*Three days later*
“I have a surprise for youuuu!” Sassi sang, walking into the recovery room. Her voice immediately made Astral’s ears perk up from his position on the sofa.
It was a far cry from the surgical suite he had been confined to. It resembled more of a hotel than anything just with doctors a call away from the hospital next door. It was far too cream-colored for her and Astral’s taste, but it was clean and comfy. To stay it was a step up from the Silos was a bit of an understatement.
The healing device from Joro had deactivated yesterday, and Astral had continued to bounce back faster than doctors had anticipated. The severe damage was healed, but now it was up to Astral’s body to catch up to the magical repair. But that meant normal foods at last!
Sassi hadn’t been entirely sure what Astral had been more excited about at first; being able to hug her, or eat a hayburger. He had proudly stated it was a close race, and the laugh from Sassi had certainly made it worth it.
After a few days of bed rest, the stallion was standing for most of the day to get rid of the jitters in his legs. That, or he plugged away on a slow treadmill for a while. That was all in addition to eating constantly. The major, negative side effects of the RASP treatment had been mitigated by Joro’s help. But there were still anticipated aches and pains for months as his body healed both from the RASP modifications and magical repair.
So, no marathons.
“A surprise?” he asked, walking over to her.
“Yup! No, you still have to keep the healing crystals in your chest for a bit,” Sassi said, gently poking the objects as Astral stuck out his tongue. He looked over, seeing a rather large box having been dragged inside.
“That’s nearly the size of me. How big of a blender is it?”
“Hah! This is better than a blender,” she proclaimed. “Flask and Vial have been busy with the eggheads in the military.”
“Oh?”
She dropped over a weighty binder, Astral staring as it thudded onto the small wooden coffee table near the door.
“Those are the permits and certifications for us.”
“Permits?” His eyes lit up. The stallion had a general idea now of what was in the box.
She yanked one of the sides open, laughing as Astral stared.
“I think I’m in love,” he muttered, Sassi cackling off to the side as she looked at the shining pieces of metal.
“The first RASP prototype system for us,” she said proudly, taking the armor pieces out of their respective padded containers. The breastplate and barding were held together with sturdy straps; a small battery situated on the back.
“They’ve been busy reverse-engineering and improving on the armor set of the RASP armor I gave them. So, these are for testing, but they’re basically the framework for future systems. We get the AI with an optional helmet, basic protection, but most importantly, side-saddle mounts for guns.”
“Hence the permits?” he suggested, Sassi nodding, snagging another large box that had been hidden outside.
“Hence the permits. Oh, and this is for you. It’s from the Gryphon Emperor.”
“Oh really? That’s taller than me,” he muttered, laying it down. “What can it-oooooh.”
Sassi looked over his shoulder, letting out a frustrated whine.
“Seriously!? Lucky!”
Despite her words, the smile on Astral’s face was enough to make Sassi nearly cheer. Laying in the box, a massive rifle looked back at them.
“Is that the monster you used?” she asked, Astral already nose-deep in the manual.
“Nope. This is the newer model!” he said, actually giggling to himself. “The crazy gryphons actually tested the durability by landing an airship on it…repeatedly!”
“Seriously?”
Astral showed her an enclosed picture of a batch-tested rifle embedded into concrete and subsequently fired.
“Seriously.”
The mare looked over the weapon, shaking her head in amusement as her stallion gushed over the manual. She couldn’t blame him.
“Whoa.”
“What?”
He depressed a firm switch in the buttstock, and a large knife handle poked up from the rear of the gun.
“It has a hidden machete?!”
“I mean, they modified it for me to use as a pony, but usually it’d be a small dagger for a gryphon,” the stallion said, suppressing giggles. “You can also remove the barrel and use it as an emergency weapon; a giant metal staff!”
“I want one,” Sassi pouted, unable to keep a smile off her face as Astral casually walked over to her and nuzzled under her head.
“You’ll get some miniguns I assume. Besides, I love long-range shooting!”
“I still want to try it.”
“Well, of course!”
Sassi then sat up a bit straighter, pulling back and looking at him.
“You’re taller,” she muttered. “You’re at my eye level, or a bit above it. I was a smidge taller than you before.”
He blinked, sitting up straight and looking at her,
“Huh. I guess so. Yay RASP treatments? Is that, um, a good thing?”
Sassi continued to stare at him, but judging from the pink starting to color her cheeks, Astral had a fair idea about the answer. The affection humming through their link was a clue enough.
“Sooooo a very good thing?” he asked, leaning in for a cheeky kiss as she grumbled.
“I didn’t know it was attractive,” she muttered.
“Well, thank you RASP treatment! I’ll…ow…” he hissed, side spasming. “I’ll sit down now.”
Carefully lowering himself to the sofa, the stallion let out a happy sigh as Sassi plopped down next to him, immediately snuggling up under his wing.
“Y’know, it’s new to enjoy a hug with you when we’re not running for our lives,” Astral mused, Sassi cuddling closer. “And you’ve certainly seemed to enjoy it.”
“Um, duh?”
“Ok, fair,” he chuckled. “I certainly don’t mind you being snuggly.”
