Chapter 103 - Deception
"Chancellor Posey," said Lancer. "The delegates have arrived at the bridge."
The staid metal door that separated the hallway and the chancellor's suite pulsated before his very eyes, and Lancer rubbed them to make sure that his own sight was not playing tricks on him. Eventually, the clockwork of gears undid the bolts, and the heavy metal door swung outward.
Out stepped Posey with a heavy cloud of darkness looming over her. She appeared paler, and there were a few strands of gray hair on her mane and tail that the hairdressers had missed. Her black military uniform was free from lint and dust. She carried on her side her sheathed sword, the Obsidian, and it rattled as she marched down the steel halls of her own personal flagship, the Avenger.
Lancer followed her rather sheepishly, even though it should be him leading her to the bridge. She emitted a powerful aura that forced him to stay two steps behind her. That same aura prevented him in trying to convince her to post herself in the underground bunkers underneath Mount Gaeaopolis instead of riding into the front lines in her flagship. A Chancellor taking executive command of the entirety of Gaea's military was noble, but he feared for her safety and mentality. That hate-filled speech was just the beginning.
It felt like a long ride in the elevator up to the bridge. Once they arrived, the noisy bustle of all the delegates immediately silenced upon the Chancellor's arrival. Some bowed their heads, while others sharply saluted the air.
The bridge brimmed with ponies, their allies, and the Red Guard, who were specially conditioned clones selected to be Posey's personal shield. Her personal "dagger", however, had its scent masked by the filled food trays served by foreign service workers. There was no mistaking that her Changeling secret agents hung above everyone unseen like hungry vampires.
Lancer saw many familiar faces in the crowd, such as Chief Master Sergeant Sapphire Shores, a longtime friend of Posey, who was rumored to be stepping down for the sole purpose of participating in the front lines in the final battle against Pegasopolis. Also present was Chief Thunderhooves of the Bison Confederation, the exiled Prince Rutherford of Yakyakistan, and Mulia Mild of the Asinus Association. Ambassador Zecora appeared to be suspiciously absent, and in her place was a zebra stallion whose name escaped Lancer at the moment.
Ace the Younger and Teddy were present and mingling with the delegation, but Lancer did not expect two other faces on the bridge. The first was Rear Admiral Prim Hemline, though with her deadly reputation, she could be allowed in any special event held by the Chancellor. Admiral Suri Polomare was less likely to appear here. Somehow she wormed her way on the bridge through her charm or through Ace, and Lancer could accept either possibility.
The Avenger had an assigned captain, but his seat and its raised platform had been vacated for Posey's use. The entire bridge watched with suppressed anxiety as she ascended up to her "throne". Once she sat down, her icy glare beamed down upon everyone and caused almost all of them to shiver.
"My friends," she started. "We stand at the crossroads of our continued survival against a mutant civilization hellbent on our total enslavement, or worse, our extinction. For too long the pegasi have burned our crops, raped our mares, rendered our children as orphans, and captured our rightful territories in the west.
"For too long we have tolerated tit-for-tat skirmishes with no strategic gains. For too long we long have listened to the broken promises of past administrations of ridding ourselves from the winged race of equine vultures. We begin our attack now, for the Nation of Pegasopolis have prepared a devastating bomb that will wipe out Gaeaopolis and beyond, and the terrorist Apple Bloom has conspired with Coco Pommel with undermining our trump card against that destructive weapon."
Everyone knew that that fact was a lie, but they raised no objections.
"Some of you may think I am saying all this to cover up my long, heartfelt association with Apple Bloom," said Posey. "Indeed, I make no dispute that the words I say right now are mere excuses. That is why I have invited all of you to my personal flagship so that I may demonstrate my willingness to save the Earth Pony race and her allies. I have located the infernal Rainbow Falls base and the Avenger is within targeting range. Fire the Wave Motion Cannon."
A subdued whir filled the bridge. All manner of lights and diagrams danced on the technicians' control panels. Towards the massive windshield of the bridge, several large monitors lowered to broadcast the shaky live feed of the Rainbow Falls Mountain base that, upon initial impressions, appeared deserted.
Yet Posey remained unfazed. With a wave of her right hoof, the head gunner fired. Lancer and the others felt the entire bridge lurch backward as they heard a terrible horn-like sound of the dark purple beam firing from the front hull of the Avenger. Seconds later, the entire horizon brightened with an ominous light, followed by the distant thunder of an explosion. Noise and static infected many of the monitors on the bridge, and the champagne glasses on the silver food trays trembled slightly.
