Mac's Reprise
Over the next few days, Macintosh began to feel the stress of his life mount up.
He'd made little bits of effort to talk to Scootaloo, as did Annabelle. Both had agreed to keep their distance from the young filly and not pry into her problems too much yet. Trust was important and would need to be established before anything.
The two had often asked her opinion on certain wedding day aspects like if there should be a larger alter nor not. If she'd like to be a flower filly, since she'd had experience in that during the botched Canterlot Wedding. She happily agreed, promising to do a good job and help out anyway she could.
Happy as he was to see her spirits lifted on the matter, it was a small drop in the bucket. Between the Tax collector arriving any day now, Applejack's continued distance, the other aspects of the wedding, and the fact he needed to be out bucking the orchard but still didn't have the strength, his mind was beyond preoccupied.
If nothing else, though, Mac's down time did give him the opportunity to catch up on the farms financial status. They'd be next to broke, with scraps of bits left over to pay for the wedding, but they should be able to pay off the taxes they owed, at least until the annual Apple Cider sale, where they'd make up more than enough money to recover.
Still, it was nice to see Scootaloo smile. Applebloom seemed encouraged by it, and the rest of the day, everypony in the house seemed in a far better mood, AJ even smiled when she'd come in for lunch with Annabelle. The apple mare was still on edge over Annabelle's and Granny's allowance of Scootaloo's living arrangements at the farm, but she was slowly getting over it.
Though, that was another problem on the stallion's mind. He didn't really want to think about it, but informing Scootaloo's parents where she was was yet another mark on his list of things to do.
It irritated him greatly how calm the situation was. She went to school, and if her parents were really all that worried, they could easily go there to get her. So, it's not like they were all that concerned about not knowing where she was. Why or how parents, ponies with children who they are supposed to love and protect, could be so neglegent was beyond him. It worked Mac up every time he thought about it and would quickly have to shift his mind to something else to keep himself from getting angry.
Finishing up some last minute recalculation to make sure his numbers were right, Mac leaned back against his chair and looked around his father's old study. Well, not so much a study, but a quiet room where all the files and other important documents were kept. A quiet room where the paper work could be done. Simple place, a desk, a few filing cabinets, light overhead. Plain with no abstractions.
The fillies were in school, Granny was sleeping in her rocking chair and Anna and Applejack were out tending the fields. It took some time to train his wife-to-be to get her well enough to do the bucking and trimming of trees, but Macintosh took pride in her accomplishments. Annabelle was truely an exceptional mare, she never complained about the work and did everything she could to be kind to the family and help out any way she could.
If he could find one flaw with her, it was her lack of ability to think things through. Annabelle was brash, head strung and made decisions based more on feelings than logic. But Mac found that as one of her more enduring qualities. He didn't often make hasty decisions himself, and preferred to take time to think over his options. It wasn't often it back fired in his face, but he'd often spend more time thinking than acting. Even his stunt with the communists, he'd wrestled too long with ideas and that lead to all out violence. Nopony died, thankfully, but many were injured and some had vowed vengeance against the crown.
When it came to Scootaloo, he'd have likely consulted the family on the matter and ultimately broken under Applejacks logic to turn the filly over to authorities. Annabelle didn't.
While Mac took a small bit of exception to that, he could also appreciate it for what it was. Independent thinking and action, doing what was moral instead of what was lawful.
Rubbing his hooves over his eyes, the stallion tried to quiet his mind.
All of this thinking with no form of physical relief was getting to him. Mac, while a deep and introspective type, hated not being able to move about and exert himself. He'd been restricted to the house because he'd tried to help Anna and AJ unload the apple cart a few days ago and hissed from the pain in his leg. He swore it was more about how he wasn't knowing how his body to react to the weight, but neither his sister nor marefriend would allow him to help afterwords and told him to stay inside.
Instead of getting indignant about being told what to do, Mac complied. It was true, he wasn't sure how much help he'd have been anyway, nor how much longer his healing would take if he strained his injured form. Still didn't make it any easier to rest, though.
Pushing off of the desk, Mac stood up and made way for the front door. He was sick of sitting around the house and wanted to go out for a bit.
He opened the door and was a little startled to find a pony standing in the doorway with his hoof up ready to knock.
"Oh, uh. Hey Macintosh." Said Shining Armor, smiling at him.
"Shinin'? What are you doin' here?" Mac asked, a little tingle crawling up his rump over the prospect that the authorities were called in over Scootaloo.
"Well, I'm actually here for a few things." Shining said, pulling up a letter in his magic and handing it to the pony. It was his tax statement.
This both lead to a great relief and small amount of irritation.
Apparently, there was a replacement at City Hall for Sin's job who hadn't been reporting in on the goings on in the council. While Sin reported to Uppity, who reported to Celestia, the replacement did not. So, Shining Armor had gotten wind of this and offered to take a train ride down to Ponyville to figure out what all was going on. While there, the guard captain noticed that the tax calls were going out and figured that was as good an excuse as any to come and visit.
