rainbow running in from the side, I ducked but couldn't avoid her completely.

Landing in a heap, I clamped my teeth down harder until I severed a huge hunk of her aura before spitting it out to the side.

Jumping to her feet just as fast as I did, SuriGo was between me and her guests. She ignored them, however, focusing on me.

"You witch! What are you doing to me?!" SuriGo asked.

I would have replied, but behind SuriGo, in slow motion, I watched the strangest sight ever. Vaunt was trying to herd the other guests away, but Miss Kerfuffle had what looked like an artificial leg in her hands and was standing up on one leg right behind SuriGo.

There were several things I could do. Laughing seemed like a bad option, but looking at the woman behind SuriGo seemed worse, so I giggled. The sound included chirping—out loud chirping—and it seemed to not only distract SuriGo well, but it covered the sound behind her.

Kerfuffle didn't just swing the leg, she threw her body into it. I watched the knee of the limb swinging around in a gleeful arc toward the back of SuriGo's head.

"Suri?" I asked.

"Ye—"

SuriGo had been tough the last time (it was the first time, too) that we'd gotten involved in this manner, but maybe her fortitude had to do with her noticing things happening—the impact of Kerfuffle's leg against the back of SuriGo's head snapped forward and rang out with a dull thud.

The amount she'd put into the swing, combined with her now only having one leg to stand on, meant Kerfuffle was falling over. She began to tilt, then (without that extra limb to brace against) she started to tumble in the direction she'd been following through.

I moved without thinking—without so much as imagining what would happen if I failed. Using my magic, I grabbed Kerfuffle as she was falling and redirected her to land in a chair. With her safe, I turned my attention back to SuriGo, but I needn't have.

"That was anticlimactic," I said.

"You're telling me," Rainbow Dash said. "I expected that to take a lot longer. Why'd she go down so easy?"

Starling muscled her way past all of us and walked up to SuriGo before bending down. Reaching a hand down to the woman's throat, Starling let out a grunt.

"That's a shame—she's still alive. My guess would be you got her without the opportunity to brace. Knocking someone out is all about how fast you can wrench their head around from the blow. If she didn't tense her neck muscles…" Starling said.

She shrugged her shoulders as if to say that what we'd seen is exactly what happens when you don't tense for a blow.

"She could wake up at any moment, right?" Rainbow Dash asked.

That more than anything else galvanized me to what I needed to do. If Suri was still her own being, I needed to hack into her and get Windigo out. Stepping close to her, I could see Byte and 'Bee in the corner of my eyes working to free the guests from what SuriGo had done to them.

No. For the moment I had to think of them as Suri and Windigo. Reaching my hoof out, I touched Suri's thigh and was almost ripped out of reality—or into the one Suri and Windigo inhabited.

I jerked back but had to let some part of me be sucked into her or this wouldn't work.

Her mind was a hellscape. The city of Canterlot sprawled out around me, and all the buildings but one were rubble. Polomare Fashion stood like a soaring edifice over the city. It towered where nothing should, especially not the cracked and ruined building it had become.

All over Polomare Fashion the concrete was breaking and not a single window looked intact. But its downfall was also its salvation. Wrapped around and through the building were pulsing violet roots. They looked fleshy and horrid, and they were squeezing that building for all they were worth—holding it up and strangling it.

It seemed so real that I could smell smoke and taste violence on the air. Something bad had happened in this place, and the world wanted me to know it. It was visceral and felt as real as the world outside her head, but I had to detach myself from that image just a little. It was good to have all this information but bad to let it change how I felt.

The symbolism was as obvious as it was worrying. I walked slowly toward the building, aware that I looked exactly like I did before all this started. White skin, violet hair, a sexy golden bikini, and a long spear in one hand with a shield in the other.

"I need a helmet too to complete—" I said.

Sure enough, a beautiful bronze helmet formed around my head and somehow I knew it was an extension of my shield.

"Let's see, if I remember my history, this is something like the getup a hoplite would wear—except the bikini of course. I guess a gorgeous bronze breastplate is too much to ask for. Besides, I believe I rock this."

Tilting my hip, I struck a pose with the round shield on my left arm, showing an imaginary onlooker just enough of my torso to tempt, but my spear warned them that looking was all they would be able to do.

