//------------------------------// // Chapter 97 - Assorted Meetings // Story: The Master Mev // by kazamacat //------------------------------// After the sun rose on Tuesday morning, Fluttershy stared intently into Rainbow Dash's magenta eyes. The canary-colored pegasus was scanning for any hint of remaining problems. The crown was off, and Rainbow looked as expected of a daytime master mev. "How hungry are you?" Fluttershy asked. "Standard level," Rainbow replied. "I will accept if offered or on a mission that would benefit our work." "Any side effects?" Fluttershy questioned further. "No," Rainbow answered with a modest shake of her head. "Are you sure Rainbow?" Fluttershy prodded. "You went through a lot yesterday." "Okay, maybe I can grow a unicorn horn on myself more easily since I've got magic from something literally called an Alicorn Amulet. Still, I'm me. Default pegasus form most of the time, magic for mev stuff, got my other jobs...hopefully." She smiled weakly. "I'm sure no one will hold it against you," Fluttershy offered in a comforting voice. She touched a gentle hoof to Rainbow's shoulder. "We did what we could, knowing the risks. This is what you are, and you did save the magic in this world for the long-term, just like a master mev is supposed to do." Rainbow nodded and took a deep breath, trying to convince herself that was true. "Right." She sniffed, managing to fend off some tears. A pause lingered in the air for a moment. Turning her head to meet Fluttershy's eyes, she asked, "Back to school today?" "Soon. I'm going to leave you alone in the room for a few minutes. You've been stuck with one of us constantly at your side this entire time," Fluttershy noted. "I'm sure you could use a little privacy. And if it turns out you do need me to stay and still look after you..." Rainbow Dash smiled warmly at that. "My eternal sweetheart," she said and the two briefly nuzzled before Fluttershy left the room. The recovering master mev stretched her wings and her limbs, electing to do a few wing-ups. She tried out her vampire form to pegasus form to check that her limited non-reserve shape-shifting magic still worked properly. She trotted around her own room, simply taking in the sense of being home and secure. "Yeah, I can do it," she murmured to herself. Feeling ready, she stepped out to join Fluttershy and was off to take care of the weather, as if all the stressful events of the day before didn't happen. Of course, the day before was still acknowledged in another way. After school, Rainbow Dash was summoned to the throne room for a similar inspection from Celestia and Luna. The mev allowed Sweetie Belle to accompany her. Chancellor Neighsay was with there too. He stood still as he listened to the meeting. "And how about you, Princess Celestia? How are you feeling?" Rainbow asked. "I miss the convenience of my magic, but I am in otherwise good shape, much as I have heard from Luna, Twilight, and Cadance already," Celesta replied. "The sun can still rise and set." Neighsay decided it was time to speak. "So am I to understand then, that you just let her do whatever she wants?" Luna sputtered and giggled. Celestia stared a moment at the one who made the remark, maintaining her composure. "Master Rainbow Dash abides by many standards, Chancellor Neighsay. It was her leadership that instructed Team Awesome to be ready for a possible berserk. She told them to not explain their methods to her beyond that. Equestria would be in much worse shape otherwise." "I ask most of the time, Chancellor. Your circumstances were unique," Rainbow Dash reminded him. "Master was the one who knew the amulet might be a danger to her," Sweetie Belle stepped in to say. "Cozy's method to summon it was...not something we could prepare for." "I'm inclined to agree," Luna added, in a more serious tone than her earlier giggle. Celestia nodded in further agreement. "Hmm, yes," Neighsay conceded. "I suppose given everything I have been informed of thus far suggests that to be true. Still, we must always be wary of her. She can turn into a monster easily." "Not easily!" Rainbow fired back defensively. "That filly didn't even do it on purpose! She didn't know!" Celestia held out a hoof to silence and calm her, to which Rainbow Dash obliged. Neighsay sighed. "Believe it or not, I do understand your meaning, Master." He paused. It was his first attempt at using the title, and he felt the power of it in that moment. He didn't comment on it though. "But surely you understand my caution." Rainbow stared back with an ice-cold glare. She could remind him it was his own fault, but since he finally showed her some level of respect and even used her title, she simply said, "Yes, Chancellor." He nodded, satisfied. Moving things along, Celestia asked Rainbow Dash, "What do you think is the proper timeline for dealing with Cozy Glow?" "Let me discuss matters with my pack tonight. We have our usual meeting anyway, and I'm back to standard operating level," the master mev answered. "I can return Wednesday afternoon for us," she gestured to Celestia and Luna, then to herself, "to decide matters further from there. I would like to see her myself today before I go." Both Celestia and Luna nodded in approval. "Shall we presume the same for Tirek and Chrysalis?" Luna inquired. Rainbow Dash briefly conferred with Sweetie Belle on her own schedule, then turned to the princesses. "If we move the meeting to Thursday instead, sure, I can give you both a status report on our work with them," she offered. "We would appreciate that," Celestia said. "Chancellor Neighsay, your presence will not be necessary at that meeting." "Understood, Princess. I will be checking in with what methods are available to me," he replied. "Fair enough," Celestia said. Rainbow Dash, alone, entered a small room where Cozy Glow sat silently reading a book. The filly saw her and trembled, backing into a wall. The mev smiled gently. "It's day out, and I'm not berserk. The effect should not be as strong." "You put me in a void," Cozy hissed in evident fear. Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Not denying that. What would you have done or found the proper thing to do?" The guilty filly couldn't look at the sky blue pegasus and gave no answer. "Mm-hmm. I'm actually not here to terrorize you, as much fun as that would be. We have business to discuss, young lady," Rainbow Dash informed informed her. Cozy shuddered. "Just keep me away from you." "That's not an option. I'm sure you're clever enough to understand why," Rainbow replied. Cozy nodded slowly. "So why'd you do it?" the master mev asked. Cozy stiffened and refused to answer. "I shall assume as power grab due to the amulet," the mev remarked carefully. Without a word, Cozy nodded. "You know, you and I now have an unusual mev bond now," Rainbow Dash began. That caught Cozy's attention to at last look directly at Rainbow Dash directly. "We do?" "Yup. Your magic was in the amulet when it fed itself to me. My magic surrounded you when I placed your entire body in the void," the mev continued. Cozy swallowed. "What does a 'mev bond' do?" "It makes you my servant," Rainbow told her plainly. Cozy stiffened again. "I…" She wanted to deny it and was horrified to find her heart and mouth unable to do so. At last, she at least managed, "You have no use for a pony like me, Master." "Sure I do. You know, the whole 'draining magic thing' and 'intentionally summoning a dangerous artifact' thing? Don't ever do those things again," Rainbow said with a casual, friendly laugh. Cozy at last relaxed slightly and released a tiny laugh herself. "Those are real orders, but more seriously, I actually prefer to be friends with my servants before accepting their service. Obviously, our circumstances have decided otherwise," Rainbow noted. "I suppose that means you're hoping we might become friends?" Cozy glanced up at her in wonder. "That would be helpful, yes," Rainbow agreed with a nod. "But I know I can't expect you to turn over a new leaf overnight and fall to my whims at a mere flap of my wings." "Actually, the second one is true, isn't it?" Cozy asked. "With your eye enchantment. And if you have the magic of the amulet in you...plus maybe magic from certain other creatures. Not to mention the orders you just gave me with this 'mev bond'." "I don't think those orders are out of line, considering your actions. Outside of that, I'd hardly be a worthy master to anyone if I resorted to such methods," Rainbow Dash told her. "We need to respect each other if we are to become friends." "You respect me?" Cozy asked with surprise. Rainbow chuckled. "Do you respect me, Cozy Glow?" Cozy gulped. "I fear you, Master. And if I truly am a servant bound to you through this mev bond, I have no choice in the matter of respecting you, do I?" "I'd say you do, judging by your reaction when I first entered the room," Rainbow reminded her. Cozy Glow blinked at that realization. "My respect is not all or nothing, Cozy. I have little respect for you, but it's enough to not want you to die or suffer deep physical pain. And I'd rather have a useful servant out of you than a useless or treacherous one. Is that acceptable?" Rainbow asked. "Yes, Master. I respect you a little as well in that I am in awe of the power you possess. At the same time, I don't respect that you use your power for silly little shows instead of taking over Equestria yourself," Cozy admitted. "Hey, my shows are awesome!" Rainbow countered with an amused smile. "There actually is power in them, but we can talk about that later. As for taking over Equestria, I consider that as silly as you think my shows. I don't feel a need to acquire power of that scale through some hostile take-over. Fortune has smiled upon me well enough already. I have a full mev pack, and nothing can truly compare to that." The younger pegasus became contemplative of that. "Interesting," she muttered. "Moving on, let's discuss your sentencing," Rainbow Dash decided aloud. Cozy gulped. "Yes, Master." On Tuesday night at Twilight's castle, Team Awesome gathered for their pack meeting. They discussed the previous day's events. Everyone played their part effectively to end in minimal harm to Equestria. They collectively realized that the magic gathered from the berserk was indeed locked into the reserve for the week the unicorns who lost their magic would take to recover. They had done a basic review of things until they reached the subject of Cozy Glow. "I met with her parents," Twilight Sparkle explained to all present. "It was certainly enlightening and disappointing. Despite them choosing to enroll Cozy Glow in our school, they did so begrudgingly at her request. Neither one of them spends much time with her, knows about