//------------------------------// // By the Light of Burning Bridges // Story: My Little Teelo: Masquerade // by Ardwolf //------------------------------// In which our heroine discovers the right choice can be easy to make but hard to live with, and that being Queen means dwelling in a web of such choices. Emma stumbled to a stop about five feet behind Sun Hammer while the other two kept walking. Beyond them the black unicorn was sagging on its hooves but had opened its eyes. It blinked as it focused on Emma. Seeing the unicorn looking behind them Teagan turned. “Emma?” Teagan’s face turned absolutely white. “Oh God, what are you doing here? Was there an accident? Did the Bridge screw up and suck you in? Did it get my parents too?” She whirled to confront the unicorn again. “Subtle Dancer! Was there a problem with the Bridge? Did you feel anything go wrong?” The black unicorn started walking tiredly toward them but Teagan was panicking. She started waving frantically at someone else. “Thank God! Skrent! Flint! Get over here now!” Emma turned her head to see who Teelo was shouting at. She gulped. Two slate-green monsters at least eight feet tall were jogging right at them. They were naked except for a loin cloth and a leather harness decorated with gleaming silver decorations. Both were extremely ugly, with arms that nearly reached the ground. Their legs were heavily muscled and their feet were bare. Those must be trolls, Emma realized. God, they’re huge! “Ja, Dronning?” The one on the left bobbed its head. “This is Emma, my best friend. She’s not supposed to be here and she doesn’t know how to fight. Guard her!” Teagan snapped, face still pale. “Som du bestiller, Dronning, skal det gjøres!” The troll on the left replied in a bass rumble that made James Earl Jones sound like a soprano. The troll on the right merely nodded and stepped next to Emma, turning to survey their surroundings. “Well?” Teagan snapped as the unicorn joined them. “I felt nothing amiss with the Bridge of Days, Lady Teagan,” the unicorn replied mildly. He turned to regard Emma. “She came over the Bridge the same way you did, it did not malfunction.” “Um, Teelo?” Emma said hesitantly, wondering if her impulse had been such a good idea after all. “What?” Teagan snapped, eyes darting everywhere. “I followed you. I think your dad might have tried to stop me but the hole closed up before he could. Your parents are still in your living room, they’re fine.” Teagan’s gaze snapped to her. Emma saw a momentary relief wash over her friend, but started to get a little scared by the look of absolute horror that took its place. “I’m okay too!” She hastily assured the red head. “No. You’re not. You’re really not,” Teagan said in a small hollow voice. “You’re about as far from okay as it’s possible to be, Emma. You idiot! After everything I told you about how dangerous this place is what in the world possessed you—oh, crap…” Teagan stopped, as though she’d thought of something. She stared at Emma with unfocused eyes for a moment, not even breathing. “Teelo? Come on, you’re scaring me, girlfriend,” Emma said uneasily. She’d never seen her friend like this before. Sure, Teagan could be a little jumpy sometimes, but right now she was freaking out. And Teagan never freaked out. Teagan’s eyes focused and she turned to the unicorn. “How soon before you can reopen the Bridge?” Teagan asked him. “No sooner than four hours, Lady Teagan,” the unicorn said as he considered her question. “I’ve already opened it twice in four hours. I can probably open it again but only long enough for one to cross—and they would have to be quick.” “Okay, okay, fine, that works,” Teagan muttered rapidly. “Here’s the plan. We stay here until you can open the Bridge again and send Emma home. Till then we sit tight and keep the defensive perimeter up. Where’s the wing commander? I need to talk to him.” Subtle Dancer turned and walked away. Even Emma could see how he plodded tiredly, his head hanging low. “Why be ye so fashed, Teelo?” Sun Hammer asked. “Tis nae like we be preparin’ fer a battle. The wee lassie might enjoy seein’ the sights afore we send her home.” “Why are you trying to send me home, anyway?” Emma complained. “I can’t let you do this alone, Teelo. All summer here, by yourself? You need me!” “No, I don’t. Because you have no freaking idea what you’ve gotten yourself into, Emma! I don’t want to have to explain to your parents why I’m bringing their daughter’s corpse back to them!” Teagan snapped at her, unaware in her panic that she was echoing her mother’s own rant almost word for word. “Right now, we’re standing in the damned Everfree Forest! We’re at least fifteen minutes from the nearest help—and that’s flying. If we had to walk it’s a good forty-five minutes before we could