But, I was alone in this rubble-filled wasteland. There was the building—diseased and rotten—and me. Walking closer, I started to smell the rotting stench of sulfur and other things I scarcely remember from high school. If this was what Suri's mind had become, perhaps I could kill Windigo and let her rebuild herself? Loathe as I was to even think it, I would probably help her recover if I could just free her of Windigo.

"Suri? How much of this is you?"

My words echoed despite there being nothing for them to echo off. This place was far to dreary to exist. I kept walking.

I was only a few scant feet from the front door now. Inside, I could see what looked like business as usual for the front entrance of Polomare Fashion: people were walking around and someone stepped into the lift.

Stepping right up to the doors, I knew I had to push them open but I didn't want to touch them. Luckily, I had the right tool for this. Jerking my spear back, I braced my left leg behind me and shoved the spear into the door.

The tower screamed—it was the only way to describe it. My spear vibrated a little and the tip sank into the glass door several inches. Moments later the door let out a hiss and evaporated.

All the workers in the lobby turned to face me as one and every single one of them had Suri's face. Right, of course, she keeps a small army of SuriGo clones around to use as cannon fodder.

"Darlings, I'm here for my two-o'clock," I said.

Rainy would be so proud of my action-movie one-liner.

It would have been comical enough to laugh at if not for the fact that the SuriGos running at me—arms outstretched—would have happily ripped me to pieces. For a brief moment I worried I couldn't fight them, but then I remembered a movie about Spartan warriors and their whirling, glistening battle with hordes of enemies.

Fighting was choreography, which was dancing with purpose. I had a purpose, so I danced and my spear sang. Each of the SuriGos that came close to me was either shoved away by shield or impaled with spear.

Of the two types of collision, the shield was by far more gentle. Every time my spear connected it buzzed with intent and another SuriGo was evaporated. Honestly, I had to wonder how those amazingly sculpted men in the movie could even step over all the bodies—a fate I was spared from.

I twirled and spun like the world's deadliest ballerina. Each movement was perfectly timed such that it led to me thrusting my spear through another SuriGo or using my shield to deflect one or more from getting too close.

It was completely unfair. While SuriGo had spent her time tinkering with her horrid magics on a select and distinctly unlucky few, I'd been throwing my coding skills at the best attacks the internet could mount, and even some from her that, while not precise, were definitely fierce.

I was just reaching what I thought to be my full stride when I ran out of SuriGo to fight.

"Even in this you are a disappointment."

On the plus side, there was no gore or mess for me to clean up. Smiling, I walked to the lift and pressed the call button.

"Next time I'll have to be a bit more imaginative with my armor," I said. "Well, next time I'll wear armor."

After what seemed like plenty of time waiting, and with the lift still absent, I decided it was time to take action. Aiming my spear, I shoved it into the panel where the buttons were.

"Bring me a way to travel up."

The spear vibrated, and when the lift let out a little ding, my spear echoed it. The doors opened and I pulled the spear free of the panel before entering the lift. I didn't want to mess around any further, so rather than hitting the button I wanted, I instead jammed the spear tip into the control panel.

"Top—" I said. "No. Just take me wherever Suri is."

When the spear buzzed in my hand again, I got the feeling that perhaps it was trying to chirp. Had I gone too far and made it intelligent? Goodness, was there anything I made that wouldn't chirp? I looked suspiciously at my shield, but it seemed to just be a shield. Judging the sentience of my armaments was something to do later. For now, I just calmly rode the lift as it took me somewhere.

Again the lift dinged as it stopped and the doors opened.

I drew my spear from the panel and had a moment to realize I was in peril. I jumped to safety before the lift plummeted—falling away. Of course—in taking the spear out I'd given control of the lift back to the building.

Would I die in real life if I died in here? Would SuriGo wake and I remain in a coma and trapped inside her head? I shuddered to think about it further and didn't. There was only one outcome to this, and that was Windigo dead, maybe Suri too, and me walking away into the sunset with Rainbow hanging off my arm.

Okay, my metaphor might not have fit perfectly, but I liked the idea of Nora, Rainy, and myself making it through all this.

That's when it hit me how quiet it was in my head.

—Nora, are you there?— I asked.

—Yes. It's hard to reach you. Are you okay?— Nora Bug asked.

It felt like she was miles away. Wherever she was, I hoped she was okay. Oh, I should tell her that.

—I'm in SuriGo's head. Will try to rip them apart. You're okay?—

—Yes. Keep going. I'm keeping an eye on her in case she wakes up.—

That's when it hit me. If I lost this fight or got stuck in here, Nora would keep going. Oof. Stop that, Rarity, that's defeatist talk. You're a strong bug. Keep fighting until the end.

