Eleven months passed by in a blur. And in that time, things changed a lot. Spike's wings grew in for a start, indicating that he has reached a higher level of maturity. Consequently he and Rarity have taken their relationship to the next level.
Even my own two children, it seemed, were maturing quicker than other foals of their age. A quick test soon revealed the – quite frankly stunning – fact that the two foals actually are pony/human hybrids. But, thankfully, instead of my looks they got the natural intelligence that humans seem to possess. Add to that the intellect their mother already possessed and you get two rather clever foals.
Applejack and John were both very excited about their own bundle (or bundles, they weren't saying which) of joy arriving within the next few weeks. I made a point of telling John not to hold AJ's hoof while she was in labour as her strength would no doubt break his arm, never mind his fingers.
However, the fact remained that we had not seen hide nor hair of Ace in all this time, as he was still locked in his lab. Needless to say, we were all fearing the worst. Our attempts to visit him were blocked by one of his Doc-bots telling us that 'the master does not wish to be disturbed'. Twilight and I even tried using our status as Prince and Princess to demand that they let us pass, only for them to flatly say that they only took orders from Ace. Time and again we returned to Ponyville feeling dejected and worried.
Pinkie seemed to be taking it well, but we all knew that she was suffering. She may have been keeping up with her bubbly and outgoing personality, but the Cakes told me that they had heard her crying in her room at the bakery every night. But try as we did we couldn't get her to talk to us. Even mentioning Ace's name made her attempt to change the subject to something else.
One day, the rest of us got together and decided that we were going to force her to talk about it. She had helped us with our problems often enough, so now we were going to help her with her problems... come hell or high water.
***
"How many more times do I have to say it?" Pinkie snarled, "I do not want to talk about him, so just drop it!"
The rest of her friends sat in silence as Pinkie pouted, each of them trying to think of something they could say to get her to open up to them about her feelings. Applejack looked around the room until her eyes fell upon Chocolate, Pinkie's foal, snoozing quietly in her crib. She laid a hoof on her stomach, her own pregnancy only weeks away from producing a result. An idea formed in her mind and she cleared her throat.
"If ya don't want to talk about Ace," she said, "then ya should look into finding somepony else ta be a father to Chocolate, 'cause being without even one parent is somethin' no filly should halfta bear."
Pinkie looked at Applejack in silent horror before switching her gaze to her foal, who was still sound asleep. She slumped her shoulders and sighed loudly.
"I don't want to leave him," she muttered, "but at the same time I don't want anypony else to be a father to my foal. I just couldn't do that to Ace. Sure I'm upset with him, but..."
She trailed off. Applejack smiled warmly, somewhat pleased that she had managed to get Pinkie talking. She continued on, eager to seize the moment while it was there for the taking.
"Why are you upset with him, sugarcube?" she asked softly.
Despite the sweetness of Applejack's tone, none of the group were prepared for the ferocity of Pinkie's answer.
"Because he lied to me!" she bellowed, "He lied to all of us! He's deceitful, manipulative, and if he lies on a whim like that then who knows what else he's capable of?!"
Her shouting woke up her daughter, who sniffled for a moment before starting to cry. Pinkie sighed and cradled the filly in her forehooves, rocking her back and forth while shushing her. A couple of minutes later and all was well in the land of Chocolate.
Pinkie set her back in her crib and exhaled sharply. She ran a forehoof through her daughter's mane and turned to face her friends, casting her gaze upon them coldly.
"At least once a week," she said, "you'll hear him refer to himself as a villain! But do you know why he does that?"
Rainbow Dash stepped in front of Pinkie and rubbed the back of her head nervously.
"Umm, Pinkie..." she said hesitantly, "I don't think you should talk about this."
"No, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie snapped, "They deserve to know just what kind of person Ace really is. But first... Spike, I want you to leave, you're too young to hear this."
"What?!" Spike flexed his wings angrily, "Come on, Pinkie, I'm not a baby any more! I'm mature enough to have a relationship, so I'm definitely mature enough to hear what—"
He stopped talking as he noticed the neutral expression on Pinkie's face. Her eyes were narrowed and her lips were a thin line.
"... fine," Spike groaned, "I'll go. Anything to get you to stop looking at me like that."
He stomped out of the room angrily, closing the door behind him. Pinkie took a deep breath and let it out.
"Okay," she mumbled, "I'm going to tell you. But you're not going to like it, not one bit. Especially you, Applejack."
Applejack looked confused but didn't get a chance to speak as Pinkie launched into her story.
"Remember that creepy Nazi guy, Manglanosa?" she asked. Everyone nodded and Pinkie continued speaking, "Then you'll know that he and Ace didn't really get along. Well eventually their rivalry escalated, with Manglanosa accusing Spark Plug of attacking Ace's base. He took him prisoner, as well as me, and took us to his base. So Ace set out to get us back, along with Rainbow Dash, his bots... and his man on the inside."
She looked at John as she spoke the last four words, causing him to drop his head and look away in shame. Applejack glanced between the two before realising what Pinkie was talking about.
