Tailslide’s crassness was attracting attention. Ponies turned to stare in their direction. A few of them actually radiated concern for Amie, afraid that this obviously unwell, muscular stallion might be a danger to her. He might be, depending on just how unwell he was. But probably not for the reasons they feared. I can’t stay to talk to him now, or I’ll be even later than usual for Ivy. She can’t think she’s an afterthought.
She closed the distance between them, lowering her voice as quiet as she could. She should just walk away—but she couldn’t. This pony was the reason she knew enough about Equestria to even try to pass for one of them. Without him, she would’ve just been attacked and captured by the Motherlode ponies.
“My brother and I made it out,” she said. “I wanted to say thanks.”
He stared blankly back at her, completely baffled. She felt the recognition before it appeared on his face. His eyes got wide. “Amie? What are you doing here? Living on base? Don’t you know what they’ll do to you?”
She nodded weakly, glancing nervously to either side. She wasn’t wearing a different disguise—if she spent too much time with him, word might make it back. It took no magic to see a serious falling-out had separated him from the guards.
“When do you get off work?” she asked, voice urgent.
“Evening bell, same as everypony,” he answered grimly. “At the Irongate foundry. Amie, are you listening? You have no idea how much danger—”
She wasn’t listening. She raised her hoof, silencing him. “I’ll meet you there. Wait for me.” She touched his shoulder, smearing coal dust onto her leg in the process. “Please. You look terrible, Tailslide. We need to talk.”
She didn’t say why, exactly, but there was no need to. Tailslide’s downward spiral was self-evident.
She turned before he could argue, trotting back off into the crowd. She broke into an actual gallop as soon as she reached open ground, crossing Agate as quickly as her hooves would carry her.
She was out of breath by the time she reached the gates to Agate Base, and flashed her necklace to the guards. They waved her in, with the old pegasus Dauntless actually grinning at her. “Got lost this morning, Rain Fly?”
She nodded weakly. “Yeah. Got backed up behind a coal-wagon for ages.”
“Perfect day for it,” he said, following her out of the booth. “Wait, don’t go to the gym. There’s somepony who wants to speak with you first.” He rested one hoof on her shoulder, forcefully enough to stop her in her tracks. Amie winced, but bit her tongue, forcing herself to stand still. This wasn’t strange. She wasn’t being arrested. Deep breaths.
“Commander Path wanted to meet you. His office is that building there, see?”
She followed his gesture to the oldest building in camp, the one resembling an old star-fort from back on Earth. Except that this one was a fraction of the horizontal size, and instead rose at least four stories, with enclosed structure inside. “Base Commander’s secretary is Ink Stick, she’ll be expecting you. Just tell her you’re there, then go to the stairs at the end of the hall. Can’t miss the commander’s office on the top floor.”
Amie whimpered, brushing away at the dust and grime on her leg. “B-but… Ivy will be expecting me. We were gonna go hiking today.”
Technically it was preparation for their big trip up to Agate’s secret lake, the one that ground ponies weren’t supposed to visit on account of the difficult trail. She needed to know how good Ivy was on rough terrain before actually risking a trip like that. If she got the commander’s daughter hurt, “friendship” would be the least of her worries.
“I’ll tell her you got called in,” he said, reassuring. “I’m sure you can still go on your hike. Now hurry, he’s already waiting for you, and the commander is not a patient stallion.”
Amie broke into a trot, crossing the grounds straight for the indicated door. Normally this kind of urgency was exactly what she tried to avoid, since it alerted everypony on base that something was wrong. Any reason to pay more attention might make them think a little too much about who Rain Fly was, and where she had come from.
I’m walking right into the most dangerous part of Agate, to see the most dangerous pony there is. She slowed as she reached the doorway, and thought about running. If this was a trap, if they’d somehow figured out what she was—but she couldn’t just turn and flee. There were guards at the exit, who would never let her leave now.
Trying would give them some good reasons to be suspicious. It’s okay. It’s just like my hiring interview with Albrecht. Her dad knows I’m a Rent-a-Friend employee.
Inside was everything she feared. Through the front entrance was a barracks of royal guards, all fully armored with their weapons within reach. Beyond were many offices and other logistical centers, with uniformed ponies working on presumably important things. All of them eyed her, the only mare who wasn’t dressed.
She found Ink Stick exactly where Dauntless told her. The pony barely even looked at her, just waved at a set of gray stone steps leading up. She took them two at a time, hurrying to the second floor, then the third. Up here she found a single hallway, with old photos lining either side. From their expressions, they must’ve been taken in an unfriendliness competition.
There were few other ponies up here, just empty conference and meeting rooms covered with important-looking maps. Through one of them Amie was sure she caught a detailed map of Stella Lacus’s mountain, with dozens of notes and colored perimeter lines.
If she could get alone with her phone in there…
But that wasn’t why she was here. Amie wasn’t trying to infiltrate the guard-base, that would just prove everything ponies said about changelings true. She was making friends, nothing more.
At the end of the hall was an open door, leading to the well-appointed office of Base Commander Bravo Path. She heard a large clock up on one wall, ticking as loud as her own hoofsteps. The walls were all polished wood, with shelves holding old books and glass cases with weapons displayed inside.
An older pegasus sat behind the desk, his graying mane still sharp and his feathers as impeccably straight as his uniform. He looked up at the clock as Amie entered, then snapped a writing folio in front of him closed, replacing the quill with his mouth. “You must be Rain Fly, correct?”
