Earth Calendar: 2117
Equestrian Calendar: 15 AC (After Contact)
December 12th, Gregorian Calendar
Alyra
Mom's wing over my back was a tremendous comfort. But I knew if I waited too much longer, that I might let my fear get the best of me, and I might never step out and get my questions answered.
I pressed into her side with my head for a moment, then made my way out from under the archway we had been standing under. As I passed out of the building, onto the tarmac, I changed to a bipedal stance, the asphalt below my paws soundless as the pads deadened the impact of my passing.
Being taller made me feel more intimidating, and that made me more at ease. I'd seen lots of other Gryphons use the bipedal stance for that purpose, Mom and Dad included.
I shot Mom one last small smile over my shoulder, and then approached the Human figure huddled in the lee of a small jet aircraft's boarding ramp. Mom had agreed to stay close, but to let me handle the conversation on my own.
More than anything, I needed to prove to myself that I could face this moment. Head on. And I needed answers to questions beyond my own bravery besides.
Be strong. It will all be over in less than half an hour, and that same plane that brought him here will take him back to wherever he came from. And you'll never see him again.
I cleared my throat as I passed under the jet's wing. Humans and Ponies alike seemed to prefer some sort of sound cue, rather than suddenly having an enormous predator appear directly inside their personal space.
The man glanced up, and did a sharp double take, gasping audibly. It was one thing to know what a Gryphon was, and another thing entirely to be so close for what was clearly the first time in his case.
A moment of quiet passed, punctuated by the general low thrum of voices, equipment, and aircraft further out across the pavement. The man finally exhaled slowly, his breath producing a little cloud of fog as he stared up at my eyes, as if trying to find something familiar there.
I kept my expression as neutral as possible, and extended a claw. Hesitantly, he reached out to shake it, stammering all the while.
"I... Ah... You... Uhm..."
"Alyra."
My name, in my voice, spoken almost like the ringing of a bell on a moonless night, seemed to shake him into more cogent thought processes. He nodded, and clasped his hands nervously at his chest.
"Alyra... That's a beautiful name. I... Don't imagine your birth-mother gave it to you... Not a Human name, obviously... I suppose your whole situation is much different than I imagined..."
I raised one eye crest and tilted my head, frowning slightly. He held up both hands in a conciliatory gesture, as if frightened by the intensity of my curiosity. His voice quavered, but he managed to keep to a logical train of thought.
"I knew you were a Convert... I pieced that much together. But... I didn't know you weren't a Pony. I know you've been travelling in the care of someone named Isaac Wrenn... At least for some portion of the past year. He's been all over the news. I knew he was a Gryphon convert... But there's nothing in formal records about you after that one medical entry... I wasn't sure if you were still under his protection, or elsewhere...?"
He sighed deeply, and scrunched his eyes shut. I saw fear. Pain. Stress. Sadness. Regret...
Written all over the stress lines of his face, much too deep for a man his age. He hadn't known. He hadn't put the pieces together and figured out what I was, or that I'd been adopted since then. How could he have? I wasn't formally April, adopted child of Isaac Wrenn by Earthgov law, but rather Alyra, child of Fyrenn.
Not enough connective threads for someone who might be digging to make a guaranteed connection.
It looked as though this man had as many questions as I did.
I sat back on my haunches, and reseated my wings, using the maneuver to buy time to collect my thoughts. Might as well start at the crux of it.
"Isaac Wrenn is my father. He goes by a different name now. I know you have more questions. I will do my best to answer them. In turn, I have questions for you which I want answered. But after that, your transportation back home has already been arranged. We won't see each other again."
I hadn't meant that to come out quite so cold, and harsh, but the man nodded slowly, and a sad half smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. I could hear something that sounded an awful lot like relief in his voice when he finally responded.
"In hindsight, I suppose your... Father would have taken the documents I filed in quite the wrong way, in light of your adoption. I didn't realize how things had changed, or I would never have filed for custody... I felt... A responsibility. But if you're well taken care of, not just being dragged around like baggage..."
He sighed, shook his head, and pinched the bridge of his nose again, rushing to qualify his thoughts as they tumbled out end over end.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that I don't care what happens to you... Or that I'm entirely happy to be absolved of responsibility for you... I just..."
