//------------------------------//
// Gust Front 
// Story: Lightning Rod 
// by SilverNotes 
//------------------------------//

The rings around Kisu's neck were heavy with an unfamiliar weight.

Not all species had marriage customs, and not all who did had marriage signifiers. Zebras had both, and as signifiers went, the stack of golden dzilla were an eye-catching one. The neck rings were the way that a zebra mare would indicate that she was married, or, in the case of her current cover, a widow still in mourning. Kisu would be an old mare who was observing the tradition of the Widows' Roam, taking her children and a few belongings and traveling until they found a new place to settle down. In ages past that would be a new village, but these days could easily be a new country.

It was more often observed by young widows, with either no foals or very young ones, but nothing said a mare Kisu's age couldn't, especially with adult offspring willing to follow her on the journey. Someone familiar with Farasian cultural practices would find it slightly odd, but would respect it as her right as the mourner.

Kisu stared out over the bow of the airship, watching the clouds roll by beneath her like a white ocean. Being this high up should have made her uneasy--given the choice, a zebra would always prefer to have their hooves planted on solid earth--but she had travelled so much over sea and sky in her life that her soul no longer screamed at the absence of the ground, and instead knew that she would always return to it in time.

It wasn't much different from a ocean vessel, except for the balloon where sails would normally be, and it was saturated with so much magic that, despite her domain being earth instead of sky, closing her eyes could let her taste just a bit of the power that went into helping it fly. The captain of the ship was a hippogriff, second-generation immigrant from Hippogriffia to Equestria, and had taken the job in order to see as much of the world as she possibly could, with a flock of pegasi as her crew. From the brief interactions Kisu had had with captain and crew, she liked them. 

When it came to her new partners, however, Kisu had yet to pass judgement. She would have to get to know the changelings who were to be her foals for the remainder of this assignment, because that would sell her credibility. Any zebra could throw on the rings and claim to be roaming, but it was harder to be suspicious of a whole family.

She stepped away from the edge of the ship, and turned away from the looming horizon.

Time to go be a mother, she supposed.





"Ah, is this the part where you grill me on my qualifications?"

Kisu found Ladybird doing what she had been, looking over the edge of the boat and watching the clouds go by. She was wearing her zebra disguise, and Kisu had found herself noting the way that the false mane waved in the breeze. With changelings now as allies, there may finally be an opportunity to research how the shapechange worked, breaking down the thaumic makeup of something that Ladybird presumably did as effortlessly and subconsciously as breathing.

That was something for eggheads like Night Light to figure out, however. For Kisu's part, the question from the changeling-turned-zebra earned a wry smile. "I could just be coming over for a friendly chat."

"You could, Mom." She turned her head, leaving the sea of white behind to look Kisu in the eye, wearing a mirror of her smile. "But I feel like a seasoned agent would want to make better use of time when we aren't under scrutinizing eyes. It's what I would do." One of her brows quirked. "...Haven't had a lot of assignments where you needed to be called that, I take it?"

"By the time I was old enough to plausibly have adult children, I was doing much less field work." Kisu huffed. "What gave it away?"

"To me? Empath." Ladybird tilted her head slightly. "But there's also some twitching in your face. I don't think anyone not already suspicious would notice, but it's still something you should be aware of. Plus you look a bit uncomfortable in your dzilla."

She huffed again. "I haven't had to wear them often for work, either, and not for a while." She couldn't remember the last time she'd played at being at someone's--or somepony's--spouse. Girlfriend or fiancée was more common as cover, and at least one time it had been adoptive sibling. "But you're right, I am curious." She looked over Ladybird's disguise again, looking so convincing as her own flesh and blood. "Is this your first time with a zebra cover?"

Ladybird gave a short nod. "It is. We're all most accustomed to pony disguises, but I typically choose earth pony, so not having access to my horn or wings isn't much trouble for me." She gave a small chuckle. "I also spent one mission as a donkey, and two as a changeling."

It was Kisu's turn to quirk a brow. "Your natural shape?"

"No, actively disguised as a different-looking changeling." She held up her head with pride. "Sometimes the best way to hide is in plain sight. 'This changeling is giving off changeling magic? Well of course they are.'"

"Clever." Kisu nodded her approval. "And it sounds like Celestia has kept you all pretty busy."

"There's been a lot going on." Ladybird snorted. "If you haven't noticed, the last few years have been pretty eventful. Speaking as one of said events."

"Very true." If Kisu were asked to list all the incidents in just the last couple of years that Equestria had weathered, she may have run out of hooves in the whole retirement community to count on. "Hopefully our work here will head off another event before it starts. Or at least make sure Equestria is a little better prepared." She then straightened her posture and cleared her throat. "Now, when it comes to your cover, let's go over a few things, mwanangu. Name?"

"Upendo Ndege," Ladybird recited. "Up for short."

"Your pronunciation of that was spot-on. Good. Mark?"

"Matchmaker. My inherent sense for love will be explained as an outgrowth of that talent, that I 'just know' when there's mutual interest."

