//------------------------------// // 7:Turncoats and Symbiosis // Story: The Chaotic Touch of Harmony 2: Bonded by Fire // by law abiding pony //------------------------------// Buraddi Mari couldn’t get Alexia out of her mind, and mostly didn’t want to. For the past three days, the princess met with the hematologist to leverage her passive aura to win the scientist over under the honest pretense of gathering information out of her. The thing that tore at Mari’s loyalty to the Mion cult was that Tune fully explained why the pegasus felt the way she did every time the alicorn talked with her. Currently the captive scientist was laying on her cot trying in vain to preen her pained feathers. So many were out of place or too damaged to remain, yet like bathing, preening was impossible for a pony to complete on their own. What preening she could do on her own was only to keep her mouth and hooves busy as her mind constantly wandered back to the silver and azure alicorn. What are you Alexia Tune? Are you really a goddess like my heart demands that I acknowledge, or are you as you say: a rare type of pony? The pegasus winced as she plucked a broken feather out. The bruises from her initial extraction were invisible under her fur and feathers, but she felt them all the same. Her innate healing had repaired the more limiting damage, torn ligaments, cut skin, and overextended joints, but minor things like bruises and shallow abrasions did not heal at an accelerated rate. Buraddi’s scientific curiosity would have been all over why a pony’s body made such distinctions, but again her mind kept slipping over to Alexia. I can’t believe she would be so honest with me and told me why her passive magic affects me so. She could have let her magic play with my mind and I would be hers without her ever having to lift a finger. The red pony clutched her head in her hooves to try and do something about the massive headache forming due to her frayed emotions. Alexia says she made a home for us in the States. She even found people willing to completely integrate both of our species. Is Trinity real? Is there really a place where humans and ponies live together as Terrans? She has plenty of reason to lie. She wants me to give up everything I know. Should I? Are the humans just using her and our kind? Isn’t the cult doing the exact same thing? A random thought queried in the back of her mind. The mare saw the broken feather in her hoof as a reflection of its former owner. “Of course they’re using her,” she spat in Japanese before conceding to the random thought’s point. “But the Mions lied to us, and are using us just as much as the humans would or are.” In the end, all of her questions boiled down to one. “Who would abuse me the least?” She dropped the feather on the floor and lifted her other wing into view. Over a dozen misaligned or damaged feathers met her eyes, giving her wing a badly disheveled look. We ponies are too scattered throughout the world and the Mions and humans are too powerful to strike out for independence. I have to choose who I want to win… Who to side with. The horrifying memory of when she was dangling in the air in front of a furious unicorn in the biology lab flashed before her eyes. In all of her years, Mari had never been so scared. During the massacre in Xi’an, the humans had tried to gun her down at a distance rather than get up close and personal. The red pegasus believed the massacre was ultimately an impersonal affair brought upon by acute xenophobia. On the other hand, the ebony haired mare knew the unicorn stallion, which unbeknownst to Buraddi was actually Alexia, took personal offense by the purpose of the underground facility and was inches from seeking retribution on her as he did to Mari’s other coworkers. Despite his hate, he spared me in the end. He could have killed me in an instant, yet he spared me so I could give him my secrets, or give them to his princess. Reliving it made her hold her wings in tight and wrapped herself in the thin blanket of her cot to try and shield herself from the waking nightmare. Did I really deserve his mercy? No one gets that angry without reason; he had to have known what we were making and wanted revenge. The realization stabbed her in the heart, making her weep. “He wanted vengeance because we wanted to wipe out humanity. Why would he get angry over that if he was being mistreated by them? Does he have human friends or family? Does he think of himself as a Terran?” The Mions were allies, but I never made friends with any. Tears streamed down her face as the revelations further compounded her guilt. “I was working to kill his friends, his family, all because I was so ready to blindly accept the Mions’ lies as truth… He had every right to kill me,” she whispered to herself. It doesn’t matter if I convinced myself that my work would kill those inhuman animals in Xi’an. The virus, the Mions are here to kill or convert every human on the planet. All those people I was ready to consign to death—what have I become? Her existential crisis made Mari weep silently for over an hour. She did not want to have her break down broadcast to the warden so she wrapped her thin pillow around her muzzle and shed her tears into