reach safety!” “Staying here for another four hours means we’re putting ourselves on the damn buffet table for whatever monsters decide to come to lunch! But that’s nothing compared to you staying with me all summer!” “I can take care of myself, you know,” Emma retorted, feeling a bit hurt at her friend’s lack of faith. She turned to Sun Hammer. “Is she right? Is this place that dangerous?” “Here in the Everfree ye mean?” Sun Hammer asked. He looked a bit uncomfortable. “Wee-eell, tis true the forest be chancy, so it be. Lots o’ beasties whit would love a bit o’ pony fer thair supper, an’ that’s nae lie. But most be wary o’ jumping the laiks o’ us, lass. The monsters whit can talk know better than tae attack Princess Celestia’s guards, so they dae. Would nae end well fer them, it would nae. The Princess hae a long memory, so she does—an’ they all ken it.” “T’other beasties, the ones whit cannae speak, well they would nae want tae tangle wi’ such a large herd, seein’s how we hae fire an’ all.” He paused. “Still, A cannae say tis safe. Ye can ne’er ken whit be lurkin’ aboot—an’ sometimes folk whit come in here, well they dinnae always come oot again. Ye be a tasty morsel lassie, so A’d nae stray if A were ye, so A would nae.” “Emma, listen to him! It’s not just the Everfree, either. Equestria itself can be a scary place. Oh, and you did know the trip to the troll mountains is going to be on foot, right? It’ll take us a week of walking to get to Hejm. Have you ever walked fifty miles across country before?” “Have you?” Emma retorted. “I’ll be okay. I’m not helpless.” Teelo snorted. “Wanna bet? Could you fight him?” Teelo pointed at Skrent. “Could you fight a dragon, Emma? Last time I was here I had a freaking Green Beret with a big ass rifle backing me up! And we barely survived! We had the full resources of a kingdom at our disposal too and the direct backup of two goddesses!” “Look around you, Emma! There’s only twenty pegasi, two trolls, Sun Hammer, and me standing between you and some monster’s stomach. And that’s all.” “Three trolls, Dronning,” Skrent corrected. Teagan paused, looking at him quizzically. He pointed. Emma blinked as she took in her surroundings for the first time. They were standing in a forest clearing. Around the clearing huge trees grew thick and wild. It looked like a movie set, the underbrush was thick and vines covered many of the trees. There didn’t seem to be any paths that the brown-haired girl could see. Inside the clearing itself was a ring of torches, their flames pale in the bright morning sun. Emma had no idea what they were for, it was a warm summer day and the sun was up. Between each pair of torches a white pony in gold armor stood rigidly, facing outward. Emma noticed small wings folded on top of the armor. They must be pegasus ponies, Emma thought to herself. Inside the ring of pegasi stood several honest to goodness chariots, three large ones and two small ones. Beside one of the large chariots stood another troll, this one about six and a half feet tall, and clearly female. She wore a loin cloth and halter of white shiny cloth and her leather harness was decorated with a dazzling array of jewels that glittered in the sunlight. “Who’s that?” Teagan asked, puzzled. “The Kongen’s kona, Dronning. How ponies say—wife?” Skrent replied, stumbling over the strange word. “Her name is Søyle. She has agreed to be your dame i vente.” “My what?” Teagan asked blankly. ““I do not know word in pony, Dronning,” Skrent frowned and glanced at Flint, who shrugged. “Like purple and yellow pony that serve Princess Celestia?” “You mean Faerie Mist?” “Ja! Like her,” Skrent nodded in relief. “Søyle’s my lady-in-waiting?” Teagan asked, surprised. She knew Princess Celestia had them, of course, but it never occurred to her that she would. Or that trolls even did that. “Ja? Maybe?” Skrent said hopefully. “She help teach you troll ways, Dronning.” “Ah. That will be helpful,” Teagan nodded. “Can she fight? Or is she another non-combatant I have to worry about?” The King’s wife, Teagan groaned internally. She gets hurt and Fjell will go ballistic. “She is troll, Dronning. All trolls can fight,” Skrent said, grinning. “She is fine match for Kongen. Good with her claws. Keep him nimble!” Skrent burst into a belly laugh. Even the normally silent Flint rumbled briefly in amusement. Teagan decided she didn’t want to know what was so funny. “Still, let’s try to keep her safe, okay? The Kongen would not be amused if she got hurt,” Teagan said. Skrent snickered again, but nodded. “Would you please invite her to join us?” The troll nodded and headed toward the female troll. Subtle Dancer led one of the white pegasi toward them, this one having two gold stars on his breastplate instead of a single blue one. “Lady