//------------------------------// // Face to Face // Story: Fire & Rain: Applejack and the Queen of Knives // by Limbo Theorem //------------------------------// CANTERLOT, COLORADO 240941TJUL30: True to his brother’s words, surprise turned out to be the understatement of the century. “You have got to be shitting me.” He turned to look at Blueblood, then Blueblood’s wife, and then finally back to his brother. Blueblood, to his credit, merely nodded. “It’s a long, long story, Flash,” he admitted. “A long story? You’re sleeping with our aunt!” he cried. Seated in her wheelchair, Luna looked at Flash. “Well, if you want to get technical, I’m only biologically related to you, Flash. Not to Blue.” “The law doesn’t work that way, Luna,” he told her. Unconcerned, she looked defiantly at her nephew. “Well, given that Canterlot has been on its own since it was abandoned, I’d honestly say fuck the law,” she spat. “They didn’t give a shit about anyone here, so why should I give a fuck about what anyone else thinks? And just where is the state capitol nowadays? Clearly it’s not here anymore!” “We should discuss this later,” Blueblood told her softly, as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “We have a lot more at stake here other than an awkward family reunion.” “No. We’re getting this over and done now because we need to,” she replied. “If we’re going to get help, I don’t need Flash to sit there forever and stew in his mind whether you’re now his uncle or I’m his sister-in-law. And I know you will, Flash – it’s what you do.” She gestured to the table. “Please, sit. I know you have a lot of questions and we’ll try to answer them.” “Fine,” he said, sitting down at the table. After that, time bled on while both sides exchanged information of what had happened. For Luna, she had come to terms that her parents, who had lived upstate in Denver, had not survived. Likewise, he’d found out that Celestia likely had not survived the attack – no one had ever found her body. That especially felt like a blow to Flash: because of the difference in age between his mother and her twin sisters, both Celestia and Luna had been more like older sisters to him than actual aunts, so much so that it had been a brief issue when he became a student at the high school both taught at. “And while I’m glad that Fluttershy made it out of the school alive, no one had bothered to check the building for survivors. There wasn’t time, and everyone was running for their lives – but meanwhile, I was in endless pain, because a rebar had pretty much punched right through me and at the time, I couldn’t move. I thought I was going to die right then and there, bleed out or something, but somehow, by some miracle, I managed to survive until some scavengers found me, on the verge of death. “They managed to get me to a refugee camp in Leadville, but by then, the damage had been done. My spine had been shattered and I’d been in that condition for nearly two weeks. The doctors did everything they could to try to save my life…but by that point, it was over, if you understand what I mean.” She nervously fumbled at her braid as she recalled everything, and though she had long moved past the tears, Flash could see the pain in her eyes like it was yesterday. “I was utterly destroyed; a waste of a human body! Completely crippled by the attack and left for dead! At one point the doctors said I was even in a coma. You know what my life was like before this all happened, and then imagine it all taken away!” Flash didn’t have to think hard to recall. Both Celestia and Luna had shown him their hobbies and had inspired him as teachers and older sister figures did; in particular, it had been Luna’s love of the arts that had inspired him to be a musician, even though he ultimately chose the life of a police officer. So for her to lose all that? He remembered the pain of feeling everything he’d feared he’d lost, then letting it wash over him when he found Fluttershy alive. But the ache of losing all his loved ones never went away when he joined the Army and went south for officer training in Arizona. Luna had never had that closure. Unaware of her nephew’s train of thought, Luna continued. “Everything I was, was gone: I used to write, hike, paint and do so many things, and then I was suddenly reduced to a point where moving my neck was a monumental effort that wore me out. I had lost everyone I loved – I didn’t even know if you or Fluttershy were alive and to this day I still have no confirmation if Tia is, either. And in those days, I wasn’t looked at as Canterlot High’s principal, or the art and drama teacher – I was looked at as a drain, a waste on the dwindling resources and not worth keeping alive. “So when it came time for the Army to pull out and for those that insisted they would stay behind and try to fight the aliens