//------------------------------// // Memories and Missions // Story: One Last Mission // by Show Stopper //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Memories and Missions It was rather a surreal experience for Twilight, seeing herself levitating Pinkie Pie down the streets of Ponyville. Under normal circumstances, she would have been bombarding Show for questions about the spell, trying to learn it herself. However, these were not normal circumstances. Ponyville was gone, replaced by Equestrian Military HQ. Gone were the quaint little houses. Gone were the beautiful flower gardens and family owned businesses. Gone was the river that used to wind through the town. Replacing the picturesque village were large tents, huge warehouses, expansive training fields, and row upon row of army barracks. Few buildings remained of the original town, and only the library remained unchanged. Even that was surrounded by bleak stone archives. In fact, bleak stone and drab canvas made up almost every structure in sight, the repetition of gray and brown a stark contrast to the bright colors that the girls remembered. It wasn't just the town; the ponies were completely different, too. While Ponyville had always been an earth pony town, unicorns and pegasi had hardly been an uncommon sight. Now there were just as many pegasi as there were earth ponies, but unicorns were scarcer than Canterlotian nobles at a Pinkie Pie Party. There was also an unusually large number of gryphons, almost as many as there were earth ponies or pegasi. Everyone wore a military uniform and carried at least one weapon. They didn't speak to each other or even look around. They just marched straight to wherever they were headed, eyes forward and unmoving. And what eyes they were. Even as their faces remained as stiff and controlled as the old Royal Guards', their eyes betrayed depression and coldness. And those were the lucky few; most of them just looked dead. As Show led the girls through this sea of walking corpses, his smile remained bright and casual. In contrast, the girls had expressions ranging from Twilight's pained shock, having been mentally bracing herself (though not nearly enough), to Fluttershy's horrified weeping. "It's a good thing these zombies are so rigid," quipped Show as he paused to let a group of earth ponies pass. "If they were to so much as relax their eyeballs they'd see all of you. Those mobs would be impossible to get through!" "I- I don't believe this..." whispered Rainbow, wings hanging limp at her sides. "Believe it, Spectrum," said Show. "This isn't the Ponyville of sunshine and rainbows anymore. This is the Ponyville of bleak stone and uniforms." "Speaking of which, why aren't you wearing yours?" They all turned to see Red Heart marching over from the heavily added onto Ponyville Hospital, glaring at Show as if he were a staph infection. "N-Nurse Red Heart?" stammered Fluttershy fearfully. Red Heart's expression immediately softened as she turned her gaze to the girls. "It's good to see you again, Fluttershy. You too, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack." She rounded on Show, her glare back in place. "And just where do you think you're taking my patients?" "Hey, calm down, Hearts," said Show, grinning as Red Heart flinched at the nick-name. "In reverse order, I think I'm taking them to the Generals, as are my orders. As for the uniform, as a spy, I'm not in the army, air force, gryphon armada, or even special forces, so what uniform would I wear?" "Oh I don't know," said Red Heart rolling her eyes. "Maybe the one that the Generals THEMSELVES gave you?" Show shrugged. "Fair point. I just don't like it. How'd you recognize me, anyway?" "By not being an idiot, that's how!" Red Heart retorted. "Twilight's to drained to maintain a levitation like that for long, and I'm not even sure that she knows a cloning spell." "I don't," replied Twilight as Show said, "She doesn't." Ignoring Twilight's glare, Show continued. "You can't argue against me escorting them to the Generals now that they're awake, and I've seen enough of this one," he gave Pinkie a small shake, "to know that the Generals will be quite content to not see her conscious." Red Heart gave a defeated sigh. "I suppose you're right," she admitted. "Of course I'm right! So..." Show raised an eyebrow. "Why are you here again?" If looks could kill, Show would have been a burning corpse six feet under. "To give you grief and waste