Apple Bloom was searching franticly throughout the DSP. She was still trying to cope with the possibility that her friend had been resocialized anyway, even though Apple Bloom honored her end of the agreement. The deaths of the Belles didn't help matters neither. It seemed like she was losing friends left and right. The only saving grace was that Jet Stream agreed to help her search the DSP for the rest of the day. Rainbow Dash didn't have much degree of freedom, and had to wait on the prison ship instead. Soldier or not, she was still a convict.
Jet Stream had so far encountered no luck trying to find her doppelganger. They'd been searching all day, occasionally awkwardly asking medics if they would be kind enough to lift their visors for a second, but so far to no avail. This time however, a medic stopped her.
"Hey! You're not supposed to be walking around unescorted!" shouted a Dominion Medic. Her arch angel armor was currently in it's quadrupedal form with the visor up. She was a white mare, with a pink mane and blue eyes. Like most Dominion marines and medics, she wore her cutie mark on her armors left shoulder pad; a red cross, with pink hearts on each corner. "How are you even still walking?"
"I'm sorry... do I know you?" replied Jet Stream.
"Don't play stupid with me! You're supposed to be on the prison ship." she replied.
"Well... I know. But it doesn't leave until around midnight. I still have time. Wait, how would you even know about that?" asked Jet Stream.
Without replying, the medics armor transformed into its bipedal mode. She grabbed Jet Stream by the neck with her right arm, then revealed a wrist mounted syringe on her left. "I don't know how you got off that ship, but you're going right back." The medic injected the syringe into Jet Streams side, within seconds her vision began to blur. The medic released Jet Steam, who quickly fell to her side. "All prisoners are supposed to stay sedated until they've been secured on the ship, so don't bother trying to run again. Now lets go!"
Jet Stream tried to move, but her body was feeling extremely weak, and her ability to think straight was quickly fading. Right before she lost consciousness, she started to question whether or not it was a good idea for the clone of a convicted criminal to be walking around on the same space platform. The medic effortlessly picked her up with using her power armors immense strength, then started carrying her to the prison ship.
Apple Bloom, who had just seen her friend become abducted by the medic, ran after her to see what was going on. "Hey, what are you doing?!" she asked.
She only gave her a glance before answering with, "Citizen I'm warning you. Your presence is interfering with official Imperial business. Be gone!" then continued walking.
"That's my friend, she didn't do anything! You can't just abduct people!... you aren't Dominion Intelligence are you?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Oh well if she's your friend, I guess that changes everything," said the medic sarcastically. "We'll just ignore the fact she murdered two people."
Suddenly Apple Bloom understood what was going on. "She isn't who you think she is! She's a clone," she explained. "You can check her cutie mark, the person you're talking about is a blank flank still."
The medic paused to consider it, then realized what she had done. She didn't bother removing Jet Streams flight suit to check the mark. They had put enough drugs into the real convict to keep her out all day, so she probably wouldn't be walking around on the DSP unescorted hours later. "I'm... really sorry about that. She'll be out for a couple of hours. Before you get too angry, is there anything I can do to make it up to you? I don't think anyone needs to find out about this. I'm a clone myself and they can be very... short with us. If I had known she was one of my kind-"
"Just shut up for a second," Apple Bloom demanded. If she wasn't clad in power armor, Apple Bloom would probably be trying to buck her teeth out right about now. But she calmed down and decided to make use of the awkward situation. "For starters you can get my friend back to her ship. She has a shuttle docked on board a prison ship heading for the Ice House."
"Well I was already taking her over there, so I guess I can do that," replied the medic.
"Wait a minute! You're telling me Scootaloo... um... her original template is on that prison ship?!" asked Apple Bloom.
"I didn't say that!" replied the medic.
"Help! This medic drugged my friend so she could harvest her organs to make cup cakes! Someone throw her into a resoc tank before she takes me too!" shouted Apple Bloom.
"Calm down!" said the medic noticing some of the other ponies were starting to look at her. "Yes, she is on that ship. The resoc didn't stick, so she is being sent to the ice house instead."
"Thanks... that's all I needed to know," replied Apple Bloom. As she followed the medic to the prison ships hanger bay, she reflected on the new bit of information. She had originally thought Scootaloo may have already been resocialized and was hoping to try to remind her who she was. It wouldn't have been the same, but they could have still been friends.
