Sovereign entered the kitchen where Rain Sight was making him something to eat. "Have you made a decision yet?" asked Rain Sight.
"Still thinking," replied Sovereign. "I'll be more inclined to stay if I knew I could trust you."
"How do you propose we go about that?" asked Rain Sight.
"You could start by telling me about the zerg in the basement, and why they don't attack you," asked Sovereign.
Rain Sight gritted her teeth a bit at the question. She finished the pasta she was cooking, and put a plate in front of him. "I'm going upstairs," she said. "Turn off the lights when you're done."
"Rain Sight! I need to know what is going on with those zerg!" demanded Sovereign.
"Sovereign eat your meal" she said as if he were just being a disobedient child. She made no further comment as she went upstairs.
Sovereign sighed and sat down in front of the plate. He was once again able to use his magic to lift the fork; it felt good not to be restricted by that stupid inhibitor anymore. The food looked and smelled delicious, and he was very hungry. He hadn't eaten anything all day. He was sure that since he wasn't wearing the inhibitor anymore, Rain Sight would try to drug him again.
Why so much drugging with these people? he asked himself. He shrugged and bit in. Even if it was drugged, it's not like she could do anything to him that she couldn't have already done when he was wearing the inhibitor.
After only one bite, his hunger for the pasta became uncontrollable. It only took a few minutes for him to devour the entire plate. Then he realized something else, what if she is drugging me to get the emitter back on because I haven't made my decision yet??! Sovereign felt himself getting dizzy. Damn it! Not again!
Sovereign fell back and smashed his head on the ground, busting open his scalp. The last thing he heard was, "Sovereign? Sovereign!" before passing out completely.
Now that they weren't so high up in the mountain, the weather seemed clear enough for a long flight, and Scootaloo was eager to get underway. They were still a fair ways up the mountain, facing a cliff that would serve as a good jump off point for their long flight.
"Alright squirt, just stay on my tail and don't lose sight," commanded Rainbow Dash. "How much flight time do you have with your suit on?"
"Enough," replied Scootaloo. "Let's just get a move on," she demanded.
"Alright squirt, no need to get lippy." Rainbow Dash began to float a few feet off the ground and prepared to ignite her jetpack.
"Woah, how are you doing that?!" asked Scootaloo.
"Doing what?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"That! You're off the ground without your jet pack turned on. How are you doing that without your wings?!" asked Scootaloo.
"Same way you do I would imagine," answered Rainbow Dash. "I thought you said you had 'enough' flight time. Are you telling me you can't lift your suit up without turning on the jets?" asked Rainbow Dash.
Scootaloo closed her eyes under her goggles and jumped only to come back down. "Umm... I guess I didn't have enough flight time after all. Mind explaining how you are doing that with your wings trapped under the armor?"
Rainbow Dash sighed. "Squirt, the wings aren't the key. I've seen pegasi with wings the size of dinner plates that can fly just fine. If you think about it, our wings are way to small to lift a full grown pony by just flapping them."
"That's nice and all, but how do I lift myself without the wings then? What am I suppose to do?" asked Scootaloo.
"Well our flight is magical in nature. It's just like unicorn magic; it's all strength of will. I'm sure you've built up plenty of strength of will during your training in the ice house," replied Rainbow Dash. "You'd be dead by now if you hadn't."
Scootaloo paused and reflected on those words. Strength of will... strength of will... of course! Strength of will! Scootaloo began chanting, "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evils might, beware my power, Green Lanterns Light!" Scootaloo jumped into the air as high as she could, then fell on her face shortly afterwards. She looked up angrily at Rainbow Dash as if she had just been betrayed. "You said it was all strength of will!"
Rainbow Dash was laughing hysterically at Scootaloo, it was a while before she could respond. "It is strength of will! But what the hell was that?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"The Green Lantern creed. You said it was strength of will, so I said the creed that empowers them with the power of will," answered Scootaloo. "What kind of Imperial doesn't know who the Green Lanterns were?"
