//------------------------------//
// Gratification 
// Story: Destination Darkness 
// by Aragem 
//------------------------------//

“What are ya?”  Apple Bloom asked as she pawed at Mikala’s knee.
“I’m a human woman.”  Mikala was sitting cross legged on the bed with Apple Bloom sitting across from her.
“An’ what are ya’ll doin’ out there in the Everfree forest?”  Apple Bloom stared at Mikala’s toes.
“We were exploring.  We thought that this world would have been no people living on it so we would claim it as ours.  Imagine our surprise when we found you ponies on it.”  Mikala glanced at the door where she locked and even placed a chair in front of it.  It would be the end of Victory came back and saw her chatting with Apple Bloom in her human self.  The end.
“Where did ya come from?”  Apple Bloom twitched an ear curiously.  “Ya c’n’t have come from up north.”
“In a way, we did, but not the northern hemisphere of this planet.  I mean literally up.”  Mikala pointed a finger at the ceiling.  “Way way up.”
Apple Bloom glanced upward, her eyes becoming wider at the thought.  “Why ya come here then?  Ain’t ya got a home of yer own.”
“We do, we have lots of worlds but the problem is that there are more of us than there are worlds.  So we have to spread out and claim uninhabited planets so there would be plenty of room, food, and resources.”  Mikala stretched forward, leaning her head on the heel of her hand. 
“So ya come t’ take ours?”  Apple Bloom pricked her ears worried.
“No!  No, no, no, of course not!  We want to set up diplomatic ties so we can open trade.”  Mikala dearly didn’t want Apple Bloom to fear her.  “This planet can join the Havensguard Republic and a lot of good things will happen, I promise.”
“So why are ya sneakin’ ‘round pretendin’ t’ be ponies when ya ain’t?”  Apple Bloom tilted her head curiously, her bow flopping against her ear.  “Why duncha jest come on out an’ say howdy?”
“It’s very hard to explain, but trust me.  This wasn’t my idea.” 
“Who’s was it?”
“Ah, honey, you ask so many questions.”  Mikala scratched her between the ears. 
Apple Bloom flicked her ears, remembering how often she received this treatment from the humans.  “Can ya blame me?  I mean ya c’n shape change into a pony.  Is Jelly really your name?”
“No, my name is Mikala Briggs.” 
“Mik-ah-la Briggs?”  Apple Bloom rolled the name along her tongue.  “That’s a funny name.”
“Whoa, little miss, it’s no funnier than Twilight Sparkle, Fancy Pants, or Cinnamon Sugar.  If it’s too hard to say, you can call me Miki.”  Mikala smiled brightly, “That’s what they called me when I was a little girl.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Winter sat at the most private table inside the café.  Instead of sitting outside, he went in and found the most isolated booth and waited patiently for his pony to arrive.  His hooves tapped the top of the table and he ocassionally nursed from a glass of punch set before him.  Damn, he wished the ponies had booze and that Laotaner hadn’t drank up the whole bottle he brought.
His mind went over is orders and it set his teeth on edge.  He wasn’t worried about the mission itself or his new role in it, but he had something to worry about all the same and it was finally walking through the door looking excited and nearly galloped to his table.
“Winter!  Guess what!”  Lyra was nearly prancing at his table in her excitement.
“Calm down, Lyra, what’s wrong?” 
“Nothing!  It’s what’s right!  Another one was spotted in the hospital a few days before Winter Welcome!”  Lyra was bouncing on her hooves.  “Bon Bon has a cousin whose colt had an allergic reaction to a bee sting so he spent the night at the hospital.  The colt has been claiming that he saw a tall two legged monster in the hospital hall.  It’s the same night as when I saw the creature at the hospital!”
Winter blinked.  “Are you sure he saw anything?  Kids tend to have dreams.”
“He drew pictures of it!  It’s almost exactly as the one I saw but it was wearing a hospital gown and had a brown mane!  C’mon, we have to go to the bridge and see . . .”
“Lyra, he won’t be there,” Winter said firmly.  “Trust me, he won’t be there and you won’t see him there again.”