it. In her depression, Mari felt as if her whole body ached from a lingering pain that never ceased except for when Alexia talked to her. Again Tune explained the reason behind it, but that only made it worse for Buraddi emotionally. I’m no better than the Chinese who tried to kill me. No, I’m worse. They tried to kill a few thousand of us, so I tried to kill every last human on Earth. Why did I ever let myself think they deserved that? She curled into a fetal position on her cot. Wracking sobs escaped the pillow and leaked into the hallway. “I’m a monster.” Alexia arrived a few minutes later for her daily questioning. Mari heard the muffled voices of the alicorn conversing with the warden and silenced her sobs. She flipped her pillow over and tried to rub the tears from her face, cursing her fur for clinging to the salty liquid. There was no way she could hide the smell of her tears, but she tried to at least mask the wet lines on her face. Alexia entered the cell giving the crying mare a careful look as she tried to recompose herself. The alicorn decided to let the red pegasus keep her dignity and ignored the tear stains on her face. To Mari, Alexia’s voice soothed the constant dull pain she felt in every part of her body, which was more intense around her carbuncle and brain. Tune gave the red mare a chilly but not unwelcome small smile. “How are you today Buraddi?” The pegasus’s ears drooped a bit from the equally chilly tone of voice before they perked back up again as the throb all over her body melted away and she felt reinvigorated as the alicorn magic that was so intrinsic to Alexia’s being, worked on conforming the red pony’s spirit to match its shell. “I’m doing a little better. Thank you for caring,” she said weakly. Tune gave the red mare a searching gaze. The princess still felt guilty about nearly taking this mare’s life when she had no means to fight back. However she couldn’t let that guilt show. “We don’t have to be enemies Mari. I would hope by now you would understand that.” “I—I know,” Buraddi replied sullenly. “Good. Now why don’t we begin again,” Alexia felt her impatience slip through her control at the same topic she discussed every time she visited. Yet she noticed that the red pegasus was far less hostile and more docile than when they started three days ago. “I’ll tell you everything,” the pegasus mare interrupted with her head hanging limp in trepidation. Alexia stopped speaking at the sudden yet quiet declaration. “Will you?” she asked carefully. “Yes.” Mari looked up, sorrow and pleading painfully evident on her features. “But—can I request just one thing?” “Depends,” Tune said coolly, “but I’m listening.” Shoring up her courage to voice the one thing she felt was the most selfish thing in the world to ask. “Can I be a Terran? Even if you have to execute me afterwards, please let me be a Terran for at least one day.” The question was not all together unexpected. The whole point of Alexia’s visits was to let her alicorn magic help convince Buraddi to switch sides. Alexia felt rather guilty about that subtle manipulation, but her conscious was soothed by not only explaining it to Mari, but also the fact that she was doing it to protect humanity. “I don’t know. Anyone who calls themself a Terran must be able to look beyond what species they are. Human or pony, both are equal members of a singular society. I don’t know if they’ll accept someone who was willing to commit specicide against their own.” Mari’s ears fell flat and her tail instinctively tucked between her legs. “I understand,” she replied despondently. “Both you and they have every right to refuse me.” “Maybe so,” Alexia said flatly, “but that doesn’t mean you will get the easy way out via execution. If you wish to follow a more difficult path and atone for your crimes, I can find a place for you in Trinity. Revenge against those who tried to massacre both you and your fellow captives in China is not justification for what you worked to achieve. Even if it is an understandable motivation.” Mari desperately wanted to convince the mare in front of her to accept her. Fortunately the red pony knew enough about the silver mare to avoid referring to Alexia as a deity in any capacity. “I’ll do anything, tell you anything you want to know Princess.” She bowed as low as possible, which was quite a lot for a pony. Tune kept her words cold, but her tone warm. “Giving me what information I require is a good first step, so we’ll start with that.” The silver mare withdrew her smartpad from her black satchel while gesturing with a wing for the pegasus to rise. Tune sat on her haunches and began her questioning. “First off. Since I know you have done extensive work on the Mion plague; does a cure exist, or possibly for a one to be created?” The relief that had flooded Buraddi at the idea of being given a chance was blunted by the very first question. “No. The changes are too thorough, and the victim’s mind and body are far too dependent on the Link to ever be severed again.” Really now? Tune managed to keep her intense curiosity hidden under years of practice in front of the camera. “In what way? Do they die upon being severed or…?” She trailed off for Mari to answer. “I’ve only seen