//------------------------------// // The Bill // Story: The Winds of Change: Fog of War // by AgentSnail //------------------------------// The Bill The princess landed in her little chariot thing, quickly waving the guards away as she dismounted. "I see you are all still in one piece." Celestia started, embracing her sister. "Well, close enough anyway." Dash responded, smiling slightly. "You two can go have fun by the way." She said, gesturing to the two foals and causing them to run off. "Yes, I heard about the Nightmare incident. Is there still a, residue, shall we say?" "No, I'm pretty sure he's gone." Jason said, furrowing his brow. "Ah yes, well it seems that larger exposure leaves more of an imprint. Although that may have been the time difference, eh sister?" "Either way, I was more irritable those first few months." "It's weird though, if you'd been gone for a thousand years in my-" He caught Twilight's stare, and stammered for a second before sighing. "Fine." He breathed, looking off to one side. "Jason, you don't-" Dash started, before Jason cut her off. "It's only them, I don't care anymore. It's not worth it." "Whatever you say..." "Yeah." He paused. "Took you long enough, by the way, Twilight." He said, watching her face tinge red. Jason chuckled for a moment, shifting on his hooves slowly as he tried to think of words. "Uh," He began. Yeah, great start. "You know how I'm a changeling and all?" The other three nodded, not that Celestia didn't already know. "Well I wasn't born one, and I'm really not sure why I'm one now. But I used to be human, from another planet named earth. Everything else I've said was true though, just without ponies." Luna seemed to nod, almost as if she assumed knew already. All this was starting to creep him out, that she knew everything like this. "So yeah, I guess that's it." Jason said, feeling Dash's wing wrap gently over his back, the feathers tickling against his temporary fur. "I knew it! Yes, I was right!" Twilight yelled in celebration, dancing around as Celestia looked on in amusement. She calmed down a moment later, and looked over quickly as her face sobered. "Why didn't you tell us?" She asked. "Because things were complicated enough already. I should be able to keep some secrets of my own if I want, I've earned that much. You're also not the only one to know, there's Dash and most of the rest of my friends. And Scoots." "Personally, I'm less worried this way." "Yeah, well I'm still keeping it secret. That means you can't go tell anyone, alright?" "You aren't going to tell my friends?" "Well, no. Not unless I need to." "But why?" "Because I want to keep my cards close to my chest." He said, looking over at Celestia. "I'm assuming you came with news from the war?" "As a matter of fact, yes. But not what I'm sure you want to hear." Dash let out a long sigh. "What I've gotten from Shining Armor was that the city's still fairly contested to one side, the west, if that means anything." "Damn, I was worried we wouldn't just push that whole thing over." He said, scratching his chin. "So no news on Tank or the others?" "Not that I've heard. They could still be in there, for all I know. But even with the city contested like it is, those are only the hardcore army fighters, and we have received peace feelers from a number of the exiled griffin government." "Where'd they get off to?" "They apparently ran at the last minute, it didn't take much to round them up. They said something about meteors coming down on the town as they were leaving." Jason grinned, sitting down in an attempt to better allow Dash to manipulate her wing. "Guided missiles, if you're wondering." "Before you ask what it is, Jason found this long cylinder with all these lenses on the side and aimed it at a fire, and then this rocket that was like this big," She held her hooves apart, stretching them in what was probably not that exaggerated of a measurement. "Came out and shot straight up at like, supersonic speeds or something! And the coolest part was, it turned back down and went right at the building, and there was this giant explosion, and everypony gasped and it was the most awesome thing I've ever seen." "How does it guide itself?" Twilight asked after a moment, surprisingly devoid of notepaper. "I'm not sure." He paused, smirking. "I guess you could say, I'm not a rocket scientist." "Yeah, you could say that." The lavender mare replied, looking confused. "Oh shush, the reference is lost on you." "I guess this would be a good time to ask how you know what a celestial disk looks like." Luna said, more stating her objective than answering a question. "So..." "What's a celestial disk?" Jason asked, finding Dash's face as confused as he