"Uhh.... I'm Kel-Morian. And never do that again if you're planning on flying off a cliff," said Rainbow Dash.
"What the hell is strength of will then?!" asked Scootaloo.
"Well I'm tempted to just say use your jets for now, but we're too far for you to make it on your jet packs fuel alone," said Rainbow Dash. "Pegasi reapers are suppose to get special training in long distance flight in full armor, I guess you never got that far."
"Then what am I suppose to do? Tie myself to your waist?" asked Rainbow Dash. "And it's not my fault I didn't get to complete my training. Had I known there was going to be a jail break today, I would have asked my dad to..." Scootaloo fell silent again, remembering the days events.
Rainbow Dash couldn't see her face through the face cover, breath mask and goggles, but she could imagine a look of anger and sadness under it. But right now wasn't the time for her be grieving. "We'll just need to take a certain approach. What's the scariest thing that happened to you in the ice house? A moment when you were fighting for your very life, and you had to push yourself beyond your limits just to make it out alive?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"I guess I would have to say the obstacle course on the first day of training." replied Scootaloo. "I don't think I've ever ran so fast in my life."
"I remember doing that. I have an idea," said Rainbow Dash. "Here is what you need to do. I need you to close your eyes. Then I want you to remember that night. I want you to remember the sound of screams as other inmates were ripped to pieces. I want you to remember the sound of the cheering guards shouting for you to die. I want to you remember the fear and adrenaline you felt when that zergling was chasing after you. Pretend it's right behind you, pretend you can hear its breathing, you feel its breath against your flesh."
Scootalooo did as Rainbow Dash said. It wasn't a hard thing to reimagine; Scootaloo was sure that memory would haunt her forever. In fact, just bringing it up made it hard to get that image out of her head. "Alright, now what?" asked Scootaloo.
"On my mark, I want you to run. Run as if that zergling was chasing after you, but keep your eyes closed. I want you to run with everything you got, and I want you to push yourself just as hard... no harder than you pushed yourself that night. Don't stop for anything," said Rainbow Dash.
Scootaloo kept her eyes closed, and could feel Rainbow Dash positioning her in a certain direction. "Run now, the zergling is chasing your, RUN!" shouted Rainbow Dash. She fired her pistol into the air to give her a good shot of adrenaline.
Scootaloo took off running with her eyes closed. She could still imagine that monster chasing after her. She ran like her life depended on it, as if she were right back at the Ice House on her first day of training. But this time she wasn't as afraid. Her body had been built into a bulk of muscle from all of her training. Her lungs and heart were stronger, and her legs carried her with a speed she had never known as a civilian. In fact her hooves were so strong from all the conditioning she couldn't even feel them smashing against the ground. When Scootaloo opened her eyes, she realized why. Rainbow Dash had ran her off the cliff! Fortunately she had somehow conjured up the "will" to keep herself afloat.
"Rainbow Dash, what the hell were you thinking?! I could have fallen!" shouted Scootaloo.
"But you didn't!" she shouted back while flying towards her. "How's it feel to fly without wings or jets?" asked Rainbow Dash.
Now that her body had realized she was in the air, Scootaloo could still feel her wings trying to flap inside of her armor. It was a difficult habit to break. "Kind of... weird," said Scootaloo. "It just doesn't seem right without wings."
"I know what you mean, but you'll get used to it. How fast can you move without your jets?" asked Rainbow Dash.
Scootaloo tried to take off as fast as she could, but found herself moving at a snails pace. "You'll get the hang of it," said Rainbow Dash. "Use your jets for now at low speed. You'll get faster as we move on."
Scootaloo did as Rainbow Dash asked, and took off with a small amount of help from her jet-pack. It was surprisingly easy to pick up speed with so little help from her jet pack. Scootaloo could tell Rainbow Dash could go much faster if she wanted to, and Scootaloo couldn't even begin to imagine how fast she could travel with the jets active, or if she were unhindered.