He glanced up, and I could see a glisten of tears in the corners of his eyes. I wanted to feel more sympathy for him. I certainly did feel some... But not as much as I wanted to. I held still, and waited for him to finish.
"I don't think I could have given you a very good life. We were never supposed to meet at all."
My ears flew forward, and tension sprang into every muscle in my hindquarters. The reflexive change in my expression produced a visible start, and fear reaction in the man, but he pressed on ahead nonetheless, perhaps realizing the danger in making me wait for an explanation to such a charged statement.
"Alyra... Your birth mother and I never had any sort of... deep relationship. Physical or romantic. She was a friend, and at one time a colleague. We were both botanists, and at one point when we were both much more sober, and steady, we worked at the same firm. But she told me that she wanted a child... She asked all her male friends for a genetic sample, and ran a compatibility check. Mine had the highest score... She asked me to donate my material as a favor."
The man collapsed backwards into a sitting position on the boarding ramp, a host of emotions flickering across his face before it was finally twisted into a paroxysm of grief far more intense than I had expected.
His next words, forced out through sobs, shed more than a little light on the reason for his pain. And mine.
"I made her promise to take care of you. She signed binding documents. Either she would give you a good life, and if she ever felt she couldn't, she would find someone who could. It wasn't until..."
His breath hitched, and I felt my own breathing stop.
"...She disappeared soon after I provided the donor material. Vanished without a trace. It wasn't until almost six years later that I learned for sure she had birthed a child by my donation. But she was already dead then. I could never find out why, or exactly what happened... But I did eventually learn that she..."
I knew what he was going to say, before he even said it. The certainty hung over my head like a leaden anvil. He could barely bring himself to air the awful truth. The words escaped as much as a cry of pain as anything else.
"She sold you. To a black market medtech operation. I was sure you were dead... Harvested for your organs."
Even knowing what the words would be, they hit with the force of a sharp blade driven between my ribs. I could feel the breath escape me through my beak as if I had been punched.
It wasn't hard to fill in the blanks from there. To finally piece together the exact truth with near certainty. It took me almost a minute to work up the wherewithal to open my beak again, and give voice to the rest of the tragedy.
My genetic donor spent the time crying softly, head tucked into his arms. I let my own tears flow freely, but silently as I tried to put words to something so evil that there should not have even been words for it in the first place.
At the sound of my voice, he finally raised his head, bringing his tear filled eyes to meet my own fully at last.
"I was... Used. As an experiment. I know plenty about the sorts of operations my birth mother... Sold me to. You're right. Most don't ever leave alive. Those that aren't harvested for organs and tissue are normally experimented on until they die. But EarthGov was looking for children with very specific genetic compatibility. As far as I know, I was sold on to them."
I inhaled slowly, and grit my beak, forcing myself to go on as an icy note crept into my voice, by and by overpowering the cracked timbre of sadness.
"They dumped me on the street. Saw to it that I was raised by, and alongside, others in the program. Cut me open. Fused something to my spine."
He winced visibly, more tears forced out as my words cut into him with the same sharp, frigid, dark blade that had just sliced into me.
"They killed anyone who tried to help us. Forced us to cultivate telekinetic powers. Primed and trained us endlessly for wars they could never have won. And then they killed my sister when Dad tried to help us to finally truly escape. The reason you saw his face on the news? Is what he did to them after that."
He blinked rapidly, and his mouth opened into an expression of pure unmitigated shock as multiple pieces fell into place for him all at once, the fallibility of Human memory giving way at last to clarity.
His voice held as much awe, and shock now, as it did pain.
"I saw you! I remember now! You were on the news too! You gave an account of what happened to you! You were already a Gryphon by that point... And I was... So drunk that night... It's a wonder I remember at all..."
As he sat back and buried his face in one hand, face twisted by an eclectic mixture of pain, shock, and revelation, I felt something in my own ribcage release.
This man had suffered. Made mistakes. Inadvertently contributed to making my life a living hell.