“What?  You said . . . “  Lyra halted in her jubilation and stared at him.
“I know what I said, but what I said wasn’t true.”  Winter glanced about, hoping that Lyra’s excitement hadn’t drawn any attention.  Fortunately, the café was experience slow hours and their part of the restaurant was empty. 
“Then  . . .you don’t believe me?  You don’t believe me like all the others?”  Her ears laid back as she almost physically began to wilt. 
The hurt in her tone ensnared his attention and he shook his head so hard his hair swung against his ears and brow.  “No, no!  I do believe you, I really do!  What I am saying is that your creature will not return to the bridge.  I can’t explain right now, but trust me on that.”
Lyra tilted her head, her eyes focused on his face as they slowly narrowed, “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Lyra, the one who tugs my heartstring like no other, I need you to listen to me and trust me.”  Winter held out his hooves for hers.  “Please.”
There must have been something in his eyes or she heard the plea in his tongue, but she sat on her haunches and placed her hooves on his.  “I’m listening.”
“I know that you have are to perform at the Winter Ball.  I want you to get out of it.  Tell them whatever you need to get out of it and I want you to go with Bon Bon to Appleloosa to visit her parents.”
It was Lyra’s turn to blink.  “What?”
“Yes, you heard me.”  If he had his hands, he would have squeezed her hooves.  “You need to not be in Ponyville or Canterlot for the next several days, or better yet, just stay in Appleloosa until I send for you.”
“Winter, you’re scaring me.”  Lyra drew her hooves back, but he held on.
“I know and I’m sorry.  I can’t tell you anything right now, except, that I don’t you to get hurt.  So in order for me to do what I have to do, I need to know that you’ll be somewhere safe.” 
She blinked her large eyes and he saw the tears forming in them.  “Winter, tell me what’s going on.”
“I can’t, my Lyra.  I wish I could, but I can’t.  I promise that I will tell you everything once it’s over.  No more secrets about me, I swear it.” 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What’s a wind farm?” 
Mikala had the datapad open and it projected an image of her family windmill farm.  She was stretched out on her stomach with Apple Bloom laying sprawled on her back with her chin on her shoulder as she stared at the datapad images.  The foal had been amazed by the device that was commonplace in Mikala’s society. 
“See the windmills.”  She pointed at the white towers with turbines.  “The wind spins the turbines and that produces electricity that is sent out to the entire colony . . . or town I live near.  My grandfather’s job was to maintain them and repair them when they broke.  We didn’t grow crops or raise animals, but it was still hard work and a big responsibility.”
“Pinkie Pie said that she lived onna rock farm when she was a foal,”  Apple Bloom said. 
“A rock farm?  What is that like?”
“Nuthin’ like apple farmin’.”  Apple Bloom tumbled off Mikala’s back to lang on her back on the bed spread.  “When c’n Ah tell muh sis about ya?”
“Don’t tell her anything until I say it’s okay.  I’ll tell her myself when the time comes.”  She saw Apple Bloom start to sadden and then she said, “It’ll likely be after the Winter Ball tomorrow.  I believe that’s when we are going to approach the Princesses about an alliance.”
“Really?”  Apple Bloom beamed.
“Really.”  Mikala drew her pony in for a tight hug.  “You better go.  If Winter or Victory come back . . .”
“So they are human too?”  Apple mumbled her question against Mikala’s shoulder. 
“Yes, but you can’t talk about them either.  Not even with them, okay?  In fact, just stay away from them if you can.”  Mikala lowered Apple Bloom onto the floor.  “And when you see me out there, it’s Jelly, okay?”
“A’right, a’right.”  Apple Bloom screwed her face in a pout.  “Yer worse ‘n muh sister.”
“Sorry, but I’m serious.  I cannot stress to you enough how important is it for you to keep mum on this.” 
“Ah c’n keep a secret.”  Apple Bloom stood by the door. 
“I know you can.”  Mikala put a hand on the door.  “I’ll see you later, okay?”
“A’right.”  Apple Bloom scooted through the door as Mikala opened it.  The human kept herself behind the door for fear of a pony walking the hall may spot her.  “Goodbye, Mi-Jelly!”