Perhaps she'd keep Rainbow Dash alive after all? At least for the time being. Technically Scootaloo never got to finish her training, and Rainbow Dash might still have quite a bit to teach her. For now Scootaloo simply did her best to set pace.
Sovereign awoke in a comfortable bed. So comfortable it demanded he keep his eyes closed. His insides still felt really somewhat hot, almost like they were burning and the fire had only recently gone out. He felt something making its way up his throat. He knew what was coming.
Sovereign opened his eyes and found Rain Sight in front of him with a garbage can. She put the can in front of him as Sovereign began vomiting his meal. Finally when he was done, he lay down again, miserable as ever. "Why did you do that?" he asked looking up at the ceiling. His skin still burned with a light fever.
Rain Sight gently put a cold wash cloth on his forehead. "Sovereign I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."
"You said if I stayed you'd keep me safe. What the hell was in that sauce?" he asked. He looked over to Rain Sight and saw she was turning bright red in embarrassment. In fact... it almost seemed as if she were about to cry.
"There might have been a lethal poison inside that sauce" she replied in a nervous tone. "I swear, it wasn't me. I don't know how it got in there!" she lied. She did put in a foreign substance into the sauce. Due to some mislabeling, she used the wrong vial and accidentally used poison instead of the aphrodisiac she had intended to use.
Sovereign felt like he should be shouting at her right about now, but he was still feeling rather weak.
"Don't worry, you'll be alright!" she assured. "I gave you the antidote. The symptoms were very clear, so I managed to administer it early on. You throwing up means you're nearing the end of the recovery. You'll be alright in just a few minutes. Here, drink this," she commanded as she handed him a glass of water.
Sovereign was feeling wary about accepting any drinks from her at the moment, but he was also feeling very thirsty. He reluctantly accepted the drink, and it did seem to ease his recovery. He was feeling confident he would indeed be up and running again in a few more minutes.
Rain Sight smiled. This time she was certain she had used the right liquid, though it would take a few minutes to take effect. "Is there anything I can get you," she asked. "More water, pillows, something to eat?"
"Nothing to eat!" he said in a panic. Judging by the expression on her face, she was a bit hurt by his reaction. She almost killed me, and I'm feeling guilty about hurting her feelings? What in Khala's Light is the matter with me? "I mean... I'm not very hungry right now, that's all."
She smiled faintly, knowing he was just trying to hide his displeasure with her at the moment.
"Though if you really want to make things up to me... tell me about the zerg," he requested.
Rain Sight sighed deeply. She didn't want to let him in on family shame but considering she had a few minutes to kill, it seemed as good a distraction as any. "When your people began their insurrection, mass desertions followed. First the Korhal government, then a number of fleet commanders, then one independent colony after another began to abandon Celestia's loyalist."
"I'm aware of that part," said Sovereign.
"With so much of the fleet gone, and so many of their citizens turned traitor, the Equestrian government on Tarsonis needed a way to increase it's numbers. They turned to the zerg," said Rain Sight. "Did you ever wonder why it is they don't attack us?"
"Some kind of augmentations made on the zerg to keep them from turning on you?" asked Sovereign.
"That's what most people think. There were augmentations made, but not on the zerg. Not many people know the truth, and most who do dismiss it as rumor," said Rain Sight.
"Well what's the truth then?" asked Sovereign.
"The truth is we are zerg. Everyone of us. At least to a tiny degree," replied Rain Sight.
Sovereign eyed her up and down. "I don't see any tentacles, or sharp claws. You don't look like any zerg I have ever seen."
"As I said, it's to a tiny degree. My grandfather told me when he first enlisted that they had to inject him with a advanced, pony made virus. It infested him on a small level, less than 1% zerg infestation, but it was enough to keep the zerg from attacking him. The virus was too weak to cause additional mutation, so it's considered safe to use," said Rain Sight. "Supposedly it used to only be soldiers who were infested. But it was found infested ponies couldn't mate with non-infested ponies. If the egg is not infested, it'll die when it comes in contact with the infested sperm. If the sperm isn't infested, I'll die when it comes in contact with the egg... usually."