"Alrigh'." Mac nodded, it made sense. "So what're ya needin'?"
"Sorry to intrude, but you haven't seen Star Shade lately have you? He's disappeared from the medical wing and nopony's seen a trace of him since."
That was... odd. Shade's injuries were damn near crippling, some of the medical staff doubted if the pony would ever walk or fly again, how was it possible for him to go missing? The pony didn't exactly have many friends, and what few he did have were either... dead or in Ponyville.
Mac shook his head, he hadn't seen Shade, but was a little worried. Shining Armor sighed and thanked him for his cooperation. "Hey listen," The unicorn said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking more than a little embarassed. "Can uh, can we talk for a bit?"
It was an odd request, but Mac obliged. Shining was an alright sort as far as he was concerned, aside from Spike he was also the only other male who he spoken to in the past few weeks.
The two walked outside and began to make way for Ponyville. Shining opened up the conversation with an apology about Mac's loss, being respectful and making sure the stallion was doing alright. Of course he was still saddened about it, but he knew Sin wanted him happy and not moping around about his loss.
"So, what is it y'all needed ta talk about?"
"Honestly, I'd just like somepony to talk to." Shining answered honestly. Mac quirked a brow and the unicorn's ears drooped. "With Cadance seeing over the Crystal Empire, I've kinda got no real friends..."
"Wha?"
And so Shining told the tale of what it meant to be the lover of the most beautiful and sought after pony in the world. Jealousy had severed ties within the social circles he did have, either through envy or a desire to get close to his wife to be. Stallions resented him, and in that resentment, Shining found himself secluded.
It wasn't fair, nor right. Hay, it even got to the point where he'd actually tried to befriend Sin... and those two hated each other. Macintosh asked if he'd tried befriending mares, but that brought another host of problems. Either the mares would send the wrong signal or they'd ask why he wasn't spending time with his fiancee.
The two made it to Ponyville and went to sugar cube corner to grab a bite to eat. By happenstance, Twilight and Spike were both already there, chatting it up with Pinkie Pie and a dark green pony Mac had never seen before.
The three ponies and single drake looked more somber and serious than they had a right to in the establishment. Even Pinkie was absent her usual smile.
"Wonder wha's up with them?"
Shining didn't know, but he was going to find out. They sat down almost unnoticed and politely asked how everypony was doing. Twilight was the first to notice and her spirits brightened immediatly. "Shining! It's good to see you!" She said, embracing her brother in a hug. "What are you doing in Ponyville."
He told her the same thing he'd told Mac about the new City Council mare, earning a saddened look from Pinkie and a death glare from the green earth pony.
"Buck that bitch." The green pony groaned.
"Blade." Spike said, making the stallion scoff and turn his scowl back to the milkshake infront of him.
"What?" Shining asked, genuinely confused.
Blade refused to answer, he just shook his head and mumbled a few more insults that set Twilight and Pinkie's cheeks ablaze. Spike was more willing to talk and told him about the unprecedented changes that City Hall had made in the few days. Firstly, they'd reinstated a few laws that were previously pulled, planned to hike taxes for sugary goods, had lifted the age of purchasing said sugary foods to eighteen years old, and had put into place an unnecessary and inefficient saftey regulation on all industrialized work areas.
Pinkie being upset about this matter, and seeing every foal in the store accompanied by an adult made a lot more sense now, but that didn't explain why Blade was acting so angry.
"Because we know how to do our jobs!" He spat, taking a long drink of his chocolate beverage. "None of the city council has ever even been in a manual labor job, and they think they have the right to come out to our mill and tell us how to do our jobs? What a bunch of horse apples."
Nothing had been done yet, on that front, but there were alleged plans to start implementing all kinds of worker safety regulations. Placing mandatory safety classes at the expense of the business owners, additional safety guards and personal protective equipment, work quotas for all tribes and sexes, even some quotas demanding the hire of other races. All under the threat of fines should the regulations not be met.
Mac found the notion as absurd as it was irritating. He didn't travel Ponyville often, but he'd been around long enough to see that there wasn't exactly a high supply of non-ponies looking for work.
"Now to be fair, that last one's just a rumor." Twilight pointed out. "But umm..." She prodded her hooves together nervously. "After what happened with Zecora, I can't really say that it's not warranted in this town. I mean, the zebra didn't even really do anything and everypony acted like her coming to visit was some catastrophic event."
Pinkie and Blade both cringed. Macintosh honestly couldn't say one way or another, he'd never met Zecora before Shade's inexplicable relationship with her.
"Wait, are you saying you agree with that bull crap quota?" Blade demanded.
"No, well not really." Twilight stuttered. "I'm just saying that Ponyville could do with a little more racial and diversity sensitivity."