was. "You know, just-" She paused, shifting around. "You don't suppose we could go find some chairs, do you Tia?" The princess giggled slightly, holding a hoof over her mouth. "It wouldn't be too much trouble, no." She replied, before the environment changed to an outside part of one of the fancier restaurants in Ponyville. And since everything was pretty much plant matter, that meant a lot. Well, it probably did anyway. "I realize that I hate being teleported by someone else." Jason said, shuddering. "It doesn't feel right." He turned and stared back at a waiter that looked struck dumb, staring at the group of important ponies that had appeared out of nowhere. Jason shrugged and dropped the disguise; maybe being around the princesses would give him a little respect. Anything was worth a try at this point. "We won't be long." Celestia said, pulling out a rather small chair and cramming herself into the tiny piece of furniture. "So the celestial disk?" Luna asked, watching a different waiter with amusement as he nervously placed a small basket of bread on the table and bow his head as he retreated. Jason shrugged. "Oh yes, they're full of stars, which are like suns..." "Oh..." Dash said, drawing out the syllable. "We call those galaxies, Luna." Jason said. "You'd be surprised how much we know about space and why things work the way they do." "If you find anything on advanced astronomy, I'd love to see it." "And I will give it to you." He replied, chuckling. "Rainbow Dash," Celestia started, "That is a ring on your right wing, correct?" "Oh yeah, I don't usually say stuff like this, but isn't it beautiful?" "As a matter of fact, it is." She smiled, gesturing towards Jason. "I'm assuming he's the one?" Dash looked at Jason's rather smug smile, putting a hoof around his neck as she ground the other into the top of his head. "Yeah, as of yesterday!" She exclaimed, letting go of his noggin and giving her wing room to extend. "How does it-" Twilight started, furrowing her brow. "How's it do that with the cutie mark?" "Refraction." Jason said, touching the ring with a hoof. "I'm not exactly sure how Ferris did it, actually. We should really stop by, talk to him a little." "I feel bad, keeping you away from each other like this when you're just now engaged." Celestia sighed, grabbing a pad of paper that she'd set on the table. "So I'll wrap this up quickly. In terms of actual evidence on your friends, Shining hasn't obviously turned up the bodies, or come to any that were unrecognizable. He's missing a few buggies, but whether that's just coincidence or proof that they got out, I'm not sure." "At least there's no proof either way." Dash said sadly, propping up her forehead with a hoof. "I wish they were here." "Yeah, me too. I never thought I'd be able to miss those guys so much, I was pretty sure I was numb to it by now. Guess not." "Just how bad was it over there?" "It's not like we aren't supplied or anything, but you remember what Dash looked like when she came back here, right?" "Yeah, she was covered in blood and cuts." "Well that's pretty much every battle, assuming one of us doesn't get stabbed or otherwise injured. And if it isn't obvious by all the fucking scars, we get cut up a lot." "Did you ever want to leave?" "Of course!" Dash burst out. "But it's not like I'm loyal or anything, and ponies actually like us there. I can deal with the fighting." She got up, nodding her head at the princesses. "Is that all you need us for?" "Not quite. I'd like to personally thank you for your service and bravery." Celestia said, extending a hoof for Dash to shake, before she shook Jason's hoof. "We're going to hold awards ceremonies as soon as the bulk of our soldiers get back and we're sure that resistance has been pacified. You two are going to be quite the decorated ponies, seeing as you haven't received anything for Canterlot as of yet." She smiled. "But at the very least, I have your-" She looked at the pad of paper again. "Purple hearts here. Shining figure you wouldn't want those to be given publicly." "Yeah, I'm not sure how much I want to be recognized for injuries." "Well either way," She handed then two small ribbons, peppered with three or so each. "I didn't get hurt this much." Jason noted, pointing at the medals. "Funny, like the stabbing, torture, and Nightmare don't count." Luna piped up, leaning back in her chair smugly until it made a menacing crack. Jason shrugged. "Fine, whatever you say." "Oh, one last thing." Celestia started, turning around as she walked towards the gate that led out of the small outside area. "Shining sent your stuff, it'll be here at some point in the near future." She finished, exiting the restaurant as Luna got up as