"What do you mean usually?" asked Sovereign.
"Some times it does take, but causes uncontrollable mutation in the child. He ends up devouring the mother from the inside out if she isn't infected, or tearing out of the mothers belly like in the movie Alien if she is." answered Rain Sight.
"That's... disgusting," said Sovereign. Suddenly he was that much happier that he and Rain Sight haven't had any sexual relations yet.
Rain Sight continued with her explanation. "So if a mare married a soldier, and if she wanted to have children, she too would have to be infested. The children would be born with the infestation as a result. Since most of the early Confederate population was descended from the Royal Guard or Royal Navy, it wasn't long before just about the entire population was infested."
Sovereign couldn't believe it. An entire population of zerg infested ponies. That would explain why the zerg didn't attack her.
"Wait, that doesn't make sense. Your dad was a Khalai, how was he able to impregnate your mother?" he asked.
"Well, my family tree is a bit unique. You don't often see Imperials and Confederates ending up together. Cultural differences alone see to that. My great grandfather on my mothers side was a Confederate crewman on a vessel. He eventually left the service and grew up on a border world where he met his wife, a former dominion medic. Usually these unions don't end with children because the Imperial isn't always willing to undergo the infestation," said Rain Sight. "She underwent the process, but it didn't work on her."
"Why not?" asked Sovereign.
"Rare immunity. Every virus has a few people born immune to it, even a zerg virus. Not only was she able to produce children, but she produced children born free of the infestation. That's why my grandfather and his brother had to be infested again when they joined the Royal Guard," said Rain Sight. "My grandfather also married an Imperial. Strange considering he destroyed her home, murdered her people and..." Rain Sight paused. Thinking about her grandfathers war-crimes was making her angry, and she decided Sovereign didn't need to know about that. She regained her composure and continued. "She agreed to the infestation, and gave birth to my mother Rain Drop. They moved to Consortium space to get away from all the Imperial Confederate hatred, and that's where my mother met Karn."
"So... Karn is infested?" asked Sovereign.
"No," answered Rain Sight.
"Then how did he and your mother-"
"I'm not to familiar with void and psionic energies, so don't ask for details. All I know is what my father told me. Zerg are connected to the void. He is also connected to the void. That allowed a mutual acceptance of genetic material between the two... for the most part." said Rain Sight.
"What do you mean for the most part?" asked Sovereign.
"Well... the artificial virus is a marvel of medical science. It's built to keep infestation to a minimal. Just enough for zerg to recognize us," explained Rain Sight. "My dads genetic material however isn't completely immune to the infestation, simply resilient to it. His genes are in me. As a result, my level of infestation isn't completely... stable. It's possible that one day I might mutate uncontrollably... and die," said Rain Sight.
"What?! How can you be sure about that?" asked Sovereign. Rain Sight took a deep breath, and Sovereign could tell she was trying not to cry. "On second thought, you don't need to say anything else," said Sovereign.
"It's alright. I said I would tell you, so I'm going to tell you," she said as she opened a night stand and revealed a picture of a stallion. "This was my brother Rust, named after his great uncle on my grandfathers request. Like me, he too had unstable infestation. One day he lost control and..."
Sovereign could see she was shaking just thinking about it, and her eyes seemed to be watering. "I understand if you don't want to talk about this anymore," he said. "That was all I wanted to know."
Rain Sight gently put the picture down and wiped the tear from her eyes. "Don't ever bring up Rust to my father. If he doesn't kill you outright, I promise you I will," she said.
Sovereign nodded in acknowledgment. He could tell this was an especially painful memory for her, and he didn't feel right picking at it.
"So, since your infestation is unstable, you can't ever have kids can you?" he asked.
Rain Sight sat down next to him, her green eyes locking with his. She smiled and said, "Well... I can if the father is a Dark Templar," as her hoof reached towards his groin. She was certain the aphrodisiac had taken effect by now.
