Published September 24th, 2013
"Who is it? Come on, man, who are we gonna meet?"
"Rainbow, he obviously wants to do the introductions face-to-face, or he would have told us already."
"That is correct, Twilight."
"Well that doesn't make me feel much better."
"I don't think it was supposed to, to be honest." Rainbow stuck her tongue out at me in response as we reached the bottom of the elevator. Stepping out, we turned right, and quickly found ourselves back in the communal room with the other ponies. The place was much more packed than before, though, due to all the humans who were also present. Most were moving around, ferrying various food and medical supplies around, but there were plenty just sitting around, letting the ponies talk and vent their problems and worries, or telling their own stories and lifting their spirits. We made our way to where Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie had been, and found them with exactly the blond-haired cyborg I wanted to see. As we approached, I could see their reactions to her last joke, although I couldn't hear the punchline itself. Applejack chuckled slightly, Rarity looked like her jaw was about to fall off in horror, and Pinkie smiled just wide enough for her teeth to flash. Rainbow immediately went to the pink mare's side when she saw her smile, inadvertently startling the joke teller to the ground as she suddenly appeared from behind her. I walked up just as she was recovering, and offered a hand to help her up.
"Hey there, beautiful. Need some assistance?" Her eyes instantly lit up when she saw me, and she grabbed my hand, pulling herself up quickly so she could immediately shove her lips against mine while her arms went around my neck as quickly as mine went around her waist. We kept it short, but I could see the usual fire in her eyes that promised she would be taking far more time once we were out of public. We turned back to find almost all of the ponies we had been with staring in surprise.
"Ladies, allow me to introduce you to my girlfriend, Tillie Rhone. Tillie, this is Twilight Sparkle, and this is Rainbow Dash. I believe you've already met the others, yes?" Twilight and Rainbow waved as I introduced them, and Tillie nodded at my last question.
"Yep. I was just telling them about the time we were on Sawcus, when you fell into that pit?" I reflexively brought a hand to my face and groaned.
"You just love that story, don't you?" She giggled at my expense.
"Yep. Almost as much as you." I shook my head as the ponies started chatting with one another.
"Anyway. So what are you doing here? Other than ruining my reputation?" She gave me a fake shocked look.
"What, I can't just take some time to see my boyfriend while our ships are nearby?"
"No, actually, you can't. It's against regulation to take any sort of personal outing before alert status has been lifted. So there must be another reason for you to be here. I'm just the bonus for you personally." She rolled her eyes.
"Just like you to get straight to the point. Yes, I am here for another reason. Specifically, them." She pointed to Twilight and her friends, and I raised an eyebrow.
"What for? They haven't been causing any trouble, that I know of, and everyone seems to be getting along with them just fine."
"Yes, which is why they're being called to Archimedes."
"Already? Usually it takes at least a month for the Judges to take up a hearing."
"Yes, but usually the hearings don't involve an alien race, and they usually don't have a recommendation from someone as highly ranked and respected as Admiral Fallshen." I reflexively whistled. Cordon Fallshen giving a voluntary recommendation for anyone was nearly unheard of.
"I take it that your squad will be helping escort them, then?" She nodded.
"Yep. The others are still busy with cleanup direction, but Arnold wanted me to come over early and let you know."
"I'm glad he did. This changes my plans considerably. Before anything else, though, I want to check up on Fluttershy again to see if she's improved any." Rainbow and Twilight looked up when they heard that, and followed along a we went back to the intensive care area. The entire place seemed to have improved considerably, and Fluttershy was noticeably better. Her breathing was less labored, and several of the various intravenous instruments had been removed. I decided to check the diagnostic while the others looked her over.
Well, this could be a lot better. Multiple internal injuries, complete absence of body control functions, possible coma... sigh... It's going to take a lot of medical help before she's even close to moving on her own again, let alone back to however she was before. Although... As I thought about a possible solution to the second problem, Tillie was looking over my shoulder, and tapped me to motion for a private conversation. We stepped out into the hall, and I turned to keep an eye on the others while she spoke.