"You mean ta tell me," she snarled, "that mah husband was actin' as a spy inside Manglanosa's base?!"
"I had no choice..." John whispered, "he was blackmailing me. When Geo and I helped him to build his stabiliser he made us sign confidentiality agreements. Of course, I broke that agreement the moment I reported back to my superiors at MI6. So he came to see me one night and demanded that I helped him... otherwise he was going to take the farm."
He looked at Applejack solemnly.
"I couldn't let him do that," he continued, "so I agreed. I wasn't prepared to give him the satisfaction of casting us out onto the streets and taking our home away from us. Not after all the effort I went to in order to buy it. I didn't tell you because... well, I didn't want you to worry. I was doing it to protect us, AJ, but after everything I saw there... maybe homelessness would have been the better option."
Applejack's anger evaporated as she nuzzled John's hand affectionately. He idly patted her as Pinkie continued talking.
"Ace and his bots stormed Manglanosa's base," Pinkie said, "and managed to free Spark. But then Manglanosa's men counter-attacked, and it was revealed that I had been taken prisoner. As well as this, we saw that Manglanosa had been conducting experiments into making super-soldiers who were capable of causing a lot of damage."
Various gasps of horror and disgust filled the room. Rainbow Dash and John both looked crestfallen, with Spark Plug hugging the former as tightly as he could.
"After some fierce fighting against a group of Manglanosa's super-soldiers," Pinkie said, "Ace found me with the 'good doctor' himself. At first there was a stalemate as Manglanosa held a gun to my head, but Ace had prepared for this and revealed that he had taken Manglanosa's family captive."
"Ah guess he learned his lesson from the Diamond Dog incident." Applejack muttered, "... sorry, Pinkie, carry on."
"Before Manglanosa could do anything," Pinkie continued, "there was a large explosion which took out the whole area... an explosion which caused me to die."
Everyone looked at Pinkie in silent disbelief for a moment before they all started shouting at once. She raised a hoof to quiet them.
"I'll explain how I'm alive in a minute," she said, "but right now you have to realise that Ace was furious. I was dead and so was Chocolate, given the fact I was still pregnant at the time. At that moment something inside Ace snapped. He grabbed a weapon and took off after Manglanosa. Along the way he came across some of his bots which had captured a few mercenaries. When one of them asked Ace what to do with them, he replied with the chilling news that all he saw was a pile of corpses."
"And with that all those men were killed on the spot. Ace ordered that all prisoners were to be killed and resumed his search. He caught up with his rival again and was about to kill him when Manglanosa revealed that he had been working on a serum to raise the dead. In exchange for his life he offered it to Ace, who could then use it on me. So he had my body brought to him and did exactly that."
"I came back to life all right, but the serum had a side effect. It also accelerated the gestation period of my foal."
"So in other words," Fluttershy squeaked, "it made Chocolate grow faster than normal?"
"Exactly." Pinkie replied, "I went into labour then and there and gave birth to her. Ace allowed Manglanosa, his family and his surviving men to leave alive. We were reunited, and then he simply broke down and told me what he had done. He said that what he did was unforgivable but I told him that, yes, it was a lot to forgive, but if he worked on making things right then he could be forgiven. I then made a Pinkie Promise to stick by him."
She sighed.
"A promise I've broken."
***
Twilight and I had been listening outside the door in silent horror. I had always known Ace to refer to himself as a 'villain', but I always thought he did so as a joke. To hear that it was actually because of this was unbelievable. And the fact that so many of my friends were involved was a lot to take in as well.
After Pinkie finished talking we decided to make our presence known. Twilight was the first to walk into the room, and immediately wrapped a wing around Pinkie's shoulders.
"I know Ace has done some pretty horrible things," she said, "but it sounds like he regrets it."
"Oh, he does." Dash interjected, "He made us promise not to tell anypony because he doesn't want us thinking any less of him."
"But he deserves it!" Pinkie shouted, "He blackmailed John, took a family hostage and killed Celestia knows how many people! Do I really want someone like that raising my foal?!"
"Pinkie," Twilight soothed, "I think the real question here is why you left eleven months ago, instead of when he told you all of this."
"Yeah, Pinkie!" Dash added, "You said yourself that you forgive him for it, and you promised to be there so it wouldn't happen again."
"Uh huh." Pinkie sighed, "But... now that I think about it, maybe he really does regret it. I know he has nightmares about what happened at the camp, about what kind of monster he turned into. And I was always there to comfort him."
"I've seen first-hand the depravity to which humans are willing to sink." I said plainly, "After all, you were there when Derek pretended to listen to my advice... before he shot me again and his friends tried to kill you and the rest of the girls. So I don't know what to think. I can't make your decisions for you Pinkie, but I'll support you no matter what."
"On the one hoof," Rarity offered, "he seems no better than Derek. But on the other hoof, he doesn't want to be anything like him."
She closed her eyes, as if focusing on her thoughts. After a moment she opened them and continued speaking.
"Metaphorically speaking, he sounds like a savage beast that's soothed by the presence of a fair maiden." she paused for a moment, "In a way, I pity him. The poor dear sounds like he’s haunted every night by the ghosts of his past. But I suppose he brought it upon himself."
