//------------------------------// // 10 - The Brotherhood Express // Story: Re:Harmony // by starcross7 //------------------------------// Chapter 10 - The Brotherhood Express The piercing cries of a foal woke Ingrid to the bothersome sight of Ace the Younger chatting it up with a young and pretty nurse.   By the earth, please do not walk over here… "You're awake," he greeted with a sly smile.  He dismissed the young and pretty nurse with a nuzzle on her cheek and then sat on a wheeled stool that he rolled towards Ingrid's bedside much to her disgust and discomfort.  She thought about throwing up on him due to the hospital's lingering chemical odors that seemed have filled her room, but she was not sick enough to do so.  It probably would backfire anyway.  He looked to be a stallion who was into vomiting fetishes.   "How did I end up here?" Ingrid asked.   "You tell me. You and your sister were found unconscious at the slums' edge. It took a while for anypony to help you because, well, knowing your reputation, you might have been lying in wait for an ambush." "Where exactly was I found?" "The old Apple Highway 95.  You know, the one that goes in the land once owned by traitors." Ingrid bolted up, took off her monitoring probes that were taped to her coat, and pushed Ace towards the corner nightstand.  She trotted over to the next over where Bella slept.   "Get up!" she cried.   "Dad, it's too dang early for farming..." Bella slurred.   Ingrid unapologetically pushed Bella off the bed, and then kicked her back up to her hooves from the rear.  She made her sister march through the cramped and worn hallways of the second-class hospital where gurneys, whether occupied or not, lined up against the dingy walls.  Ace and two of his Clone Soldiers followed after them, but the sisters didn't care if they did or not.   They ended up in the medical records shelves, and Ingrid, with a little help from Bella, shoved aside the meek clerk and searched for their own records amidst hundreds.   "You didn't finish the job I gave to you," said Ace.   After hoofing through several piles of manila folders containing mundane information on other ponies' health, Ingrid eventually found her and her sister's medical record.  After a brief, read her eyes widened, and she tossed the file and its papers back to the poor clerk's general direction.   "I knew it," said Ingrid.  "Bella, let's go." "Ah-haha, I'm still doped up with painkillers." "Walk it off.  Now hurry.” "Just a minute!" Ace yelled.  "I did not tell you to leave!  Do you know many of my own bits I had to waste on you ladies?  I have a reputation to uphold as one of Posey's President-Adviser of Economics!" From a nearby surgery cart, Ingrid took a scalpel and lunged it just over Ace's neck.  The Clone Soldiers deployed their shoulder-mounted rifles, and kept their hooves on the trigger mechanism.   "Y-You insolent m-mare," Ace stuttered.  "D-do you know who I am?" "I don't care if you're the bucking Chancellor herself.  There is nothing that you can pay to recover our lost pride.  If you come near us again, we'll geld you in Ponyville town square and feed you and your two ’bits’ to the Diamond Dogs." "You go sister!" Bella cried.   They left Ace frozen in fear and managed to stop him from issuing his guard escorts to command to fire.  The two sisters trotted through the hospital without any regard to procedure and decorum.  In the supply department, Ingrid and Bella allowed themselves into retrieve their clothes and their belongings.  They ignored a meek receptionist who had attempted to squeak her concern of the sisters leaving without signing any necessary bureaucratic hospital paperwork that many ponies grudgingly filled out.  The sisters cut through a long line leading into the building and stood on the lobby to hail a motorized land taxi.  When none of the ones present allowed themselves, Ingrid selected one for herself and her sister and then paid the driver extra to try not listen to their conversation during the ride.   "Ugh, my head hurts," said Bella.  "Do you know what happened yesterday?" "We fought a unicorn," replied Ingrid.   "Are you serious?  Maybe we got drunk and brawled with a pony pretending to be a unicorn." "We really did fight one." "Maybe the government did those memory implantation removal things I keep hearing about." "None of that was found in our medical records.  Whoever this unicorn was, she wiped out our memory of him or her." "If we really did fight a unicorn, shouldn't we tell the Government?" "We're going to capture it ourselves." "Sister, unicorns are evil witches and warlocks.  If they wiped out our memories, then we shouldn't mess with them.  Don't you know about the Prophecy?" "This is not about the Prophecy.  With a unicorn in our hooves, we will definitely have a bigger bargaining advantage to get our farm back and then some." “What do you mean?” “The Elements of Creation. They exist my sister, and we can use them to bring back everything we have lost.” “I never thought you would believe those old mare’s tales.  You sure you weren't hit on the head in a brawl?  I mean, still, this is a unicorn we’re talking about.  How do we ever hope to fighting against one?” “Then we'll have to pay good ol' Uncle Curio a visit.” "We should pick up some new jackets along the way.  It sure is getting cold for autumn." Memory spells.   Twilight remembered those long nights where her mother made her, or rather forced her to memorize scroll after scroll, book after book, and incantation after incantation of spells that affect the mind.  There were spells that induced temporary amnesia.  There were advanced spells that destroyed memory.  