Teagan, it’s good to meet you again,” the wing commander greeted her with a respectful nod. Teagan instantly recognized his voice. “Stormwind?” She asked, breaking into a smile. “So they promoted you? Last time you were a sergeant.” “Yes, well everyone on that expedition got either a commendation or a promotion,” the wing commander said with a smile. “Percival’s a sergeant now. He pulled strings to get assigned to your escort, you know.” “Did he? Well, I’m glad he got a promotion at least. But right now we’ve got a problem. We’ve got to stay here until Subtle Dancer’s rested enough to open the Bridge again.” The wing commander’s face went carefully neutral. “May I ask why, Your Majesty?” His sudden tension and carefully formal tone wasn’t lost on her. “Because she,” Teagan pointed at Emma, “has more loyalty than sense. She snuck across the Bridge with us.” “Hey! I was trying to help!” Emma protested vigorously. Stormwind’s face stayed politely blank. He’d been in the guard long enough to know better than to comment. “Do your parents even know you’re gone?” Teagan asked shrewdly. “No,” Emma admitted reluctantly. “What do you think they’re going to do when they find out you vanished?” “Oops,” Emma said with a wince. “Probably freak.” “You think? My parents called the police when it happened to me! And when your parents can’t find you, guess where they’re going to start looking? This puts my parents in a real bind, Emma!” “Okay, I get it! I get it,” Emma said, holding up her hands in surrender. “I didn’t think this through. You’re right, I should go back. I don’t want to get your folks in trouble. I don’t want mine to worry, either.” She brightened. “What about sending them a note when the hole opens instead?” Teagan snorted. “Hi Mom and Dad, I’m in a land of magical ponies, risking life and limb. Having a blast, wish you were here. See you both in September! Your loving idiot, Adventure Girl.” Emma glared. “Okay, so it was a stupid idea. I’m sorry, all right? I’ll go back and worry myself sick all summer, instead. Happy?” Teagan pointed a finger at her friend. “No trying to guilt me, Emma. I’d be a hell of a lot more guilty if you die here. And you very well could.” She turned to look at Stormwind. “Give me a risk assessment, Stormwind. What are the chances of us being attacked here in the next four hours?” Stormwind thought about it. “It’s hard to say, Lady Teagan. We’re a fairly large group for most monsters to tackle, but this is the Everfree so anything’s possible. Dragons are always a threat, and some of the bigger predators might try to grab a quick snack, especially one of the carnivorous trees. They normally prefer carrion but it is high summer…” He paused, considering. “Hmm, what else? Land sharks are a possibility. They love the taste of pony and always attack from underground. But they should lair nearer the mountains. Still, the Everfree is always coming up with new things to eat you.” Skrent had returned with Søyle. He grunted. “Dangerous dyrene,” the troll said, shaking his head. “Very hard to kill, and big! Taller than tall troll and twice as long. We find one of them, we run.” He looked at Teagan. “Dronning, Mountain Heart could kill bakkan hai but it come up from underneath you, swallow you before you know is there. No chance to strike, you see? Only warning is small earthquake.” Teagan nodded. “Are you listening to this, Emma? See why I want you to go home?” Emma swallowed nervously. “If this place is so dangerous, how can ponies live here? It doesn’t make any sense!” “We’re very good at defending ourselves—Emma, was it?” Subtle Dancer answered. “Lady Teagan, the Sun Shield will do their best but wouldn’t it be tactically wiser to retreat to a safe place and return once we’re ready? That way we can—” He was cut off by a series of loud bangs, like a five car pileup. Spinning toward the noise they found all five chariots reduced to piles of scrap metal, green flames erupting from craters where the chariots had been. Emma watched in stunned disbelief as the flames died down and something black and gangly emerged from each crater. They looked like some bizarre cross between a horse and an insect, with dragonfly wings and hard, shiny black bodies. A single thick curved horn emerged from their forehead. Their legs were filled with holes Emma could actually see through. They were, in short, a nightmare version of a unicorn with dragonfly wings and saber-tooth fangs. But the worse part were the eyes, blue shiny almond shaped patches, with no iris or pupil. Those eyes turned toward Teagan’s group with malignant purpose. “What the heck are they?” Emma asked, rooted in place with fear. “Those are the personal guard of Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings,” Subtle Dancer said in a tightly