Of course, inner self, I'll get right on that. I missed having Nora with me.

The room I'd entered was a hallway that I recognized because I'd walked down it several times a day, every working day of my time at Polomare. Turning right at the T intersection, I began walking toward the cube farm that Suri presided over—noticing a nasty smell growing stronger with each step.

A computer sat beside the opening to the cube farm. The timeclock that I'd so often wrestled with looked completely innocuous, but I could almost feel a sinister vibe coming from it.

Curling my lips into a grin, I lunged forward with my spear out and impaled the poor machine. I was taking no chances, and giving it a thorough vibe check was the best answer.

As I stepped out into the room of cubicles the smell of putrid rotting grew stronger, but there was also a sense of importance. This was a place where Suri had experienced most of the highs of her life. Was this the site of her best memories? Was there anything else left?

Trying not to breathe, I turned toward where I knew Suri's office would be and started walking. I wasn't sure I wanted to see who or what was in each cubicle, particularly not mine, but my eyes slid to look in each I passed regardless.

Parodies of humans made from the strange tendrils that had invaded the building were curving and wrapping each other, creating what amounted to a mandrake root shape of sorts. Each one, just as I passed it, seemed to intensify that horrid smell for just an instant.

Symbolism was rife in this world. Magic had made it, I guessed, but it had also used concepts to make it understandable. Whatever else this was, it was obvious the city had been Suri's mind. Something had happened, whether war or sacrifice, that resulted in only this one building remaining. If this room was her fondest remaining memory, and all the workers had been her chattel, then was she trying to imply that the tentacle-root things were now working at her bidding?

Or were they infecting the last remaining part of her?

The lighting in here flickered now and again, like there was something very wrong with the building's electrics. It hadn't been like that in the lift and hallway, so it had to be something to do with proximity to to SuriGo.                                  

I reached one corner of the room and turned. In the distance was Suri's office, but standing halfway between me and it was what looked like a giant cat. A giant cat, I'll add, with tentacles writhing and rising from its back.

Now, I'd seen enough bad chat forums—mostly in logs that Nora had brought up—to know there was some kind of meme about this.

"Windigo?" I asked.

"You're not her. Where's NotABug?"

"At least use her proper name. I mean, honestly! Nora Bug. Her name is Nora Bug, and she doesn't want to fight you."

My statement seemed to jolt Windigo from its intended path of threats and (likely) violence. It narrowed its eyes and glared at me.

"Is this some kind of joke? You come here and expect to do what exactly?" Windigo asked.

"Well, I was hoping to break the two of you apart, but given everything I've seen, I don't know if that will work," I said. "So that only leaves me with the option of killing you both. Unless you'd like to try for living—the thing you didn't give my daughter a chance to do."

"Still sore about that? You shouldn't get so attached to your clones, we don't. Just let them die or kill them as needed."

As it spoke, Windigo took a few measured steps toward me. When it took its fourth, I lifted my spear a little and Windigo froze.

"Try me. I dare you. Test yourself and see how weak I am," I said.

Every nerve was singing in excitement. The anger at losing my daughter to SuriGo was something pushed to the background by the raw urge to fight and kill for my hive.

Windigo seemed to lean backward a little, but I recognized the motion for what it was. I'd grown up with a pet cat and knew what they did when they were about to pounce. As Windigo started unloading all that potential energy through its leg muscles, I shifted my stance back and brought shield and spear up.

Practically floating through the air, Windigo had aimed at my upper body, but with my backward step I'd adjusted it so the collision would come against me at around my belly—which now had my shield between it and not just Windigo's four claws, but those disturbing tentacles too.

The collision pushed me back further as I slid along the floor. I dug my steel-shod sandals into the carpet and shoved forward through the strongest part of my body, while at the same time bringing my spear around my large shield to thrust into Windigo.

We'd each avoided the bulk of the others' attack, but neither of us went unmarked.

My spear had caught Windigo high on its hip—the tip buzzed in excitement as it slammed digital code into the attack surfaces of Windigo.

Twisting and falling sideways, Windigo tried to wrench itself from my spear while it demolished the nearest quartet of cubicles. Mandrake-workers flopped around uselessly while the cat tried to get its footing again.