well, bidding them quick goodbye before she caught up with her sister. "Oh good, I was getting a little bored." Dash said, nuzzling at Jason. "By the way, I don't think we ever celebrated like we should have." She continued, as her voice took on a sultry tone and Twilight blushed. "I'm right here, Dash!" The studious mare yelled. "So? I don't care if you hear me flirt. What do you really think we do when we're alone, knit?" Dash asked, a smirk forming on her face. "I don't need to have it spelled out!" "You want it spelled, you say? Well let's see, that'd be S, E-" "I don't want to know!" "Okay, well sometimes, when I'm feeling adventurous, he-" She broke into giggles as the mare turned to leave, watching Jason join in as well. "Don't worry Twilight, I won't turn into Rarity." "You better not, I don't want every conversation turning into 'So Twilight, have you dated any stallions recently?'" "Well you could try to screw with her, at least once." Jason said. "That's what I'd do." "Yeah, but you'd do that with everyone if you got the chance." Dash said with a laugh. "Why do you even do that?" "Because there are two types of people on the internet. Idiots, and people that either don't care, or screw with the idiots. I'm not saying any of the civilians are idiots, but it's the same idea even if people don't put themselves into the crappy situations." "That's the thing that connects everything?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, it's pretty crazy that we can do things like that huh?" He paused, before nudging at Dash. "Now come on, let's go." The mare giggled and took off, looking behind herself as Jason took off to follow. "Evening told me you have my wings now." She said over the wind, grinning widely. "Yeah, I mean they're bigger, but I can fly a lot faster now, it's pretty cool. I was getting a cone around me and everything. Obviously I don't have them now..." "Did you actually break the sound barrier?" "No, I was probably a ways off. But still, that's pretty fast." She squealed with joy. "I can't wait to go flying with you, there're so many more things we can do now!" "Sounds like a good time." He said, landing next to her on the edge of the front yard. They only got a few steps inside before Jason turned and kissed Dash, putting a hoof around her neck and drawing her closer. "When was the last time I told you I loved you?" "Not recently enough." She replied, drawing him back in. "You're not romantic enough." "Oh, not romantic enough?" He asked, raising an eyebrow jokingly before he realized he could raise one eyebrow at a time. He'd never been able to do that before. "That's probably because you're always like 'Jason, faster!', 'Jason, what are you waiting for?!'" She rolled her eyes. "We have time, I can be patient." "I'll believe it when I see it." He said with a smirk, before she met his lips again. "I guess you won't have to wait long." Look! Another clop scene! __________________________________________________________________ Jason opened his eyes to Dash's face, peacefully sleeping over his arm. He gently kissed her forehead and hugged her a little tighter, being careful not to wake her up so soon. It was a good five minutes before she showed signs of life, stirring in his grasp as she opened her eyes as well. "Have I ever told you how much I love waking up with you like this?" She leaned her forehead into his, feeling the warm bone of his horn over the top of her head. "No, it must've slipped your mind." "I guess I can't let that happen again, huh?" "Yeah, what do you think this is, anyway?" She asked, giggling slightly. "It's not that bad here though, even with the populace. I don't have to worry about you or Scoots, and that makes everything so much easier." "It would be nice if I didn't feel the need to watch my back all the time though, I'm not sure if that's just from the army or if I'm stuck in old habits. I just want it to go away, but it's all I see when I close my eyes anymore." She put an arm around his neck, looking concerned. "Jeez, Jason. You should've told me earlier." "It's only been two days, and every dream before I went back was a nightmare about you." "How long do you have to fix that?" "Another five days. I'll get it done sooner than that though, obviously. It's not like I want to lose you...again." "Yeah, nopony would want to lose this." She said, gesturing to herself. "But I guess I wouldn't mind another fifty years with you." "I guess you might be right. I'm pretty indifferent though." He replied, chuckling back. "I think I liked it more when you were excited." "But that takes energy, and that's hard." "At least I know that you've done stuff before, because I'd been pretty inclined to think you were basically