no matter what…I asked that I be left behind. Not to fight – I certainly couldn’t do that and I didn’t have the fencing and epée training that Tia did. No, I asked to stay behind so that I could die, preferably in the ruins of my old school, where my remains could fertilize the soil and I could be of some use to someone.” She then hooked a thumb at Blueblood. “And then that’s when he came into the picture.” “I already told you how I felt,” Blueblood told his brother. “I wasn’t going to run – Canterlot’s my home and as the son of the governor, I felt I had a responsibility to help however I could. I didn’t have access to the money I used to, but I didn’t need that – I needed to be there for them. And when I came across her, I remembered who she was and how everyone was just so willing to let her die, alone and unloved. I couldn’t let that happen. So I went over and took her in, despite all the glares and jeers I got.” He gave a soft smile. “As far as I was concerned, she was family – family doesn’t run out on one another.” He slumped in the seat next to her. “But it was no walk in the park, let me tell you. Between trying to fight the Octos with everything you and Dad had taught me about guns and stuff – and that sure as hell wasn’t easy; I always took after my mother and her socialite ways rather than Dad and his hunting, rugged survivalist Republican attitude – and then coming home, completely exhausted, to care for a woman who couldn’t feed herself, couldn’t wash herself, couldn’t, ah….” Luna chuckled. “I was quadriplegic, love. I think Flash can figure out what I couldn’t do.” She waved the topic off, adding, “Try being a woman in your late forties being reduced to the existence of a baby and…well, it wasn’t easy, for either of us.” Blueblood continued again. “Thankfully, I had some help, some people who remembered who she was and who came and did everything they could to help her. I especially owe Button and Sweetie, because they were instrumental in helping me convince people that Luna was a person, that she was someone to respect and admire and someone who could help beat back the Octos, if they gave her a chance. And little by little, everyone came around. I have to admit, I broke down in tears when a group found a working quadriplegic wheelchair for her.” “I broke down in tears myself when Bulk Biceps started working with me every day to try to get me to move something besides my head. And it took about a year – one painful, grueling, agonizing year in which I broke down crying so many Goddamn times because I didn’t think I could do it…and then one day, I did. I would have jumped for joy if I could, but it meant that I wasn’t useless anymore.” “You weren’t. All this time, you were helping us with plans, logistics, supplies. You couldn’t do it physically, but you got into a mindset that forced people to listen. All those years of teaching paid off, though not in the way you intended,” Blueblood reminded her before turning back to his brother again. “By the time we’d been here a year, they’d gotten used to me taking charge and pretty much made me the leader. And because Luna had been so instrumental in helping us achieve those early victories, by the end of that harrowing year, no one dared to even suggest that she be tossed aside.” “That’s good, but that still doesn’t—” “I seduced him,” Luna said flatly. When Flash looked at her oddly, she grinned and leaned back in her wheelchair. “Flash, you might see me as your aunt and older sister figure, but let’s get something straight: I’m a woman, too. I have feelings, needs and wants. And one of the things I realized after I’d been crippled how much I – well, to be honest, both Tia and I – had missed out on life. I busted my ass as a teacher so I could be principal, and she had done just as much the same. And when I became principal of CHS and Tia had become one of the district assistant superintendents, it never occurred to me that I was pushing my mid-forties and hadn’t even dated, much less anything else. You remember that movie from way back? The Forty-Year-Old Virgin? That was me, in spades. “Now, fast forward a year of everything I’d been through, and there was a man in my life who had seen me at my weakest and my most vulnerable. One who had bathed me, fed me, changed my adult diapers. I had long gotten over my embarrassment of that, and he had gone from merely looking good to the muscular hunk you see now.” She smiled. “So, when my birthday came up, he asked me what I wanted, and I was rather frank. And believe me, he balked.” “Balked?” Blueblood laughed. “I panicked. I mean, here was this woman, well older than me, coming onto me and to boot, she’s my brother’s aunt? Who wouldn’t freak? But after that, I thought about it. I mean, we’d been living together for a year and she’d been a more stable companion than