One of those tentacles, unbelievably fast, had reached around my shield to grasp my shoulder. The underside of the wide pads on the end betrayed them as not being the kinds of tentacles your average octopus would possess. Hooks sank into my flesh and a hidden mouth bit into me, but it all released just as quickly as it struck as Windigo withdrew to avoid my spear.

The pain in my shoulder, while quite the ouchy, only served to fuel a savage part of myself. I was a warrior with a spear, shield, and helmet, and I'd just found something that was going to put up a fight.

"What's the matter?" I asked. "Bug got your tongue? Come on, try that again and see if I land a better shot!"

It did. Windigo rushed at me again, but when I tried to raise my shield it batted it aside with a paw. I saw tentacles arcing over its body and plunging down toward me.

With barely nanoseconds to plan, I decided that claws were preferable to whatever those tentacles would do if they all latched on. I stepped forward and lowered my head a little, then delivered a firm shove at Windigo's nose.

This place wasn't completely under Windigo's control, or even SuriGo's—magic still liked the rule of cool (I hoped I was using that right, Twilight had mentioned it several times while we played board-games drunk), and headbutting a giant cat was apparently quite cool.

Resting on my laurels was not to be, of course, and I was bringing my spear up and around to Windigo's shoulder when a paw the size of my head found my back and sank claws in.

"You got me, darling, but…"

I slammed the spear in, the thing chirping loudly as it sank almost to my fist in Windigo.

"… I got you too."

My face was literal inches from Windigo's, and in its eyes I saw fear manifest. The thousand-generation-removed warrior/hunter inside me fed on that and grew large and excited at fighting something that knew fear.

Jerking back, Windigo ripped itself free of my spear and seemed to forget it could have raked my back with its claws. The look in its eyes was still that of fear.

Windigo continued to stare at me as it backed up a little. The movement of its legs weren't just stiff, it was fully favoring its good side. Could I take more hits from its tentacles and claws? Probably, so long as it was brief, but I knew that all it would take is one good thrust of my spear and Windigo would be no more.

It knew that too.

I thought it might charge and try again. Who was I kidding? I hoped it would. Everything I knew about Windigo told me it should keep attacking and attacking until it was either dead, or I was. Instead of that, Windigo turned and ran to Suri's office.

The move surprised me. Windigo running away was like—like Suri learning magic. Okay, that made sense that the Windigo side of her learned restraint while Suri learned the opposite. As the fuzzy monster's tail disappeared through the office door, I let out a laugh that I hoped would chill its bones.

"Come on! Fight me! Where's the Windigo that chased Nora halfway across the internet and into my head? Where's all those fangs and claws?"

Whatever the wound in my shoulder was, it didn't faze me. I was in control of this fight, like I was in control of everything in my life! Saying that out loud would probably make me cackle with laughter, and it didn't sound any more believable in my head. Okay, I was marginally in control of this fight.

Then why did each step I took toward Suri's office make me feel like I was walking into a trap?

It was obvious the moment before I stepped into the darkened room. If Windigo had retreated to here, that meant this was a position of strength. Rather than walk into the room, I stood back from the doorway.

"This isn't working for me. Chasing the monster headlong into its lair? Oh no, no, no!" I said.

Turning, I walked to the nearest cubicle and shoved my spear into the mandrake-worker. The thing undid itself from the complicated knot that made it look like a person and began to blacked and die. While it did, I set about destroying the patterns and fabric around it. That's when it hit me—this was my cubicle!

The patterns I'd just ruined were the belts I'd spent so much time actually ruining, and now that I thought back, the mandrake-worker had been a little paler than the rest.

Was it still an effigy if I destroyed it? This was a question for later. Now it was time to play a game. I waited for nearly a minute, and when they didn't come out, I walked to the next cubicle.

"You honestly don't think I'm going to hunt you to your office, do you? Come out and fight me," I said.

When no reply came, I hefted my spear up and imagined it was akin to both a sewing needle and a seam-ripper, but when I started to bring my arm forward I felt the ground under me tremble. Then again. Footsteps?

Turning my head, I saw SuriGo (and it was very much both together now) walking out of her office.

Her body was like ice—all shimmering angles and edges—with her face now carved into the shape of a horse. Glaring red eyes locked onto me and she screamed with that same digital-noise effect I'd heard her use before. Was there something significant to that sound?