it one time while I was there. It was when one of the warehouse staff broke one of the pillars in the large shelves, damaging sensitive equipment and breaking fifty water drums in the process. That’s hard to come by in the desert. As punishment, she was severed from the Link for a week.” A shadow fell over Buraddi’s face. “I stayed away from the whole thing and tried to cast it out of my mind, but I still heard people talk. They said she went completely feral within two days and was little more than an animal at the end.” Mari shivered at the recollection. “And she—she changed physically too. Parts of her atrophied rapidly after the second day while other parts became overly muscle bound. If I didn’t know what she looked like going in, I would never have guessed the—thing.” Mari shrunk into herself to try and get the haunting memory of a gorilla sized beast trying to smash out of its cage. The cage was covered in a tarp and rolled away in the wee hours of the morning when very few ponies would be present. Mari pressed herself against the wall of the hallway to let the guards cart the beast away. A nearby air duct blew part of the tarp open and a single maddened eye zeroed in on the red pegasus sweating against the wall. Buraddi snapped herself back to present to keep speaking. If I keep talking I get to be a Terran. Just keep talking. “I wouldn’t have known Garrdoth was the one who sentenced her had I not overheard about it later that night during dinner. After the worker's scheduled released, she determined to be too far gone to recover and had the worker taken to the lower labs. I don’t know what happened after that.” Note to self: inquire on the effects of the Link later. Alexia was glad to know of a weakness and pressed on. “What do you know of the engineering behind the basic plague that’s in the clouds? I know that your lab was tasked to create new strains, but how was the original created?” Mari felt chills and sat back to run her forelegs together to get rid of them. “I know that thing is a work of art. I know its purpose is horrid, but if you look at it from a scientific standpoint, the design behind it is perfect. It attacks everything in the human body, nervous system, heart, lungs, the skin, nothing is left unaffected.” Tune’s mouth was a pressed line of mild irritation. “That’s good information to have but not the answer I’m looking for. I need to know how long it took to engineer, was it done here on Earth or by a cloaked ship in orbit perhaps?” Mari shook her head. “Oh it certainly wasn’t done on Earth. That thing was crafted by someone or something that makes our skill at genetic engineering look like a mouse going up against a tiger. Even with such a technological gap, I still find it hard to believe this could have been so perfectly tailored to humanity without thousands of test subjects over multiple generations.” The silver mare was starting to get a headache from the partial answers. If it hadn’t been for Twilight going off similar tangents with her lessons in magic, Tune would have suspected the hematologist was being evasive on purpose. She abandoned some of her decorum and pressed the bridge of her muzzle to keep her annoyance in check. “Let me ask this another way. Where are the clouds, which are currently falling on the Earth on a daily basis, coming from? Is it a ship in orbit or is it a ground facility?” Mari fiddled with her hooves nervously at vexing her only ticket to freedom. “There is no cloaked vessel or ground cloud manufacturing and release centers as far as I’m aware of. I was told it all came from that meteor that crashed in the ocean a few years ago.” “Meteor? You mean the thing that damaged the western seaboard with the resultant tsunami?” “That’s right. I don’t know if the meteor was just a big rock or it had some kind of machine in it, but that’s the source of all clouds, and the Mions. They talked about it all the time in the cafeterias on how it was the chariot that brought salvation.” The red mare pawed the metal floor with a hoof. “At least those that bought the whole charade with the Herald being a god and what not.” Alexia nearly dropped her tablet out of shock. “You mean to tell me not all Mions believed the Herald to be a god?” Mari shrugged with her wings. “The nonbelievers are actually in the majority. The Herald doesn’t seem to care or else I’m sure those that do would have warred about it, or the nonbelievers would have been forced to by the Herald in either case.” Tune hid her stunned expression as best she could behind the tablet. I don’t understand. I thought the Herald bound them together in some cult. She peeked out from behind the smartpad. “And you’re absolutely sure about this?” Buraddi nodded. “Yes ma’am. I’ve sat with both types at meal tables, there were some snide remarks back and forth, but no dissent outside of that.” Alexia tsked at the complete lack of intelligence. Were we so blinded by the obvious zealots that we didn’t imagine some didn’t think of the Herald as a deity? Thompson needs to know about this so he can update the psychological profiles. After writing in her notes, Tune continued her questioning. “Do you know of any other research lab locations or how they planned to deploy