“Goodbye, beautiful.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was nearly noon by the time she changed back into a pony.  It felt strange to go back to walking on round hooves when she had spent half a way as a human.  She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, turning this way and that to study her pony body.  It was the same as any pony on the street.  Her coat was a light shade of green with deep blue mane and tail that hung straight toward the floor.  It deeply contrasted with her brown hair and plain human features.
She might as well go down and try on her dress again at Rarity’s.  Tomorrow would be the big day after all.  Hopefully, Fluttershy has kept her word and not mentioned anything about her leaving with Winter the night of the dance. 
Thinking about Winter brought a stab of pain.  But since time had passed and she had time to examine it, it was something she should have expected.  What had attracted her to Winter was that he was such a free spirit, always smiling and having a good time and he was so handsome it hurt to look at him.  A man like him wouldn’t be satisfied being tied down to one woman and he never gave any indication that he saw her as anything more than a crew member.  She shouldn’t be too upset; it wasn’t like she was a virgin when they did it.
She pondered this as she made her way to the boutique, nearly taking a wrong turn which would have taken her to her favorite café.  She righted herself and continued at a brisk pace making a point of paying attention of where she was going. 
When she arrived, Rarity was in her usual flair.  Cloth, ribbons, buttons, lace, and thread flow about in the air as fish in the sea.  Rarity had her red eyeglasses perched on her nose as she concentrated on stitching a line of lace along the skirt of a ball gown.  Mikala, now Jelly, stood by silent, not wanting to break her concentration.  When Rarity was finished, which was several minutes later, did Jelly call her.
Rarity jumped, the floating utensils bobbed in midair before she caught them with her magic, “Darling, you mustn’t sneak up on a pony like that.  You nearly cause my heart to stop.”
“Sorry, I came in a few minutes ago, but you were busy.”  Jelly bowed her in a small apology. 
“Say no more, let’s get started.  Stand there and I’ll get your dress.”  She pointed at the dais.  As she went into the backroom, she lowered all her tools of fashion in their respected compartments.    
Jelly was quick to oblige in further apology for startling the seamstress.  Rarity returned shortly with the dress levitating above her head.  “Now hold still, dear.”
As Rarity fitted the dress around her, Jelly noticed that it felt . . .tight.  “Oh dear.”
“Uh, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.  I just have to . . .take out the waist a  . . . uh touch . . .no, just a itsy bitsy eenie wheenie bit.”
“Take out the waist?  Wait, it’s tight, isn’t it?  It feels tight.”  The dress hasn’t gotten bigger . . . she has!
Ice water flooded her veins.  Was she pregnant!?  Oh holy mother of god no!  Several moments of panic made her face blanch into a cadaverous green shade.
“Darling, it’s alright.  You are still a tiny little thing, no worries, nopony will notice.”  Rarity’s voice may have been speaking to her from a deep cave.
Wait, wait, wait, think think think.  She had sex with Winter the night before.  There is no way the gestation was quick enough for her to start showing.  It was possible that ponies have a quicker gestation period, but she doubted it was that quick.  And she had taken treatment that would stall her fertility during her service time, it lasted six months and she had the treatment three months ago and doubtless Winter had the same treatment as well.  Lastly, the nanonites and the changes would make it impossible for her body to maintain a child with the shifting and changing organs during each change.  If by some minute change she was pregnant, then the change would abort the pregnancy. 
Then that means. .  .she was fat.  All those Flower Power Platters, the cider, the hot cocoa, the candy apples, cupcakes, cakes, and sugary drinks had finally claimed her waist as she had feared.  No wonder Winter didn’t want her.  She was a blimp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I want to talk about mental manipulation,” Victory said to Twilight Sparkle inside the tree library.
They were sitting at the small table while Spike served tea and sandwiches.  Twilight sparkle furrowed her brow, “I’m afraid I don’t have much information on that.  I haven’t had much success with that lately.”
“Ah, so you have experience with it?”  Victory leaned forward, her food and tea untouched.  “Do tell.”