"Very good. Our relationship?"

"I'm the oldest," Ladybird recited like a filly going over her lines for a school play. "I've picked up some of your cooking skills, but I obviously never got a mark in it, instead finding it when I coached a friend into making a special dish for a prospective partner. After Dad died, I was the first to come back home to help you, and the first to suggest moving. After all, I can help creatures find love anywhere, so a jaunt half-way across the world won't disrupt me at all."

"Impressive." Kisu peered at Ladybird, fixing her with her griffon-like stare. "Is this a brand new cover, or did you adapt a pony one?"

Ladybird didn't flinch. And why would she? There was a changeling under the stripes, and predator recognized predator. "Adapted. The one time I needed to go as a pegasus instead of an earth pony, I set myself up as a matchmaker named Lovebird with a similar cutie mark story."

"I approve. It's always best to reuse parts of old covers, or adapt parts of your actual life. It keeps you from forgetting key details." She softened her gaze, and smiled again. "And in the spirit of that, as for things other than my cooking that we could potentially share... What do you like for leisure activities?"

Ladybird chuckled. "Welllll, I've always been one for strategic games." She had a gleam in her eyes as she asked, "Ever heard of Warhorseshoe?"

Kisu, who had learned the location and quality of every comic and game store in Canterlot via years of osmosis, laughed. "I may be passingly familiar."  She turned in the direction of the cabins. "But why don't you tell me about it?"

"We should find a place to sit down," Ladybird commented as she followed her. "So, the basic premise is..."





"Ah, here you are."

It'd taken a while to find Damselfly, though at least the shine of light off of their bright teal shell helped. They'd found a quiet corner, one so close to the magical core of the ship that Kisu could feel the hum of its power through her hooves, and they were in their natural shape, laying on the floor and with their nose buried in a thick book. The writing was in Equestrian, and Kisu caught the words The Mane Effect on the cover when they politely closed it to look up at her. "Something I can do for you, Miss Kisu?"

After the long conversation with Ladybird in disguise, it was odd being looked at with Damselfly's unblinking compound eyes. Her lack of experience with the species made it hard for her tell if the drone was keeping their expression neutral or if she just couldn't read the tells they were giving off, but she suspected the latter. A species that was naturally empathetic likely had little need for expressive faces. "Just checking in with everyone. Catching up on some reading?"

"Yes." They glanced at the book, then back at her. "I packed light, as advised, but I squeezed in a trilogy that I've been meaning to read." They tilted their head, and the corners of their mouth moved; the smile was clearly not a natural action, and while their face was more flexible than the hard-looking exterior implied, they seemed to be struggling to maintain it. "No longer being underneath the hoof of a tyrant opens up one's literature options immensely, so I take whatever opportunity I can get to make up for lost time."

Kisu felt a stab of sympathy, and moved closer. "I don't doubt it." She lowered herself onto the floor next to Damselfly, and took the faint buzz from their wings as a sign of surprise. Her bad leg immediately filed a complaint with the rest of her body for the action. "I imagine Chrysalis didn't prioritize a well-read populous."

Damselfly shook their head in confirmation. "Or even a literate one. At the time of the revolution, most of us didn't have basic reading, writing, or math skills. Education reform has been a major priority for the kingdom."

"Sounds like King Thorax really has his hooves full. I don't envy him."

"Neither do I." Damselfly's ears shifted slightly, as did their wings, and Kisu heard their voice soften. "But he's a good king. He took my desire to emigrate to Equestria shockingly well. All three of us have dual citizenship at his blessing."

"Well, he was a refugee taking shelter in the Crystal Empire once," Kisu pointed out. She still remembered her shock from getting that letter. "I imagine he sees it as you following in his hoofsteps."

Damselfly's wings produced a hum that sounded like one of agreement. "Revealing himself at the time was risky, but it clearly paid off. And it proved how forgiving Equestrians could be, even after the invasion." They looked at Kisu, and even without pupils she had the feeling that she was being looked at directly. "And since I'm sure you were going to ask, yes, I did take part in the siege and occupation of Canterlot. Everybug did but the youngest generation."

Kisu kept her expression neutral. "I gathered as much. The swarm was massive, too many to just be your soldier caste." Not that she could tell what caste Damselfly was, or rather had been. The changelings had changed too much, inside and out, for the old intel to be of use. 

Damselfly's ears twitched. "You were in the capital?"

"Shining Armour is my honourary nephew," Kisu said, her face still carefully blank. "I wasn't about to miss his wedding."

The next reaction, Kisu could read perfectly. They cringed and curled up tightly in on themself, as if trying to disappear. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you were subjected to any of what we did."

"You were doing what your queen told you was necessary to survive," Kisu said, with the heavy voice of grim empathy. "Desperation can make monsters of anyone."

"It doesn't excuse our actions. Only explains them," Damsel replied with the heaviness of regret. "But we have a chance to make things right, now." They looked in her direction again, and Kisu felt that she was being studied. "Did you need anything else?"