"Kuro, that chart was not a good sign." I could tell she was worried; she had the big, pleading eyes on that hoped I had something good to say.
"No, it wasn't. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to do everything in my power to help." She leaned on my side, and put her arms around me as she sighed.
"I should hope not. You're probably their best chance right now, although maybe not the best qualified, and they've all got a long road ahead of them." I nodded as I put my own arm around her shoulders.
"Yeah, but they've got a lot of powerful friends now, and none of us are going to let them down." We stood there for a few more seconds before I remembered something. "Oh, crap! They can't understand English writing!" I broke off from the embrace, and continued speaking as I crow-hopped down the hall. "Tillie, I need you to keep an eye on them for a couple minutes! I'll be right back!" I gave her enough time to wave her assent, then took off sprinting back to the barracks. As soon as I got to their room, I did a quick search to find the citizenship forms, grabbed them and a couple of pens from the desk, and sprinted back. Tillie had brought them back out to the communal room, and Rainbow and Twilight were now conversing with Applejack and Rarity. I slowed back down to a safer speed as I approached, and came to a stop next to them.
"You two need to get these filled out right away." They looked at me in confusion.
"Why?" Rainbow asked with her head to the side. "It's not like we're going anywhere any time soon, right?"
"Actually, we are. We're going to a planet called Archimedes, the center of most of our military, as well as the home of the Judges, eleven gargantuan supercomputers designed to be the perfect unbiased judiciaries. We'll be going there to petition for your citizenship, as well as petitioning for action to be taken towards finding and freeing your planet." I handed one of the forms and a pen to Tillie, and sat down. "If we're going to have any chance of getting a favorable result, though, we need to have all of the documentation finished before we arrive." The next hour and a half was spent sitting there, reading the forms to Rainbow and Twilight, explaining what they didn't understand, and filling in the appropriate spaces for them. When we finally finished, I put the packets together and stood up as I rubbed my eyes free of the strain from staring at paperwork for too long.
"Okay, I'll get these into the system, and we should be good to go. Wait here, I'll be back soon." They all nodded, and I picked my way through the swirling mass of bodies that separated me from the exit. I jogged down to the Active Archives, and handed the forms over to the person in charge of filing petitions. Satisfied that everything was done that I could do, I hurried back. When I arrived, there was a new addition to the group.
He was a large, darker-skinned man, with exceptionally pale hair. The part that really stuck out about him, though, was that his entire left arm was replaced by a large metallic limb, ending in a huge, four-fingered claw. His left leg was almost as intimidating, though it was only from the knee down that was replaced. The foot itself had two front-facing toes, with retractible claws, and a third toe facing backward that had a tube on it, which I happened to know was hooked up to a flamethrower system. Arnold was not a man to leave behind evidence on the battlefield, which was a big part of why he was chosen to lead the Cyber Battalion's Shadow Squad. With that flamethrower, he didn't even have to stop and aim. He could just walk by, turn it on, and the fire would take care of the rest. Maybe not the nicest or cleanest system, but it got the job done when he was in a hurry. He turned, and I had to suppress a shudder at the appearance of his upper left jaw, which was also replaced with metal prosthesis. I still don't know how that happened, and it still gave me a weird sensation in my own mouth whenever I saw it.
"Kuro. Nice to see you again. Hopefully you haven't been causing too much trouble lately?" It wasn't said in a joking manner, but I wasn't exactly his favorite person. "I see you still have difficulty doing your paperwork in an expedient fashion." I really wasn't his favorite person.
"Good to see you, too, Arnold. I was hoping we could skip most of the idle chatter and insults this time, though, seeing as we have company." He narrowed his eyes dangerously, and leaned forward as Tillie got ready to do damage control in my peripheral vision.
