//------------------------------//
// Meet the Pyro: Interlude 
// Story: Meet the Team: Pony Fortress 2 
// by The Usurper 
//------------------------------//

	"You idiot!" Ician glared daggers at the smiling Administrator. "You've doomed us all!"

"Don't worry, I won't keep them dead forever." The Administrator wore a mocking grin. "Only up until I retrieve the Elements of Harmony."

"I knew it." Ician hissed. "You can't be trusted. I should go to Celestia and Luna-"

"Don't bother. I'm the only one here with the power to force the war to end."

"If they agree to make peace-"

"I doubt they will. Not until the threat is too close, at any rate." The Administrator laughed. "I'm your only hope."

"Grr..." Ician took a deep breath. His angry features began to settle down into their normal, impassive state. "Hm."

"Decided to comply?"

"Not quite yet." Ician quickly passed a piece of paper to his vulture. The bird grabbed it between its talons, nodded, and flew out the door.

"What was that?"

Ician grinned. "Nothing... that you need to know yet."

The Administrator regarded him warily. "It's too late to stop this, if that's what you're thinking."

"I was thinking nothing of the sort." He reseated himself on his chair, bringing his hooves together in rumination. "Actually, I have another proposition."

"Sounds interesting. What is it?"

"I will not interfere with your plans... on one condition."

"What?"

"You must allow them to respawn when the infestation strikes."

The Administrator snorted. "And why would I do that?"

Ician considered this. "She has spoken to you, correct?"

"Yes."

"Who else would she speak to?"

"Celestia and Luna, I suppose. Anypony with enough power to help her."

"What about the separatist groups?"

"That sounds logical." The Administrator glanced at Ician thoughtfully. "Though I believe that the dragons and griffins will be just as averse to her proposal as the two princesses are likely to be."

"Who do you think she will have gone to first?"

"The separatists, definitely. She would probably save Celestia and Luna for last."

"Why is that?"

"She has a... uh..." The Administrator coughed. "... history with them."

"Ah." Ician nodded. "So there are deep feelings of resentment between both sides."

"That would be correct. Why?"

"Think. What would you do if you had two ponies you didn't like trying to kill each other?"

"I'd probably kill them both while they were distracted." The Administrator's brow furrowed. "Wait..."

"Exactly. For her, it'll take almost no effort at all to infiltrate the castles of both princesses and kill them. And what would she do after that?"

"She'd look for the Elements of-" His eyes narrowed. "No."

"She's just as weak as you are against them." Ician, who at this point may or may not have been making somewhat educated guesses, kept a very straight face. "And if she's anticipating an inevitable clash with Equestria, the best thing she could do is to eliminate the leaders and seize the only artifacts capable of stopping her."

"Then I'll have to get to them first."

"I'm not inclined to believe that you're likely to succeed. Odds are, both Celestia and Luna have prepared some line of defense against your incursion. Besides, for all you know the Elements of Harmony may already have been taken."

"I... I see."

"If anything, she would have gone after them only today."

"Today? Why today?"

"Because your dear Pyro just left Canterlot - and much of its defenses - in flames."

"Good point." The Administrator conceded.

"Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that she already has Celestia's three Elements. After all, any spies she might have planted in Canterlot would have taken advantage of the chaos to move in."

"Fair enough."

"Therefore, it may well be that Celestia is already dead, and we just don't know it yet."

"... True."

"This means that, since the Elements are likely already gone, your best option would be to snatch them back as soon as possible."

"How would I go about doing that?"

Ician tsked. "Isn't it obvious? You may as well use those who have already sworn to defend Celestia to the death. RED team."

"It's a bit too late for that." The Administrator stated plainly. "Pinkie's already fighting."

The smallest hint of a frown twitched at the edges of Ician's face. "In that case, the Elements are lost. The next best course of action will be to revive all your victims at the earliest possible opportunity and spring a surprise offensive. Chances are they'd be unprepared."

"You forget that I don't have control over them." He shrugged. "I'm just as powerless as you are. The only ponies who obey me are the two Pyros and Screwball."

"An unfortunate circumstance that will cease to exist upon the Princesses' deaths." Ician reminded him.

"But up until then, I cannot do anything."

"The least you can do is to tell the Pyro to bring back their bodies after she's done with them."

"Why?"

"It'll be best to have both RED and BLU teams assembled immediately when the time comes to strike back." Ician rested his hooves on the table. "My guess is that you've also sent the RED Pyro after BLU team's potential Element bearers."

"You're correct. But since she's not labouring under separate personalities, it's a much simpler affair."

"That makes ten mercenaries gone. We'll have to bring all of their bodies here."

"Celestia and Luna will object."

"A dead princess is a powerless one."

The Administrator eyed him suspiciously. "What makes you so sure that they will die?"

"If I were to put numbers to it, I'd say that the odds of them being dead by the end of the week are... four out of five." Ician said. "When the odds are in my favour, I have just cause to be confident."

"That's still a one-fifth chance of their survival."

"A risk I can afford to take."

"Hmm... Fine. I will accede to your terms."

"Excellent." Ician's voice bore a tone of finality. "You may worry about contacting the RED Pyro. I've already taken care of Diana's notification."

"Since when?"

"Since I sent Faye away earlier."

The Administrator stared at him blankly.

"My vulture." Ician clarified.

"Ah." He frowned. "Wait, didn't you send it away before we started discussing terms?"

"Her." Ician corrected. "It's a her."

"You're avoiding the question."

"... I did, of course."

"How could you have sent your bird away with a message I gave you five minutes later?"

"The odds were nine out of ten." Ician smirked. "It was a risk I could afford to take."

"Those odds are going to betray you one day."

"One day." He agreed. "I'll be waiting for it."

"Glad to hear it." The Administrator gestured to the forgotten computer screens. "In the meantime, perhaps you'd like to sit back and enjoy the destruction."

Ician looked him in the eyes. "I'll watch, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it."

"Come on, be grateful that I at least gave her a small mercy."

"What do you mean?"

"The second spell I cast." He waved his hands nonchalantly. "The hallucination spell."

"That doesn't sound like something that'll be useful to her in combat."

"Oh, it's not for her active personality. It's for her inactive one."

Ician groaned. "Something else you 'forgot' to tell me."

"It's not strictly necessary for you to know." The Administrator said. "It's just that the part of her that doesn't want to kill won't suffer too much."

It didn't take long for Ician to connect the dots in his head. "The passive personalities are inactive, but not 'unconscious', in that sense."

"Correct."

"Meaning they can still see and hear what is happening."

"Yes."

"So Pinkie's original personality will still be aware of the killing going on around her?"

"Not quite. That's where the hallucination comes in."

"When that happens," Ician guessed, "I assume she will see a warped version of the truth."

"Absolutely correct."

Ician considered this piece of information. "Will she know what happened after she takes control again?"

"She will. They're all connected to the same mind, so they share a set of memories."

"Fair enough."

The Administrator paused. "Wait, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It sounds like something's burning..." He looked at the screen. "... Oh."

"Ah." Ician said. "Looks like your party's begun."