your time!" she shouted. "You do that to everyone else so much, I figure that I should repay you as often as possible!" Without another word, she turned and stormed back to the hospital. "Wow," muttered Rainbow. "She hates you." "I'm arrogant and insubordinate," Show replied cheerfully. "Everyone hates me!" "I can see why," chorused Applejack and Rainbow. Show winced, his face showing deep sorrow. "Ouch. Double-whammy. I'm so sad I might cry." Tears started to form in his eyes, and for a moment he looked absolutely miserable. In an instant, his smile was back and the illusion was shattered. "Oh well. Shall we?" He continued to lead them to what had once been the town square. He walked up to a building that seemed totally unfamiliar to the girls. In fact, the only reason they were able to recognize the highly modified Town Hall at all was because of its location. The doors were guarded by two pegasi who hovered on either side, spears in hoof. Show stepped right up to them and sang, "Hello boys. I'm ba~ack!" Their eyes widened considerably, but the guards showed no other reaction. Show shook his head, admittedly impressed. "Former Royal Guards," he chuckled. "Not the best fighters, but if they aren't the most disciplined soldiers I've ever seen, I'll eat my cutie mark." He looked up and addressed one of them. "Show Stopper reporting with the Bearers. The Generals want to see us." The guard shared a quick glance with his partner before nodding and motioning them toward the doors. The girls followed Show in to see that the interior had been changed as much as the exterior. They found themselves not in the large atrium where they'd celebrated Twilight's first Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville, but rather a small lobby, furnished only with a small desk and occupied only by the secretary who didn't even glance up as they walked in. Show quickly led the girls down several hallways, turning left and right seemingly at random until the girls were hopelessly lost. Finally, he stopped outside of a plain wooden door which bore a small plaque reading, "War Room". "Ladies," said Show dramatically, hoof on the door, "allow me to introduce the Equestrian Generals!" With that, he swung the door open and ushered them inside. The first thing the girls noticed about the war room was that it was dark. There were no windows or light fixtures. Instead, the room was lit by several free-floating orbs of light, obviously unicorn crafted. Illuminated by these orbs was a large table, the surface of which showed a large and detailed map of Equestria. Surrounding the table were three figures. The first was a gryphon in full battle armor which was clean and polished. The second was a light gray pegasus with a blonde mane who bore a scar running from her forehead down to her right cheek. It was impossible to see if her eye was damaged as it was covered by an eye-patch. The third figure was a magenta earth pony with a close cut pink and white mane. She too wore armor, though hers was dented and scratched. Although they were all ten years older, there was no mistaking them. "Cheerilee?" gasped Rarity. "Ditzy?" asked Applejack incredulously. "GILDA?" exclaimed Rainbow. "That's General Gilda to you," said the gryphon, removing her helmet to smile at Rainbow. "I've got to admit, I thought you'd kicked the bucket all those years ago. Glad to see I was wrong." She walked over and pulled Rainbow into a firm one-armed hug. "It's great to see you again, Dash!" Rainbow squirmed out of Gilda's hold and glared at her. "Are you kidding?" she demanded. "What are you trying to pull? The last time I saw you, you terrified Fluttershy, insulted my friends, and called me a flip-flop before storming out of a party we threw for you!" Gilda wash shocked and more than a little hurt. "Dash, come on," she said. "That was years ago. I was young and stupid. Besides, I already apologized for that." "Really?" asked Rainbow raising an eyebrow. "Because I don't remember anything like that." Now Gilda was starting to get angry. "Don't remember- What then? Did you just throw my letter away without even bothering to read it?" "What letter?" asked Rainbow. "The letter I wrote the very next week!" screeched Gilda. "The one where I begged for forgiveness! I always thought that you just didn't have time to respond, but you just threw it away, didn't you? Didn't even bother to read what I had to say! Didn't..." She trailed off as Rainbow's anger