A Clash of Magic and Steam

by law abiding pony


16: Think Tank

A few days after the Shadowbolts show, Rainbow Dash was snoring in her hospital bed with an open Daring Do book resting on her face.  It shielded her well enough from the streetlights shining through the nearby window.  She might have stayed that way for a few more hours were it not for a rather loud intruder.

“Lieutenant Rainbow Dash!” a commanding voice half-yelled.

Instinct made Rainbow bolt upright and saluted with her right foreleg at whatever might have been in front of her.  The book went flying to the foot of the bed.  “Sir!”  She blinked, realizing there was a pegasus captain standing to the right of her, making her shift her body his way.  “Sorry for the mess, Captain Glider.”  

With a wing, the captain kept the book from sliding off the bed entirely, and saved her some embarrassment by not looking at the scattered wax paper around the room from her subordinates’ gifts of candy and burgers.  “At ease, Lieutenant.”  He afforded her an approving, slight grin.  “It is my understanding you wish to remain Lady Twilight Sparkle’s sentry officer.”

“Yes sir.”  Dropping her salute, she made to get out of bed to stand respectfully, but he waved her to stop.  Barring that, she did her best to look as professional as possible.  Damn it, I thought Flitter or at least a janitor was going to clean the place up!  Looking him over, the stallion had a small folder with him, along with some bound books tucked into his other wing.

“I should inform you then, that the situation has changed, and given your recent actions, you deserve to know some details before I confirm your next orders.”  

Tilting her head and letting one ear hang limp, Rainbow idly scratched at her itchy left foreleg.  “Did she bungle something up?”

He let off a playful snort.  “Depends on who you ask.  I received word that a Major Clipped Wing managed to recruit her for a secret project.  What details I know of it don’t really make it seem worth the secrecy, but it’s not my call.”

How am I supposed to take that?  Is he trying to say this project is just some spy bait?

“At any rate,” Glider moved on, losing some of his derisiveness.  “Should you choose to remain as her sentry officer, you will be bound to the research site until further notice.  Otherwise, I can have you return to your station with the customs inspectors once the doctors clear you for light duty.”

Averting her gaze, Rainbow was left troubled.  Back to customs? All I ever did was search stanky ships for contraband. With the war coming, there’s no way the squad will be redeployed, if anything they're going to expand the customs teams. I'll never see action if I go back.  Thinking so much about such a boring future was making her head hurt.  But if I stay with Twiggles and Pinkie... Who knows, I might get a rematch with Fey Hunter, or even get to square off with a whole squad of spies like Daring Do did and blow them away with a box of grenades!  Her inner cackling started unconsciously leaking to her face, making the captain give her a bemused look until she straightened up and saluted crisply.  “Captain, I believe staying at Twilight’s side will prove far more dangerous.  Count me in!”

More dangerous?” he questioned for a moment before casting the question aside with a head shake.  “I suppose you have good cause to believe it. In any event, if that’s what you want, Lieutenant…”  The book on the bed caught his eye for a moment.  “Since you like reading so much, I have more literature for you.”  He dropped the books he had been holding on top of the Daring Do book.  “You have a secondary assignment while you’re there. We’re going to need you to be a flight instructor.  These manuals should help you prepare.”

“A what?”  She glanced at the new books and cried inwardly.  By Luna’s starry tail, more textbooks?  Why would I need that, I already know how to fly!  Plus, being an instructor is not my thing at all.    She stopped suddenly and quirked an inquisitive eye at him.  “Who exactly would I be teaching anyway?  You can’t seriously be asking me to teach foals, and we already have flight academies for the air corp.”

“Correct on both counts.”  He shrugged almost uncaringly.  “I can’t tell you anything more. You’ll have to find out when you get there, as I’m only passing along your flying orders.  The travel details are on a letter inside the top book.  You have until six in the morning to bring whatever personal effects you wish to take with you.  Your current sentry squad will be reassigned, but I am told you will have new candidates available on site.  Upon arrival you are to report to Commandant Iron Sights.”

Sensing he wanted to leave, Rainbow slapped a salute.  “Travel light, travel fast.”

Giving a one-sided grin of approval of the unofficial air corp motto, he returned the gesture and the second half of the motto.  “Go and kick them in the ass, Lieutenant.”


Roughly two weeks later, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkamena, and Rainbow Dash stepped off the train and each of them had a different take on what lay before them.

Situated between the last great mountain range boarding the brown plains further north was a moderately sized military base with several watchtowers nestled at the summit.  Both rail and telegraph lines connected the base to the rest of Lunaria.  Walls encircled the facility, but were only tall enough to keep wildlife at bay.  Instead the only real defenses Twilight could spot were several artillery batteries aimed skyward either resting on brick towers or interspersed along the mountain side.  In the waning hours of the day, electric lights lit every window of the fifteen buildings sitting on the foot of the mountain.  While the thinning forest rested to the south, the darkening presence of the brown plains beyond were blocked from view by the brick perimeter walls.  Stenciled in wrought iron above the station was: Fringe Point. 

Thankfully, the mares’ train car had been private, so none of them stood in the way of the soldiers boarding or disembarking as well as the workers moving supplies.  There was a regimented yet calm order to the moving bodies that put Twilight at ease. These were soldiers who felt comfortable here, and the lack of worry gave Twilight a chance to keep her own nerves in check. 

The same didn’t seem to go for her friends however when Applejack started leveling a fuming glare at Rainbow Dash who was too busy trying to look like she wasn’t resting on her crutch.  “Did you know we were going to an army base?”

“Obviously.” The nonplussed thestral scratched her cast with the claw of her wing.  “Didn’t the whole ‘restricted access to any car behind yours’ rule except for me not set off any bells for you?”  The confusion on both Applejack and Twilight’s faces made Rainbow smirk derisively and wave a playful wing at them.  “Did you two honestly spend all this time reading Clipped Wings notes without once wanting to stretch your legs?”