Kisu shifted a bit to get more comfortable. "I've been going over covers. Making sure the details mesh."

"Ah, that explains it." They gestured with a hoof. "Go right ahead."

"Name?"

"Mwandishi."

"Mark?"

"Wordsmithing. Fiction and poetry as a specialty."

"Our relationship?"

"I'm the middle child. We've always been a bit distant, but you still encouraged my talents even before my mark came to confirm my destiny." The hoof that they'd gestured with before started to wave about, punctuating their words. "I've written a series of foals' books with the parental characters modelled off of you and my father, but I've yet to find an interested publisher." The hoof skimmed the cover of their book. "I was optimistic about moving to another land, because I believed it may inspire my work further."

"All very solid." She nodded her approval. "Though you may want to actually write those books, in case someone asks to look at them."

"Oh I plan to. Along with a few others." Kisu thought she may have seen a twinkle of excitement in their blank eyes. "I've always been a decent storycrafter. It's just getting used to the fiction tropes of different cultures."

"True, you need to know your audience." Kisu leaned to one side slightly, peering at the orange and blue book cover. "Speaking of... Mind telling me a little about what you're reading?"

"Oh!" Damselfly pulled their hoof off the book's cover, and surrounded it in their magic, lifting it up to hover in their air. "Well, they're in a bit of a niche genre. I don't know if you've heard of 'science fiction,' but..."





"Habari, Mama."

Kisu paused in her approach, ears twitching at the familiar words, and smiled at Beetle. "A flawless East Farasian accent. Well done."

Beetle, in his disguise as a stout zebra stallion, smiled at her from where he sat in the ship's dining area, a plate piled up with grasses, hot peppers, and what looked like blueberries. Kisu supposed a species that didn't strictly need physical food could develop a strange palette. "If we weren't good at vocal mimicry, we'd make pretty bad infiltrators." The smile faded, and his ears drooped. "I... spent a bit of time in East Farasi, on the former queen's orders. Nothing came of it, since the crocotta make establishing a hoofhold there a risky prospect."

Kisu nodded as she went about assembling her own lunch from the salad bar. "No doubt. You wouldn't even be able to feed on them if they resisted, I imagine." Not that she needed to imagine. Impisi hadn't made it to the wedding, but there had been some... incidents in Trottingham in the aftermath of the invasion. 

Thorax hadn't been the first remnant of the army encountered, just the friendliest one.

"You'd be correct." He waited for her to settle down at the table across from him with her garden salad. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Just going over covers with everyone." She leaned down, nipping at the lettuce. "After all, I should know some basic things about my own foals."

Beetle leaned down, mimicking her as he nipped at a hot pepper. He didn't so much as twitch at the spiciness, if he could taste it at all. "That makes sense. Fire away."

"Name?"

"Lugha."

"Mark?"

"Linguistics."

"Our relationship?"

"I'm the youngest." He left the food be, instead sitting up straight as he spoke. "When pony foals bullied me for being a zebra, I'd call on my older siblings and they'd set them straight, and I got my mark fairly young, after teaching my friendlier classmates some Farasian words." He smiled, a fondness starting to shine in his eyes that Kisu knew couldn't be faked. "I was fascinated by tales of your homeland, and, when I was old enough, I travelled there myself, and established myself as an interpreter." 

Beetle's eyes then fell back to the plate, and he nudged at a few of the berries. "The distance made me the last to know Baba had died and I continue to regret that I couldn't get back in time for the funeral. So I promised to stay close to home for now on, no matter where home turned out to be."

"A bit more bittersweet than the others, but not too melodramatic. It's a solid story." It also left Kisu wondering about his actual history, as the regret in his voice also seemed a bit too real, but it wasn't her place to ask. "And since you've worn a zebra skin before, I know that I won't have to worry about you acting too much like a pony."

"It's not as if many creatures, where we're going, will know the difference." He shrugged. "But yes, I've had a lot more practice with the body language nuances than Lady or Damsel. Thankfully, the fact that you supposedly raised us in Equestria should smooth that over if someone does clock them as odd. We can just say they picked up some things from being around ponies from an early age."

"Precisely what I was thinking." She leaned down to snatch up a juicy-looking cherry tomato in her teeth, and noticed the way Beetle immediately mimicked the motion with some berries as she chewed and swallowed. "Though now you have me curious, and we still have plenty of time to kill before reaching our destination. Since you've spent some time in Farasi, have you ever played Bao?"

"As a matter of fact, I have." He grinned at her. "Hoping for a game?"

"I may have an old set in my luggage, if you're up for it."

"I'd be honoured."

The pair continued their meal, with the promise of a game ahead, and Kisu found herself feeling good about the rest of the flight. These three were professionals, but they were also charming youngsters, and between books and games, the journey proved to be a pleasant one.

Later, she would acknowledge that expecting a flight to a place called the Storm Kingdom to be smooth sailing had been naïve.