They were weaponized brain damage.   After defeating the Unicorn Hunters, Twilight had volunteered that she would only wipe out the memory of their encounter for up to one year in the hopes that they would never have to run into them again.  Yet whoever hired them to capture Applejack would likely do so again.  She and Applejack had to move fast.  They had to steal the sisters' wheeled truck.   Back in the slums of Ponyville, she passed by many upon many earth ponies, all dressed in drab faded clothes that at the bare minimum covered their flank.  Sure there was business, such as a lone store owner selling what little food he offered from his streetside stall.  Almost all of the shops seemed to be run down, devoid of customers, and had the appearance of hard times.  Applejack had mentioned there being supermarkets and ration lines on the surface, but Twilight couldn't tell which one was which.  At almost every block, there were long lines leading into warehouse-like buildings, and pony soldiers--not the regular faceless Clones--kept these lines in order.  The only buildings or facades that were always clean and new were the Earth Party precinct headquarters, where the well-dressed zealots often come and go.   As depressing as the Ponyville Slums were, Twilight could not let her thoughts linger on the slums.  She almost wished she could drive more information out of the Unicorn Hunter sisters, but never did she expect to elicit pure terror out of them.  She never expected her magic to be that frightening.   But another thought concerned her.  Twilight had initially thought the Starswirl Prophecy exclusive to her tribe because she assumed non-unicorns would not be interested in the writings of another unicorn.  Yet given their fear of her species, it was likely they would have kept a tome or two in the event they needed to capture or outright kill one.   "Applejack," Twilight began, “why didn't you tell me your society also had a Starswirl Prophecy?" "I wasn't sure if it was the full truth." "You don’t have to be nice to me.  What does your version of the Prophecy state?” The orange pony took a deep breath. “Bella was tellin’ the truth, that there will be a Twilight who will recreate the world in the near future, and that she will use the Elements to do it. I know what ya thinkin’: why would my ma not tell me everything about the Prophecy.  She must have a reason.” "She mentioned a unicorn betrayer, but not about a Twilight who will destroy the world." "Don't tell me you have other relatives with the title Twilight runnin' around the world besides you and your ma." "None that I know of.  The title and name of Twilight is very sacred to my tribe as it is the name of the First Unicorn, the god-mare." "So y'all worship this Twilight?" "We don't, but we regard her as a very important figure in our tribe's history and acknowledge her as the holy mother of all unicorns. That's why only mares are able to receive the title of Twilight." “Explains why your ma acts like a stuck-up you-know-what. Twi, there’s no need to worry yourself over our Starswirl Prophecy.  Even if it is true, I trust it less than my gut feelin', and that's tellin' me that there's more to it than what it said." “There are a lot of details left out in my version,” said Twilight. “It didn't mention any specifics, and it everything up till now could all be coincidental.” “Bingo.  Don't forget sugarcube, you still got your pa and bro to worry about, and if those sisters are tellin’ the truth, then we gotta get into the labs.” “Is it far?” “We gotta take the train into Gaeaopolis, see as we can’t drive a stolen bounty hunter truck over there.  And we can't go in lookin’ like common thugs.” Applejack parked the truck in a vacant lot between two buildings where scrap metal had been piling up.  Both ponies did their best to cover their truck up with nearby junk to make it appear abandoned.  They could not drive it any further, and they would not want the authorities to track them through that vehicle.   On hoof, they trotted over to nearby dress shop named the Carousel Boutique.  It was any wonder why the shop was named so, that none of the bare interior design matched that of the weathered-down sign that hung outside with a few missing letters.  The old white earth mare grumbled about Applejack and Twilight being cheap lookie-loos and that they shouldn't be wasting time if they did not have bits.  Fortunately, Applejack had enough to purchase the most expensive items in the store, which were two special-order government uniforms for mares.  When the shopkeeper asked why two ragged ponies wanted to buy such expensive fare, Applejack promptly quieted the crotchety old mare with several more bits.   For Twilight, this was a departure from her wearing her cloak, let alone walking naked.  The suit was some kind of brown color with a few pockets on both the jacket and the dark slacks.  On places where it rubbed on her coat, she felt a bit of chafing.  For an added bonus, she ordered a short cape to cover her shoulders.  It was getting colder today.   Applejack dressed similarly, but her suit, though the same style, appeared slightly newer and luxurious.  She still kept her stetson hat on her, but allowed it to hang off to the back of her neck to give herself a dignified look.  When the shopping was done, the two traveling mares went down several blocks to a fairly busy monorail station.  Unlike the trams to Sewer Town, there were no salesponies and their shop stalls--at least not any that Twilight could spot from view.   There were two sections of lines separated by a wall topped off with a green-oxidized wrought iron fence.  