a rock with wings when I met you." He felt a punch contact his shoulder. "With a brain, at least?" "A smart rock." He smirked. "Way better than that one Rarity carried around, George or whatever." "Funny, I forgot the name of that thing too..." They went silent for a while, as Dash closed her eyes and Jason looked around slowly. "How long do foals usually stay with their parents?" He asked. "I dunno, you're talking about Scoots?" "Yeah, as much as I didn't really want to be changing diapers and stuff, she's already so old, I don't want her to leave." "We've got at least five years until she's legally allowed to get her own place, it's not that bad." "We've already missed so much though, and it's only been a month and a half." "It was a good month, all in all." She said. "I think they're alive, by the way. Tank and Eravel and the others. You know how many griffins it would take to even knock down one member?" "I know, but Tank was already hurt, and even if they survived a falling building, they'd only end up more hurt. Our only hope is that they got to that buggy quickly and still think I'm under Nightmare's control. That way they'd rush out here, and hopefully... Well, that's all I have in terms of optimism." "At least act happier until we know what became of them, okay? We're back in Ponyville, we should at least make the most of it." "Always you with the best case scenario, hmm?" He asked with a smirk, poking her with a hoof. "I'm not sure what I'd be without you." "Probably a depressed mess." She replied with a giggle. "Although I guess I wouldn't stay grounded." Jason snickered and pulled her closer for a moment, breathing hot air down her back before he moved to get up, stretching himself out off the side of the bed. "We should go say hi to Ferris." He said. "Probably Lyra and Bon Bon as well, maybe see about Octavia. Our stuff might get here today, although it's probably pretty late. "And we never got lunch." Dash pointed out. "Yeah. I miss getting hungry." He paused. "For food, I mean. It sucks when I'm running out of love." "Like that ever happens with me around." "After I came back to save you, I remember feeling unbelievably hungry after I cast that last spell, even with Scoots and my other friends around." "Well you had to learn a lot of spells. I still feel a little guilty, making you go through all that." "Oh shush, you do way more for me anyway." He touched the wing around his neck. "Like this." Jason paused. "Now come on, let's get something done." "I guess I'll just skip the lazy talk with you then." Dash replied with a smile, getting up and following him outside. "We'll have to pick up Scoots later though." Her stomach grumbled angrily. "And buy some food for here, I think that's why we went for breakfast anyway." "Heh, yeah." He trotted out of the room after her, feeling the clouds under his hooves as he descended the stairs. "I wish there were easier ways to express love as an equine thing." "Like how?" "Well we had hands free all the time, we didn't need them to walk." Jason said as they took off, gliding over the town. "So doing things was easier. I'm still not confident in my control of magic to do any more than lift you, even though that sounds like it should be the hardest thing." "What did you do?" "Well we held hands, and I'm pretty sure if I caressed you with a hand it'd feel better. Fingers are dextral little things." "Maybe we'll have to find a spell that turns you back for a while." "They don't have anything like that, humans are hardly even known around here." She giggled and landed, her hooves making a rather loud clop on the paving stones. "Magic can do a lot of weird things." "Besides going back in time, they all pretty much follow the laws of physics." He paused, pushing open the blacksmith door. "Maybe teleportation, but I'm not sure." Jason took a breath. "Ferris! You in here?!" "Wha? Jason! How's it going?" The blacksmith asked, walking out of the back room with a thick coat of soot. "I read a whole bunch of articles about you in the newspaper while you were gone, there were a few nice shots of my handiwork in there!" "Those were really good knives by the way, way better than what we used to have." "And she seemed to have liked the ring." The old stallion replied, pointing at Dash, who blushed slightly in turn. "I figured as much." "It is really nice." Dash replied softly. "I actually came here to pay you as well; I don't like having debts for much longer than I have to." "Oh yeah, I have that, hold on." He reached under the counter and pulled out a page, passing it over to Jason. He pulled it out of Dash's view before she could see it, as his jaw dropped at the numbers. "What?" He asked, to no one in particular.