controlled voice. “And if they’re here you can bet she’s not far behind. This is very, very bad.” “How right you are, Subtle Dancer!” A mocking voice rang out from above. “Even now your doom is assured! None of you will survive my children’s vengeance!” A flying unicorn hovered some forty feet up in the air, with the same black body, hole-filled legs, and dragonfly wings as the monsters that wrecked the chariots. Inexplicably, the speaker was wearing some kind of silky green saddle, it almost looked frilly. Blue green hair blew around the creature’s head, and its horn was impossibly gnarled, reminding the girl of wind-carved canyon walls. Two more of the six foot tall insect unicorns flanked the creature who, Emma guessed, must be Chrysalis. “Changelings!” Percival shouted. “Wing commander we’re completely surrounded!” “By Celestia’s pearly horn!” Stormwind swore viciously. “Lady Teagan, the Sun Shield will fight to protect you to the last pony. But I fear all of us will be dining in the Elysium Fields tonight!” “Don’t give up hope just yet, wing commander,” Subtle Dancer said grimly. “Have the Sun Shield fight the Queen’s guards here inside our circle. I’ll deal with the changeling army.” “Isn’t your magic used up for now?” Teagan asked him in a low voice. The unicorn grinned savagely. “I don’t have enough to open the Bridge, Lady Teagan. But then again I don’t need to open the Bridge of Days, now do I?” His horn glittered as a wave of light ran up and down it. Teelo gave him an answering grin and drew Crush. “I’ll leave the changeling army to you then, Subtle Dancer. Good hunting.” “The same to you, Your Majesty,” the unicorn said with a laugh that sent chills down Emma’s spine. Teagan closed her eyes for a moment, apparently lost in thought. Crush burst into flame, a heatless red blaze that seemed to ebb and flow like a living thing. The red aura flared and swept down the club’s iron body to surround its wielder as well. Emma gasped as Teagan opened her eyes and looked at her. Beneath a foot of crimson flame her eyes were now the same deep iron gray as her weapon and lacked a pupil. They looked cold and soulless. Emma trembled, actually scared of her friend for the first time in her life. The two trolls unslung massively long, slender clubs from their backs, giving Emma an excuse to turn away from her friend’s hideous eyes. Her own eyes widened as she took in the trolls’ nearly seven foot long weapons. The first three feet was wooden handle but the last four feet was shod in iron, studded with hundreds of bumps along its length. The oddest thing was how slim they were, only about four inches across. She’d never seen anything like them. “Lady Søyle, can you speak Equestrian?” Teagan asked, her voice hissing and crackling as it fought through the roiling flame around her. “Yes, Dronning, I can,” the king’s wife responded, drinking in the sight of her queen’s strålende raseri, reveling in the irrefutable proof that here before her stood the Vilje Trollene, the Will of the Trolls. “Good, then listen carefully. I want you to protect Emma. She doesn’t know how fight and she is precious to me. Skrent tells me you’re good with your claws?” “I am indeed, Dronning,” Søyle chuckled, smiling at Emma. “Do not worry, child. I pledge my life before Mountain Heart and the true Dronning av Fjellet. I swear none will harm you while I yet draw breath, be it changeling, monster or even god. You will survive this battle.” Emma stared up at the smiling troll, shocked to her core by the depth of feeling Søyle put into those words. She felt nauseous, terrified, and guilty all at once. Søyle’s enjoying this! Emma realized in shock. She’s eager to fight. And Teelo, oh my God, Teelo, what’s happened to you? Are you even human anymore? “Skrent, Flint, I want you to protect Emma and Søyle while I’m gone. If anything tries to hurt them, kill it.” Teagan’s voice was strangely distorted as it passed through that red glow. The two trolls roared their approval loudly enough to echo off the trees and make the hive army actually flinch. “Where are you going, Teelo?” Emma asked plaintively. “Not far. I have to go swat an annoying bug. Be right back,” Teagan replied in a perfectly calm voice that hissed and sputtered through her cloak of bloody flame. Emma shivered. That calm voice didn’t match the death grip Teagan had on Crush, nor the snarl of rage that twisted her face. Teagan turned her gaze on the giant earth pony. “I’m so sorry, Sun Hammer. Looks like I’m about to walk down the same road you did.” “Aye, lassie, that ye be,” he said. “A hope ye think it’s worth the trip.” Teagan glanced at Emma. “Yeah. It’s worth it.” She focused on Chrysalis and crouched, waiting. “The time has come, my children! Take your vengeance! Kill them all!” Chrysalis