One was for the "common" ponies that snaked throughout the station leading towards several ticket booths at the end.  The other was reserved for the zealous Earth Party Elite, some important-looking government workers, and some high-ranking soldiers breezed through without ever having to wait or having their papers thoroughly checked.  This was the line Applejack and Twilight travelled through, and a quick flash of the fake IDs did not warrant any suspicion from the guard pony on the platform.   The monorail car they boarded, though modern and somewhat bare, felt a little more posh than Twilight had expected, and there seemed to be a little more wiggle room to move around.  Both she and Applejack immediately headed down to their own personal sleeping bunks for the one-day's ride.  In the background, aside from the rumbles of the crowds of the common ponies at the station platform, she could hear the speakers blaring patriotic marching songs, and a few rooms over the Earth Party zealots sang the national anthem off key.   "Feel free to wander around," said Applejack as she climbed up to her top bunk after taking her clothes off.  "It'll take about a day to get on over to Gaeaoplis.  Just don't cause any trouble by casting magic and whatnot... Other than the one that's hidin' your horn." "We can't travel far from one another." "You want me to hold your hoof sugarcube?  I'm pretty sure you can reach as far as the engine and the caboose without feelin' a thing." "Those sisters mentioned that you called a stallion 'sugarcube'.  Was he the earth pony Shine you were talking about?" "It's nothing to fret about Twi. I always call the ponies I like sugarcube." "Were you two close?" "Well... Um... I suppose I was, um, fond of him.  I mean, he's a great stallion and partner in crime and all.  If he's anythin' like your brother, then I reckon they must've been distant cousins or somethin'.  Now weren't you gonna have a look around?" "Oh, sorry to be a bother." "Just be careful. The Earth Party zealots are notorious snitches, so make sure you play along with them." "I'll try to." Twilight left her compartment.  When the monorail started, she nearly fell off her hooves as it geared up to speed.  She watched the city scenery pass by her in a blur, but she needed see more.   She went to the common car where a four members of the Earth Party zealots sat in relaxing lounge chairs discussing the war against the pegasii.  She tried not to make any eye contact as she picked her seat by the window where she watched Ponyville zip by.  Yet as the minutes had passed, she still felt as if she had not left the city. No matter what, all she saw was a decrepit building after decrepit building, and the only thing natural appeared far off in the distance.  They were a distant mountain range and a small patch of bare land between Ponyville and what was called the Everfree Forest.  A small fleet of dark airships hung over that patch of undeveloped natural land, and she could only assume that was where she and Applejack fought the Unicorn Hunters.   She had to contain her curious excitement of the clean ultra-modern amenities of the lounge car.  A well-dressed bartender pony stood willing to serve, surrounded by a myriad of fountain drink dispensers and what appeared to be expensive bottles of the best alcohol.  There were two flat panel televisions above his head displaying some of the same programs Twilight had skimmed over at the hotel, but currently none of them interested the unicorn.  So she sat on the stool and cautiously ordered a glass of water.   "Why would you suggest such a thing?" said one of the zealots.  "Chancellor Posey secretly being a pegasus?" "I'm just saying, there had been rumors swirling about in the Ponyville Slums of her being one.  I bet it was started by one of the rebels working for the Cause." "What were you doing in the slums in the first place?  You're not visiting those decadent clubs, are you?" "Of course not!  I was, um, visiting the Party precinct offices to review the new applicants.  Seriously my brothers and sisters, we have to tell Teddy's people that there are unpatriotic ponies spreading false rumors about our glorious Chancellor." "Would you happen to know who told you about those rumors?" "I heard from the applicants that it was that old dressmaker in Carousel Boutique." "Then we'll report that she's the one who started it up.  Might as well include her relatives for good measure." Those zealots!  How could they treat the lives of other ponies so lightly?  And to include family members as well.  Just mere words and the placement of blame could ruin the lives of many ponies, and from Twilight observed, the elite and zealots of the Earth Party felt it was their duty to do such things.  Her mother would never convict a pony without proper evidence.   "Ma'am, are you all right?" asked the bartender.   "I'm fine," said Twilight.  "I just need to get go back to my room."   Before she did, she spotted a bookshelf in by the door leading back to her car.  She picked one, titled A Brief History of Gaea, and then asked the bartender how much it was.   “It’s free for all Party members,” he replied.   That elicited the attention of one of the zealots whose eyes darted towards the unicorn in disguise.  Twilight had to shake herself out in the inside before calming down.   “Of course it is,” said Twilight.  “The history of our glorious country should be free to all citizens of Gaea.  H-hail Posey.” Both the bartender and the zealot nodded in agreement, freeing Twilight from the pressure.  She nearly lost control of her horn-hiding magic back there.  Perhaps wandering around was not a good idea at the moment.   Still, the book was a good find.