"If you can keep your trap shut, then I'm all for it."
"Agreed." He removed himself from my personal space as the others relaxed, and turned to Tillie.
"Corporal, I expect you to stay on schedule, regardless of personal matters or distractions." She saluted her assurances, and he gave me one final warning glare before leaving to take care of his own business.
"What was his problem?" Rainbow asked once he was out of earshot. "He really seemed like he hated your guts, Kuro." I nodded.
"He used to be my commander. I was still pretty stupid back then, never got my reports in quickly or did my chores how he wanted them done. Always went my own way on that sort of thing. So of course when I got transferred from Cyber Battalion to Shadow Battalion, and a promotion to go with it, he absolutely hated me. Even more so now that I'm his equal in terms of rank." She accepted that explanation, which was good since I wasn't about to tell them the biggest reason I'm eternally on his shit list. Applejack suddenly let out a huge yawn, and everyone else seemed to slump a little at the reminder of how long they had been up for. "How about we all go to bed? None of us seem to be needed for anything right now, so there shouldn't be any reason for us to stay up and wear ourselves out." They all agreed quickly, and after deciding that Rainbow and Applejack would stay behind to watch after Pinkie, I took Twilight and Rarity back to the dorms.
After making sure they wouldn't need anything, since they still weren't technically allowed to roam free around the ship, I closed the door and went into my own room. Inside, I found Tillie laying on my bed, already in her sleepwear and watching me with half-lidded eyes
"You really do move in and out of clothing faster than anyone else I've met." She giggled.
"You should know. You've seen me do it enough times." I chuckled as I got myself ready, and soon joined her beneath the blanket.
"It's always nice when we get to do this."
"They say distance makes the heart grow fonder."
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The next morning, I checked my missives to find that two other ships had come during the night, and we were scheduled to leave in about an hour. I got dressed, woke Tillie up, and collected the unicorns from the other room before heading for the food place. We got our own breakfasts, and headed up to the communal room with some extra stuff for the others. When we got there, I was surprised to find that there were almost no ponies or humans up and about yet. The ones that were up were quietly eating and conversing amongst themselves on the opposite side of the room from a giant, multi-colored pile near one wall. Apparently the ponies had decided that sleeping all together was preferable to spreading out, and honestly I couldn't blame them for wanting some friendly contact after what they had been through. Most of the humans that were still sleeping had situated themselves in a sort of protective barrier around the outer edge of the huge pile of bodies, although there was the occasional human that could be seen in the pile. The ones on the outside edge were the only ones with blankets, most likely because everyone else was warm enough sharing body heat. I managed to spot Rainbow's trademark mane near the edge of the pile against the wall, and stealthily made my way over to her. I crouched next to her, and gently shook her awake, trying not to disturb the other ponies nearby.
"Rainbow. Rainbow, come on, it's time to get up." She shifted a little, and waved one hand in my general direction to try and make me leave. I rolled her back over, and this time she slapped my arm in the laziest attempt to keep sleeping that I had ever seen. I shook her one more time, and she groaned a bit before giving a big yawn and moving away from Applejack to get up. She stretched, and gave another yawn before giving me a tired glare while Tillie put one of the trays of food in my hand.
"What's so important that you had to wake me up for it?" I brought the tray into view, and smirked in satisfaction as her eyes lit up a little. She took the tray, sat down, and immediately started eating, speaking between bites. "So what's... all this about?... You don't... do this sort... of thing... without a reason."
"Because you know me so well, right? Anyway, we need to get you and Twilight ready, since you'll be the ones appearing before the Judges. And since we'll be heading out in about an hour, we need to get you both briefed on what's expected of you while you're in there." She nodded, and I glanced to the pile of sleeping bodies again. "By the way, is this sort of thing normal at all? It doesn't seem like something that happens often, considering how haphazard everyone's orientations are." Twilight answered as she came up, Rainbow opting to focus on her food instead.