the bioweapon?” “I don’t know how the—wait.” The red mare searched her memory but found the exact information difficult to get a grip on without her notes. “The virus we were working on was going to be an airborne pathogen. I remember that it was designed to decay if not within the human bloodstream, I’d say somewhere around a week at most.” “Do you think the other labs will use similar decay guidelines?” “I don’t know for certain, but that was a factor set by the Herald himself so I’d imagine so. As for other lab locations—” She scratched her head as she tried to wrestle her brain for a conversation she heard over two months ago in passing. Alexia suspected Thompson might have already gleaned this information from the data Loki recovered. This was more of a test of loyalty and to fill in any gaps Loki’s data might leave behind. “Hairy…no. Cherry… that’s not it. Berry!” Mari jumped slightly at finally grabbing the right memory. “Berry College in America! That’s where we were received the Fulcrum Strain to be modified into the Yeta.” Loki told me a place called Berry College was mentioned in the analyst report we got back this morning. But its significance was unknown. It may be too late to stop the weapon from being shipped out, but we need to close that facility. She saved her notes and put the pad away. “Thank you for your cooperation Mari. I’ll have you transported to the States for further debriefing.” Buraddi was afraid to ask, but curiosity got the better of her. “What’s going to happen to me?” Alexia stood there for a moment to ponder the answer. She felt it was the least she owed the scientist for her assistance. “If everything you’ve told me today and those who will handle your debriefing checks out, I’m sure you’ll placed with a research division on working on a vaccine for the plague, or at the very least a counter agent. As for your personal life, if you truly wish to be a Terran, you will have the same liberties as any other enjoys in time. My commander will still be wary of you for quite a while.” The pegasus was flabbergasted and it showed plainly on her face. “Y-you mean no prison time or execution?” Tune gave a coy grin. “Mari. Are you familiar with Operation Paperclip?” “So everything she said is on the level?” Alexia asked Thompson via her satellite phone while she stood on the stern facing open walkway on the Bush’s control tower. It was the only place open to the sky that she was authorized to be as the captain refused to let anyone on the flight deck except for its operators, pilots, and personnel moving in or out of a transport. “The data you sent back corroborates her information. I’ll have her inducted into Operation Snapper.” Alexia sighed in relief. “Thank you Director. She’s willing to make amends so I want her to be given a chance to do so through more than living out her days behind bars or the electric chair.” While she was technically his subordinate, Thompson valued her input immensely. “I understand Agent, but the brass is getting more desperate to keep order wherever they can. There are limits I will have to enforce on Mari.” Tune suppressed a sad sigh. She spent most of her two years as a princess honing her diplomacy and knew how to speak to him. “I know sir. But forgiveness is a more powerful of a weapon than any nuke. In both cases you eliminate an enemy, but with forgiveness you create an ally. Make her feel welcome and I know you’ll likely not see a more steadfast patriot than her.” “And what of the Mions and those ponies who side with them because they genuinely agree with their cause?” Thompson countered. The politician in her was in full swing and she answered with a grin. “Sir, just like any other weapon, you have to know when its use is appropriate. In Buraddi’s case, I think forgiveness and acceptance will be the most powerful and effective one you have in your arsenal. I’ve opened the door for its use, all you have to do is walk through.” He was silent for several seconds as he mulled over her response. I hope she never runs for office or tries to make herself a queen. Alexia waited patiently for his reply which came with a hint of conceding to her point. “Alright Agent. I’ll do it your way on this one.” “Thank you Director. I have a strong feeling she will work out well for us.” “I’ll hope you’re right. Back to other matters, we could not glean any information on the locations of the other laboratories. Yet we did find out several targets that Mions were planning to hit on across the globe. I’ve already forwarded the information on the US targets to the FBI so they can handle it. I have sent warnings to the other nations, but we have no way of knowing how much the cult as infiltrated in other counties. The Mions may just switch targets.” The Director stopped speaking when he heard a fighter craft landing on the carrier. The noise, even from the distance of the control tower, was painfully loud to the alicorn’s extra sensitive hearing and she flattened her ears while pressing a hoof to the ear closest to the aircraft. When the noise subsided he continued. “However I want you and the eighty second to handle the college personally.” Despite the bitterly cold night, Tune started sweating at the implications. “I