She stopped in front of the desk. Was she supposed to salute? That felt silly, so she nodded instead, not quite deep enough to be a bow. “Yes, sir.”
“Strange name for a unicorn. Guess your parents had something picked out for a pegasus, then ended up with you instead. Sounds familiar.”
She kept silent, not quite able to meet his eyes. She focused on his emotions instead, but even those were harder to read than anypony she’d met so far. He was so focused, that she could feel almost nothing else. Is that anti-changeling training? He is leading the base that guards us.
“I’ll admit, I did not expect such… rapid progress from your organization.” He folded his forelegs across the desk, watching her. “I haven’t missed the Rent-a-Friend’s financial success. I’ve even received inquiring letters from Canterlot, wondering if other cities would benefit from something similar. Are all your colleagues as skilled as you?”
Amie tilted her head to the side, grinning a neutral, approachable smile. “I don’t think it’s about skill, uh… Commander Path.” How was she supposed to call him, when she wasn’t military herself? She didn’t feel any anger, so she went on. “It’s just about finding the right pony. Ivy and I have just the right amount in common.”
The pegasus actually smiled at her. It was far less enthusiastic than most ponies—but maybe this was what emotion looked like on Bravo Path. “Remarkable fortune that you were here, Rain Fly. Let me tell you something—in my centuries of service to Equestria, I’ve sent many children into the guard. Ivy is my youngest, and my last. Equestria is becoming a more dangerous place all the time. If something happens—when something happens, I want somepony who isn’t in harm’s way. Ivy’s unique circumstances qualify her for the position.”
Amie felt the love as he said it, buried in all that formal language and plans made on somepony else’s behalf. What a strange way to show affection he had. But if he had anti-changeling training, that much slipped through. He did care for Ivy, somehow.
Does a century mean something different in Equestria than it does on Earth? That remark was so casually thrown-in, without any hint she might object to it. And she wouldn’t—because she had no idea whether it could actually be true. Given the danger she was in, that detail would have to wait for later.
“You’ve done an impeccable job with Ivy so far. Her spirits are vastly improved, and I haven’t caught her filing recruitment papers for any branch of the guard a single time. You’ve proven the value of the service you offer to Agate already. But long-term, this will not be enough. Helping Ivy recover her confidence is only the first step. Now she speaks of… adventures, rugged, backcountry activities. This is a step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough.”
Amie looked back, keeping her face as neutral as she could. She couldn’t let him see just how angry this line of reasoning was making her. Ivy was already seventeen—and by pony reckoning, she’d already passed the most important threshold when she got her cutie mark. No one batted an eye that Amie was working this friendship job, despite being visibly no older than Ivy. Shouldn’t the young mare’s life be up to her?
Amie had occasionally dealt with parents like this, who called camp every few days to try and micromanage their kids’ visits there. It wasn’t a service the camp offered, but her time on the phone dealing with them was less valuable than someone like Albrecht’s. “Please, uh—explain what you’d like me to do,” she said. “So I make sure there aren’t any misunderstandings. Your daughter has made huge strides since I first met her, I wouldn’t want to lose progress.”
The stallion smiled again. He couldn’t feel the anger boiling under her skin, couldn’t feel how much she was growing to resent him. How do ponies even live without being able to read each other’s feelings?
“Your wilderness activities are a nice distraction for her. But I need Ivy directed to more productive pursuits. My long service to the Crown has created… substantial assets in my family’s name. My estate sits empty in Canterlot, with children who all refuse to return and manage it. That should be her. She needs to learn Equestrian politics, investment, etiquette—and most importantly, she needs to have an interest in these things. I have her passage already booked for the end of next month. When I send her there, she needs to want to leave. Understand?”
Amie nodded automatically. Even so, the weight of his demand settled on her shoulders, almost instantly overwhelming. This was like the parents who expected their kids to come back from their first year at camp as eagle scouts. Stella Lacus wasn’t even part of the Boy Scouts!
“I’m not a tutor,” Amie said. “Teaching her all those things—and in two months—I don’t think there’s a pony in Equestria who could.”
His smile vanished. The worst parents in the world could still be quite pleasant to talk to, so long as you never disagreed. Once she did… “I understand your limitations. Ivy has had the finest tutors for her entire young adult life. But you can’t tell me that a pony’s friends exert no influence on them. You have almost two months. When winter arrives, I want Ivy to realize her time here was a diversion from more important tasks elsewhere. I want her eager to leave. Do you understand?”
Amie nodded again. That didn’t mean she had any idea how to make it happen, or even thought she should. But she nodded anyway. “Of course, sir. I’ll… make that my new objective going forward. Two months, that should be—I’ll figure something out.”
She would have to talk to her boss about it, maybe Bud would have some idea what she was supposed to do. The Rent-a-Friend wasn’t selling indoctrination services, they were just supposed to make ponies feel included!
“Excellent news. So you and your employer are aware—your expansion proposals into the rest of Equestria are waiting on the desk of a planner’s office in Canterlot who happens to be a close family friend of mine. She will not make her decision until I make mine. Don’t disappoint me.”
She didn’t get a chance to reply, because another set of hoofsteps came pounding down the hallway, one that made no attempt to remain dignified in this formal, military space. She turned and saw Ivy, galloping down towards them.