But without him, I wouldn't exist at all. Had he made slightly different decisions, I would not have been there at that moment to even meet him in the first place, and lay to rest some of his questions, and fears.
And if I hadn't passed through that dread crucible of my childhood, would I even be a Gryphon? Would I know Fyrenn, and Neyla, from Adam's house cat?
Every last iota of anger I had for the man in front of me evaporated like spring frost before the morning sun.
I reached out to place a claw on his shoulder. The gesture brought his eyes up to meet mine once more, and for the first time he truly looked deeply into them, rather than through or past them in shame.
I shook my head, and brushed gently at his eyes and cheek with the primaries of my right wing. He trembled slightly, first in fear, then in catharsis, as I wiped away his tears, and spoke as softly and warmly as I could.
"You didn't have any idea what she intended to do. What you did was irresponsible, but not catastrophically wrong. And you are far less to blame for any pain I have suffered than almost anyone from my past life. I need you to understand that. I want you to be free of the burden of that guilt. You don't owe me anything, except the answers you've given me."
He began to weep uncontrollably again as over a decade of suffering, stress, pain, and heartache began to pour out of him like a flood.
I had imagined many things about my genetic donor... But never this. I'd always pictured him as callous. Even cruel. Imagined that he had left me for dead on the street right there with my mother, or left her at some earlier point and pushed her over the edge to abandon me in the process.
I'd never pictured him as someone who had suffered pain from what my birth mother had done too... Until that moment.
I pulled him close with one wing and let him soak my shoulder with his grief, trying to provide as much closure as I could.
"I have an amazing life now. A father and a mother both, who love me, and care for me, and provide me everything I need and more. I have aunts, uncles, and friends too. I truly could not be any happier. You don't have to be afraid anymore, or feel any guilt. I forgive you."
We stood that way for several minutes as he worked out the emotional gall stone of his pain, until finally he had enough control to step back, and offer me a curious expression. Sadness still, but also gratitude, relief, and even peace.
His voice was hoarse from crying, but even, and surprisingly calm.
"I... Can't thank you enough. You don't owe me anything either, certainly. I made a terrible mistake. I've thrown a good chunk of my life away as part and parcel of all that... I could never have in my wildest dreams dared to hope that you would be doing so well, even once I learned you were alive. And I could have never dared to ask for forgiveness.."
He glanced up at the starless sky, and barked out a harsh, sad chuckle.
"All that, and you don't even know my name. I'm Edward. Edward Tillson."
Edward shook his head and bit his lower lip, scrunching his eyes closed as a gamut of emotions crept back into his voice.
"I... Honestly don't know what to do now. I spent so long bracing myself for the idea of caring for you. Trying to straighten myself out. Figure out how to care for us both... How to at least earn an end to your justified hatred, if not forgiveness. But what now? Frightened as I was by it... It was the only life I was really looking forward to."
His words brought on a sudden vision. A well lit, clean space full of plants, all alien, colorful, and bright. Edward sitting there beside other Humans, and Equestrians, working on the various flora of a distant world.
Happy. Safe. Given purpose. Separated from all the things that hurt and abused him, and which he in turn abused. Flung thousands of lightyears, and centuries from his past, to start over. A chance to start over free... Freed by forgiveness, and by change.
I gestured to the building behind me, offering Mom a short, warm smile as I did so. She nodded to acknowledge that she knew I was alright, even as I turned back to Edward, trying to keep my voice from sounding too excited.
"You said you were a botanist. Where the Genesists are going, they need experts like you. Badly."
He shook his head, and snorted, wiping at his eyes with the back of one dingy gray shirt sleeve.
"I'm a habitual drunk who lives in a government provided habcube, dumpster dives for food to supplement my stipend so I can spend it on things that rot me from the inside out, and I haven't done actual professional work in closer than not to a decade. I've got at least two groups of people who will move from cracking my ribs, to cracking my skull if I don't pay them later this month. There's no possible way a bunch of astronauts are going to accept me for their next flight."
I placed a claw on his shoulder again, and looked deep into his eyes, trying to transmit a sense of hope, and a spark to action, with my tone as much as my expression.