“‘Course not.”  Applejack almost looked offended, but wasn’t about to get overly defensive towards her in the middle of an army base. “Our car had some treadmills, remember?”

“They were a bit crude, what with no device turning the belt for us,” Twilight added with a bemused tone. “But it was still a great way to burn off some energy from studying so much. Not to mention that it offered a great view of the passing countryside. I suppose the server bringing food being in uniform should have made it obvious.”

Letting off a snarky laugh, Rainbow leaned against the crutch under her left foreleg. “I swear, if we put you two in a house for a year with a lava moat, you’d probably not even notice.”

Twilight grumbled and frantically waved a hoof to clear the air.  “Yes, yes, pay more attention, I get it.”  Applejack frowned a bit.  “You’d think that should only apply to isolated farmhouses or abandoned ruins, but there you go. For now, I’m assuming we have a welcoming committee coming.”

“Right you are!” called a familiar voice from further up the train.  Sure enough, Clipped Wing emerged from the throng of soldiers who gave him enough deference for him to move quickly.  He was wearing the light green uniform of the army.  The yellow cloth rank bar bearing the gold leaves of a Major made Rainbow stiffen to attention and salute.  Her action seemed partially at odds with the other soldiers nearby. Only a few stopped and saluted at his passing, while others merely stopped to let him pass without a sign of respect.

“At ease, Lieutenant.” He returned her salute before focusing on Twilight, wringing her wings nervously.  “My apologies, Lady Twilight Sparkle for not disclosing my rank when we first met.”  He was now close enough he felt he could speak more quietly without the din around them drowning him out.  “My commission doesn’t exactly mean much outside of Fringe Point.  Honestly I’m only a major because of my research.”

“If it doesn’t mean much, then why have it?”  Twilight inquired, glancing about, worried that someone nearby might think he wasn’t actually who he appeared to be.  If he gets arrested, the rest of us don’t have a leg to stand on.

Clipped Wing tried to follow her gaze, but couldn’t tell what had drawn her attention.  “Oh you know how things go. It’s something that got started who knows how long ago about doctors always being officers. The practice expanded to researchers mostly so we are left alone.” He laughed sheepishly, looking back at not so good memories. “Nothing scares off a fresh trooper’s inane questions like a rank emblem he probably can’t even identify.”

“Sounds about right ta me,” Applejack said a bit louder than she wanted to, drawing on rose-tinted memories.  “The scariest words any sea cat ever hears is ‘admiral on deck’.  Just breathin’ wrong feels like tha captain would put you on bilge duty for a month.”

“Yes, I got much the same treatment once ponies around the - ah - garrison started recognizing me and knew who my brother was.”  Twilight sighed away some of the bitterness the loss of her family still inflicted on her. She tried to hide it by adjusting the hat she had gotten from Rarity to cover one particularly bright lantern that was burning her eye.  “I wore this to give a good first impression but it looks like I’m the odd one out around here.”

“Maybe not entirely,” Clipped Wing said encouragingly with a smile to match. “While I hired you to design a wearable version of my invention, I got a fashionista to help with the ergonomics. Even I can see your beauty is magnified by such an exquisite item, and I’m sure she’ll fawn all over it.”

Bashfully fidgeting her wings, Twilight couldn’t stop herself from looking to Pinkamena for advice. Unhelpfully, all she got was a mass of curly pink hair bobbing madly from poorly contained laughter behind a hoof. “I told you, you look rather fetching with it.”

“A bit too fru-fru for my tastes,” Rainbow added matter-of-factly. 

“Then we should thank - Luna that it wasn’t made for you,” Twilight harrumphed to hide her stomach growling.  “Lead the way, Major, I’d like to get settled in before finding some lunch.”
 


Clipped Wing gave them an abbreviated tour of the facility, pointing out the admin building, mess halls, Twilight’s living arrangements, then finally the laboratory. 

The stallion became rather chipper once he led them through the main doors. “The lab’s been broken up into three main areas, my workshop is down at the end, yours will be in the middle, which means we’ll be able to meet the ergonomics director first. He leaned into Twilight’s ear. “Be sure to primp your hat a bit before we meet her, she’s going to love it.”

“Would she?” The prospect of someone else liking the hat Rarity had given her truly uplifted Twilight’s spirits. If only Rarity had been allowed to pursue her passion for fashion. Sometimes I feel this hat better represents her repressed talents than it does me.

Turning towards Pinkamena, Twilight wiggled a wing at her prized possession. In turn, Pinkamena giggled happily and with a single hoof, managed the adjustments to the purple feathers and curled the brim just so, so that everything was perfectly ordered. She was brushing away an errant bit of fur off the article when Clipped Wing stopped at a door and pushed it open with little preamble.  “We’re here.” 

The room Twilight stepped into was more akin to a clothing store than a laboratory at first glance. Uniforms of all branches of the armed forces along with some civilian ones and even a few from the Equestrian military had all found their way here on racks, ponyquins, or pinned to the walls. Yet it was the nose twisting chemical stench from various curing vats and other tanning equipment that would repulse the average customer. 

The entire southern wall, easily a hundred feet long, was covered in drafting paper of yet more designs running the gambit of all tribes. Standing in front of four other civilian-dressed designers was an animated pegasus mare with a disembodied sleeve on her upraised teal-furred foreleg and showing it off to the others. Lastly was a stately poised earth stallion wearing an officer’s uniform.  Whatever she had been saying had stopped at Clipped Wing’s entry. 

“Commandant Iron Sights, Madam Kerfuffle my dear, this is Lady Twilight Sparkle.  She is to be our miniaturization specialist.”