Sovereign felt himself becoming erect, then realized where she was going with this. "Well... I think I need to get some more rest. That poison really packed a punch."
Rain Sight shoved him down onto her bed. She had waited long enough, and Twilight had been badgering her for results. It was time to act. "You've been fine for a while now," she said as she climbed on top of him. Sovereign tried to get up, but she pushed him down again. "Come on, it's not like you and I haven't been in this position before. Would it help if smeared some of that glow dust on us and get us wet again?"
Sovereign wanted to argue, but suddenly he felt something reaching into his head. This was a familiar feeling he was experiencing. The last time this happened he was with... Twilight! Rain Sight had lied, Twilight knew she was keeping him here. And now she was digging into his brain. Like before, he tried to push her out. But something had greatly weakened him The poison! he thought to himself. The fact Rain Sight on top of him inducing an erect state was also breaking his focus as well. Twilight was having an even easier time this time since Rain Sight was doing the physical half of the work.
Rain Sight had already pulled off her clothing, and was now working on Sovereign's. Sovereign found himself filled with an uncontrollable urge to comply. Part natural instinct, and part due to Twilight's mental assault against him, bringing out his primal urges. Rain Sight now had herself mounted on top of him, and Sovereign was unable to help himself.
The rest is biology.
Everything had gone according to plan. Twilight managed to fabricate a number of reports suggesting that Rain Sight was actually a Confederate double agent, and that Sovereign had been her husband for years. That she secretly wanted to help break him out of the academy, and that was why Sovereign had taken off with Rain Sight, leaving Sweetie Belle behind.
Of course a few fabricated files wouldn't be enough. But she assumed the rest of the evidence would suffice. It was a good thing she had Rain Sight hide all those cameras in the house. She felt Rain Sight's use of an aphrodisiac was a bit overkill, as Rain Sight's sexual advances, combined with Twilight's mental intrusion should have been more than enough. But as long as the job was done, Twilight was pleased.
All she had to do now was wait for her contact, which she could see had just arrived at the rendezvous point. Not being able to contact Sweetie Belle directly, she established a telepathic link, and directed her to some bushes where she had hidden the documents. Twilight was a safe distance away, and watching through security cameras. If all went well, Twilight wouldn't want to be anywhere near that area when Sweetie Belle's powers activated.
Sweetie Belle had been patient long enough. It was time to get her stallion back, and put a few bullet holes into the mud digging bitch who took him from her. She made her way to the bushes and found an envelope. Sweetie Belle quickly opened the envelope, and examined the files. She couldn't believe what she was reading. She literally didn't believe it, she refused to believe Sovereign had been lying to her these last few months.
Then she saw the first picture. Sovereign was eating dinner with her and another Dark Templar, who the file said was Rain Sight's father. She could tell by the warp blades he had on each hoof. Another Dark Templar... here on Korhal... living with that mare. This wasn't looking good. She looked at another picture, and it was Sovereign tied to a bed with the mare dressed in a nurses outfit. Tears started to well in Sweetie Belle's eyes.
No... Sovereign no. Please don't tell me this is true. Last were a series of pictures of Sovereign and Rain Sight having sex. Sweetie Belle's heart shattered as she flipped through each picture in disbelief. Tears began to flow down her cheeks as she was overwhelmed by the tragic reality of Sovereign's betrayal. That sadness however quickly turned to anger.
Tears were now flowing like a river while Sweetie Belle face turned red with fury. "I trusted you Sovereign... I believed you Sovereign... I loved you Sovereign!" Sweetie Belle let out an ear piercing shout as her rage poured into everyone around her. Within seconds, every Imperial was beating one another to a bloody pulp.
Sweetie Belle knew she needed to leave. She stuffed the files into her dufflebag and quickly made an exit by running into the sewers. This wasn't over. Not only did Twilight hand over those files, but she did indeed keep to her word about giving her the location of Rain Sight's house. If she kept her word about other things, then Dominion Intelligence wasn't yet aware of her location.