Twilight stirred sugar into her tea with a magical twirl of the spoon.  “Mind Magic is pretty tricky.  Manipulating someone against their nature is very difficult, actually impossible unless you have great power.  I told you about when we dealt with Discord of how he used his powers to turn them against their true nature.  Fortunately, a simple memory spell restored them.”
Victory’s brow twitched.  “Memory spell?” 
“Yes, a memory spell is pretty simple, but you still have to be careful when casting it.  I’ve had it rebound on it me when I was helping Apple Bloom remember what happened to her when she went missing.”  Twilight took a sip of her tea.  That was what prevented her from seeing the narrow cold stare emanating from Victory’s eyes.
When she set the teacup down, Victory’s eyes returned to curiosity mingle with concern.  “What happened?  Did she remember?”
“A little, but it mostly memories from the day she disappeared.  Anything following that was blocked.  The spell recoiled and I . . .it wasn’t  very pleasant.”  Twilight didn’t want to remember the vision.
“Could you go into detail?  I never heard of a spell recoiling.”  Victory was genuinely curious.
“Really?  I guess ponies in the north must have a real talent for magic if you never had to deal with magic recoils, but then again, it doesn’t happen very often.”  Twilight shifted to get in a more comfortable position on the cushion.  “Magic recoil can happen during different circumstances, but mostly when magic is performed on something difficult or impossible for magic to be performed upon.  It’s easier to imagine throwing a rubber ball at a wall.  It bounces right off.”
“And this happened in the filly’s head?”  Victory leaned her chin on her fetlocks in contemplation. 
“Yes, but then again, it can happen when complex magic is performed by an inexperienced unicorn which is why advance magical books are placed in restricted section of libraries in magical schools.  Most of the time the magic harmlessly falls apart, but in the rare cases of a magical recoil, it could cause a lot of trouble.” 
“So there was something inside Apple Bloom’s head that caused this recoil?”  Victory twitched her right ear; it may have been from an itch or from impatience.
“I’m not really sure.  It was likely because I was so stressed out from Winter Welcome preparations.  Or maybe the trauma Apple Bloom has that blocked her memory was too strong for me to overcome.  It’s likely something the filly will have to overcome herself or someone more powerful like the Princess could attempt it.”  Twilight finished her tea and poured herself another cup.
“I want to speak in hypotheticals, if you don’t mind.”  Victory offered a small smile.
“Oh?  Okay.”  Twilight found herself genuinely loving having these discussion with Victory.  She was an amazing pony with such talent and has the most outstanding ideas.
“Equestria is a country on a planet.”  Victory leaned forward, her eyes on Twilight’s face.  “It has magical rules of which you know and studied.  Now, let’s say you’re placed on a different  . . . planet for example.  Like, let’s say I take you and put you on a different planet.  It’s a livable planet with air, water, and its own inhabitants.  Would your magic work there?”
“Yes, I mean, why wouldn’t it?”  Twilight leaned back as she considered this.  “I should be able to lift a rock with my magic just as well as I could here.”
“True, but setting that aside, what if the planet had its own magic or rules.  You’d have to master those rules in order to perform higher magical spells.”  Victory watched Twilight’s face as the younger unicorn absorbed this forward thinking.  “I don’t think that a pegasus would be able to move clouds about at will or an earth pony able to grow food there.  The planet’s eco-system would have its own caretakers or have its own system of survival.  The Princesses wouldn’t be able to raise the sun or moon there either because the celestial beings there would have its own orbit or cycle.”
Victory was pleased to see the visible shudder crawl along the pony’s shoulders as her pupils shrunk as the thought clearly disturbed her.  Twilight put a hoof to her mouth as her ears slanted, “Wow, that’s just . . .wow, I have never thought about it like that before.  It would be the Everfree forest all over the planet.”
Victory smugly took a sip of tea.  “Don’t let it bother you, dear.  We’re speaking hypothesis.”
“But your hypothesis makes so much sense.  A pony could prove if it was possible to get to another planet or just build a telescope powerful enough to see life on one.”  Twilight looked as excited as Pinkie Pie would if she saw the world’s largest cake. 