Instead she finds her friend's mind is still intact, but now she is going to arguably the worst prison in the sector. She couldn't just walk onto the ships prison deck and demand Scootaloo be released, but she wasn't just going to abandon her neither. Not while there was still a chance she could be saved. Apple Bloom had decided, she was going to the Ice House.
It had been two weeks now since they had escaped the academy, but so far Sweetie Belle and Sovereign had made no progress towards getting off Korhal. Again they found themselves in another hotel room. They typically switched hotels every couple of days to avoid staying in one place for too long. Sweetie Belle had made plenty of bits at the tables, so money was not a problem.
Like Sovereign, she could see into the minds of her opponents. Unlike Sovereign, she could quietly whisper songs of doubt and fear, causing them to back out even when they had the winning hand. Sweetie Belle was relatively calm about their situation, Sovereign however was getting more anxious by the day.
"I'm telling you, we should just buy some tickets and leave now," suggested Sovereign.
"And I'm telling you that all forms of public transportation are too closely monitored. They'd find out which transport we took, and Dominion forces would be ready to arrest us again as soon as we reach our destination," explained Sweetie Belle. "I don't like hanging around the capital this long either, but until a better option comes along, we can't leave."
"I'm starting to think you don't want to leave," accused Sovereign.
"What makes you say that?" asked Sweetie Belle as she admired herself in the mirror while trying on a new dress.
"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with all the fancy restaurants, the classy hotels, not to mention all the expensive dresses you've been buying. Bringing that much attention to yourself is how I was caught last time, and that was in Consortium space. Do you really think Dominion Intelligence isn't going to catch on in the capital?" asked Sovereign.
"Well maybe you shouldn't have purchased so many expensive suits for yourself," teased Sweetie Belle. "Besides, you and I both know they keep most of their agents scattered throughout the sector. As long as we don't do anything reckless, they'll never find us."
"You mean like using your powers to cheat at casinos?" asked Sovereign.
"Shut up! They're my powers to abuse," snapped Sweetie Belle.
"Well I don't see how buying all this merchandise is going to help us get off this world," complained Sovereign, "what are you going to do, send it through the post office and hide in one of the boxes?"That actually wasn't a bad idea. Well maybe not the part about hiding in the boxes. She wasn't about to spend several days inside a shipping container, pushed up against Sovereign.
"If you must know, I was planning on gathering enough merchandise to sell to a traveling Kel Morian merchant. He or she would take it, and us, off this world into Consortium space. By traveling with an independent Kel Morian merchant, who will probably bribe his way through customs to avoid tariffs, we can avoid all the security involved in public transportation," lied Sweetie Belle. She wanted to give the impression that that was her plan the whole time.
"After that, you can go back to your crappy life as an exile, while I continue to bask in the lap of luxury. Maybe I'll find a rich Kel Morian stallion and marry into whatever counts for nobility in that region of space," she said jokingly. At least Sovereign hoped it was a joke.
"Pipe dreams aside, I guess that could work. But why couldn't you just tell me that in the first place?" asked Sovereign.
Not wanting to lose face, she made an excuse. "Sovereign, who here is the brains? If it were up to you, we should have tried to buy a ticket the first day, and what would that have accomplished? We'd of been arrested, you'd be back in that pod, and I'd be having my head split open again as they turn the implant back on. That and you have a tendency to do stupid things. If you had gotten yourself captured in the first few days, they'd interrogate you and find out what I was up to. I needed to make sure you can at least keep yourself out of trouble for a few days before I let you in on the grand scheme of things."
Sovereign didn't want to admit it, but he knew she was right. That and when he probed Twilights mind, he realized that they were planning on forcefully extracting his memories. An act that would have left him a brain dead vegetable. Having taken a glimpse into her violent history, she would probably have no problem just bringing back his head intact, with or without the rest of him still attached. This little quarrel was just another reminder that he needed her a lot more than she needed him. "Ok I admit it. You know best."
"Well I'm glad we got that sorted out. Though out of curiosity, how did you get captured anyway?" asked Sweetie.
A very well dressed Sovereign sat at the casino table, cards in his hooves. As always, there was a crowd gathered around him, undoubtedly hoping to bask in his generosity should he win. He'd found it was easy to make friends in the Consortium. His opponent upped the ante to twenty thousand. Sovereign had learned not to win too much in order to avoid suspicion of cheating. He purposely threw most of the minor bets, but this was one who couldn't afford to lose.