"I know Councilor Martins, personally. I will vouch for you. She will grant you a place on the next flight. Until then, you will live here. They will offer you detox. Remedial field training. Therapy. And in a year? You can leave everything behind. Start over. Have a purpose again. Help to explore. Learn. Grow a future for your species. Be free."
To my immense relief, I could see something click into place for Edward in that moment. A million threads that had dipped and weaved in and out through so much pain, and darkness, finally wrapped together into a cord of light that shot off into the future.
He began to nod slowly, running one hand nervously through his hair as he put thoughts into words haltingly at first, then with more surety.
"I... Can not imagine... Why you would do that for me. Forgiving me was miraculous enough. But... If you really mean it? I would do anything to have a chance to start again. To get away from this hell I made for myself."
I smiled, and gave him one last quick hug with both wings. Stay, or go, I knew it would be the last time we would see each other, for everyone's sake. Knowing that was something that would help us both was a relief eclipsed only by the knowledge of how much those few minutes had been truly worth in terms of catharsis, and forgiveness.
I could no more have imagined that he would gain a fresh start from our conversation, than he could have imagined that I would be ready to forgive him. I hadn't known until it happened whether I would have the grace within me.
God's grace, as far as I was concerned. How else to explain the release of all that bitterness?
Was this anything like what Dad had finally felt when he let go of his darkness?
I released Edward from the brief embrace, and gestured towards the next-nearest outbuilding.
"Go tell the desk sergeant that you're expected for check-in later tonight. I will have everything arranged by then."
Edward nodded, as if in a daze. A sudden thought struck me, and I plucked a near-molting feather from the inner edge of my wing. He stared at it as if someone had just handed him a brick of solid iridium as I pressed it into his hand.
"To remember, always; I forgive you. If you ever struggle to keep it in mind? Just look to that."
I stepped back, and then proffered my claw for him to shake once more. This time he gripped it with the enthusiasm of a man whose life had been poured back into him.
"Thank you. I can never thank you enough, Alyra. Thank you. And... Goodbye."
I nodded, released his hand, and turned to walk back to my mother. I could see her smile even at a distance.
As I went, I dried my own tears with the back of one claw, and whispered quietly to myself.
"Goodbye. And Godspeed."
Martins
I hated funerals. Somehow a funeral always felt like an admission of defeat; Death had claimed a life that could have otherwise gone on to make the world just a little bit better, and brighter.
In Astris' case that sense of loss went so much deeper.
I knew he would have... No... Was happy to know that it had not been in vain. Fyrenn had told him that much at the end, I knew from what Skye had shown me.
And too, she'd explained how it felt as though he'd not ceased to exist... Just moved on. I'd never been much of one for religion before. My realm was always science, whether the science of the stars, or the science of eking out cooperation between disparate self interested parties.
But Skye had been sure. So sure. And standing there beneath an ashen sunset, watching as Astris coffin was borne solemnly to the back of a waiting aircraft by four of Celestia's own Royal Guards, passing between two rows of assembled scientists, officers, and soldiers...
I needed the comfort of imagining what Fyrenn had quoted to Astris. Tolkien's 'far green country beyond.' Picturing it as real. As a place where Astris was. Where someday I'd see him again.
Skye had been incredibly brave through the process of projecting that moment for me, holding back her tears until she thought I couldn't see them. I knew she and I were both silently crying now. So was Fyrenn, and so were many of the assembled Genesist personnel who had known Astris the best. But Skye seemed the most visibly affected.
I knew Skye's sense of guilt was just as fruitless as my own. But I felt it keenly nonetheless. In spite of what we knew at last about how the Wisps truly worked, I couldn't entirely banish the feeling I should have still somehow been able to pick up on... Something. Anything.
While most everyone else present understood the solemn nature of Astris' sacrifice, and even the Earthgov Councilors who had deigned to attend looked suitably downcast, it was Celestia who seemed to be the closest to myself, Skye, and Fyrenn in terms of sheer grief.
Her mane seemed duller than it ever had before, even when I'd seen her tired. Her muzzle was cast as if in sculpted ice, her wings slightly mantled as she marched behind the simple Equestrian wood coffing, draped with a gold trimmed white royal flag, moving in perfect time with the pallbearers.