“Also, the reverse could be said about anything visiting Equestria.  It would likely find it difficult to work magic, but what if instead it worked science.” 
“Hmmm.”  Twilight rubbed her chin.  “That is where it gets tricky.  There’s a fine line between magic and science and a lot of theologians don’t believe the two should ever mix.”
“Why not?”  Victory inclined her head, “Why not have science fill in the holes for magic or have magic fill in the holes for science?  A lot of needs will be supplemented if both areas embraced.”
“But it opens the door for abuse.  In the Dark History of Equestria, magic and science were used to do a lot of bad things.  Forbidden Magics were created like bringing back the dead, summoning dark entities, and the science was used to create weapons.  The Goddesses themselves banned them.  It was their first act as rulers, before Discord came along.”  Twilight looked down into her teacup which she felt between both hooves.  “I understand what you mean if how much it can help ponies and that makes it a worthwhile endeavor, but a lot of care would have to be taken to make sure that ponies don’t return to the Dark History times.”
I could make her squeal between the sheets.  Despite herself, Victory found that she was tracing the slope of Twilight’s shoulder with her eyes.  The unicorn mare had darling eyes, just as most of the pony female population did, but her eyes were always bright with curiosity and a hunger for knowledge.  Not to mention that Twilight was a pretty little thing albeit that was a fact the mare herself didn’t know. 
Again, Victory wasn’t one to be attracted to other women, but then again, Twilight wasn’t a human woman.  There was a physical appeal, but that wasn’t it in total.  Victory found herself enjoying the intelligent discussions with the mare, especially the way the mare was so open to any new ideas proposed to her.  She wasn’t the liberals at home that were as close minded as religious prudes.  And she took to it with such eagerness that it was simply endearing and cute.
From the corner of her eye, she could see the edge of Twilight’s bed on the second level and her consideration turned into temptation.  It could happen.  Maybe with a few comments and some persistence, she could talk the mare to go upstairs  . . .
“Hey, Twilight, sorry, we’re out of tea, so that’s the last pot unless ya want me to run to the store?”  Spike appeared at the kitchen door way and Victory dropped her eyes, drowning her temptation in a flood of disappointment and anger.
“I think we’ll be okay.” Twilight replied glancing at the teapot.  “Mrs. Victory is there anything that Spike could get for you from the store?”
Victory was quiet for several moments before she murmured, “No, I’m fine.  I have to go anyway.  Winter should be back soon with my dress and I have to try it on.”
“Oh, okay.”  Was that disappointment she heard in Twilight’s voice?  Was she notice Victory staring at her and was disappointed that she didn’t make a move or that there’s conversation was over? 
Don’t fret, little Twilight, when the shit happens, I’ll take you as a war prize and we’ll have all the conversations and sex that you would ever want. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     
When she returned to the inn, her passion had melted away and Winter was there with her ‘dress’ laying across the bed.  The dress was for a pony of her size, but it made special by the various pockets and hidden devices sewn into it.
She was satisfied that they were able to include a gun and several knives and when she put on the dress, it was not apparent that she was wearing any weapons at all.  Not even when Winter frisked her could he determine where the weapons were hidden.
*“Tomorrow night is the night, Winter.”*  She stared at herself wearing the dress in the mirror.  It was a wine red color with black lacing it.  It was of a military style that flowed behind her in a short train. 
*“Yeah,”*  Winter agreed.  He stood near her with his wings folded.  *“Tomorrow night we throw diplomacy out the window.”*
*“Do I hear regret in your voice?”*
*“No, just anxious.”*
*“It’s just like any mission except, I do have something to lose.”*  Winter looked away.
*“You always have something to lose in any mission.  Like life and limbs.”*  Victory turned to watch the dress swish across the floor.  *“Just remember, we have everything to gain with the success of this mission.”*
*“True,”* Winter conceded.  *“What about Briggs?  She has no clue about this.”*
*“I’ll deal with her if she becomes a problem.  If she wants to be buried with the ponies, she can be.”*  Victory began to take off the dress.  *”Did the fleet receive my orders?”*
*”Yes, they will be entering the system within the next 48 hours.”*
*”Good”*