“So she’s finally here is she?” Iron Sights would be forgettable were it not for his rank and deep tone of voice.  His light brown mane paired with slightly darker fur would be glanced over even if Twilight was trying to find him in a crowd.  He held back with a side-grin aimed at Kerfuffle who cheerily cantered over to greet the newcomers.  

The three-legged pegasus mare was joy personified.  Everything between her caring smile and the bounce in her step afforded by her spring-loaded prosthetic left Twilight and her friends feeling more welcome than a marching band in their honor.  “Hi there! As that doey-eyed flirt said, I’m Kerfuffle, putting the ‘ffff’ in army ffffashion!”  She kept cheerfully rattling on as she shook everyone’s hoof in turn.  “Or at least I will once I get a design accepted, but you ahh…”  Kerfuffle paused at seeing Twilight’s hat, only to get utterly embarrassed thinking she was standing before a superior designer, completely forgetting what Clipped Wing said.  “Well, I should really just stop talking.”  

Inwardly, Twilight found the fashionista’s slumping mood depressing.  She’s probably had problems with nobles taking their self-importance too rigidly.  Eager to have a good relationship with someone who could make or break the entire project, Twilight put on her best friendly face.  “I don’t see why.”  She looked around, taking in the uniforms, both on the ponyquins and the drawing board walls.  “You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t the best, right?”  That got a stunned smile out of Kerfuffle, prompting Twilight to continue.  “You probably know your way around thread and needle better than I do around an engine.”

“An engine?  Then you’re-?” Kerfuffle looked expectantly to Clipped Wing.

“The miniaturization specialist that I mentioned last month.”

It took a moment before Kerfuffle jumped a bit as realization dawned on her. “Oh.  Oh! Right, of course.”  She jumped a bit when the heavy presence of Commandant Iron Sights stepped up beside her, making Kerfuffle cow away. 

“Lady Twilight Sparkle, I thank you for coming.”  

Such simple, courteous words, and yet they held no warmth at all.  Great, somepony bitter about working with yet more pegacorns.  Lining up her emotional walls to deal with the pony, Twilight stopped once she looked him in the eyes. They were dead, emotionless, almost despondent.  Like he had stared into death itself and was merely waiting his turn, only for it to pass over him like a smothering shroud.  I’ve seen that look before in some of the really old veterans. I hope Pinkamena doesn’t try making friends with him. It’d be a wasted effort.

If he cared about her clamming up, he showed no sign as his gaze left her.  “I must commend you, Major.  You’ve bought this little project of yours some more time.”

Sweat started beading across Clipped’s brow.  “I promise you, Commadent, this can work.”

“It had better do more than just ‘work’.”   Iron Sights became animated in one of the few ways ponies like him could anymore, frustrated anger.  “The entire southern border depends on your research.”

“Wait-” Pinkamena cut in, hoping to derail the stallion’s simmering temper.  “My Lady’s research will help fight the griffons?  But I thought we weren’t at war with them.”

Scowling, Iron Sights cast a frightful gaze at everyone in turn before settling on Pinkamena.  “Not yet at least.”  He faced Twilight, expecting her to speak.  “And don’t get any delusions of grandeur.  As far as I can tell, this whole project is a fool’s errand.  Trying to make pegacorns useful in battle,” he scoffed, completely uncaring for present company.  “The only use you have,” he directed at both pegacorns, but kept his eyes more on Clipped Wing than Twilight.  “Is keeping this base in the treasury’s good graces.”

“Pardon, sir,” Twilight asked, now more worried than ever.  “I was of the understanding Lunaria and the griffons were on poor terms.  If this fort is so important to the border, then why do you need the project at all?”

Iron Sights glared at her, but his intent was not to intimidate, he did that just by being present.  He seemed to finally catch himself being too abrasive and shaped up to his original stately demeanor.  “I suppose you’ll find out eventually.  The army and navy are not just mobilizing, the emperor is pulling everything he can to the mainland before Equestria can start making sea travel difficult.  With the griffons currently on the brink of a succession crisis, the Field Marshals feel we can leave only a scant few ponies watching our southern flank.  They aren’t entirely wrong, as those half-witted sapiovores can’t even manage a coherent government anymore after what we did with their last competent king. But I’d be negligent to allow us to become easy prey for those things, and this project is the only thing keeping my fort from being picked apart by vultures for the upcoming Equestrian theater.”

“Makes sense, there’s no need to fight dragons that are not in your way.  But I can’t help but notice that you speak as if we’re already at war,” Twilight remarked evenly so as to not provoke him.

He grunted painfully as old wounds ached, his gaze going distant.  “Tell me, turncoat, you know Equestria better than any of us.  Does the crown seek to make this peace last?”  

The weight of so many eyes upon her felt different this time, as if she were being pressed in vice under his cold gaze.  Twilight wanted to shrink away from it, but held firm.  “I believe she does, not that it matters. Mi Amora Cadenza has the same problem Celestia had millennia ago. Those who hold the keys to power dictate her stance on issues. The only difference now is that Cadenza knows this, but doesn’t know how to cut her strings.”

“I’m not sure if that is an improvement.”  Dismissing Twilight from his mind, he focused on Rainbow Dash who looked out of her element.  “Lieutenant.  Report to the clinic so they can assess your leg.  I need to know when you’ll be fit for duty.  Until then, find something useful to do or I will find it for you.”

“Yes, sir!”

“I should not have to say that you are to stay mum on everything you do here.”  Iron Sights didn’t raise his voice, but no one missed the unspoken threat.  “Should you lot actually produce something noteworthy, I want the weapon’s arrival on the field to be the first the Equestrians ever hear of it.”


Shortly thereafter, Rainbow headed off to her quarters while the rest of them followed Clipped Wing to the reason she was dragged here in the first place. Striding in ahead of everyone else, Clipped Wing proudly swept a wing towards the monstrosity of a machine. “Ladies, I give you the Pegacorn Integrated Kinetic Energy engine, or PIKE.”