know things aren’t going that well at home, but are we really so far gone that the National Guard can’t be used instead? We’re supposed to handle threats abroad aren’t we?” Thompson’s voice was muffled by the wind and another aircraft coming in for a landing, but Alexia could hear the fatigue in the prematurely aging man’s voice. Its never a good sign when one of our own only listens to what we let the media tell people. “Agent—Northern Georgia is part of the US in name only anymore. Everything north of downtown Atlanta is out of our control and up towards Knoxville has been abandoned by the government to reinforce major urban centers. We’re losing control over much of rural America. So in a roundabout way, we can act upon this without the FBI being able to make a substantial claim against jurisdiction impediment.” Tune had to take a few moments to recover from the horrifying news. “That’s why the FDA approval over magically grown food was rushed.” “Afraid so. The other earth ponies who are still waiting for Trinity to be able to support a larger population are helping the land between the Rockies and the western seaboard become our primary agricultural center for the nation. Food exports are nearly nonexistent now.” The silver alicorn felt guilty over eating so much on her return from the Algeria mission. “What do you expect us to find?” “By looks of things, this was the place where much of the research on the original plague was done. But there’s no indication on whether it remains active or was abandoned. If the place is still intact, it could lead us to potentially critical information we need to work on a counter agent.” Something about that bugged the princess immensely. “The data on Berry College said the facility only did research on just the original strain, correct?” Thompson wasn’t sure were this line of inquire was headed, but answered her plainly. “That’s right.” “What I don’t get is, why would they need to? Wouldn’t the Herald already give them that information right at the start?” I hadn’t thought of that. The Director shared her confusion the moment she voiced it. It made him believe this assignment would be all the more important. “Hopefully you’ll find out once you get there. The Army commanders were quite pleased with your work in making the eighty second’s follow up operation go off without friendly causalities. If this track record of success continues they’ll be investigating making this sort of joint operation more common place between the CIA and the Army. So they’re temporarily assigning the platoon on the Bush to be your support for all future operations.” “I’m flattered, but doesn’t the Army have Special Forces of their own?” “They do, and the eighty second counts as one of them. But I’m sure you already knew that,” he added with the barest hint of sarcasm. Alexia’s wings fidgeted at the verbal jab while he switched topics to avoid any further embarrassment for her. “I have a C-130 en route and should be landing within six hours to gather you, the troopers, and the hematologist. I advise you get some rest in the meantime.” It would not seem like much to some, but the odd word of professional endearment from the Director made Alexia smile slightly. “I will. Thanks for the advice.” “Of course. Mercer will have more details for you by the time transport arrives. Good luck Secret Agent.” As the alicorn ended the call she felt a niggling tickle in the back of her mind. She passed it off as mild seasickness coupled with the upcoming operation. I think I’ll call Beth and the other to see how the foals are doing. Little did she know, there was nearly two hundred ponies all joined in prayer. All in worship to the Alicorn of Life. Between Reed and Yakim, the Congregation was spreading quickly among new arrivals seeking an audience with the princess and those that the two self-appointed missionaries believed could be brought into the fold. Standing alone in the herd’s quarters, Conrad gripped one of Alexia’s reservoir crystals in his hooves and had a simple summoning array drawn on the floor with a black dry erase marker he absconded from the briefing room. “Come on, I should have gotten it right this time.” He placed the crystal on the edge of the array and it lit up correctly. Whew good, any second now— With a whoosh of displacing air, Alexia’s tome materialized into being. “Finally.” “Knowing Alex, she’ll head to the rec room to look for us after her call with the boss. Hopefully the girls will be able to keep Alex busy there to give me time to do this.” He flipped to the Dusk Guard section and tapped the reservoir crystal to the page. “Unlock.” The intricate magical lock on the golden page remained passive. He scowled at the resistant paper. “Come on, all I should need is her mana and passphrase to get it to open up.” He tried a dozen times to open it but to no avail. At least that’s what he thought when he almost gave up and rolled the half spent crystal away to think of a different tactic. “Great, I doubt there’s a solution to Alex’s problem in the civilian pages.” His efforts to access the Dusk Guard section, grabbed Twilight’s attention and the tome activated with the purple princess’s hologram ready to attack. “Who dar-“ she