screamed aloud so the ponies could hear the order for their execution. She gloated down at them, knowing this opening blow would strike a bitter wound in Celestia’s beloved country, the first of many. Once she had destroyed all of Equestria’s protectors her children would finally be able to feast to their heart’s content. And so would she. ooOoo Earth, Saturday morning, May 28, 2013 3:01 AM “Damn,” John swore mildly, staring at the corner of the room, visible now that the Bridge had closed. “That’s going to be a problem.” “Really? You think? What was she thinking? After everything Teagan told her about Equestria! To do something so stupid! Argh!” Elaine grabbed her hair in both hands and yanked it. “Not to mention there’s no way we can explain this to Jacob and Olivia! What are we going to do?” There was more than a hint of fear in her voice. “First thing we’re going to do, mo chroí, is not panic. Emma’s made a right hames of it, but we’ll think of something.” “And what would you suggest? Emma’s gone, John! It could be months before they come back. Her parents will go insane. You know how we felt when Teagan vanished after just a few weeks! Can you imagine if it had been months?” “I know. We should probably call Matt and Evelyn. They might have more experience with this sort of thing.” “What, their daughters vanishing into a cartoon?” Elaine asked dryly. Her husband shrugged. “Matt’s used to black ops, and Evelyn’s bound to be good at concocting cover stories. In the mean time we sit back and try to figure this out rationally. Emma’s with Teagan and Sun Hammer. From what Sun Hammer said Teagan’s troll bodyguards are waiting at the bridge along with a bunch of pegasus royal guards to escort her. We might even get lucky and Subtle Dancer will open the Bridge again as soon as he can. Emma might be back in what, four hours?” “Till then, they’re perfectly safe,” John assured his wife. ooOoo The changelings swarmed toward them, flowing like an undulating carpet of hissing death. Subtle Dancer watched the insectile horned black ponies come with narrowed eyes. He waited until they were ten feet from the ring of torches before his horn flared to life. Part of him mourned as the magic took hold, but the rest of him was busy ruthlessly locking down all emotion. The spell took only an eye-blink and the changelings were less than a body length from the ring when the spell went off. Suddenly, every torch flame expanded a hundred fold, its quiet crackling combining into a hissing roar so loud Emma had to clap her hands over her ears. A blast of flames sixty feet long and wide enough to overlap its neighbor suddenly covered the charging creatures. The blast lasted a full five seconds and when it ended the changelings within sixty feet were down, most nothing more than charred husks, not even recognizable as once living creatures. The ones who had been at the very edge of the flames shrieked in agony, staggering in circles, their fragile wings burned off, and blinded as well. “NO! My children! My precious children!” Chrysalis’ grief-stricken scream caught Emma’s shocked attention. That’s when she saw Teagan take several steps to the side and point her club at the traumatized queen. The red haired girl shot toward Chrysalis as if she were simply falling upward, covering the sixty feet between them in less than two seconds. The queen was sobbing brokenly, too numb to react to the girl streaking toward her. But her guards did react, moving protectively in front of the queen, preparing to tear the girl apart when she reached them. The remainder of the changeling army stood frozen, staring across the blackened clearing at the fight going on between the pegasi and the queen’s elite guards. They seemed as stunned as the queen, and didn’t take advantage of the opportunity. “GUARDS, KILL THE UNICORN!” Chrysalis shrieked in grief and rage. “IGNORE THE REST OF THEM, KILL HIM!” Teagan had counted on the queen’s escort to move exactly as they had. She sailed past the trio and safely out of reach. Below her the five monster changelings tried to break free of their opponents and obey their queen’s command. When Teagan was a dozen feet above and beyond the queen she unexpectedly reversed direction, plunging straight toward the queen’s unguarded back. With an earsplitting shout she brought Crush down with every bit of strength in her, and struck Chrysalis right between her blurring wings, the club striking lengthwise along her spine. That was when the laws of physics, already whimpering, decided to take their ball and go home. Teagan stopped dead in midair while Chrysalis suddenly vanished from sight, followed almost instantly by a loud crack and a boom as a large crater appeared directly beneath where she had just been. The two guards flew at