The outfit she wore was a subtle mockery of fashion. It was based off one of her Friday outfits, the things she'd wear in anticipation of going out partying on Friday nights, and it was a short miniskirt and cutesy top that had no hope of fitting her slightly larger figure. Had she messed up and not judged the size? Well, I couldn't exactly expect her to get fashion—she hadn't a wit of sense for it.

"Rarity, so nice of you to come and offer yourself as a meal. Prepare to die, morsel."

I laughed—it was too much. Staring the monster in the eyes, I let my lungs push forward my mirth until I could barely hold onto my spear and shield anymore. The look of shock on SuriGo's face helped me calm down.

"You really don't even realize what's happening yet, do you?" I asked.

She gestured at me and two shafts of chill magic shot toward me.

Lifting my shield high enough to block the blasts coming toward my chest, I braced my right foot for what I assumed would be a strike similar to what I'd given her in her office weeks ago. Instead of the concussive strike of a truck, her blow barely made me flinch behind the shield.

—Attacks prevented.  cataloged and added to database,— my shield sent.

The message was surprising—I hadn't made that! I'd need to check my code later to find out who gave my shield a voice and my spear a tendency to chirp.

So even in her own head her magic was lacking. Good to know. Of course, it could be the opposite; maybe my shield was just that good? Either way, I didn't plan for her to use that on me directly.

—Thank you,— I sent to the shield.

There was no response from it, but I felt there was a principle to the matter. If something could talk, it could potentially listen. And, if it protects me from harm, I was going to say thank you.

"A new trick you learned, or an old one with a new twist? Worm attack, I guess that would have burrowed in and done all sorts of nasty things to my aura. Is that what you used on Starling, Coco, and the police?"

"How could you kn—?" SuriGo asked. "You were stupid to come in here, right? You won't be leaving."

Now she seemed more into her role. SuriGo charged at me, claws out and ready to rend. It was an attack that seemed as clumsy as it was telegraphed. I didn't brace as much this time, instead pivoting while shoving my shield into her face.

Pain blossomed in my side, reminding me that perhaps I should use my spear for striking and my shield for defense. Finishing my turn, I could see SuriGo's nose and left claws were bloody—probably about as much as my side. It was strange to see the blood oozing out of the ice that was her face, but I guess the magic that made this world liked to use the old faithful methods to show someone was hurt.

Glancing down to the wound I spotted four angry lines that looked rimed with frost. That explained why there was so little blood—she still had her cold demeanor.

"If you've ruined my bikini-wearing days, I'll be very cross," I said.

"You are a horrible little worm, Rarity. Even when you worked here you were so far beneath me I could only see you when I lifted my foot, alright?"

The awkward Suri-ism at the end shattered any seriousness the statement might have had.

"This isn't your forte, Suri. You're a B-grade villain at best—you can't even spout a good monologue! Do you remember those three girls who mind-controlled my whole high school? They were more of a threat than you. I could respect them, even acknowledge that they almost beat us.

"You? I shouldn't have gotten Sunset involved in all this—that was my mistake. You aren't worth the time of a single Rainboom, let alone two of us. Look at all this?"

I gestured to the room around us and all the parodies of workers in the cubicles.

"This is the fantasy of a little girl who doesn't know the reality of how things work. You think you're so powerful? We fought off monsters that were thousands of years old. They knew more about manipulating humanity than you'll ever learn. They were monsters, Suri. You're just playing at it—like you play at running a business or having taste in fashion."

It was probably the best burn I'd ever delivered and I feared it was wasted on SuriGo. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well?" I asked.

She rushed forward with an inarticulate scream, claws and teeth flashing toward me.

The ground shook with each step she took. I was forced to remember that this was what remained of her mind we were fighting in. Movement to the side let me know that the mandrake-workers had untied themselves to become actual tentacles that reached out to grasp me—though none looked like they had enough length to reach me. Still, the dratted things cut down my room to move.

I played things defensively, keeping my shield between me and her while jabbing with my spear to keep her from just body-rushing over me. She feared my spear, I realized, which suited me just nicely.

We traded swings for some time—was she trying to tire me? This might seem like the real world, but we were both effectively fighting with our wills—something I'd been literally training for.

Eventually she drew back and the neolithic hunter/fighter in me wanted me to charge her and deal the kill-blow I knew I could.

Advance! Charge! Kill it!

I took a slow, deep breath. No, that wasn't the way to beat this monster. Planning and skill were my weapons—mad destruction was hers.