hesitated at seeing the brown pegasus. “Oh, hello Conrad.” She looked around room that looked too much like a cell to the Equestrian pony. “Where are you?” “That’s ahh…classified. Sorry,” he responded evasively. Sparkle regarded the tight steel room with only a few adornments. If the walls and floor had been made of wood, the princess would have believed Conrad was on a ship, but steel seemed too outlandish for such a construction material to her. I’ll ask later. “I understand. I thought someone had stolen your tome.” “Well I sort of did. Alexia doesn’t know about this.” Twilight was confused and narrowed her eyes. “Why deceive her like this? Especially to try and get my attention when you know I’d tell her.” Conrad looked the purple alicorn in the eyes to convey his seriousness. “Alexia’s anxiety is getting worse. When we’re here behind the lines, she acts like her usual self most of the time. But lately when we were on the last assignment, she’s been letting her fear of eventual loneliness tint her actions. I wanted to ask you if there was any possibility of giving or making a companion for her that will live as long as she will.” The purple mare scrunched her muzzle in contemplation. “I was starting to work on that very problem a few days ago. Even so, that still doesn’t explain why you are going behind her back.” “Because if there isn’t a solution, I’d rather not let her hear that. Better to keep her ignorant than get her hopes up only to crush them again.” “Or the solution would not be to her liking.” Twilight detested keeping secrets from her friends, but it was the nature of her position as mistress of the Dusk Guard. Conrad was glad to have her understanding and it showed in his face. “Where is Alexia now?” Conrad shifted his gaze away from Twilight with an uncomfortable look on his face. “She’s in the rec room with the others getting petted no doubt.” “Petted?” Twilight arched an eyebrow at that. Conrad wasn’t happy that a different term had not been made to replace petting. “It’s a long story,” he replied while waving it off with a wing. “Something Crimson calls a ‘symbiotic bonding experience’ or some such.” “…Well I doubt she’d willingly subject herself to anything that was demeaning. As for your request however, I already came to the same conclusion that she needs someone to be able to endure the long years with her. But then again, it may be just as important for her to learn how to let go after someone dies and be able to kindle new relationships.” The pegasus grimaced at the prospect. “While I suspect that will be the most likely solution, I consider that to be the worst case answer. I know Alex, she needs a partner in life. If she can learn how to do just that, then I’d be happy with it. I don’t care if it’s me or someone else, but Alex needs someone she can wake up to the morning and know that she’s loved.” Well, by more than those nuts trying to worship her anyway. He shook the tangent thought away to continue. “And if that’s the healthiest solution, I would be happier knowing she could love another stallion or herd instead of clinging to our memory.” Twilight felt the tension in her withers evaporate at his pronouncement. I should have known that he of all ponies would keep Alex’s best interests at heart. “She’s lucky to have you Conrad.” He gave her a wiry grin. “I got to be her first mate and the father of her children. I’m the lucky one here.” “A fair point.” She would have laughed were it not for the subject at hand. Instead she opted for a small but genuine smile. “Well as I said I have only recently been looking into a solution for this problem. Its good to know that if said answer is less than ideal, that I’ll have your support in carrying it out.” “I speak for Crimson and Loki as well. We want our legacy to be Alexia being able to live healthily through her ageless life.” It was a way of sugarcoating that he didn’t want Tune to go insane, and Twilight knew it. “Well I have some preliminary ideas, but I don’t want to share them quite yet until I do more research. But rest assured that I am working on this. Until you decide to tell Alex of this, you’ll need a way to get my attention without tripping the tome’s defense wards.” Twilight’s horn lit up and latched on to the reservoir crystal nearby and used it to fuel an identification marker on him. One was not needed on Alexia anymore thanks to the distinct signature of her alicorn magic acting as a natural substitute. It was that unique feature that allowed Twilight to do the same to Conrad. The reason Conrad failed was because he was missing the tome’s key which still resided in Alexia’s hoof. The presence of the crystal puzzled her though and she voiced her curiosity while channeling the spell. “Why does Alex even need a reservoir crystal anymore?” Conrad watched the solidified mana of his alpha slowly break apart and become a mist around him. “She keeps it for the three of us actually. We need her mana to summon the tome back and forth to study the civilian pages. She’s not always available to summon it herself.” Sparkle finished weaving the spell as the mist sank into the stallion’s body. It would be nigh undetectable and would be missed by anything but the most thorough dispelling