any girlfriend I ever had before. And, because she’d been working out, she looked good, even despite everything.” “The fact that the women in our family age gracefully helps,” she said with a grin. “I mean, let’s be honest: I’m fifty-one and I don’t look much older than either of you. So anyway, that night, over dinner, we talked…and then I leaned forward and kissed him. And to my surprise, he kissed back. One thing led to another and…well, let’s say we really didn’t get to have dinner.” “Look, I was afraid that I was going to hurt you because we—” She reached over and caressed his face. “It would have been worth it. And besides, I knew you would never hurt me. You were gentler than I expected.” Flash suddenly felt awkward. “Uh, could we just move on to the next part? This is getting awkward for me.” “Imagine what we had to go through. It took a while for everyone to get over that, because Blueblood had been telling them for so long that I was family and pretty much insinuating that I was his aunt that when people finally realized we were lovers, well…they pretty much had the same reaction as you, to be honest. But love is what love is, Flash. I have a husband and this isn’t the life I pictured by any means, but I don’t ever want to give it up.” Flash was silent for the longest time and said nothing. What could he say? This wasn’t the same world he’d lived in years ago. Back then, probably both of them would have ended up behind bars for this. But this was a world that couldn’t afford bars or people behind them. And, as weird as it felt, given that most of humanity had been murdered…he wouldn’t be surprised if there were more “awkward” relationships. Taboos only stood if there were people to stand for them, and as much as it bothered him…he loved them both and he wanted them to be happy. “I honestly don’t know what to say…but I don’t think it’s my place to,” he finally confessed. “Then say you’ll be happy for us, and that’s all that matters,” was Blueblood’s response. But he shook his head. “No. What matters is saving Canterlot, so that you two have a place to raise your children. So that people can have a future.” He got up from his seat. “I need to get a hold of Flutters and tell her that I made contact with you. Then we need to start moving your heavily wounded to the hospital she’s got set up at the Mars Junction station. And after that’s a whole bunch of other things.” “Look, I know this sounds petulant, but can it wait until tomorrow? The battle plans, that is. I want to spend time with family, now that I have them for the first time in ages,” Luna told him. “I’ve missed both you and Flutters and I’m sure we can spare the time.” “I’ll ask her. There’s a lot that you don’t know about that’s going on,” Flash told them. “We’re not just here to free Canterlot. We’re also here because….” He pursed his lips, stopping the words that he had nearly uttered. He knew that Luna knew about Sunset and everything that had happened, but did Blueblood? From what he remembered, Sunset had once said that alien princess girl – Twilight – had cast a spell so that only those at Canterlot High would know the truth. And that had certainly been the case: the incident with those other alien girls – the Dazzlings, if he recalled their name – was written off as a special effects firework display. The incident with Crystal Prep was explained as a hallucination caused by some girl from that school messing with chemicals after that school’s principal had pushed her too far. And no one had, to his knowledge, ever found out what happened at Camp Everfree. So clearly the spell had held. But did it hold now, with the portal long closed and the Octos invading? Could they have done something? Luna looked at him evenly. “It’s about Sunset, isn’t it? No – don’t answer. I know it has to be.” Luna then seemed to deflate at that realization. “What happened to her…Tia and I blamed both of us. We knew she was innocent, but we also felt it was best to let the student body handle it, because of everything she’d done in the past. Plus, we had to be careful in case we were wrong and she actually was guilty. But by the time the truth came out, it was far too late.” Blueblood looked at them both. “Am I missing something?” “It’s going to take a long time to explain,” Flash said, “and if you think your relationship with Luna made me weird out, I’m about to beat your news – in spades.” UNKNOWN 24JUL30: In her sanctum sanctorum, the Queen did a couple of repetitions with the weights as music pumped into the isolated room. The “room”, such as it was, was in truth a bunch of welded cargo containers that served as one of her hideouts in the world; she had more than a few of those, and the better in order to protect humanity. For a change, she was in normal clothing, if one could call workout attire that. Her final