"No, it isn't. I would guess that everyone just decided they wanted to stay close to their friends, and this looks like almost everypony from Ponyville, so most of them knew each other already. They probably just started grouping together until they all amalgamated into one big pile. I would guess that most of the humans decided that they should stay on the edges, that way the ponies can be closer to their friends and family." I nodded, and looked back to Rainbow to see her just finishing her meal.
"You two ready to go?" They both nodded, but before I say any more, Rarity spoke.
"I do have one question before you wander off. Why are you only taking them? Why not take Applejack and myself, as well?"
"Well for starters, they're the only ones who have the paperwork completed. Second, I don't want to take too many of you, that way I can still predict enough to make a difference as to whether the Judges will rule in our favor. Lastly, I don't want to have to keep track of a large group. The city the Judges are in - Altipolis - is big, and easy to get lost in if you don't pay attention. We can't afford spending time looking for one of you if that happens, so we have to make sure the group stays together. Besides, if we can get two ponies approved for citizenship, the rest of you will have a much easier time of it when it's your turn." She raised an eyebrow at me.
"And what if we don't want to become citizens?" I blinked. That hadn't even occurred to me.
"Why wouldn't you? Without citizenship, you're basically a prisoner of war. You won't be allowed off the ship, and you won't have any of the rights and protections that a citizen does. I don't see how that's a better alternative." She sighed, and I could tell I was about to get one of those 'it should have been obvious' explanations.
"Because, it also means we'd then be subject to all of your laws, like taxes. None of us have money, and I don't think that you would accept our currency anyway. Not only that, but what about our own planet? If we're all citizens by the time it's out of Emrini control, then what happens? You take control of our planet instead since we're technically your citizens and therefore still subject to all your rules? I'm sorry, but that doesn't sound too benevolent to me." She crossed her arms, waiting for a response.
"Actually, this isn't full citizenship. We've had problems with people born outside of Earth's sphere of control before, and we have laws that prevent exactly the scenario you just described. When Sawcus was first colonized, the people there were independent explorers. So, they decided to claim the planet in their own names, and there was a huge debacle about whether or not they would be allowed to develop a completely separate government there. That argument was also what sparked the creation of the Judges in the first place. A lot of people had personal interests in that planet, due to the huge amounts of valuable materials it has, and there were a lot of instances of attempted foul play. None of them were successful enough to affect Sawcus' independence, though. The final verdict was that the planet would be treated as a separate allied entity, similar to how countries ally themselves without interfering too heavily in each other's politics. Then there were a whole bunch of people who were born without citizenship, tried to go there, and then come back to get citizenship after engaging in various criminal activities. Because full citizenship would have given them sufficient protection to avoid full prosecution and punishment, laws were put in place to make 'sub-citizenship', which would give them the ability to move freely within the Earth sphere, but without being able to dodge the law. Similarly, there were a number of people with Earth sphere citizenship who went to Sawcus, then got into political positions where they could force the planet back into Earth sphere jurisdiction." The three ponies looked at me with slight horror until Rarity spoke again.
"Why would they do all that? And why didn't anyone stop them sooner?"
"You have to understand, Rarity, that humans are cunning creatures. And those of us who give in to greed are usually willing to do just about anything to get what they want. Most of these plans were years, even decades in one case, in the making. They put a lot of effort and money into these schemes, and they covered their tracks exceptionally well. The fact that none of them actually succeeded is a testament to the skill of the people who uncovered them." Twilight looked at me skeptically.
"That seems just a little arrogant, don't you think?" She leaned forward as Rainbow and Rarity shrugged in agreement. I just smiled a little.
"I guess you'll have to see for yourself. What you've seen so far is just scratching the surface of what we've accomplished. And I haven't even told you everything that I've had done to myself yet, either." They all seemed surprised at that. "But for now, we need to get moving. The ship is already warping, so we have to get finished quickly."