her grades, cares about her grades, or even cares about what she's doing when she's not in school. They are expecting us to take Cozy off their hooves, and they seem glad to be rid of her.." "Goodness," Fluttershy noted, "I know what she did was bad, but I feel a little sorry for her to hear about that." Rainbow Dash sighed. "So, based on that, she is better off not left in their care." Twilight nodded. "Got any ideas, Master?" Applejack asked. "I spoke with Cozy myself yesterday, so let me catch you all up on what we talked about before we go further," Rainbow noted and relayed the information about their unique mev bond and discussion of respect. "I know you like us being servants and all, but given how it happened, could you undo or cut off the bond?" Applejack wondered. "No," Rainbow answered with certainty. "Just like I can't give Neighsay his magic back or the reserve unicorns their magic back until it recovers on its own. This bond is locked." Everyone remained silent for a few moments. At last, Twilight cleared her throat. "So...if Cozy is not going back to her parents and is a servant to you, what's next?" "I need to meet with Prince Rutherford about the idea, but I was actually thinking of having her stay in Yakyakistan for a few months to sort of help clear her head and give some distance between her and Equestria," Rainbow suggested. "Wow, really?" asked a fascinated Starlight Glimmer. "Is there a reason why there instead of anywhere else?" Pinkie Pie wanted to know. "The yaks don't take no flak," Rainbow said with a smile at knowing Pinkie would appreciate the rhyme. The pink earth pony smiled to confirm. "The yaks themselves don't have much magic to drain from their own bodies. Magic exists up there, but it's more complicated and difficult to manipulate, especially in any harmful way. They are proud of themselves as they are and are disciplined in what they do. "I hope that it is a better environment for Cozy to experience before returning to Equestria. That will give the creatures here time to heal and be more willing to forgive her for her actions," Rainbow explained. "To be clear, she isn't banished. I will visit her, and she will visit us from time to time." The others nodded in understanding. "I believe I speak for all of us when I say we support your idea," Starlight offered. Only Discord seemed to hesitate, but given what he'd experienced with past mev packs, he was rather impressed with how Team Awesome handled themselves since their inception. He cleared his throat akin to how Twilight did earlier to indicate he wished to speak. "Yes, Lord of Chaos?" Rainbow asked him. "I have no objection, but thinking on this whole affair, a curiosity has sprung to mind. Just why didn't you take my magic as bait yesterday? Luna says you didn't go after her either." "I've already eaten your magic and Luna's. I wanted magic fresh to me," Rainbow answered. "I don't know if that was a particular thing for this berserk or a regular thing for all of them. They seem to have different rules when the trigger method is different." "Oh, I see. Hmm, fascinating," Discord noted. Returning to the topic, Rainbow said, "Alright. Twilight, I trust you can make the arrangements with Prince Rutherford. I can be present if he requires it." Spike scribbled the relevant information down, and Twilight nodded in confirmation. "Moving on, Celestia and Luna want an update on our work with Chrysalis and Tirek. Rhezenda and I have already made our notes given what you all have already told me in past meetings with Chrysalis. Do any of you have anything to add?" Rainbow Dash inquired. "She gave Jin a bit of magic to seal your berserk," Starlight said. "And she let you eat her magic last night too," Twilight added, "so she's without magic now." "She's actually in her room now, instead of the Changeling Kingdom," Starlight explained. "I can bring her in. I have a theory." "Okay," Rainbow consented with a nod. The pair quickly returned with Chrysalis in her new default form. "Now...just try it," Starlight told her. Closing her eyes, Chrysalis focused and was able to transform. "I...I can do it?" "Oh, I get it. She can do it when I'm closer to her," Rainbow realized. Starlight nodded with an eager, proud smile. "Well, that's certainly good to know," Chrysalis remarked. She soon excused herself, and the meeting moved onto discussing Tirek. "I guess he's something for me to handle largely on my own," Rainbow Dash figured. "You should still have a fledgling or two with you when you go," Starlight advised. "Yeah, good idea," Rainbow Dash replied. "I do intend to make at least one more trip, given how the last three went." Finally, it was time to check in with Project Mercury. Thankfully, the events of the previous day did not interfere with that plan. They were two weeks and two days from preparing the potion. Penny was growing more nimble and said she suspected that the magic gathered from the berserk helped, in addition to the already existing one of time passing. "Anything else?" Rainbow asked Sweetie Belle. Sweetie scanned her notes. "Jin told us you might be tired after the berserk, especially with using the seal. How are you feeling?" "I'm fine," Rainbow answered with a pleasant smile. The meeting soon adjourned. Rainbow Dash had no particular lesson question for the week. She decided that sleep was a good option, just in case.