Teagan in screaming mindless rage, intent on bloody murder. But even as gravity suddenly remembered the girl hanging in midair she reacted with unthinking reflex and—using Crush’s full power—smashed the club though both guards, holding nothing back. Teagan watched in disbelief as the two guards simply splattered, turning from black, angular killing machines into a gusher of chunky red salsa which splashed onto the scorched clearing below. Meanwhile, the remaining changeling army suddenly collapsed, moaning and shrieking in agony as they writhed helplessly on the ground. Subtle Dancer blinked, utterly baffled. His magic hadn’t touched them. “They—they just exploded,” Emma said in a stunned voice, staring at the remains of the two changeling guards, now painting a large swath of the blackened clearing a dark brown color. Somehow she thought it should have been red… Numbly she watched Teagan plummet out of the sky and strike the ground feet first, making a small crater of her own. The girl stepped out of the crater and sprinted toward them, jumping over the burned changeling husks in her path. Loud angry shouts and several thuds quickly reminded Emma that the battle was still raging. She turned to look—only to scream and duck as two of the Queen’s guards came roaring down from the sky. Sun Hammer reared and struck one guard with razor edged hooves. Emma heard the sickening crack of chitin giving way under those hammer blows. But the earth pony could only intercept one of the guards, not both. The second guard slammed into Subtle Dancer, who went down under the guard’s flailing hooves and flashing fangs. Both trolls sprang to the unicorn’s aid, their huge clubs coming down, resulting in more horrible crunching noises. The guard screamed, whether in rage or pain Emma couldn’t tell. It sprang after the trolls tormenting it. They separated smoothly to let it pass between them, and then brought their clubs around like baseball bats to smash its knees. The thing collapsed with another scream, and this time Emma had no doubt it was a scream of rage because it was screaming directly at her. She recoiled as it scrabbled with broken legs, still trying to reach her so it could chew her face off. Suddenly Søyle was there, dodging the monster’s slashing horn as she struck downward with claws designed to dig through solid rock. Unsurprisingly, chitin proved no challenge at all. Søyle danced back and shouted in savage joy, raising scarlet claws that gleamed in the bright sunlight. The monster laid still and silent, a crimson pool spreading out from under it. Emma yelped and leaped back to keep it from soaking her shoes. She wanted to throw up but there was no time, she could barely keep out of the trolls’ way as it was. Teagan went sailing overhead, shouting at someone to get out of her way. Sun Hammer bellowed a battle cry, which was followed by another of those horrid crunching noises and another guard stopped roaring. The stench of the burned changelings was making Emma gag. She staggered, trying desperately not to vomit while at the same time keeping clear of the three huge trolls who were actively moving to keep between her and the rest of the battle. A final stomach-turning splorch noise was followed by relative quiet as the last guard fell silent. Emma froze as she heard the unmistakable sound of a large amount of liquid hitting the ground. She refused to look toward the sound, afraid of what she might see. For a moment the only sound was the pitiful screaming of the changelings who had survived the blast of magical fire. Then Sun Hammer bellowed. “Subtle Dancer be doon! We need a healer, nou.” ooOoo Earth, Saturday morning, May 28, 2013 3:58 AM “Glad you could make it, Evelyn. Matt’s already here,” John said as he let her in. “Sorry for the early hour but we have a genuine emergency.” She yawned. “So you said. Teelo’s best friend decided to have an adventure of her own, huh? So now you need me to help you brainstorm a way to tell her parents she’s off to play with ponies.” She shook her head. “I must be as crazy as they say I am.” She followed John into the living room. “Hey, Matt, Elaine,” she greeted them as she settled into a chair with a cup of steaming coffee in front of it. “Bless you! Nectar of the gods. Come to Mama!” She lifted the cup in both hands and inhaled deeply. “Ah! I can feel my brain cells starting to spark already. What time is it?” “Almost four,” Elaine said, “We have about three maybe four hours before they realize she’s gone. But Matt still insisted we should wait for you.” She glared at the ex-soldier. “Mmm,” Evelyn moaned as she shipped the coffee. Reluctantly she put down the cup. “Okay, that’s enough brain fuel for now. Time to get down to business.” “Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. We