//------------------------------// // Season one: Chapter five: Flight of the Chaser Fall of Twilight arc // Story: Project Harmony one: The ones in the background // by Megaskullmon //------------------------------// I sat on a bench waiting for a shuttle. This shuttle will be taking me home for my vacation. I won’t be alone though. Shadow and Red Glow are coming with me. I didn’t have many suitcases since most of my stuff is at home. The door opens, Shadow coming into the station holding a few cases herself. Red Glow comes behind her holding a giant case. They both sat beside me. A smile formed on my face. I have known Shadow most of my mare life. She never knew I am half zebra and half pony.  Of course, being half zebra we are very protective of our secrets. “I have never been to a zebra world before.” I glance up at Red Glow. “It’s not a zebra world. But it’s a moon that was allowed to have a mix of zebras and ponies. Now that was back in the day. Well back in the day when mixed species like me would be shunned. Now we are all welcomed.” Shadow sighs. “So it’s true that it takes forever for zebras to trust other species of their kind. Even if they’re a mix?” I shrug my shoulders. “I wasn’t born during those times. It is part of old history. So just in case, we run into zebras like that. It’s rare to run into them though. They try their best these days to be more respectful. But they will sometimes slip up. I don’t get offended by it, I join in.” Red Glow chuckles. “That is a good way to handle it. Now tell me though why does it take so long to get a shuttle to these places?’ I shift a bit on the bench. It’s hard to explain to others who don’t understand. But I can at least try to explain. “Zebra ships run on brews and zebra magic. It’s not easy for some zebra ships to keep flying because of that. It’s hard to get a shuttle here from there. Now they have made shuttles made of pony and zebra magic. Now how they work they freeze us and we allow the shuttle to take us there on its own.” Red Glow and Shadow stare at me. I just smirk. It's a way of living that I have been used to for so many years. I don’t wish to go on and tell them how active they can be. I am sure they will learn that when they’re hit on by a stallion or a mare. The shuttle finally comes out and a mare comes to me out of the shuttle hugging me tightly. “Hello, sis.” The zebra smiles. “Tell mother I will be home in a few days. She is looking forward to seeing you and your friends here.” I nod the zebra trots off to vanish into the crowd of ponies, zebras, and other creatures. Shadow and Red Glow watch this like the zebra didn’t even exist and she is a ghost. Red Glow shifts a bit she didn’t know much about zebras like I did. I grew up around them. I even had zebras in my family.  “I am sorry about that. My family is former special forces. So if they wish to vanish they will do anything to do so. I will tell you why she is here. Come with me.” We get our luggage and we get into the shuttle. Looking around the shuttle it’s one of the ones that won’t freeze us unless we wish to do so. I took a deep breath in the air of the shuttle. A large smile formed on my face.  “Chaser, what is wrong?” I come out of my trance. “Oh sorry, it’s the smell of my homeworld. I know this is the shuttle that belongs to my family. It has a scent. The scent of my father’s many wives including my mother. They all love me and treat me like their daughter.” Shadow tilts her head. “You mean you have more than one mother?” I nod “So it’s true the stories I read about your kind then. That the zebras of your world tend to have more than one wife?” I glance up at Red Glow. “Yes that is true my father loves all of us even all his wives. I may not be the full zebra-like he wanted. I may be a pegasus like my mother. But he ignored the anger of his tribe. He raised me to be a lot like a zebra and told me. That someday I may have to learn to be a pony. I told him after that. I will learn to live like both. It’s not going to be very easy but I shall do what I can.” Red Glow sits in a chair made for zebras so she is having an issue sitting on it. “Sorry Red I asked them to make a chair for you. I doubt they had the time. There have been too many political problems as of late on the zebra worlds. They try to find leadership all the time. Of course, my tribe refuses to take part in that.” Red smirks just latching the seat-belt on “Oh, it’s fine.” Shadow sighs getting in one of the chairs. From what I could tell from the emotions on Shadow’s face she wasn’t very happy about sitting in these chairs. I have a feeling she hasn’t had real good luck with zebra tech. “Everything okay, Shadow?” Shadow turns her head to look at me. “Just I am unsure it’s wise for us to leave when the others have left for that planet.” I sigh nodding she is correct a lot of the station has left for that one world called the nightmare. I do feel bad that I took my vacation during this time. I do feel that maybe it wasn’t the best of choices. I can’t go back on it now though my family wants to see me. “I am sorry Shadow. Just my family has been wanting to see me for a while now.” Shadow nods using her wings to get the seatbelt on. “Now all I need to do is place the hoof on the console. Since this entire ship only works with my DNA. Now let’s see how they have changed this?” I look around on the console seeing a spot that will pull out a spike to test my blood. I took a deep breath knowing this wouldn’t be easy. If my family is this worried about their property being stolen. They should put better locks on their stuff. “Okay, I might scream for what is about to happen. If I do, please don’t worry so much about it. The system just needs to check my blood and my DNA so please forgive the screaming.” I put my leg over the spike and a strange claw grabs my leg. A claw stabs deep into my leg. I groan deeply looking at the screen as it says testing. It goes through my DNA showing my mother and my father. It saids out loud “Welcome Cloud Chaser. Please sit back, relax and there will be recordings from your father. So please sit back and listen as we head back the way your sister came through. Are you willing to listen to the message?’ I stroke my leg getting into the chair. “Yes, I am willing to listen.” On the screen, a large muscled zebra male is wearing a large skull helmet on his head. He has skull rings all over his neck. He looks into the screen, clicking the screen for a few moments. Like he is checking if it’s on The ship finally starts up and heads back out the same way as my sister did. It sends all the information to C&C and the way the ship will be going. From what I see my father hasn’t changed. “Okay, it’s working. Now my dear Cloudy. We are happy to hear that you’re coming home. I want to tell you a few things before you get here. There is a zebra named Glyph gaining power in the main zebra world. There are rumors that he is going to pass harsh laws. I want you to know that I love you if you don’t see me after you leave again.” Looking back at my friends who are listening. “But if you have friends coming with you, Cloudy. Please switch to zebra only. I don’t want to worry them.” I pause the message looking back at Red and Shadow. “Do you two mind if I listen to the rest of this without you understanding?” Red Glow smirks laughing. “Go ahead, Chaser.” Shadow snorts. “I understand that you zebras have privacy but you’re a pony as well.” I laugh “You’re right I am half and half but when it comes to zebras we like our privacy.” I click the button to listen to the rest of the message in zebra. “Unyoko wethukile Lizoguqubala. Ukhathazekile ngokuthi impi ingaqala. Ngakho-ke uhlanza indlu endala. Uyazi ukuthi unjani umama wakho. Kepha ubacasulile nabanye omama bakho. Ngifuna uzame ukumthulisa uma ungakwazi.” The message ended after that. Closing my eyes, sighing my mother is worried about a war starting? Mom has many things she does get easily stressed and she does get upset. But I have never heard of her cleaning up the bunker. Something must be getting to her if this is true. “Everything alright Cloud?” I look back at Shadow smiling. “Na now this may take us a week to get there so you two are ready for the ship to put you in magic frozen sleep?” Red nods and the chairs for two lean back and a strange magic forms over them causing them to fall into a deep-frozen sleep. I think it’s time for me to do some things before I even think of waking them again. I turn the message back on to get the rest since some words aren’t translated well on this computer system. My father comes back up to give the last part of the message. “The reason your sister brought the ship. She is searching for another planet for our tribe. Just please don’t talk to your mother about this like you normally do. If you upset her it may not go over well with the rest of your mothers. You know how they dislike it when one of them is upset.” He is correct. I turned off the message after it was over. I work the controls to make sure everything is set and ready. I am unsure what to think. Just I don’t like being worried. Looking over to one of the windows to finally see us enter hyperspace. “Oh, CloudChaser what have you gotten yourself into?” I pace around worried like my mother would be. I am worried that my family is going to be pulled into a war. They used to be powerful warriors and retired. I believe that sooner or later we will all fight.  I felt a claw on my shoulder looking to see Red Glow is not frozen looking at the chair noticing that it didn’t work on her. “Chaser I know that look and I am sorry just your magic doesn’t seem to work on my already cold blood. Just I heard the last part. Don’t worry I won’t tell Shadow now how about you rest and I will watch you two.” I sigh deeply. “May I vent to you, Red Glow?” Red laughs. “I am normally one that does the venting to get rights for my kind. Go ahead little pony go ahead.” I grunt groaning pacing around this is upsetting me so much that my wings are tensed so is my entire body. “My family always gets pulled into zebra wars and zebra problems. I get it a lot of them are former black ops or soldiers or even guards. Heck, how my father met my mother he was coming home from a battle and he claimed her as his last wife. He has almost 15 wives and he loves them all and they take care of each other. Just my mother is the most stressed mare around. If anything goes wrong in the family she gets stressed out and they worry she will have a breakdown.” Glow nods. “My mother is the same way. It’s what kept my family alive during the war on my planet. My mother saw the signs through her stress and demanded my father build a bunker that could house our family for an amount of time. When my mother is stressed and feels something is wrong you listen.” Red puts her claw on my back. “I am going to say you get in that chair and rest. I will watch you two and don’t worry I will be fine. My kind doesn’t need to release waste too often and we don’t need to eat very much. So you have nothing to worry about me.” I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. She is correct. I should get into the chair and rest. I get into the chair near the console unsure what to think. Looking at the console it will take us about a week to get us to my home. “Are you sure Red Glow? I don’t want you to be alone.” Red Laughs. “Don’t worry Cloud Chaser. I will be fine on my own. I am happy you’re worried about me.” I just smile and laugh. “Well you’re a sister to me and Shadow so of course I am going to worry about you.” The look on Red Glow’s face after I said that was priceless. The look of sadness and happiness on her face. I could swear she was about to cry but she kept herself from doing so. All she did was give me a very tight hug. “Now go rest please before I knock you out Chaser.” I nod getting back into the chair as it folds back and the spell forms over me. I close my eyes feeling the sleep take me and I feel every inch of me going frozen and for once in my life. I finally feel at peace.