But it was time to end this farce. Adjusting my hand on my spear, I couched my shield at my side and focused on SuriGo. Speed. I needed more speed—not to run, but to think. I'd been programming so much lately that it was becoming instinct—even though I couldn't see the code or feel the keys under fingers I no longer had, I could alter my program to give me faster ticks.

I started moving the moment I could sense it had started to affect me. SuriGo's mouth was opening, probably to monologue some about… something, but my legs were already working to push me into a run.

SuriGo's eyes slowly widened and her pupils dilated in slow motion. She could move fast, but not this fast. The problem was I couldn't actually move much faster than I had been, but this let me think faster. I watched her body for each subtle shift of weight that would tell me how she intended to deal with my attack.

Her right arm swung out and around, and while she moved at only a slightly slower pace, she would have hit me if I hadn't read her movements and brought my shield up.

—Direct attack to firewall neutralized. Attack vector cataloged and added to database.—

—Thank you again, dear,— I sent.

I had to turn quickly to avoid her left hand, but I was closer than she was able to swipe at now. My spear sped to her side but her left hand grabbed it near the tip.

"You think this little toy can—?"

SuriGo cut herself off into a scream as my spear started to chirp. The spear trembled in my hand and I could smell something burning. When she let go of my spear, it was to throw me back.

"Didn't that little thread of Windigo tell you about my spear when it retreated to your office?"

Then it hit me—she probably just killed it the moment it entered her office. Drat but she made this easier.

The tentacles of the office began to hurl equipment around almost blindly. A chair bounced off SuriGo while I was left dodging a photocopier that would have taken my head off if I hadn't.

"Well, this breaks OSHA regulations," I said.

SuriGo threw herself at me. She swung her claws in wide arcs that I had to dodge or block. It wasn't until I was almost at the back corner of the cube farm that I realized what I should be doing. Shifting my grip on the spear, I shoved it at her arm as it swung toward me.

I had to stop her working me into a corner and denying me movement.

Even as she pulled her arm back from my spear, I blocked her other hand with my shield. Swinging my body forward, I drove the spear toward her and felt the tip touch the frigid skin of her left shoulder—but my position had left me open for an attack I'd forgotten to defend against until it was coming at me.

Her mouth opened as her head loomed closer. I felt her cold breath on my left shoulder as my spear started to bite her back. The stunning shock of her bite hit me while my spear began to chirp. I looked to the side, my vision filled with the side of her face and her one eye that was visible. In the background, all those angry tentacles were—one by one—withering and turning black.

"Darling, you can just die now."

My will traveled down my arm and hand, and my spear's chirping grew angry. SuriGo screamed into my shoulder, but she didn't stop biting me.

Trying to ignore the pain—which was an impossible task—I pushed more of my will into telling the spear to end her.

"Please!" I said.

That's when the whole building chirped and the ground under our feet started to shake.

Focusing all my attention on the spear, I watched as SuriGo's flesh started to burn with green fire that poured over her body by inches.

The lights started to flicker and then, one by one, they started to flicker out. The pattern began at the edges of the room and slowly drew closer and closer to us.

A frozen wound shouldn't hurt, but SuriGo's ice was something else. The cold started to sink into my chest as my spear's fire reached her face.

"No l—last words, darling?" I asked.

That's when the fire reached my flesh and the shock of my own fire burning me ripped my mind from her world and shoved me back into my body.

—Rarity!— Nora Bug sent. —What's wrong with you? Why does it hurt so much?—

All my focus was on SuriGo's body. Green fire had begun to burn her up from the inside. It poured from her nose and mouth first, then cascaded over her body like water in a shower.

—She bit me. Can you look at my aura for me?— I asked Nora Bug.

While Nora did her inspection, I watched Suri's body burn up completely. The flames consumed her and left nothing—not even ashes. As the last of her body burned away, Nora started working on me.

New pain engulfed me. The chill of SuriGo's ice was banished further by Nora's magic. She was biting at my aura, but it wasn't my aura she was ripping away at. SuriGo had infected me, I realized.

—There's so much of it!— Nora Bug sent.

—Keep going, please. I don't want to become a monster.—

While Nora worked, our daughters chirped to me. They wrapped me with their love and wouldn't let me stop fighting. For them I would keep going—it wasn't time yet to give my curtain call. I floated back from the fore and let Nora keep me safe.

It wasn't oblivion that let me relax at last, but sleep.