turned to shock and confusion. "You... you never got that letter, did you?" Rainbow slowly shook her head. Gilda's eyes narrowed into a glare and she turned on Ditzy. "YOU NEVER GOT THAT LETTER TO HER!!!" she screeched. Ditzy Doo calmly closed her good eye and started muttering to herself. "Gilda to Rainbow Dash... Gilda to Rainbow Dash... ten plus years ago... oh!" Her eye opened and she shrugged. "Sorry Gilda," she said impassively, "but it didn't have enough postage or even a return address. Probably ended up in junk-mail." Gilda ground her beak. "And you didn't think to tell me that because..." Ditzy shrugged. "Wasn't my job," she said simply. Gilda face palmed, making everypony but Cheerilee wince as Gilda's gauntlet banged against her forehead. "Great," she muttered, apparently not even registering the pain. "Just great. I spend three hours trying to figure out how to apologize, and it gets lost in the mail." She sighed and turned to look at Rainbow. "Look," she said, "you know I'm not good with words, so I won't bother trying to make it sound all nice and pretty. I was a jerk. I was an idiot. I know exactly what I was thinking, and that pretty much amounted to a pile of manure." She bowed her head, unable to meet Rainbow's eye anymore. "I'm sorry." Silence reigned for a moment as everypony looked at Rainbow, wondering what she would say. Finally, she sighed and walked over to Gilda. As she stopped in front of her, Gilda looked up- *WHAM* -and got a face full of hoof. "OK," muttered Gilda, wiping her cheek. "I deserved that." "And you also deserve this," said Rainbow. She reached out and drew Gilda into a firm embrace. "I've missed you, G." Gilda smiled and returned the hug. "It's great to have you back, Dash." "Oh gag me with a spoon!" Everyone looked over to see Show, now back to looking like himself, pretending to retch. "Can we please save this sentimental junk until after the briefing?" "Although I would not have phrased it so crudely, the Thespian is right. The longer we talk, the more ponies die. Let us get this under way." The temperature in the room seemed to drop as the girls stared at Cheerilee. She stood there, stone faced and impassive, as if she'd made an off-hoof comment about the weather. "Ch-Cheerilee," said Rarity wearily. "Is something the matter, dear? You aren't usually this, well-" "Mean," offered Applejack. "Scary," whispered Fluttershy. "Bad-flank," said Rainbow. "-bold," finished Rarity, ignoring Rainbow. "What happened?" "Ten years of watching my students kill each other happened," said Cheerilee, dropping the temperature further with her cold and unfeeling voice. "As I said, let us get this under way. I realize that the Thespian and Miss Sparkle already have an understanding of the situation, but for the sake of the rest I shall explain the whole of it." The next twenty minutes were the longest of the girls' lives as Cheerilee coldly related a condensed history of the war. Battles, massacres, death tolls, collateral damage. As she built a picture of the horrors of the past seven years, the girls felt as if their souls were shriveling up and dying. Fluttershy was in tears, Applejack was as pale as a ghost, Rarity seemed on the verge of fainting, and Rainbow's jaw and wings hung slack. Even Twilight, who had heard much of this from the Crusaders before, wanted to crawl under a rock and hide from Cheerilee's monotonous and emotionless description. Only Gilda, Ditzy and Show remained unaffected, as they'd heard this many times already, and had lived through it themselves. "And that brings us to the present situation," finished Cheerilee. She turned to Ditzy. "I've wasted too much time here as it is. Why all three of us had to be here in the first place I do not understand, but I have done my part. Inform them of their mission and send them on their way as soon as possible. I will be overseeing the drills at field three." With that she marched past the girls, not sparing anyone so much as another glance, and walked out. Ditzy sighed. "Sorry about that," she said casually, "but she insisted that Gilda or I would have been to soft in telling you about the war. Stubborn as a brick wall, that one." "Wh-what happened to her?" sobbed Fluttershy. "She was a-always so sweet, and ch-cheerful, and k-kind." "It's like she said," replied Gilda sadly. "She's watched her students kill each other for years. She's even had to kill a few of them herself. I doubt she'll ever recover, even if your mission is a success." "An' what mission are y'all talkin' about?" asked Applejack, standing strong despite the verbal horrors. Ditzy cleared her throat. "Twilight Sparkle," she said formally. "Rarity. Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash. Applejack. Pinkamena Diane Pie." Pinkie snorted, but otherwise didn't respond. "As General of the Equestrian Air Force, and co-General of the Equestrian Special Forces, I issue you six an assignment of national importance. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to travel outside of Equestria to find and reclaim the lost Elements of Harmony, - Loyalty, Kindness, and Honesty - and return with them to Equestria. Our sources tell us that they reside one each with the changelings, the deer, and the dragons. Show Stopper, your mission will be to guide and protect them on their mission. Any questions?" The room was full of silence and dropped jaws until Show burst out laughing. "The Changelings?" he asked. "Are you serious? OK, now this makes a lot more sense. Ladies," he turned to look at the girls, "you all have now undergone a wonderful transformation from a waste of my talents into a golden opportunity." He turned back and saluted Ditzy. "General One-Eye, I cheerfully accept this assignment!" "OK," said Twilight, "I'm confused. How is going to the changelings a good thing?" "Are you kidding?" exclaimed Show. "It's the best news I've heard all day!" "Show's spent some time living with the changelings," explained Ditzy. "Shortly after the wedding of Captain Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza-" "During which the changelings invaded," interrupted Twilight. Ditzy nodded and continued unfazed. "-a changeling princess named Milkweed organized a coup against Chrysalis. It wasn't hard for her to gain support; most of the changelings had been against the invasion from the beginning. She quickly took over and banished Chrysalis from her nation." "At about thew same time, in Equestria," added Show, "the greatest actor in the country was bored. He had worked his way up to performing for the princesses, but from there he saw in himself no progress, for how can one grow any greater? And so, he turned his sights westward to a nation inhabited by the greatest actors of all time: the changelings! There he expanded upon his talents until here he stands before you today, the greatest thespian in Equestrian history!" "The most humble, too," Gilda deadpanned. "Quite so," continued Show. "And thanks to my improved shape-shifting spell, which gives me the knowledge, training, and even memories of those I imitate, I returned to become the greatest spy in-" "WHAT!!!" Everyone turned to see Twilight flushed with rage and embarrassment. " That wasn't an illusion? You mean you had MY BODY? And my MEMORIES? Does the word, 'privacy' mean NOTHING to you?" Show rolled his eyes and sighed. "It always goes this way," he muttered, "doesn't it? Look," he looked up at Twilight, "I only have those memories when I'm 'in character', so to speak. They leave me as soon as I exit that form. And I see your other accusation coming," he preempted as Twilight's mouth opened again, "so let me address it now. I've taken on the form of hundreds of stallions, mares, and even foals over the years. Did I experiment? Yes, I'll admit it, for the first month or so. After that, it just didn't hold any excitement for me, so there's no need for accusations of perversion or lechery." "Getting back on topic," said Ditzy, trying to keep herself from snickering, "are there any questions about your mission?" The room was quiet for a while before Fluttershy piped up. "Um, what about the rest of the Elements?" Ditzy and Gilda turned to look at each other. After a moment of silence, Gilda nodded. Ditzy nodded back and turned to Fluttershy. "Regarding the Elements of Generosity and Laughter, we have no right to retain them from their rightful Bearers any longer. The company that has them will return tomorrow. We will return them to you then." "Anything else?" asked Gilda. The room was silent again for a while. Gilda opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off when Applejack cleared her throat. "There's one thing," she said hesitantly. "I was hopin' that it would be covered in y'all's explanation or that somepony else would ask it, but it looks like that ain't happenin'." She breathed deeply and dropped the bombshell. "What's happened to our families?"