techniques. “I can’t give you direct access to the archives because this isn’t my mana, you’ll still need Alexia to open that for you. However this will allow me to know you wish to speak without tripping my usual anti-theft wards.” “How long should I wait before asking for an update?” Twilight tapped her chin with a wing elbow in thought. “While I know the four of you share a dangerous profession, your actual lifespans are still quite long. I’ve read about Earth’s typical house pets and horses. Aside from Alex of course, a pony’s lifespan is roughly that of humans. This is a long term problem and it needs exhaustive research to be done right.” Conrad was not familiar with Twilight’s version of exhaustive research and surmised she was only talking about a few years maximum. “I’ll make it my mission to keep her stable until then.” “I wish you luck Conrad. Is there anything else?” “Actually there is. Do you happen to know any offensive ranged pegasi magic?” The purple mare knew full well of Earth's conflict and was more than willing to help anyway she could. Even if that meant granting more access to non-civil spellcraft. “I think I know a few.” As Alexia finished up her much needed phone call with her family back home, the niggling sound persisted returned as she wound her way through the corridors towards the herd’s favorite recreation room. She rubbed a hoof in her left ear to try and get the faint sound to go away. Ugh, did I eat some bad cabbage or something? As time went on, the faint sound slowly started to feel pleasant, almost welcome. Maybe its just the ship’s engines. It actually sounds rather nice, I might be getting my sea legs after all. By the time the mare moved from the control tower to the forward recreation room towards the bow of the vessel the pleasing noise faded completely, confirming in her mind that it must have been the engines. Alexia found her fellow mares and pilot in a familiar scene. Six servicemen were petting them with the two women enthralled in the act of massaging Highwind's mane and back. The two mares were on the couch again with Gil lying on a table with thin cushions between him and the hard wood. Loki went so far as to be lying on one marine’s lap and cooed softly every so often as his hands washed away the green mare’s troubles. While the ponies’ utter bliss would make a casual observer think otherwise, the humans were actually enjoying the activity more than the equines. Tune was not all that surprised that Conrad wasn’t present. He still has that criminal’s paranoia, and is probably on the treadmill again in the workout room. Meh, his loss. As for me, I may be a princess, but I am not above a free petting session when it’s freely given. The scene warmed her heart nonetheless. To see both humans and ponies fully enjoying each other’s company is always rewarding to see. We keep putting on a good sociable front to almost complete strangers and both of our species can peacefully coexist the world over, not just in Trinity. Alexia might have considered her lifetime goal to have every pony and human live as Terrans were she not an ageless alicorn. “Hey guys.” The smiling silver mare waved her right wing at the group. The ponies barely managed to wave back in acknowledgement while the masseuses did the same only with more vigor thanks to not being so completely tranquillized. “You mind if I join in?” Unseen by Alexia’s entry, Loewy and his two friends Buttercup and Snake were playing on an Xbox and had been watching the trio of ponies with mixed interest. Loewy seized the opportunity and tried his best to make a half jog seem nonchalance as he abandoned the game. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to do the honors.” Alexia brightened at the offer but couldn’t help but tilt her head in mild bemusement. “I didn’t think you wanted to pet us.” “Well—“ he replied sheepishly. “It felt kind of disrespectful since its called petting and what with you being intelligent, secret agents, and all that jazz.” He pointed at Tune’s necklace to silently indicate her royal status. Alexia tittered and held a wing to her mouth to hide it. She removed the feathery appendage to speak with a mock insulted tone. “And just what kind of snobby princess do you take me for? I mean, true I wear only the best furs, but still.” She rubbed a hoof over the side of her barrel at the mention of fur. She grinned while some of the servicemen chuckled around her. Loewy took the taunting is stride and laughed along with them while scratching his head. “And the whole petting thing?” Alexia found an empty chair and flapped her wings to fly the short distance over to it and sat on her haunches while beckoning him over with a hoof. “The way I see it, petting is just a symbiotic act between us. I know humans enjoy their personal space, I was one a few years ago after all, and that is true among us ponies as well. Yet when we’re among friends that practically disappears. Right guys?” Highwind fought through the mind cotton to give his response through his actions rather than a direct answer. He craned his head around to speak to his two masseuses. “Ladies, I would love you to the day you die if you could scratch my wings too.” The two women saw