It was time for revenge. Sweetie Belle now felt slightly calmer, so she was able to start putting things into perspective. She still wasn't entirely certain if she could believe what Twilight had told her about Sovereign being her secret husband. For someone so amazingly incompetent, it seemed unlikely he could keep that such a well hidden secret from her.
The fact Sweetie Belle was also certain Twilight didn't have her best interest at heart also made it hard to believe she had been told the whole truth. But those pictures of the two of them... Sweetie Belle did the best she could to remove the images from her mind. The situation was simple; she didn't need to complicated it. She would give him one chance to explain himself, and if she wasn't 100% satisfied with his explanation, she'd kill him without a second thought.
Sweetie Belle undressed herself, and for the first time since leaving the academy, she donned her ghost suit which she had carried in her dufflebag. Sweetie Belle assembled her rifle and lifted it in front of her, staring at the agent of Rain Sight's, and possibly Sovereign's demise. "Love is a dangerous game Sovereign. You don't always come out of it alive."
Sovereign didn't know what he should be feeling at the moment. Should he feel guilty about doing this to Sweetie Belle? He was already contemplating breaking things off with her for the sake of keeper her safe. Maybe this was just sealing the deal? Was he really expected to just sit around this house and spend the rest of his life dwelling on Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle and her beautiful white fur, the cute giggle she made whenever he tried to hit on her, the one who always went out of her way to help him when he couldn't help himself, the mare who tolerated his incredible incompetence when anyone else would have just left him to die... "What have I done?"
Rain Sight wrapped a hoof around him and pulled herself closer. As horrible as he felt about what he had done to Sweetie Belle, this was for the best. Sweetie Belle would be free now. She would have her life back, provided Rain Sight kept her word. As much as he hated to admit it, he did like having Rain Sight up against him. It was nice being with a mare who didn't want to drug him after sex so she could abduct him. Not to mention she was a hell of a cook when she didn't try to poison him.
I'm condemned to live the rest of my life with a beautiful mare who wants to wait on me hand and hoof, and I'm complaining? Sovereign looked at her and gently stroked her mane; she smiled happily at the gesture. I do like her but... she's not Sweetie Belle. No! I can't think that way. This is for the best. If I go after Sweetie Belle, I'm just going to bring her down with me. I just need to accept this is how things need to be and move on.
But something about this still didn't make any sense. Maybe Rain Sight really was attracted to him... maybe she wasn't acting on outside orders. But if that were the case, why was Twilight involved? What could she possibly gain from him and Rain Sight having sex?
Think Sovereign think. Rain Sight is a Confederate, that means zerg won't hurt her. Since the zerg don't hurt her, she could probably easily infiltrate Confederate territory. Ghost can too by mimicking zerg psionics, but ghost operatives are at a premium. Any random Imperial could be made into a Confederate infiltrator with Rain Sight's genes. Dominion Intelligence would probably love to have more agents like her, but she can't have any children, so that won't happen any time soon. No wait... she can't have any children unless it's with a Confederate... or... a... Dark... Templar...
Sovereign suddenly filled with dread at the prospect of fatherhood. Even more at the prospect of being a brood father to the next generation of DI zerg pony hybrids.
"Holy crap that's genius!" shouted Twilight who was still reading Sovereign's mind. I wish I'd thought of that. I'll have to tell Rain Sight to start making foals right away" She had always known about Rain Sight's condition, and her inability to breed. What she didn't know was that her zerg DNA was compatible with that of a Dark Templar.
She would have handled things very differently otherwise. Not only that, but if her sources were right, another Dark Templar female was being brought back in cryo. They could keep her frozen until the first generation came of age, then use her for the second generation to avoid the draw backs of inbreeding.