She was paying him the highest honor she could give a Pony in death. She'd assured me that Astris would be given full Royal honors for his internment in Canterlot's gardens. The same honors as a member of her own family, court, or guard.
And after that a monument, sufficient to ensure no one, Pony or otherwise, would ever forget his sacrifice.
As the procession neared the end of the line, a sound rang out across the tarmac. It took everyone by surprise, so much so that some of us jolted physically. It brought with it an almost magical sensation, like sunlight passing through cleans, clear spring rains that I could only imagine.
It took me a long moment to realize that it was Celestia's voice. That the Sun Princess, a being some believed, perhaps not without cause, to be a goddess, was singing in a voice low, and sad, but sweet.
"Rest at last, and be at peace; This journey over, cares may cease. Your life a gift, our loss your gain, your passing finished not in vain. Tho weep we now to see you go, we honor you, and live in hope. Once more again our paths shall meet, beneath the light of sun and stars, there at last again to greet, and never more to nurse our scars. We bid you go, in love, and peace, and find in death a sweet release; Knowing now that though we mourn, in endings are beginnings born."
Not for the first time, I was thankful the Equestrian common tongue had evolved on such a close parallel track to Earth's own common speech.
And I wondered, as it seemed for the briefest moment that the sun pierced the veil of the Winnowing more than usual, if Celestia's song had in it some kind of magic after all.
She held at the end of the two lines as the guards continued up the aircraft ramp, waiting and watching until Astris' mortal remains had been brought safely onboard. With a practiced clack of hooves against pavement the Solar Monarch turned with all the grace and practice of a parade steed, held her attention pose facing us for a moment of silence, and then released the tension in her shoulders.
The assembled beings began to break into smaller groups, conversing. Reminiscing. Perhaps wondering. Some still crying.
I made my way towards Skye, Fyrenn, Neyla, Hutch, Aston, and Alyra.
Gosh, that Gryphoness was something special. She'd approached me about her birth-father right before the ceremony. I hadn't hesitated to grant her request. It was the least I could do in thanks for all she had done. I didn't know if I could have been as forgiving as that young woman had been, were our places reversed.
Celestia made a bee-line for the group as well, stopping first before me to offer me a nod, and a sad smile.
"I want to thank you, for the opportunity you gave my little Pony to make such a difference in the lives of so many. He spoke highly of you the few times we conversed, and I agree with all his sentiments."
I nodded silently. For one of those rare instances in my life, I was at a true loss for words. Celestia shocked me by placing a wing over my back, similar to the gesture I'd seen from so many Pegasi and Gryphons when they wanted to show affection, or provide comfort.
Her next words did as much, if not more, to soothe my soul as the gesture.
"I have certainly not held out on you these past years Janet... But now is the time for making good of the gift he gave us. To the utmost. You have my promise that if we make it through the dark days coming, that before your next flight, I will commit the entire might of my Kingdom's production, science, and mage-craft to helping you. No matter what it takes. We will make up for all that the EarthGov has failed to give you, and more."
I surprised myself by reaching up to hug the Alicorn's neck, ever so briefly. Something about the gesture unblocked more of my tears, but I managed to keep my voice steady nonetheless.
"Thank you, Princess. I'd be honored to accept. And you honor his memory."
She withdrew as abruptly as she had embraced me, and moved on to Skye. I watched as the Princess knelt to bring her face down to Skye's level, sweeping her into a similar hug. Though her voice dipped into a low, soft tone, I could still make out the words.
"Rest easy, Skye Writer. You have done what was right, and acted with noble, pure, and kind heart. You are a better Pony than I, in all honesty. I commend you, and I absolve you. There is no guilt to be had from what you did. You and he have opened the door to save us all."
Through the feathers of Celestia's wing, I could see Skye's tears, and hear her sobs.
It struck me again how much the Alicorn and I shared certain things in common, most especially how much we cared for those whom we served and led. But seeing Celestia knelt there, pouring out a spirit of peace onto that broken little Unicorn who had probably just saved the world, again, I truly wondered if Celestia was a goddess.
Mayhaps not Divine in the capital-D sense...