the soft down feathers as he puffed his wings out and their fingers gladly invaded the exposed feathers. The stallion went limp from the paradise those fingers inflicted. “You know Gil,” one of the women said with a grin, “You should really think about transferring to the ship on a more permanent basis. I’d pet you every day if you did that.” “Amen to that girl,” her partner in crime remarked. Loki sighed contently as her head rested on the marine’s thigh. The green mare barely knew the man, but she was willing to trust any serviceman willing to pet her. “I don’t know your names,” she said referring to the two men petting her mane and back, “but I could do this all night couldn’t you?” The two marines petting her usually couldn’t stand one another, but the mare kept them civil with each other. The one stroking her mane answered. “The world just doesn’t seem like it’s quite so bad with you guys around,” he said wistfully. “It’s going to be quite empty around here when you leave.” One of his fellows scoffed at him. “What are you? A poet?” “Damn right I am. Wrote a few battle hymns too.” Tune ignored the mild banter and returned her attention to Loewy. “Come on, what a little petting between friends?” Loewy overcame his reservations and followed the princess’s advice. Buttercup growled to herself as she watched from the paused fighting game. “When I want to pet something, I don’t want it able to talk back. Let alone have to worry about sexual harassment if I touch them the wrong way.” Snake used it as an excuse to put the controller down. He wasn’t too keen on continuing a losing match. “They want their heads, neck, and back rubbed. I don’t think that’s classified as bad touch. Besides the whole ship loves them, though I haven’t seen any officers come down to pet them.” Buttercup wasn’t about to let him escape defeat so easily and tossed the discarded controller back in his hands. “That’s either because this is the non-com room. Or those ponies are an experiment in human control techniques. Why else do you think a team of spooks are here playing pet the pony?” Snake huffed and unpaused the game to keep playing. “You really got to stop thinking of them as human. They’re intelligent, but they just don’t think like us. You and I may not want to be petted by perfect strangers, but they obviously enjoy it. And apparently everyone else who isn’t a colossal bitch of a conspiracy theorist loves to pet them.” Buttercup hit Snake’s character with a hard hitting combo and ended the match with a victory. “You want to get roped into stroking your horse and end up their mind slave, be my guest.” Snake growled and tossed the controller on Buttercup’s chair. “I think I will.” The woman saw him walk over to join Loewy and Alexia was more than willing to let him. Buttercup shook her head at it all. I just don’t get it. Spook experimentation or not, how can they stand complete strangers rubbing them. Hell, why do sailors and marines fall over themselves to do it? Tune was utterly content. Even though she had only spoken to Loewy and Snake a couple of times, she trusted them enough to be completely at ease as both mare and men enjoyed the symbiotic bonding. This is just one more reason to champion social integration. We complement each other so well… All coherent thought was lost as Snake wiggled his fingers underneath her feathers and gently scratched the skin while Loewy’s hand attacked her mane. As she fell into that blissful state, the pleasant sound of her worshipers returned to whisper in the back of her mind. Only knowing that it was a pleasing, if barely perceivable noise, Alexia let it calm her to the point where she fell asleep on Loewy’s lap. The following morning was busy for everybody. The entire flight deck had been cleared for the medium cargo aircraft to land and it barely had time to be refueled and load its passengers before it roared down the carrier and back up into the air. As the 82nd and the small group of CIA personnel settled in for the long flight, Alexia tested her sputtering harness. I need to get back home and have Pack Rat fix my gear. Even the antimagic field detector got fried. The four equines talked amongst themselves in Equish for much of the flight back to the States while the paratroopers did the same. Crimson had taken the time to actually read up on the field intelligence on the now deserted town of Rome Georgia where Berry College resided. The file in her hooves painted the same picture just with different scenery. Local authorities lost control six months ago. National Guard pulled out three months after that. Civilian evacuation was haphazard at best. Surrounding urban and rural areas are a total loss. Any further musings were interrupted by Mercer as he leaned forward in his seat and clapped his heads together to get the ponies’ attention. “There’s one last thing you need to know about the op. Apparently the FBI was not willing to full relinquish authority to us in this matter so you’re going to have to cooperate with a field operative of theirs. He’s apparently a specialist in scouting lost US territory.” “What’s his name?” Conrad asked with only mild interest. Mercer’s tone was a bit sour. “An old acquaintance of yours. Agent Carter.”