She reached up and poked his nose with a grin.
“Well, ditto. I’m just glad you have a soft side to enjoy.”
The mare melted as Astral snuggled closer, resting his head on top of hers.
“Only with you.”
“This is weird. Being able to be close to you and not having to keep moving. It feels…off. But in a good way.” Sassi’s voice echoed in Astral’s mind after they didn’t speak for a time.
“Well. It’s also weird we can talk like this. But I agree. Kind of makes it more meaningful. We’re free and can just do this anytime. Take an hour and just relax with each other. No mutants or Silos. Just us.”
A soft sniffle prompted Astral to wrap a forelimb around his special somepony, Sassi shaking her head.
“I didn’t cry almost at all before meeting you,” she muttered. “I blame you for making me play catch-up.”
“Guilty as charged.”
“You’re sentenced to more kisses and cuddles.”
“Woe is me!”
The two laughed, Astral’s ears then slowly flattening as a rather uncomfortable realization settled in. Mainly, that of their schedule the following day.
“Y’know, we need to be in the castle tomorrow,” he said softly, Sassi nodding.
“And apparently that’s when your parents want to meet you as well. Just got the memo before I came back.”
“Wait what? I thought that was next week?”
She shook her head, Astral forcing himself to take a few deep breaths.
“O-ok, tomorrow is going to be a doozy then?” he whispered. “After what you and Twilight told me about what they said…”
Sassi felt a white-hot poker of rage spike through their link, the stallion at her side still focusing on taking a few deep breaths.
“But that’s why I refused Twilight’s offer as a mediator. No tricks, no masks,” Astral said slowly. “I’m not sure what to make of it, them wanting to speak with both of us. Maybe they changed.”
The doubt in his voice caused Sassi to reach over and squeeze his hoof.
“We’ll get through it,” Sassi said quietly, Astral huffing.
“I guess. At least they visited me in the hospital after a few days. I half expected them not to.”
Sassi didn’t have a good response to that. There was a deeper throbbing in her mind at Astral’s words. Something was left unsaid about their delay in visiting him, but she wasn’t going to push.
“But first we get to get rid of a bug in your head, right?”
She nodded, the mare’s mood dampening.
“I’m trying not to think about it,” she admitted. “Like, it’s an amazingly good thing, but I have to be controlled by that spell again for a bit. The Princess said the sooner the better though. They have some of the Silo staff locked up there, so it’ll be much easier to isolate the command spell now and get it over with. I just want it gone.”
“Will you be ok?”
She nodded, nuzzling under his chin.
“You’ll be there, and I trust you. So, yeah. It’s a best-case scenario. One command from the Silo guy, and then one command from you. That’s all Twilight said was needed.”
Astral wrapped a hoof around Sassi’s, the two of them not saying anything for a few moments.
“I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you,” he whispered.
She smiled, yawning and adjusting her position to be more sleep-friendly.
“That’s why I’m not freaking out even more,” the mare admitted. “And we’ll have the experimental armor too. So that’ll make me feel better.”
“Y’know, you don’t have to sleep on my account,” Astral said. “I never took naps before this.”
“Yeah, but it’s a free excuse to snuggle my special somepony. So, you better believe that I’ll be right here even if I don’t sleep.”
“You’re going to read the armor and gun manuals, aren’t you?”
Sassi’s pout sent Astral into a fit of chuckles as he reached over and kissed her, then closing his eyes. Her whispered reply nearly made him start laughing again.
“…maaaaybe.”
Canterlot Castle used to be, in a word, intimidating. Not so much by the structure, but by how many dignitaries and politicians it housed.
Now though, as Astral and Sassi walked down the halls with Twilight and a few guards, it seemed almost normal. It was an odd feeling for Astral, to say the least. Before this, he would have been rather nervous. Now? It was just some building where important creatures worked.
The two of them wore the prototype armor; it oddly made the stallion feel more at ease. Well, that, and the combat knife he had strapped on the side. Apparently, Sassi had rated his pout “Ten out of ten” when Astral had learned about the wait to get firearms for the RASP suit. But he’d make do.
“So, Sassi, did all of that make sense?” Twilight asked kindly, having explained the procedure in detail as they walked to the spell chamber.
“I mean, it’s pretty simple. The Executive gives an order to raise my hoof up and down. Then Astral gives me an order for whatever. Then you purge the spell out of me forever.”
“That’s the long and short of it,” the Princess said happily. “You shouldn’t feel the effects until we’re in the spell room; it’s incredibly shielded.”
“Well, that’s assuming it’s not some freaky kind of-”
Raw panic shot through Astral’s link, Sassi abruptly freezing. The knife was halfway out of the holster before Astral paused, the guards staring at the pair.
To say he was a bit protective was an understatement, even if his current strength was marginal at best.
“The spell kicked in!?” Twilight exclaimed, horn igniting with a frown. “That shouldn’t be possible.”
“Well, it is. And Sassi is trying not to panic,” Astral said, walking over to rest his head against the other Thestral’s.
“Then no reason to dilly-dally.”
“Sas? Let’s go and get this thing over with. Follow us to the spell chamber please,” Astral said.