repetition done, she rested the weight on the bar, just as a beep sounded across the room. Getting up, she walked over to a small table where the radio, her gear and a few other things were…including the hardened laptop that was sending a prearranged signal. Bending over slightly, she tapped in a response, waiting for further status. $ $ COPY GIDEON “HASSENFELD CMptBMU6mvmNDcW47LZOj9Mk0iD8wnS2”::CRYSTALLIA.REL CRYSTALLIA.REL $ TYPE CRYSTALLIA.REL =FOUREYES ONLY= INDEX EVENT 3QN-A::4-DBS SUMMARY OF INCIDENTS FOLLOWS: She read the information, her eyes scanning over all the data she needed. A lot of it was extraneous, but that was to be expected – she had her own way of doing things and she wasn’t a trained professional, despite what people thought about her. Realizing this was going to be a long report, she finally sat down, briefly reaching over to press a button on the wall and grab a water. This was going to take a while and she needed to eat something, given that actual time to eat was a luxury she could rarely afford. She spent several minutes poking through the various reports before something finally caught her eye: C1: PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN. ALL STATIONS, ALL STATIONS, ALL STATIONS. THIS IS MV LUCKY BREAKER. WE HAVE A POSSIBLE RIP EVENT IN PROGRESS AT OUR LOCATION. REQUEST IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE WITH ANY AVAIL MILITARY ACCESS. COORDINATES FOLLOW. [STATIC FOLLOWS] C2: MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY! ALL STATIONS, ALL STATIONS, ALL STATIONS! THIS IS MV LUCKY BREAKER. WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! OUR HULL HAS BEEN BREACHED AND WE ARE TAKING ON WATER. MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY! THIS IS MV LUCKY BREAKER. WILL SOMEONE RESPOND? [STATIC FOLLOWS] C3: FLASH NOTICE, FLASH NOTICE, FLASH NOTICE. THIS IS HMS DARING, CTF-192. HEAVY OTHER PRESENCE NOTED. WE ARE TAKING FIRE AND RETURNING [STATIC]. MV LUCKY BREAKER HAS BEEN DESTROYED, REPEAT, MV LUCKY BREAKER HAS BEEN DESTROYED. C4: HMS DARING, THIS IS BLUE SOPRANO 01, INBOUND. PLEASE IDENTIFY ALL BANDITS, OVER. C5: [UNINTELLIGIBLE STATIC] C6: ALL STATIONS, THIS IS BLUE SOPRANO 01, ENGAGING. NOTIFY CTF-803 FOR ASSISTANCE, OVER. A soft chime sounded at her side, and on automatic, she opened a drawer and pulled out a heated cup of noodles. She’d picked up a bunch of them the last time she was in Malaysia, and they were quick and dubiously healthy. She knew that she’d probably be yelled at if someone saw her eating habits, but life wasn’t what it used to be. Picking up a pair of disposable chopsticks, she began to munch on what would pass for her dinner while she continued to read report. C7: IT’S THE QUEEN! IT HAS TO BE! BLOODY FUCKIN’ A! C8: CUT THE CHATTER AND CLEAR THE LINE. CTF-803, RFS SLAVA REPORTING. BLUE SOPRANO 01, STATUS. C9: ALL UNITS, THIS IS BLUE SOPRANO 01. SKYSHOCK, SKYSHOCK, SKYSHOCK. I REPEAT, SKYSHOCK, SKYSHOCK, SKYSHOCK. C10: [UNINTELLIGIBLE][SCREAMING][UNINTELLIGBLE] She winced at the memory. Five ships lost because she hadn’t been fast enough to shoot down the Octo ship. The MV Lucky Breaker had been lost with all hands, and the RFS Slava was down as well as the British, French, Iranian and Italian ships escorting her. Thankfully survivors had been picked up thanks to other ships being in the area, but she hadn’t been fast enough. She wasn’t omnipotent and couldn’t be everywhere in the world, she knew. The Queen of Knives had her limits, even if the world thought of her as a limitless guardian angel. It wasn’t true. She tossed the remainder of her half-eaten food in the waste container. It would do its job and recycle the items and she could cook later. Right now the food just tasted like ash in her mouth when she recalled the screams of the sailors lost because she hadn’t been fast enough. EVENT 3QN-A::4-DBS $ Q $ ARCHIVE CRYSTALLIA.REL;*.* She got up and walked across the room towards the cot where she could get some sleep. Hopefully she wouldn’t have nightmares again tonight. CANTERLOT, COLORADO 241106TJUL30: Blueblood looked at his brother after the latter’s long tale. “I…see.” He then turned to Luna. “And you knew about this?” She nodded. “Everyone at Canterlot High did, though they’ve pledged to keep it a secret. And after Sunset…vanished, I thought it was something that we just simply couldn’t discuss. But if she’s back—” “We don’t know if she is or isn’t. But the Mountain is putting heavy firepower behind this to see if we can find out if she’s still alive and if she’s the queen. Applejack seems to think she is, and she’s the one that’s the lynchpin of this whole thing – both her and Flutters. All I know is that the portal at CHS may still be there; and furthermore, the journal that she used to use to contact Equestria is at Fluttershy’s parents’ old home.” “And