"Pinkie..." Twilight said, "Do you know if Ace want to put that kind of past behind him?"
***
Pinkie awoke to the feel of the mattress shaking. Confused, she looked around for the source of the disturbance, to discover it was Ace, huddled up in the foetal position. He was shivering, letting out silent sobs, and whispering something to himself.
"Acey?" Pinkie asked, placing a hoof on his arm.
"I'm a villain." He whispered, "I'm a monster. I don't belong."
Pinkie listened to him repeat those words over and over. This wasn't the first night this had happened, as Ace had been doing this ever since the battle at Dr. Manglanosa's camp. Pinkie looked over at Chocolate, who was safe in her crib, sleeping soundly. Pinkie counted her blessings. She'd hate to explain to her why her father was so upset.
"It's all right, Acey," She told him, wrapping her forelegs around him gently, "it's over. You never have to do it again."
Ace's mumbling turned to sobs. All he could do was face Pinkie, and hold her close. Pinkie felt bad for Ace. She didn't know how to make the nightmares stop, but she knew that she was going to be there when Acey needed her.
***
"Yes." Pinkie said after a long pause, "Without a doubt, yes."
"If he don't wanna do it no more," Applejack nodded, "then Ah ain't one to judge him on his past. If you wanna go back ta him, sugarcube, ya have my support."
"I... I do wanna go back." Pinkie said, "The more I think about it, the more it seems like I wasn’t being very fair when I left him."
"Well there's the door." I pointed at the object in question, "Just go through it and find him."
"Can you guys come with me?" Pinkie sniffled, "I don't wanna lose my nerves at the last minute."
Everyone nodded and Pinkie left the room. I went to follow them, but was stopped by Twilight holding her wing out in front of me. As the last of our friends left, she spoke.
"You do realise," she whispered, "that if anypony else finds out what Ace has done, he will need to be punished?"
"Of course I do," I replied.
"I mean..." Twilight sighed, "it has to be you who punishes him."
"What?!" I couldn't believe what I had just heard.
"Ace swore an oath to the Royal Family." Twilight explained, "By doing what he did, he has gone against his oath. Since you are human, and a member of the Royal Family, the courts will more than likely make you decide his punishment."
"Fucking hell." I groaned, "That's just perfect."
"If it comes to that," Twilight wondered, "then what are you going to do? You can't be seen to let him off."
"Out of curiosity," I asked, "what kind of punishment would the courts expect me to impose on him?"
Twilight averted her gaze and looked at the floor.
"... death." she mumbled.
"Are you kidding me?!" I screeched. "Please tell me you are."
"No, Geo, I'm not joking." Twilight said flatly, "Ace has killed several innocent people in cold blood. So either death or a very long imprisonment will suffice."
"I can't have him executed." I groaned, "For fuck sake, he's the man who helped me return home... and to you!"
"So..." Twilight mused, "you'll simply imprison him instead?"
"Yes. I think thirty years would be enough." I sighed before adding, "I always knew that I'd have to repay Ace for helping me come back here. Saving him from the gallows should count."
Twilight nodded solemnly and the two of us left to catch up with Pinkie and the others.
***
Ace's lab was in sight. We approached it with small smiles on your faces, but after a while we noticed the eerie silence.
"I don't like this..." I muttered, "It's too quiet. Guards, stay alert and watch for signs of trouble."
My guards nodded and we continued walking towards the lab. As we approached, the lab a deep rumbling caught our attention.
"What the fuck was that?" John spat, "Sounded like an earthquake... or a dragon."
We looked around worriedly for the source of the disturbance. Off in the distance the ground opened up, and a humongous ship emerged — the mere length of which easily dwarfed Canterlot Castle in height. The vehicle blotted out the sun, and an enormous insignia reading 'Dr. R' was painted on the side.
"Holy zombie Jesus..." my voice trailed off as Ace's voice was heard over a loudspeaker.
"Dear Princess Celestia!" he said mockingly, "Over the course of a year, I have learned a very valuable lesson about love which, in a way, is the highest form of friendship. Love is kind, love is caring, and love is what keeps peace and harmony in the world. But love is not enduring! I've learned that love is fragile, and one wrong word, one errant slip of activity, and kablooie!"
He sighed wistfully.
"... it's gone. I know now, that I can never be loved! This world will never love me for the villain that I am!" he paused for a moment before continuing his rant, "Well if I'm the villain then maybe I should start acting like one. If I can't be loved, then I will be feared! I will herald a new world and usher in a new era! I will rebuild this world from the ground up in my image!"
The ship began rising slowly into the sky, causing us all to step away in fear. Ace's voice took on a more sinister tone as he finished his speech.
"It's time for a change!" he bellowed, "And what better place to start than with myself? From this day forward, I am no longer Dr. Ace Sorou! Call me Dr. Robo... ruler of the Steel Empire!"
In the sudden calmness that followed, nobody said a word.
For instead of words... there was only terror.
*** THE END ***