All three spread out around the machine while Clipped Wing watched on like a proud father. He paid far more attention to Twilight’s reaction, and react she did. 

It wasn’t hard for her to find where a pony was supposed to donate their magic to the device. A resin bench sat on one end with a metal apparatus attached to a horn with the skull used as weight support. Surprisingly, there was a metal casting add-on that looked like it was for making bullets and etching runes. The rest of the machine seemed like a traditional, if rather small engine assembly. A firebox boiler, and steam engine were patched into another device her studies concluded was the mana conversion focus. Her clinical mind picked the machine apart piece by piece, leaving her confused. “I can see why you might need help with the focus,” she began while trying to imagine how it would feel having her magic being directly pulled from her horn like a straw. “But what’s with the other accoutrements?  Surely you’re not planning on having a steam engine jump start the armor soldiers would wear.”

He chuckled half-heartedly and sweated a bit. “Certainly not. I’m afraid my hooves are tied to what I can actually work on. Irons Sights might have been the one to offer Fringe Point as a research site, but it was the Lord Generals who dictated what the project would do. I’ve been tasked with developing ammunition imbued with pegacorn magic that can be used by existing firearms.”

Twilight’s eyes widened first with intrigue, then with curiosity. Scientific progress was in the air, and it pulled at her on a deeply fundamental level that she was unaware of. “Yes, that would be of interest. Lunaria hasn’t used magical bullets for at least a hundred and fifty years. The Battle of Stinger Skies being the last time if I recall, and it was a total rout for the Lunar Air Corps.”

“You’re quite well read,” Clipped bowed his head in respect. “Yes, the Green Grass rifles were a marvel of their time, but even that was enough to cause intolerable misfire rates in magic munitions. As for today, I promised to deliver magic cartridges that won’t suffer the same fate, and our magic is the key.”  He grew concerned and turned away from her to hide his ill at ease. “Which is proving difficult. The math proves it’s possible, but I’m having to reinvent the bullet because runes can’t survive exiting a rifle barrel.”  A gasping laugh defused his stress enough that he felt he could look at her ahead without embarrassment. “But as I said, that won’t be your project.”

“Reinventing the bullet…” A yawn struck Twilight, one that spread to the others. “Might as well reinvent the gun while you're at it.”

The very idea of that being necessary had crossed his mind before and it pressed down on Clipped Wing like a pile of bricks. “Please, not you too.” 

Pity made Twilight give him a half-smile. “Well… maybe rethink the glyphs themselves?” She stopped, her thought half formed. The train ride was exhausting, and she had little energy left for such efforts. 

“Maybe you don’t have to do either one,” Pinkamena chimed in, earning curious looks from the others. “If the rifle is damaging the runes, why not make that work for you instead of against.”

Yawning far more than good decorum would permit, Twilight tried to hide her embarrassment over it.  “Sorry, I’m struggling more than I wished to admit.  I’m going to have to retire for the night.”


While Pinkamena and Twilight busied themselves settling in, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had their military careers to blame for them traveling light, and neither of them had more than a single bag to throw on a bed before being settled in. 

With so much spare time, Applejack walked over to Rainbow’s quarters first. The officers had decent enough accommodations, a small bedroom with an attached bathroom, but even they had communal showers. The ex-navy girl poked her nose into Rainbow’s bedroom while the bright blue thestral was still struggling to hang the last of her uniforms up with a broken leg. 

“Hey, LT RD, it’s been too long since I've had a drink, wanna cast our sheets to the wind?”

Just the idea of a stiff drink made Rainbow drool a bit after such a long ride. Her first answer was cut off by looking at the rank patches on her spare uniforms. “I can’t tell you how much I’d love to teleport to tomorrow evening, but-” Rainbow started speaking with as much derogatory sarcasm her raspy voice was capable of, “you can’t do that, LT.  You’re not one of the file anymore, you’re the rank.  You have to be respectaaable.”  She grumbled and clipped the last hanger on the closet bar.  “And that means getting drunk in your own room, not the bar.”

“Come on, Sugarcube, you know as well as anypony that the only difference between a bar and an officers lounge is the furniture.  Ah can’t tell ya the number a’ times Ah saw the sailing brass get so drunk Ah had to hold onto their mane so they wouldn’t fall into the drink while they puked their pay away.”

Snickering at the thought of it, Rainbow felt a little lighter.  “Did they get reprimanded?”

“Psshhh.” Applejack waved a dismissive hoof and rolled her eyes to mimic Rainbow’s exaggerated style.  “If they did, it never stopped them from doing it again the next time they saved up enough rum rations.  No pony ever got transferred out because they only ever did it when not on duty.  At least on the boats Ah served on Ah guess.”

Taking the hint, Rainbow grinned mischievously.  “Is that a fact?  Well, my duty is studying to be a flight instructor.  There’s not exactly a deadline thanks to my leg.”  Her smile grew into a devious grin by the second as the promise of a booze filled night caused her to salvate. “I’m so in.”

It wasn’t long before Rainbow Dash and Applejack strided into what was supposed to be the officers’ lounge.  Strided was a bit much for Rainbow and her crutch, so she flew low to the ground so she and Applejack could chatter on the way over.  For her part, Applejack wore her navy bucket hat complete with an anchor and chain cloth emblem with prominent ‘ILN Cover of Night’ emblazoned on the front.  Though without the rest of her uniform, she was marked as a veteran instead of active duty.  

What few local army and air corps officers camped around tables viewed her with a rival’s eye.  A fact she was counting on, and everyone knew it.  Ah haven’t had a good brawl for two weeks.  What almost annoyed Applejack though was how sparsely populated the place was.  Somethin’ tells me this sorry lot isn’t goin’ ta oblige.