But she certainly made a better deity than anything in most of Human myth and legend.
She cared. Deeply. For every single one of her Ponies. In a way that no Human had ever really cared comprehensively for every other, unless Jesus Christ had been a real person.
Fyrenn's voice interrupted my philosophical musings, and I brought up my eyes to meet his. I saw twin fusion core meltdowns of rage. Fury directed at the being who had put us all in this mess.
The honed steel in his words banished all thoughts of God, Heaven, and Messianic imagery, in favor of the cold hard present realities of war.
"I want to ask you for two unusual favors."
Oh boy. Someone was about to have the kind of day that would make them wish that there was a Hell, and that they could escape to it as a hiding place from one red Gryphon's fury.
I wasn't sure which was more of a relief; That I knew it wasn't me, or that I knew it was my enemies, who should be sleeping in fear tonight.
Fyrenn
I don't know which was more of a shock; That I'd heard Celestia sing for Astris, or that Martins had agreed to both of my insane requests. Especially the second one.
The first was pure practicality, and not much of an ask at all in concrete terms; To keep the suits of armor Genesis had provided for me, Neyla, and Alyra a little longer, and to provide one more for deployment. Alicorn sized and configured.
The second request was the special brand of ludicrous that would have made Aston's eyes pop out of her skull, so I'd made sure she was distracted, and kept my voice low when I voiced it. Lantry would have balked too, if he'd been there to hear it. Even Hutch might have voiced concerns.
Really anyone with half a brain who understood the complete implications of what I was asking would have questioned my sanity.
Only Skye, and Neyla, and now Martins knew what I'd asked for. Neyla because I wasn't about to keep any secrets from my bride-to-be.
Skye, because if I was going to manage to follow through on the request without killing us all, I'd need her expertise. She'd been all too happy to oblige. Frankly the look on her muzzle when I'd told her my idea had reminded me more of a Gryphon than a Pony.
I wondered briefly if her use of my brian patterns to shape her own had produced any lasting effects...
And I dismissed the thought just as quickly. Celestia had finished her conversation with Skye, and turned to face me with a smile.
"Your presentation to the Council was excellent."
I shook my head slowly, and felt my ears fall to a droopy position as I answered.
"Hardly. I would have rathered if they gave us an affirmative answer on the spot. I wouldn't give the best odds that they will say yes anyhow. I went too soft on them. I can't believe you agreed to spearhead the deployment, honestly. I know war is the farthest thing from your nature."
Celestia shook her head, and sat back on her haunches beside me, staring out at the runway as the aircraft bearing Astris' coffin taxied to the far end.
"It was an inspired idea, and may well be the thing that cinches an affirmative answer. I believe they will permit this assault, both because of your suggestion, and because you were balanced and measured with them. Even in spite of all you've done against them in the past. And while war is no friend of mine... There are things I hate more than war. To be frank? I should have done this long, long ago. The more I learn of Humanity's capacity for depravity, the more I think that perhaps you were right, and I was... Less right."
I chuckled, and turned to stare deep into the sadness behind her enormous violet eyes as I spoke again.
She seemed more... Mortal, than she ever had before. I couldn't tell how much of that was the way she'd become less formal, and more approachable around me, and how much was her clear exhaustion, especially down in her spirit.
"Perhaps. I think if anything 'less right' is as far as you should go with that. You have much more wisdom, and experience, when it comes to these things than I do."
She smiled, not quite a sad smile, but almost a forlorn melancholy. Maybe a kind of nostalgia, even. The sentiment crept into her voice as well.
"And you have much more potential, and talent, when it comes to these things than you give yourself credit for. Chalk that up as something about which perhaps *you* were 'less right.' I have seen the way you conduct yourself in your family affairs. The way you make, and keep friendships across lines others view as set in stone. Equestria needs the kind of future you envision, where a Changeling can embrace a Gryphon's daughter, in the study of the Canterlot Royal Sovereigns, and no one bats an eye. You had a very strong claw in making the foundation of that future. In making that moment happen."