He peeked into his opponents mind, a flush. Sovereign had a full house. Sovereign matched the twenty, then upped it five more. His opponent obliged. The two lay their cards on the table, and the crowd cheered for Sovereigns victory. Naturally the drinks would be on him, followed by another spending spree. He honestly didn't understand why Khalai didn't spend more time with the other ponies. These Kel-Morians were some of the friendliest ponies he'd ever met, and were certainly more lively than the Khalai ponies he had grown up with.
"That was some pretty impressive card play," said a voice from behind. Sovereign turned around to see a beautiful lavender unicorn mare. Her purple eyes locked with his as she continued to speak, "I noticed you've been winning a lot of games these last few weeks. I also noticed that you've made a lot of friends around these parts as well."
It took a few moments for Sovereign to form a response. She was clearly older than him, but still looked stunning none the less. Her eyes, her mane, her well groomed coat, and she topped it off with a beautiful blue dress, decorated with stars on the trimming. Finally he snapped out of his stupor for a response. "Well... um... I'm still new here myself but... I can tell you first hand, the Kel-Morians here are very friendly."
Twilight chuckled at his naïve outlook. "Well I'm sure everyone is friendly when you buy them drinks and gifts. They're only friendly because you were friendly towards them. When is the last time anyone has been friendly towards you?"
Sovereign paused for a moment to recollect the last time anyone had done him a favor. He was only able to think of his old friend Seeker. Before he was able to say anything, the mare answered for him. "As I thought. No one has been friendly towards you have they? That's a real shame, you seem like such a nice colt."
The word 'colt' struck Sovereign like a kick to the gut. "Hey! I'm not a colt! I'm twenty years old!" he said trying to sound as confident as possible.
Twilight giggled at his upset reply. "You're cute when you get defensive, you know that?" The words left Sovereign speechless, who was franticly trying to form a reply. "You don't become a stallion just because you're a certain age. You have to be made into a stallion," she said smiling at him with an almost hypnotic gaze. "When you get tired of being a colt, come pay me a visit." The mare left a napkin by the dealer table then teleported away.
Sovereign picked up the napkin and unfolded it. There was a keycard to a hotel room, and a message written on the napkin that read 'Look Before You Sleep' Hotel, room 1203.
Sovereign performed his usual generosity, buying drinks for his fans, handed out some chips, then disappeared from the crowd. It didn't take long for Sovereign to make his way to the hotel room. He stood in front of the door for a long time, keycard floating in the air. What am I doing? he thought to himself. Looking at that door, he had never felt such a strange combination of fear, adrenaline and anxiety.
Mares in the Khala never behaved like she had. Everyone always knew what the other was thinking, and emotions were always so much easier to control. He admittedly missed the Khala's embrace and guidance. The way she made him feel back in the tables was... unsettling. He'd never felt so helpless before, and all it took was a smile and some rather emasculating words.
Now standing here in front of the door, the rush of emotion only worsened. Yet for reasons he couldn't understand, he felt compelled to open that door. He had to accept that when his horn was removed, his time in the Khala was over for good. This is what 'normal' ponies felt and did, and he would need to be a normal pony in order to fit in around here. He gathered all of his courage, slid the door keycard through the reader, then opened the door.
"Umm... hello?" asked Sovereign.
"It certainly took you long enough," said a voice coming from with in the room.
Sovereign filled with dread all of a sudden. It wasn't too late to run. He could leave right now, have a few drinks, act like he never met her. But suddenly he imagined crying himself to sleep tonight if he didn't do this. He wasn't going to let that happen. It was time to do what he felt needed to be done.
"I had some trouble finding the room," he said as he turned the corner. He saw the mare laying on a large bed in a rather inviting pose.
Her beautiful dress now gone, she was wearing only the fur she had been born with. She patted her hoof on an empty spot on the bed next to her. "Shall we get started?" she asked.
Sovereign nervously made his way over to the bed. As he placed one hoof on it, he felt a magical tug as she pulled him in next to her. Sovereign wasn't entirely prepared for her aggressiveness, and now lay paralyzed with the older mare on top of him. "Lets get you comfortable," she recommended as she slowly started removing his tuxedo.