The lounge itself was decent enough for a base of this size.  The main area was decorated in various stuffed animal heads, ranging from deer to lions.  The tables and chairs were of fine quality, if not exactly the opulent accommodations the Tranquility lounges offered. The gentle violin music of a single musician brought some peace to the room, leaving Applejack disappointed.  Shucks, are they in mournin’ or somethin’?  They might not want ta have a dust up.

The pair arrived at the bar and they ordered up something mild to start off.  “So,” Rainbow said, cutting off the sailor’s thoughts.  “Your indenture should be up in a few weeks.  You got any plans?”

The bartender slid a mug of hard cider for Applejack and some light beer for Rainbow.  “Already talked it over with Twilight.  She’s gunna bump my wage up a few slips above what Ah was gettin’ in the navy.  As much as Ah’d like ta work at the family shop, it ain’t earnin’ enough ta leave Twilight ya know?”

“Could be worse, working for a slave driver who couldn’t care less if a loom tore your hoof off, right?” Rainbow offered her mug in a toast.

“Ah hear ya.”  Clanging her glass with Rainbow’s Applejack downed half of her drink in one go.  “Is not all bad.  Ah get to have solid earth under my hooves again, and the kin are just a week away instead of an ocean.  “‘S a fair trade if ya ask me.” Applejack hesitated as a warm thought crossed her mind of an era before her time, but told fondly by Granny Smith.  “Maybe when Ah save up enough, Ah can buy a farm somewhere.  Wouldn’t that be a peaceful life?” she added with a wistful smile.

“Psh, more like a boring life if you ask me.”  Rainbow chugged the last of her drink, smirking at the brief irritation Applejack tossed her way.  She banged the bar.  “Hey barkeep, what’s the deal?  This place has decent beer but barely anypony’s here.”

Taking the hint, the unicorn behind the bar started pouring a fresh mug.  “Boar season just started.  Some of the boys are out hunting, and word has it, they got lucky.  Fresh pork beats anything the mess hall’s offering, I can promise you that.” He glanced at the grandfather clock off to the side.” They should be back within the hour, but you gotta pay if you want a piece.”

Claiming her drink, Rainbow downed a good portion of it in one go.  She shook as the cold liquid cooled her down.  “Sounds like a plan to me.”

“Ah can always go for some fresh pork,” Applejack chimed in.  “Helps remind me not to think too fondly ‘a galley food.” Once she too got another drink, she ribbed Rainbow Dash right as she was taking another drink, causing Rainbow to dunk her muzzle in the glass.  “So, Miss Excitement.  What are you plannin’ to do with yourself if not farmin’?”

Freeing her face, Rainbow licked her mouth for every drop.  “Me?  If this whole flight instructor plan goes bust, I’ll probably go airborne infantry.  I’m not retiring unless I become a general or maybe Shadowbolt captain if the stars align. I mean if I gotta be an officer I might as well ride it out, or kill me a nuckelavee.”

The bartender nearly dropped a glass he was cleaning. Applejack thumped the bar with a hoof. Her mind hauntingly returned to that night at Manehatten’s docks. The way Rarity awoke the primordial fear of prey staring down the eyes of a tiger felt as real now as it did the night it happened. “Look, girl, Ah get being brave and all, and Ah know ya gotta do what the brass tell ya, but don’t go outta your way to fight one of them inquisitors. Granny Smith would smack you with a cane if she could hear you right now.”

Seeing the first hand fear from another put Rainbow on edge, but she brushed it aside. “Yeah I get it. They’re powerful, but so are dragons and we kicked thier tails so hard even the dumb ones only migrate where we tell them to.”

A fresh beer landed hard in front of Rainbow. The greying unicorn bartender locked Rainbow eyes with his own. “You should listen to the sea cat. You don’t fight an inquisitor with gun and hoof, but overwhelming force.”

Cautiously taking the free drink, Rainbow nursed it as she studied him for the first time. He looked old, if his graying purple fur was anything to go by. Yet his muscular frame carried numerous scars from face to hoof. The wounds of war can heal, but never hidden. “Have you fought one or is that just some spooky gobbledygook?”

Using his magic, the stallion plucked a medal off the wall that sat in the center of the drink shelves and placed it in between the mares.  It was a deceptively simple thing. A black disk with silver points latched to a blue ribbon.  “How’s that for gobbledygook?”

Applejack wanted to pick it up, but stopped short, daring not to touch such a rare thing without explicit permission. “Dash. This is an Eclipse Crescent,” she said in awe. “You only get this for killing an inquisitor.”

Rainbow’s cavalier smirk evaporated into one of respectful shock. “By the stars… How’d it happen?  You got a lucky shot, or did you stalk one down in their sleep?”

Giving the mildly smarmy thestral a disapproving huff, the bartender tapped a hoof next to the medal. “It was a lucky shot, but it hardly changes things.”

Seeing Rainbow as being disrespectful in her unwitting way, Applejack chose to distract him from it. “How’d it happen? If ya don’t mind sharin’.”

“At least one of you has some manners.”  The sound of shifting chairs pulled Applejack’s attention away. Several of the closer patrons were leaning in to hear the tale.   The bartender pointed to a painting on the wall, one that had four rows of soldiers looking stoically at the painter. “That was my platoon five months before the battle of Red Creek. Afterwords, only myself and two others were left alive. 

“Red Creek was supposed to have been a small affair compared to the larger battle going on twenty miles north in Rainbow Falls. Five hundred Royal Army troopers were holding a switchback road large enough to move artillery pieces, but too steep for a crawler. If we took it, we could shell the Equestrian flank into Rainbow Falls. 