The mare nodded, mechanically walking as they resumed their course.
“Fascinating. I’m detecting traces of Limbo energy. If that is weaved into the spell, that would explain its capacities to bypass both horn locks and room shielding,” Twilight mused to herself.
“Can you still get rid of it?”
“Oh, absolutely. Let’s just get inside.”
The spell room was a simple affair; white granite and stained-glass windows around a hexagonal floor shape. A bit of fancy crystal was weaved into the floor in various arcane patterns, but it was otherwise fairly plain.
A brown unicorn stood on one end of the room, horn-locks and limb restraints preventing him from moving. That, and the two burly guards at his side.
“Alright, please have Sassi stand here,” Twilight directed, gesturing to the center of the room.
“You heard the Princess, Sas. Step to the center of the room, please,” Astral said softly. The panic had eased ever so slightly, but still was overriding every other emotion. It wasn’t all-encompassing anymore, but instead was a ball of anxiety, fear, and a nauseating sense of violation. There was a thread of affection breaking through occasionally, and that helped ease Astral’s worry ever so slightly.
She stood in the center of the room, the guards fanning out as Twilight’s horn brightened.
“Coin Cut,” the Princess barked, “order Sassi to lift her hoof up, and then place it back down. Do not speak any other words. Do so in ten seconds.”
The unicorn’s head lifted. If not for knowing how evil the Company was, the pony would have cut a rather sorry figure. However, Astral saw that behind the yellow eyes there was a fair amount of loathing. No self-pity or remorse, despite his stature suggesting it.
The thought of ramming his knife into the unicorn’s skull was, for a moment, tempting. If not to ease Sassi’s pain.
“Sassi. Raise your hoof, and then put it back down,” Coin said in a monotone, his eyes then drifting to Astral. For a split second, the unicorn seemed to be contemplating saying more, a dark intelligence flicking behind his eyes.
Astral felt a malevolent smirk slide onto his face. He found himself wanting Coin to say something else, meeting the unicorn’s gaze with an almost eager, desperate hatred. The anger abruptly surged, clouding Astral’s thoughts with a white-hot poker, begging to be unleashed.
Do it. Give me a reason to kill you.
Please…
His hoof casually reached over to the knife at his side, Astral still staring at the unicorn as his muscles tensed.
It’d be so easy.
Nobody would even have a chance to react.
Do it!
To the Thestral’s satisfaction, fear began to cloud Coin’s gaze, the pony finally looking away and staring at the floor. He actually shrank away from Astral slightly, their eyes not meeting again.
“Alright. I’ve isolated the primary command matrix,” Twilight muttered to herself. “I’ll need a few more commands from you, Astral. Just simple things. I’ll then need a minute to work, and then a final command which will act as the carrier for the dispelling magic.”
The anger and hatred abruptly faded, Astral shaking his head and refocusing. He took a few deep breaths, the abruptness of the emotional shift rattling the Thestral a bit.
“Ok. Just random commands then?” he asked, “Sassi, please sit down.”
The mare did so, Astral calmly going through a few other simple changes such as raising a wing or nodding once.
“Give me a moment,” the Princess said.
The group waited in relative silence, the only sound being the soft hum of magic around the Alicorn.
“Hang in there, Sas.”
“Got it! Astral, one final command if you please, and it’ll be done. Anything. Even a generalized phrase.”
We’re so close!
“Sassi?” Astral asked, the mare looking at him. Any remnants of rage or anger were abruptly replaced with love as he looked into her eyes. Anger hadn’t saved him in the Silos; this incredible mare had. And she was worth all of the trials that place had thrown at him. Emotion welled up in Astral’s throat. There was only one thing he could say.
“I order you to be free.”
The air in the room pulsed, a black ball of energy ejecting itself from Sassi into the air. It fragmented and danced around as if desperately trying to escape- and then faded into nothingness.
Astral caught Sassi as she collapsed to the floor, the mare’s breaths coming in frantic gasps.
“It’s gone,” Twilight reported, waving a hoof to the guards. “Get the prisoner out of here.”
Tears ran down Sassi’s cheeks as she looked up to Astral, wrapping him up in a desperate hug as she cried.
“I can’t feel it anymore,” she whispered. “Nothing. It’s just us.”
Turning to look at Twilight, Sassi could only bow her head in thanks, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes but utterly failing.
“T-thank you, Princess,” she whispered.
“You’re most welcome. And just Twilight is fine. I’ll leave you two be then. You’re welcome to stay here and grab lunch until your next meeting.”
Once alone, Sassi hugged Astral close, the mare burying her face into his fur.
“Thank you, Astral. For being here. For everything.”
“Always.”
His inaudible response made Sassi sniffle, the two of them content to relax in each other’s arms for as long as they needed.
“I’m completely free,” Sassi finally whispered, pulling back to look at Astral. “I’m…it’s over.”
The kiss she gave him made the stallion’s head spin, an excited giggle echoing around the room as Sassi sat up. Despite the smile on her face, tears still trickled from her eyes. She took a few deep breaths, leaning her forehead against Astral’s as her voice hitched.
“We’re free.”