Sovereign allowed her to remove his tuxedo, but tried to stop her when she tried to remove the last layer of his clothing. He didn't want her to see his Khala tattoo. "I don't think we need to-" before he could finish his sentence, she used her magic to rip the shirt wide open. "-do that."
The mare looked at his tattoo, and a smiled formed from ear to ear. "A foreigner huh? I'm not from around these parts either. Always wondered what a Khalai would be like in bed." The mare had now mounted on top of him, and Sovereign once again began to fill with fear, adrenaline and anxiety. Suddenly this mare started giving him a very bad feeling... as if she were reaching into his mind. Something was wrong, he need to run... now!
He tried to get up, but she forced him down again. He began a sentence, "This was a bad idea, I think I should-"
The mare quickly put a hoof on his lips to silence him. The fear continued to engulf him as he felt for certain something was probing into his brain. She smiled at him, which seemed to break down his mental barriers even further. "You're scared... I like that. Don't worry, colts are always scared the first time. Time to make you a stallion."
The rest is biology.
After the deed had been done, several times, to remove any lingering doubts of whether or not Sovereign was still a colt, he lay in bed next to the mare silent and in thought. He felt different now.
Very different.
He felt much more confident than before, like he had just lived for the first time. For the first time, he truly did feel like he was a stallion. The mental intrusion he thought he had detected earlier was gone as well. He looked over to the mare who was reaching into a bag and said, "I love you."
The only reply he got was, "Shut up and take this," as she handed him a cigarette.
Sovereign levitated the cigarette in front of his face then said, "That's... not really something-" before he could finish, the mare forced it into his mouth and lit the end.
"I thought you were a stallion now," she said as she lit her own.
Not wanting to make things awkward, he did his best to smoke the vile cigarette. She chuckled as he struggled and failed to not cough it up. He decided to try to break the silence. "So... where are you from?" he asked, feeling a bit tired.
"Oh I'm from the Dominion," she replied.
Sovereign began to sweat and feel very light headed. "What brings you to this part of the sector? Woah... is it getting hot in here?" he asked.
"To answer your first question: I'm a spy," she admitted.
Sovereign was now feeling really dizzy, but managed to laugh at the joke. "Really? Then why hang around a casino? Seriously... it's getting really hot in this room."
"To answer your second question, it's not getting hot. That cigarette was spiked. You'll be passing out in a few seconds," she explained.
"What?! But... why?" he asked before rolling out of bed, then attempting to crawl to the door.
"You've been on a month long winning streak. You didn't think I'd notice something strange was going on? I was going to recruit you into the ghost program, but when you and I were getting intimate I looked into your mind. Food for thought, the transfer of blood from the brain to the penis always breaks down mental barriers. You're a Preserver aren't you? We've never been able to capture one of those, they typically never leave Khala space. I wonder what secrets are inside that head of yours. I guess we'll know when I bring you back won't we?" she explained.
Sovereign's muscles finally shut down entirely, though he did hear a few more words come from the mare before he passed out.
"Think about it this way, at least no one can say died a colt right? By the way, you weren't bad for a first timer. I have to admit, you knew things."
Sweetie Belle was shocked by his story. "That has to be the stupidest... how could you just... didn't you suspect... WHY?!"
"She was very charismatic alright!" replied Sovereign. "It could have happened to anyone."
"No, you just didn't think things through. I seriously doubt that any other stallion would have-" Sweetie Belle stopped herself from finishing that sentence. "On second thought, that's perfectly believable." Typical stallion logic, she thought to herself. "I just thought maybe it would be more exciting. Dramatically trying to escape a gun fight, explosions, vicious enemies trying to devour you, narrowly escaping death. That's what happened when Twilight captured me."
"I thought she just shot you with a tranquilizer?" asked Sovereign.
"All the stuff before that!" she argued. "You know what, never mind. Tomorrow, I need to find a merchant to get us off world. Just get some sleep. And for future reference, next time a mare you never met before invites you to bed after a two minute conversation, SAY NO! Especially if she doesn't even bother telling you her name."
"Things moved too fast, I wasn't able to get that far," explained Sovereign.
As he made his way into his bed, he would hear Sweetie Belle ask one more question that night. "Did you really say 'I love you' after your first time?" she asked trying to hold back her laughter.
Sovereign looked up at her to answer, not sure if he should be embarrassed or not, "Yes."
Sweetie Belle chuckled to herself before finally replying with, "idiot."