“We struck the first crook in the switchback, taking it easily enough. The enemy was greener than broccoli, ‘cause they broke and ran before we even got off a second volley. Weren’t even orderly about it, just broke like scared dogs.”  He paused, shuddering as memories took their toll. “We had only just marched around the first bend when it felt like I walked straight into a lake of molasses. Everything felt normal enough at first, but then I saw a small fire the royals had left behind. The flames were twisting and flickering like it was possessed by great haste and smoke bled off it like steam from a punctured boiler.”

“I tried calling out to my sargeant something wasn’t right but the words didn’t come out right when I spoke. Like some warbled mess. And that’s when I saw it start two formations ahead of me. A pink and white blur stopped and started like grease lightning in front of each trooper. And one by one they fell down like they’d been shot. Transfixed I was, until the blur was close enough to see it was a pony. Then I saw the glint of gold on the pony’s head. That - that only meant one thing to me: an inquisitor.”

All other sounds in the lounge had fallen still. No clinking of glasses, not shifting chairs, not even the exhale of cigar smoke could be heard as the bartender pressed on with the tale. Rainbow Dash clamped down on a wing that was shaking with unacknowledged fear. Applejack found herself draining her beer far faster to cope.

“I was the platoon’s only antimagic expert, being the only one lugging a pack of watches everywhere. Unlike my brothers I could still move a little at least. So I tried to aim at the damned nuckelavee, but I might as well have been trying to move in a vat of taffy. My aim was always five bodies behind her no matter how hard I tried. The worst of it was that my brothers had no idea it was even happening. After she destroyed the entire second platoon , she was close enough I could finally see she had a large pot with her. After stabbing somepony in a leg, she dipped the blade into the pot of paralyzing toxin.”

“Wait, wait,” Rainbow waved a wing hastily. “Are you telling me she was so crazy fast she was going to capture a whole damn regiment in one go?!”

“Not exactly.”  The bartender licked his lips while eyeing the bottle, but couldn’t bring himself to drink on the job so settled for a glass of sparkling water. It tasted bitter and hollow. “She wasn’t going fast, we we’re going slow. Turns out my musket and pocket-watches were the only things keeping me from being frozen completely.”

Guzzling his water, it left a foul taste he dearly wished to wash down with whiskey. “Anyway. She stabbed half of my platoon before reaching me. I was still trying to turn my rifle from the left flank where I last saw her. In a split second she was right in front of me, blade drawn. I thought for sure I’d either be dead or striped.”

“Barely any difference if ya ask me,” Applejack shivered, her thoughts drifting to the slaves Twilight had brought with her. 

Moving on with barely a pause from Applejack’s interruption, “but she stopped and looked past me. Like a pop, the world slammed back to normal as case shot exploded all around us.”  He squeezed his eyes shut as the mental images of sheets of shrapnel flew all around him. Friends both new and old being torn to pieces by the barrage.

“The damned inquisitor had to give up her slow spell to bring up a shield. Must have assumed we didn’t have any artillery since we didn’t use it on any of their fortified positions around the road. But she got careless and threw up too big of a shield and I was close enough to be inside it.  The fires hadn’t even cleared when I swung my musket around and shot her between the eyes.”

He tried to put on a strong front, but the stallion’s right front hoof was trembling badly, but he managed to keep his steely gaze locked onto Rainbow’s mortified face. “That’s what it takes, girl, to bring one of those monsters down.  You don’t go hunting Inquisitors. You either get lucky or you get dead.”

While Applejack was in somber awe, Rainbow Dash’s expression only grew harder. “I’m not gonna say these guys are chumps. Never was. But we got to do better than trading a regiment for a single inquisitor.”

“That was better,” Applejack admonished with little force behind it. “Like he said, if it weren’t for his watches, he’d have never been able to move or think at all.  By Luna’s stars, he probably woulda walked up that road one second and then wake up striped the next.”

Scowling at Applejack’s defeatism, Rainbow downed her drink, brood for a moment before Twilight’s project gave Rainbow a sinister idea. With a coy smirk, she gently tapped the medal. “You watch. One way or another, I’ll find a way to get a bunch of these.”

“Uh huh, and Ah’m sure they’ll just line up for ya.”  Applejack darkly chuckled while Rainbow playfully jabbed her shoulder.  She glanced at the grandfather clock when it started chiming. She quickly drained her beer. “Come on RD, we’ll come back later for a hootenanny.  We got some fresh pork ta eat and forget inquisitors exist for a night!”

Rainbow was roughly dragged from her staring contest with the bartender by Applejack tugging on her good foreleg. “Oh come on, I don’t even have a buzz yet.  There better be some booze there!”


Pinkamena directed others to finish moving everything into what was essentially a condo, two bedrooms of modest size, a central hallway with enough rooms that she wouldn’t have to leave for weeks if the kitchen was properly provisioned. Having tucked away her small wardrobe and organized her papers, Twilight dithered at her desk with worry wrinkling her brow. She had been putting sensitive papers into a safe when one set of documents caught her eye. Pulling the slightly wrinkled pages from the same carpet bag she brought when she arrived. It was the adoption forms that had been scratching at the back of her mind for the whole year. Shaking her head, Twilight frowned deeply at her own cowardice. 

She’s ready. I know she is. But does she believe that yet?  I don’t want her to feel forced into it, but I don’t know how much longer I can stand her being a servant any longer, striped or not.

A knock on the door made Twilight jump in mild panic. She flipped the pages over. “Come in.”

Pinkamena stepped in and flashed a massive grin that had become a common sight on her in the last several months. A fact that warmed Twilight’s heart. “My Lady, I know you would rather sleep, but l suspect we’d be better served by dining out tonight.”

“Dining out?  This is a military base, and a remote one at that. Where would we eat?”  Pinkamena’s straining smile and nervous ear twitches set off some red flags. She couldn’t have possibly organized a surprise party this quickly. Not to mention paid anypony.