Eventually the light died down, and the airship stopped shaking. The Avenger's impeccable engineering allowed it to absorb almost all of the shocks caused by the Wave Motion Cannon so that no one lost their balance. When the static cleared on the monitors, everyone gasped in a mix of awe and horror at the sight of, or rather, the lack of the Rainbow Falls Mountain base. Wherever that mountain stood many miles away was no more, and all the guests applauded at the infamy of this demonstration. Nopony could have survived that attack.
Winter Tulip or Apple Bloom; should there be an afterlife, may her soul rest in peace.
"Are you okay, Applejack?" Twilight asked.
The rebel mare shook her head. Twilight had already finished dressing her own wounds. She did not appear to have that many, but Applejack recalled she had more and bloodstains on her fur. Her Twilight started to appear a bit more curvaceous, and the bandages she wrapped around her chest made it more so. A dim, angelic halo started to surround her, and when their eyes met, Twilight playfully double-blinked her eyes.
Applejack was seeing things. There was no halo, and Twilight did flirtatiously blink at her. That terrible smell was appearing and disappearing before she realized it, and the Element of Truth throbbed painfully on her chest.
"I have to thank you for rescuing me, Applejack," said Twilight. "I don't know how I could live without you."
"What?"
"I said, I don't know how I could survive without you."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. I jus' thought I heard somethin' else."
"Like what?"
"Um, it's nothin' important. Look, this may not look like an important part of the Factory, but some pegasus guard is gonna notice this destruction and will come a lookin' for us."
"I guess we'll have to move then, but are you sure you're okay?"
"I'll be fine. These kind of wounds I can shrug off."
"If you need assistance, please let me know. Know that I'll always be there for you, AJ."
That was reassuring. Applejack grit her teeth as she commanded her sore legs and hooves to push her back up, and proceeded to follow Twilight out of the wreckage that was the Chemical Storage Chamber.
The first few malnourished ponies fell out of their melting ice cocoons, and luckily they fell on the portion of the Chamber where the floor remained intact. The sound of their zombie-like groans reassured Applejack that they were lucky to be alive. Even though she wanted to escape before the guards arrived, she did want to move a few survivors to a safer spot. However, Twilight did not wait around. She had already skipped ahead and out of the Chamber, and Applejack could not linger around or else she would lose sight of her unicorn friend.
If not for the pain in her body, she would move faster down the dark halls of the Factory, but for some reason she struggled to keep up with Twilight. The purple unicorn's usually cautious gait looked more like a skip through the park. Applejack knew for a fact that Twilight had less muscle strength, and had suffered a lot of wounds caused by Crystal Clear's Sapphire Splash technique. The way she moved felt as if the unicorn had fully healed herself with whatever magic she had or had never been hurt before. Applejack knew that Twilight had voiced serious reservations about using healing magic, which was often draining even for a powerful unicorn such as herself. Now she breezed through the Factory corridors as if she knew her way.
"Twi, you know where you're goin'?" Applejack asked.
"Not really," Twilight replied, "but I have a good idea on where to go. Why do you ask?"
"You seem awfully chipper considerin' what we've just been through."
"It's because we survived that I am like this, Applejack. With you around, I feel like I could do anything."
Right as Applejack smiled, the terrible smell appeared and disappeared almost immediately. When it vanished, Applejack became lightheaded once more as if something wicked intoxicated her. Once again, the Element of Truth throbbed on her chest. It pounded harder this time.
Twilight seemed to be leading her higher up the Factory and gradually to a carpeted cloud level lined with Romanesque columns. Applejack barely paid attention to the changes in interior design. Her eyes gravitated towards the hypnotic sways of Twilight's rear, and she struggled her hardest trying to keep at least one foot behind her dear friend.
Applejack's sudden grogginess got the better of her, and she found herself ramming her muzzle into Twilight.
"Kya!" Twilight yelped. "Applejack, what are you doing?"
The orange rebel mare inadvertently took one whiff before her mind took over and pushed herself away. Thank the earth for pony tails, or else she would be accused of sexual assault. The shame should prevent her from looking at Twilight, but she could not avoid the blush growing on the purple unicorn's cheeks.
"I hope I didn't push anythin', uh, sensitive," said Applejack.
"What?"
"I mean, forget what I said! Darn it. I didn't meant to say these things. Now you're gonna think I'm like Pinkie Pie sayin' pervy stuff."
"I haven't thought of it until you said that, but I don't think you're perverted."
"Whew."
"But thinking over it kind of excited me a little."