It also seems her weapons test was a complete success. The area of effect was many times larger than the last time Sweetie Belle lost control of her powers. Even after Sweetie Belle had left the area, the mares and stallions were still violent. It seemed Sweetie Belle may have turned her latest victims permanently insane. Blood ran through out the streets of Korhal as ponies continued to stab, bludgeon and even bite one another in an unquenchable thirst for violence. Overall, today was turning out to be quite the good day. In just a few minutes Sweetie Belle would-
"Oh crap! Sweetie Belle!" Twilight looked through the camera system to see if Sweetie Belle was still there, but she was long gone. She had probably gone underground where there were no cameras. Her optical implants wouldn't help much in finding out exactly where she was in the sewers, it all looked the same to her
Since Sovereign and Rain Sight were now valuable assets to her, she needed to get them both off world while she still could. Hawkens would probably try to rob the Dominion of not just one, but two new weapons against the Confederacy. It also wouldn't be long before Hawkens sent troops after Sweetie Belle. She would need a fall pony, someone to take the blame for Sweetie Belle's actions. More importantly, she needed to get rid of Hawkens, and she knew just the mare to help make it happen. If she played her cards right, she might be able to kill two birds with one stone.
Rainbow Dash was pleased to see Scootaloo was making quick progress. She had now turned off her jets entirely and was still cruising at a decent speed. Nowhere near as fast as Scootaloo could move without the armor on, but the progress was impressive none the less. It was good to see they still trained them well in the Ice House. Technically they were both outlaws now. Rainbow Dash would probably have to start getting involved in mercenary work to make ends meet, and she could use a good partner at her side.
Rainbow Dash's armor started emitting a familiar noise. She knew who it was, and due to recent events, she could choose ignore it, but decided she wanted to give a nice farewell. She had a few choice words for the person on the other side.
Rainbow Dash changed her suits com channel to a secure link. It was a custom feature built into her armor long ago. With the line secured, a mares voice came through. "Rainbow Dash. It's been a while. I missed you," said the voice of Twilight Sparkle.
Rainbow Dash grunted at the sound of the unwelcome voice. "What is it Twilight?" she asked in a clearly displeased tone.
"Now now Rainbow, is that anyway to talk to a friend?" asked Twilight.
"We aren't friends. But I am glad you called. We have to talk about our previously established arrangement," said Rainbow Dash.
"Yes we do. You were supposed to retrieve that data core for me. I worked very hard to secure the funds for your payment, and I'm very displeased to see that after all of my hard work, you didn't come through. Where is it?" asked Twilight.
"I don't have it," said Rainbow Dash casually. "Oh well."
"You think just because the kill switch on your suit is off line, you don't have to follow through on orders anymore?" asked Twilight.
"You heard about that huh? I guess the answer to your question is... yes," said Rainbow Dash.
"Did you forget your little sister is an illegally purchased clone?" asked Twilight. "We can't have illegal clones running around, so it is well within our rights to take that property back."
"Yeah right. We'll be off this world by tonight, and out of Dominion space shortly afterwards. I doubt you can do anything all the way from Korhal before then." said Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow I'm disappointed. Think about this for a moment. I'm talking to you through a radio right now. Do you think that radio in your suit can reach all the way to Korhal and back?" asked Twilight.
"Well... no. But what's that have to do with anything?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"What it means is that the signal is being bounced off of somewhere else. Namely the DSP in orbit. It didn't get entirely knocked out by that nasty virus you somehow got into that world's battle net. That means with the push of a button, I can still activate your little sister's kill switch from the Torus DSP," said Twilight. "Last I checked, those come standard in illegal clones. You wouldn't want me to test that would you?"
"She has nothing to do with this! You touch that button and you're a dead mare you hear me!?" shouted Rainbow Dash.
"Idle threats get you nowhere Rainbow. Though I can promise you my threat is anything but idle. As I said, she is an illegal clone, and the rightful property of the Dominion. I am well within my rights to deactivate any property I see fit. So shall we get to business, or will I be decommissioning some bad merchandise tonight instead?"
Rainbow Dash grunted under her mask. "Fine... what do you want?"