“Some of the troops were out hunting wild boar and came back with a few. I bought some choice pieces for a great price.  I suspect it would ingratiate us with the common soldiery.”

“How do you have so much energy for all this?”  Twilight slumped from how drained she felt.  Pinkamena’s giggles brought a tired smile to Twilight’s face, and gave her enough strength to accept her friend’s hoof in standing up. 

“Too much sugar I think.  Shall we go?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.”  

Waiting until Pinkamena turned away, Twilight slid the adoption papers into a small travel folder and tucked it into a wing. No more excuses.  


The full moon was high in the sky when Twilight and Pinkamena followed their noses to the delightful smoky scent of cooked meat.  Pinkamena had brought a pouch of spices she had thrown together before leaving and went off to claim her steaks while Twilight picked out a secluded spot to settle down and build a campfire.  

It was all just outside the walls, but with so many soldiers around, a sense of protected calm settled over Twilight as she collected enough twigs and brambles to make a fire for a few hours.  A measure of rustic excitement gave Twilight enough motivation to gather enough stones for the fire as well.  Through it all, Twilight had tucked the travel folder against a nearby tree.

By the time Pinkamena arrived with two plates and some weak local-brewed beer in delightfully chilled mugs, the fire was ready and Twilight was on her back watching the stars framed by the full moon.  

“Still hot off the grill!” Pinkamena cheered as she set the iron plate down on the soft dirt near Twilight.  The pegacorn was quick to offer aid in placing everything else down so Pinkamena could sit.  “Got some asparagus, broccoli, and some assortment of local grasses that I’m assured is fit for an emperor.”

“Thank you, Pinkamena, I forgot how hungry I was.”

“And you weren’t even working yet,” Pinkamena added with her delightful giggle.

A few moments of silence prevailed as they simply enjoyed each other’s company.  Twilight had positioned herself to face away from the walls and towards the deep woods, broken only by the rail tracks.  The crisp early winter air and the sound of trees swaying in the wind made her sigh.  “Do you remember the first ‘field training’ exercise Cross Hook put us through?  Didn’t even go two nights before he had us skin and cook a pair of rabbits.”

Pinkamena groaned and shivered, and not entirely from the cold.  “I know it tasted like rubber without salt.  I also remember you getting a tick in your ear,” she added with a hint of snark.

“Eww,” Twilight instinctively held her ear as horrible memories flooded back.  “Thanks,  I had almost forgotten that ever happened.  Can’t believe I survived him sticking a hot poker in there to get it off.”  Twilight fussed a bit while Pinkamena cackled.  Though she didn’t feel indignation swell within her, as she could almost feel like that would have been something Shining Armor would have teased her about.  “Still didn’t stop you going crazy when the leeches attacked you when we were bathing in the pond.”

Rather than cringing, Pinkamena simply gave an elaborate shrug with a smile.  “Eh, they were definitely wanting the honey caked on my fur.”

“You know that’s not how leeches work,” Twilight scoffed.  

The pair continued to share such stories for well over an hour until a pair of intruders arrived with plates of their own.  Rainbow Dash had two plates layered with steak while Applejack was just as guilty.  “Heyya, Twiggles, Pinkie Pie, heard you gals bought plates so we thought we could join you.”

“Nothin’ like dining with friends right?”  Applejack with a bit of reservation, worried she might be pushing Twilight’s aristocratic limits on casualness.

But here, alone with no one around to put on airs, Twilight eagerly jumped up to help them settle in.  “Absolutely.  We should do this sort of thing more often.”  Well, the clerk did say I’d have to have witnesses sign it too.  

As Twilight moved to settle back down, Pinkamena spotted the leather travel folder.  Tilting her head, she jabbed a hoof at it.  “My Lady, I don’t think this is the best place to get some paperwork done.”

Twilight shuddered a bit.  Part of her wanted to play it off as a mistake, but the insistent voice in her head demanded satisfaction.  “Oh well, usually that  would be…”  It felt as if salt had coated her throat, robbing Twilight of her voice.  Trying to be as casual as possible about it, she approached the folder still nestled on the tree.  Just do it.  The worst that can happen is that she wants to wait, right?

As she picked it up, a nagging voice in the back of her mind caused her to stall.  She’ll say no.  She’s not ready.  She’ll never be ready.  The thought nearly made her drop the folder.  Realizing the others were starting to stare at her, Twilight whirled around and flashed her hammiest grin to date.  “By the stars I’m thirsty!”

“You alright there, boss?  Last time you acted this strange you thought batsy over here was making you dream about cheesecake stallions in endless strawberry fields.”

“As if I’d make somepony dream about something lame like that.” Rainbow snorted in mock-insult and turned away from the sea cat.  “Not that we can infiltrate dreams anyway.  Stupid Equestrian lies.”

The jovial teasing gave Twilight a chance to breathe easier.  Although, while the two native Lunarians continued to playfully bicker, Pinkamena’s eyes never left her life-long friend.  Confusion and worry warred over her face.  “I hope it’s nothing serious.”

“It is, but it umm…”  Twilight stalled by dusting the ground in front of Pinkamena before sitting down.  “Pinkamena… I - ever since the day we met, you fill a void -”  Twilight nervously shook her head.  “No that’s not right.”  Sweat dampened her brow as all eyes were on her.  “I mean, you’ve been at my side for so long that I can’t think of.”  None of it sounded right to Twilight’s ears.  “I - well here.”  She fumbled with the folder and almost scattered the pages dangerously close to the fire.  

Pinkamena hastily helped keep them safe all while Twilight sputtered inarticulate assurances.  Rainbow on the other hand had one eyebrow raised so hard it strained her face as she leaned in to whisper to Applejack.  “Do ponies in Equestria propose with paperwork instead of rings or something?”