I was never great at taking compliments. I hated the limelight, and I didn't like to be told I'd accomplished things. I was always content to just do them, and let people direct their gratitude elsewhere. Somewhere that would make me feel less like an undeserving prick.
With a sigh, and a shake of my head, I did my best to deflect the conversation without changing the subject.
"Give God the credit. What you just described is a miracle, in no uncertain terms. But you're certainly right about one thing. I want that future. I want it badly. And I intend to take big steps towards building that future. More than just finding a family. Someday, more than just building one very unconventional clan."
The way she beamed back at me took me by surprise. She could read between the lines, what little ambiguity I'd left there, and she clearly liked what she saw. Her mane was the brightest I'd seen it in a year's time.
So was her voice.
"Know that not only am I very happy for you, Neyla, and Alyra, but I am also wholeheartedly for any steps you might take towards a world with fewer borders and barriers. The nations of Earth fought hard in their past in competition with each other. I want a different future for our world, and you will have the full support of the Equestrian Nation for any undertaking to that effect."
She shot me a sly grin as I worked my beak and ears in surprise, and her voice dipped to a playful register that I'd rarely heard from her before.
"And, of course, if you want to have the sort of wedding no one will soon forget? Luna and I would be happy to arrange a Royal venue, with accompanying splendor. It would do wonders for Canterlot's Ponies to see the bonding of your kind. Make you more real, and approachable in their eyes."
I chuckled, both amused, and terrified at the mental image of getting hitched in front of a thousand Ponies, with demi-goddesses in the wedding party.
"I'm honored... But I suspect we'll be looking to do something quiet, small, and intimate."
The Princess winked and rose back to all fours, striding away slowly, and purposefully, casting a last sly glance over her shoulder as she fired her parting shot.
"You know where to find me if you change your mind. I will see you soon for the pre-assault planning session."
I opened my beak to ask her how she could be so sure the Council would say 'yes,' but closed it again immediately as I heard footsteps behind me. Soft shoes. Expensive leather. Practiced fast, purposeful stride, but not military... Politician.
I turned to see Councilor Lindstrom approaching with a smile. He extended a hand, which I shook with exactly as much cordiality as was required, and no more. For a Human, he was surprisingly hard to get a read on.
I couldn't decide if I liked him or not. His tone was certainly diplomatic, even jovial, as he spoke.
"Fyrenn. I was hoping I'd get a chance to speak privately with you before the formal announcement. As it currently stands, you'll just squeak by with the 'yeas' for your plan. But you're no stranger to thin margins in the Council, are you? Allow me to share my condolences on the loss of Astris Lux, and my congratulations for finally putting the last nail in the coffin of the PER. What you uncovered is nothing short of planet-reshaping."
He knew how to be professional, I had to give him that right off the bat. I nodded, and sighed deeply before responding.
"We can ill-afford to do any planet-reshaping at the blunt end of Humanity's weapons anymore. We face a common enemy. And if we fail to stop her? None of us has a future left to save, or destroy, or fight over. I hope your fellow Councilors fully understand the gravity of this. The horror of the gun pointed at the head of both universes."
Lindstrom nodded in turn, and tucked his hands into his pockets, shivering slightly at the late evening chill, and glancing out at one of the starship assembly bays.
"Indeed. It is a pity we didn't put more resources into this place, and sooner. Humanity itself would have a much larger, brighter, and safer future if we had. Regardless of what happens down here, or over there."
I caught a hint of something I didn't much like in his voice, and I turned to face him with a speed, and intensity that brought a suitably concerned look to his face, and a jolt of surprise to his thin frame.
I leveled one talon and gestured to punctuate my words.
"That sentiment means nothing if you don't right the wrong in the here and now. The second best time to plant a tree is today. And whether you people can scrimp together enough common sense, and honor, to pour real resources into Genesis or not? If we do not defeat the Nightmare you need to understand, clearly, with no room for false hope... If she wins here? Then she will hunt down Genesis too. Maybe not tomorrow or next year, or this century... But when she finally does?"
I whirled, and began striding away to catch up with Neyla and Alyra on the other side of the tarmac, tossing the last of my warning over my left shoulder.
"She will have the kind of power that makes even demons tremble. And Humanity will not survive."