could tell them the truth. Offhand, I’d say that would be a complete disaster. We don’t have any proof and you have to admit the whole “went to visit cartoon ponies” isn’t going to cut it.” Elaine snorted. “Exactly,” Evelyn nodded. “We could lie, but frankly I can’t think of anything plausible that wouldn’t get the police and the FBI involved—or us arrested for complicity. The first thing Emma would do is phone her parents as soon as she could to tell them where she went. Even worse her hosts would send her straight home to avoid exactly this kind of mess.” “That leaves telling a half-truth. Anybody got one?” “I don’t suppose Teelo left any proof lying around?” Matt asked hopefully. “Crush convinced me pretty damn quick.” “Sun Hammer would be a pretty convincing argument too,” John said ruefully. “But unfortunately she took both of them back to Equestria with her. The first time I’m actually glad she took Crush with her.” “Nasty thing.” Elaine shivered. “Teagan says it’s actually a demon. She said it possessed her and the only way to get rid of it is for her to die.” “Wrapped around her soul, she said,” John said grimly. “And it’s a parasite; it feeds off her life force, whatever that means.” “That would explain her increased appetite,” Evelyn said thoughtfully. “I saw her eat a salad big enough for a pony while we were in Equestria. But John, Crush isn’t a parasite, it’s actually a symbiote. It may feed off her but it also provides her with some serious firepower. Princess Celestia told me everything she knew about Crush. She said it had three miles of mountain compressed in it. Apparently Crush can change its definition of down whenever it wants to, and also change its mass. From some of the things Teelo said it sounds like it can magically transfer inertia, too.” She looked at the Teagan’s parents. “I did the math. If you assume Crush is a cone of limestone two hundred feet at the base and three miles long…well, that means it weighs over 53 megatons.” “Megatons? Like a nuclear bomb?” Elaine asked, startled. Matt shook his head. “No. She means it weighs 53 million tons, Elaine.” He paused, considering the implications. “I pity the fool that attacks her—and that was before she picked up her new tricks.” “Tricks?” John asked, eyeing the other man. “What kind of tricks?” “Damn scary ones,” Matt said soberly. “Superhero stuff. Even when Crush isn’t in her hand she can enter mushin and her combat reflexes get almost as sharp as mine. That shouldn’t be possible for a P2.” “But with Crush she can jump from one side of my dojo to the other and not touch the floor in between. She can fly too. Well, I say fly, but it’s more like falling sideways or upwards. And then there’s the glow.” “The glow?” Evelyn asked in true geek fascination. Matt nodded. “Yeah, apparently she and Crush can merge somehow. When they do her eyes turn dark grey and she loses her pupils. Crush starts glowing too—it almost looks like it’s on fire. Squirt tells me the first time Crush did that she was about to kill Discord. I think the glow is some side-effect of Crush increasing its mass. But the really creepy part is the more she practices, the bigger the glow gets. She started being able to fly once it completely surrounded her. I think Crush has been learning how to extend its gravity manipulation field around her as well as itself. “Why didn’t you tell us this before?” Elaine asked sharply. Matt shrugged. “There’s a lot about her training I don’t tell you, Elaine. She’s got enough on her plate without you trying to second guess her. Teelo is careful. If I thought she was taking unnecessary risks I’d stop her. But she’s being rigorous and disciplined when it comes to practicing her new tricks.” “She’s our daughter, Matt!” Elaine snapped. “We need to know!” Matt calmly considered her for a moment. “Elaine, with all due respect, you don’t want to know everything Teelo’s learning. Some of it’s ugly. Some of it you would object to. But all of it will keep her alive.” The private investigator broke the uncomfortable silence that followed. “Okay, so we can’t use Crush as proof. Is there anything else we could use?” Elaine shot upright. “Oh my God! Yes there is! Emma has Teelo’s keepsake. Emma said the figurines come to life and answer questions. If that doesn’t convince them I don’t know what would.” Matt frowned. “You mean those little gemstone pony statues? They can talk?” “That’s what Emma said,” John replied, eyes lighting up with hope. “But didn’t she say they could only answer a couple of questions before their magic was exhausted?” Elaine nodded. “She also said they got their magic back when the sun rose.” “Things just got a whole lot easier,” Evelyn said with a happy grin. She toasted them with her coffee cup. “Now here’s what I suggest…”