Applejack ribbed the soldier.  “Shaddup, they ain’t like that.”

Once the pages were collected, Pinkamena handed over the ones she had picked up.  “Breathe, My Lady.  Just say what you want to say.”

She didn’t even look at the pages.  Following her advice, Twilight touched her chest and took several slow breaths.  Her pulse slowed, and her jitters became manageable once more.  Gazing at Pinkamena’s trusting face, Twilight muscled through her fears.   “You’ve been with me for over half my life now.  You could have been just another house servant.  Doing what you were told with a smile, but you’ve been more than that.  You trusted me when I needed it most, when your stripes demanded you turn me over time and again.”  Twilight looked away, feeling like she was floundering again.

Glancing at Applejack in a moment of weakness only led to the orange mare decidedly stuffing her face with food. Rainbow Dash served little better as her smug smirk left Twilight with no help. 

Through it all, Pinkamena waited with the patience of a mountain. A gentle smile framed by curly hair.  She reached out and held Twilight’s hoof. It was just a simple act, no more, no less. And yet it was times like this, when the normally bombastic mare kept an air of calm around her, that Twilight could tie down her own frantic thoughts. 

A shiver ran through Twilight and her nerves calmed down enough for her to speak without stuttering. “Pinkamena, in all but blood, you have been like a sister to me. If you would like, I wish to formally adopt you as such.”

“A sister?!”  Pinkamena froze in disbelief. She dropped Twilight’s hoof as her brain struggled to process the very idea of it. “I - ahh, I wowsers.”

“Oooohhh a sister, that makes sense.”  Rainbow Dash gave a definitive nod, basking in her own wisdom. 

Applejack’s own surprise was derailed by Rainbow’s comment. “Says the mare thinkin’ she was giving her hoof away.”

“Nope, nope, totally called it.”  Rainbow winked at Applejack. “Luna’s intuition.”

“My hoof it is.”

Ignoring her unhelpful friends, Twilight presented the adoption papers to Pinkamena. “I would have liked to ask you sooner, but I didn’t know if you’d accept. I ahh, I still don’t actually.”

For a time, all Pinkamena could do was stare at the first page with ‘adoption’ printed in large letters at the top. “You really mean it?  Rainbow didn’t put you up to this?”

Twilight had to suppress a snicker at seeing Rainbow’s insulted expression.  “She’s a mean prankster, but I wouldn’t do this if the offer wasn’t real.”

“What about Shining Armor and your parents?  They’d be mortified.”  Pinkamena hugged the page as tightly as she dared, not wanting to let it disappear. 

“I’m sure my parents would be,” Twilight conceded with a shake of her head. “Sometimes I wonder if Shiny would have expected me to do this. Not that any of that matters. They’re half a world away and this is my house. I get to choose who I let in, and I want to start with you.”

It started off as a few subdued giggles, but like a shot, Pinkamena exploded with cheer and roped Twilight into a bear hug. “I’ll do it!  Yes yes yes!”  Swept away in her own exuberance, returned the embrace with both hoof and wing, trying to out-squeeze the earth pony.  Finally, after waiting so very long, Twilight could at last stop hiding her love for her new sister.  Tears fell from her face, and the act of wiping them away, caused Pinkamena to break the hug first, only to reveal she was in tears as well.

For all of her planning for this day, Twilight was at a loss for how to continue, so it was up to Applejack to come to the rescue.  “So you’re gunna change your name right?”

“Its not marriage ya dumb cat,” Rainbow Dash snarked while teasing Applejack with a slap on the leg.  “Not that you could tell the difference if it weren't for all the paperwork getting dirt all over it.”

Twilight freaked and tried to extract the papers from the ground where they had fallen.  Sure enough, most of the papers had fine brown dust sticking to them.  “Ohhh, I don’t think a clerk who was paying attention would accept this now…” 

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” Rainbow dismissively waved a fork laden with pork.  “It’s not like they ever run out of paperwork. But I second the motion for a name change.  Pinkamena is a mouthful.  If you don’t change it I’m just going to stop using your name and just say ‘hey, you with the face’ or whatever.”

“You already do that,” Pinkamena remarked with a grin.

Speaking with a full mouth, Rainbow spat bits of food everywhere.  “Yeah, but at least I can pretend to be respectful if you pick an easier name.  Kinda looks bad when no pony wants to bother saying your full name unless there’s money in it.”

“My full name?”  Pinkamena eyed the thestral with dramatic suspicion.  “Are you seriously wanting me to change my actual name to Pinkie Pie?”

“Your nickname fits you better,” Rainbow explained with a shrug.  She took a bite of mashed potato.  “I mean seriously, writing out Pinkamena Diane Pie on every piece of paper or whatever’s sounds ‘guh’ to me.”

“By that logic I should change mine too,” Twilight quipped back with a snooty harrumph. “Should I start writing Twiggles or T Sparks on my documents too?”

“Couldn’t hurt,” Rainbow shot right back with a smirk. 

Pinkamena looked to Applejack who shook her head. “Nu uh, Ah’m staying’ outta this one.”

There was only one recourse left and Twilight gave her a reassuring smile and placed a hoof on Pinkamena’s shoulder. “Silly or not, this is your name. I’ll support any name you want, provided it’s not something like ‘Ponkers the destroyer of pies’.”

Rainbow cackled madly and nearly spilled her beer. “Come on, Twilly, that was gold and you know it.”

Pinkamena ignored the ribbing and took silent comfort in Twilight’s presence. “Pinkamena Diane Pie. That’s the name I remember. I don’t know if that’s the name my parents gave me, or the Solar Church did. But Pinkie Pie…” She looked up to meet the others with a growing toothy smile. “That’s the name my friends gave me. I’ll take it.”