you didn’t think to bring it with you?” “Flutters said that she thought it would be safest at her parents’ place in the attic with her old stuff; besides, we couldn’t fit everything in our apartment. Plus, given that her old home may still be standing and our apartment was completely razed based on the satellite imagery, I would say that was a smart move. Applejack’s going to make the move out there while we’ll be handling the evacuation of Canterlot, or whatever needs to be done. Optimally, I would personally prefer to help you guys recapture this place, but that will ultimately be up to Applejack, as she’s the combatant commander on-site.” Blueblood rubbed his chin. “Do you think she can be reasoned with?” “She’ll be reasonable about it. She’s a SEAL and she’s been in worse fighting than I have – just before we got here, they had a battle with some of the aliens already, so I know she’s already formulating ideas. Plus, we also have a CIA special activities group with us, so we’re already getting the lay of the land. We don’t know what’s the situation for the northern and westernmost sections of Canterlot, but we’re hoping that we can trade information and that should give us the advantage we need.” “We haven’t been able to do much in those areas since it’s overrun with that coral-like structure the Octos use,” Blueblood told him, “but I’ll have my intelligence folks give you everything we have. We’ll take our home back, one way or another.” “Good, that’s what I want to hear.” Flash got up from his chair. “Now, I need to get a hold of our command post and update them on the situation. I’ll need you to gather up your most wounded and sick, because I’d like to get them to the CSH.” Blueblood nodded. “I’ll take you to our communications room. It’s well-protected and we’ve been able to make contact with the outside there. It shouldn’t be a problem for you to make contact from that point.” MARS JUNCTION, COLORADO 241137TJUL30: “Are you sure about that, Flash?” “No, but I can’t just rush back there and worry about you. You could’ve been killed, Flutters!” Fluttershy sighed; she knew the minute her husband had found out what happened, he would freak out. Part of her still wanted him to come back posthaste, but she was in overall command – she couldn’t afford to do that. Moreover, now that Flash had made contact with the other side, she needed to keep her wits about her in order to be an effective soldier and leader. And those are words I never thought I would have ever referred to myself as, she mused. “Flash, just…sit tight for now. We need to plan everything on this end on how we’re going to use the vehicles we have for ambulance purposes; likewise, we’re going to need accurate numbers on how much medical support they need – not just combatants, but everyone, from the child with cholic to the man who might need to have his leg amputated. I need all that data. Likewise, AJ and Chrysalis need to plan out some things, and with the Changelings all currently out of action from this morning’s incident, it’s all the more important that we have a plan in case things go south quickly.” “I get that, I’m just worried about you.” “And I’m not worried about you at all. Now that I know you’re with family and safe, I can rest easier and do my job. And believe me, there’s a lot I need to do.” “Fine, I’ll liaise with the rest of Blue’s people and find out what I need to get to you. But…you stay out of trouble, okay? I mean that.” “No promises, Captain,” she told him. “I do what I have to do.” “And if I’m talking to my wife instead of my superior officer?” “I’ll do my best, Flash. You know that.” “Best I can ask for then. I’ll see you tomorrow. Delta Delta 6, out.” “Romeo Alpha 6, out.” With that, she reluctantly put the headphones down. She wanted to run into his arms and cry; needless to say, there were so many more things she could tell him that she couldn’t even tell Applejack, much less the rest of her friends. But the mission came first – she knew that, and even though she really didn’t want to do that, the fate of countless lives depended on her doing the right thing. “You okay?” She turned to see Applejack approaching her. “Not really, no, but I don’t get that luxury anymore. It’s not like I’m the little girl who used to be able to hide behind her friends anymore. I have to take responsibility, because lives depend on me. And if it means I have to risk my husband, those are my orders.” “I know that’s not easy.” “You’re right; it’s not. Now, grab your senior cadre and I’ll grab mine and I’ll explain what’s going down. It’s going to be…” Fluttershy sighed, then rubbed her temples, feeling a billion years old at the moment. “Heavy is the brow that wears the crown, I guess. Let’s just say I’m going to be putting a lot of people in harm’s way and I don’t like it one fucking bit, AJ.”