Her blushes and giggle made Applejack's heart race. More than ever, she wanted to pounce the purple unicorn and make her hers, but the Element of Truth throbbed even harder on her chest. Her head pounded from the internal struggle between pleasurable intoxication, lightheadedness, and reasoning. She felt poisoned and powerless to say anything or act upon it.
It could not have been the Atmos chemicals in that were released in that Chamber, and pegasi do not possess any sort of passive magic that would affect Applejack. It could not have been Twilight because there would be no reason for her to cast such spells. A part of her wish it was Twilight flirting with her, but she also wanted to believe that it wasn't the case.
They arrived before a set of hard cloud doors that they opened, and then entered into a long and decorated hallway lighted by captured fireflies held inside glass lanterns. On one side of the hall had a row of alcoves, and each alcove contained a carved marble pedestal with bust of a pegasus pony on each one of them. The normally curious Twilight Sparkle passed by many of them until she made a stop before a bust of a bearded stallion with a curly mane. He appeared noble, regardless of the carved crown on the top of his head.
Initially, Twilight displayed neither respect nor disrespect for him. Then a smirk drew across her face right as she snorted.
"Never expected to see him here," said Twilight.
"Who's he?" Applejack asked.
"King Orion. He was the last ruler of Timbucktu, an aerial nation that was eventually destroyed by the constant bombardment from the Empire of Prance. The Prench captured him, but pegasi disguised as earth ponies helped him escape. Nopony knows where he fled, and legends say that he flew to the highest point in the night sky to become starlight.
"Of course, that is what pegasi want to believe, but the truth of the manner is that the Eastern Earth Empire captured him and he starved himself to death in prison. Still, it is remarkable that the pegasi of Pegasopolis revere him dispute his utter failure in saving his country."
"I never pegged you to be so opinionated about pegasus history."
"You have to admit that is irony of those facts, do you not?"
"I admit as well, but I can't help that you sure seem to know firsthoof about Orion bein' captured by the Eastern Earth Empire."
"Well, uh, I read it in a book. Why are you looking at me like that?"
With or without her Element of Truth, Applejack's eyebrow would raise itself whenever she sensed a lie. Some ponies would pick up on this facial gesture, and the rebel mare would eventually regain her composure and apologize for embarrassing them. This time, however, Applejack did not feel like apologizing, and her accusing gaze caused Twilight to shrink away and continue on their supposed search for their friends.
Applejack kept a closer eye on Twilight, and any amount of arousal from the purple unicorn no longer affected her. She could not smell that terrible odor, but she knew that somehow that something or somepony suppressed it with a great amount of effort. In spite of this suspicion, Applejack felt a tinge of regret that she was going to do something potentially worse than refusing Twilight's flirtatious advances. This was the chance--perhaps the only chance for her to have Twilight, or rather, this Twilight. It would be easy for her to accept it: the two of them would drop everything and snuggle in each other's hooves day in and day out. All of Applejack's fantasies would be fulfilled. In all truth, Applejack knew that it would not make her truly happy, and that these emotions that arose from within her were false. This was the curse of being the bearer of the Element of Truth.
She fully trusted the Element, but Applejack needed to perform one more test to make sure.
"Hey, Sugarcube."
No response.
"Sugarcube?"
By now, Twilight stopped moving, and she slowly turned towards Applejack.
"Sugarcube?" Twilight mimicked. "Do you need something to eat?"
She wanted to cry in despair. Instead, anger took over. Applejack accepted the Element of Truth's testimony, and allowed it to transform itself to its katana form. She could no longer avert her eyes from the pony who took Twilight's likeness as she drew closer to her.
"W-what are you doing?" asked the pony named Twilight.
"Where is she?" Applejack asked.
"Applejack, please! You're acting--"
"Shut-up! Tell me where she is or you'll wish you're dead!"
"Applejack, why would you say these things? You know I love you."
As much as she wanted to hear those words, Applejack felt the vast falseness behind them. She closed her eyes, because it would mean she would be damaging the image of Twilight as she lunged with a decisive slash. The resistance she felt meant that her blade made contact, and she spun around to prepare to face her result. Applejack took two deep breaths before she opened her eyes.
A long gash ran across the pony named Twilight, but instead of blood, a green line of magic separated the purple fur and the revealed insect-like carapace. Applejack was not going to be tricked again, and she doubled back towards the pony named Twilight for another slash at her. The pony named Twilight back-flipped high into the air. Instead of falling normally, she hovered back down slowly as if she had wings. As she done so, she gradually and magically shed off the image of Twilight to reveal a type of changeling Applejack had never seen before.