Blade gave the unicorn mare a bewildered look. "Racial diversity is all fine and good, but that's not what I'm on about. I'm on about the work quotas for it."
Again, Twilight poked her hooves together. "Well... if different species are going to come and live here, they'll need a job to support themselves and their families, right?"
"Yea, but for it to cost my job?"
Seeing the stallion getting worked up, Spike interjected. "I don't see what you're getting so worked up about. Even if it does happen, you guys have Cranky working there, and I'll be back at some point."
"Yea, but how long until the government deamnds that we have a higher percentage of other species working with us? Besides, I don't really care who I work with as long as they can do their job and I can get along with them. But to be forced to choose a certain type of pony to have work for you? That just doesn't sit well with me."
Mac could agree to that, but Twilight stood by her position that the town could do with a little less biggotry. Gilda, one of Rainbow Dash's girffin friends, had left quite a bad taste in Ponyville's proverbial mouth, and it wasn't fair that the next griffin to come along would likely be treated as though they were Gilda herself.
Spike took exception with this and stated that Ponyville hadn't treated him badly because he was a dragon, and he'd actually done a fair bit of damage, which lead to an even bigger debate.
Mac and Shining watched as the two ponies and dragon shot back and forth, Pinkie walked away, saying her break was over.
"Are they usually like this?" Shining whispered.
Mad shook his head but didn't answer, he was too busy trying to figure out what all of this meant for the farm. Technically they were a business, if a family business. Did that mean they'd be subject to these exuberant rule changes too? He made a note to stop by city hall on the way home to figure out all what was what.
The debate died down with Spike intervening and asking that the day just go by smoothly. He didn't want to be stressed out and irritated right now. Blade agreed, but Twilight apparently had been too worked up and decided to go to the library and catch up on her studies. Saying something about a spell that changed apples to oranges.
A notion that deeply offended the apple grower.
With her gone, only the guys were left at the table with half frozen or fully thawed milkshakes.
"Sorry," Blade moaned after a minute of awkward silence. "Didn't mean to get her that upset, it's just... I can't stand the government getting involved in stuff like this."
"I get it, dude. But I also understand where Twilight's coming from. Ponyville does have a little bit of a problem accepting ponies who they don't understand."
Again, the dark green earth pony nodded.
Another somber silence was about to descend but the dragon wasn't about to let it, instead asking if they all wanted to come back to his place for a game of cards. Blade gave the matter some thought but ultimately agreed, saying it would be nice to hang out for a while over a good game of poker.
"How about you guys?"
Mac and Shining shared a look and shrugged. The former really didn't have any plans aside from stopping by the city hall and Shining was looking to hang out with some male friends anyway. Plus, from what he could tell, Blade was an alright stallion. Certainly shared his views on politics and the place of government, at least.
Luna walked down the hall of the castle to the garden out back, a letter held within her magical grip.
She was strutting down to assert her own confidence in herself but knew she had little right to. The letter was written by Conno that demanded he meet her alone in the garden tonight. She wasn't afraid of him hurting her or anything, but couldn't understand why he'd want to talk to her. Sin was gone and she'd paid her debts to Malich already. Her involvement with the Triple M. Corporation was over and done with.
It would likely end up painfully for her. Celestia had told her never to get involved with that specific company due to their less than reputable business practices and their fondness of violent solutions. She never liked fighters for hire and found the company to exploitative and manipulative. And after Luna's own dealings with them, she really wished she'd listen to her sister's warning.
The solar alicorn wasn't going to be happy if Conno followed through with his threat to tell her about the deals made.
But Luna was growing tired of her involvements being hung over her head. She wanted the lying and guilt to stop, and if Celestia was going to find out about it, it would be after she'd fixed the problem she'd made. All of this treachery and hiding was slowly changing her again, she figured that out when she was happy to see somepony die who'd expose the truth about her.
What kind of ruler would she be if she wished death upon her own subjects for threatening to tell the truth? Yes, she was exploited by him, but the decisions he threatened to bring to light were made on her own part. Decisions it was time to take responsibility for.
"We hope this doesn't take long." She said to herself, pushing the doors open and closing them behind her.
As was usual with their meetings, the place she expected him to be was baren of his presence. She had to be the first to arrive while the agents confirmed her solitary company. She took a seat in the middle, away from most of the statues so she could be seen and waited. Luna knew all that the night had to offer, she knew the true terrors that lurked within the dark and she knew she had no need to be afraid, but with darkness illuminated only by her crescent moon, all of the statues around looked far more ominous than they did in her sister's sun.
As she waited, she used her subtle magics to enhance her hearing and listened to the almost silent wing flaps and clicking of claws on stone that echoed all around her. She knew the agents were there, looking around, and wished they'd hurry. The lunar alicorn couldn't blame them though, if she'd ever really wanted to, she could easily have them all taken captive or worse, especially with her guards by her side.
Still, she'd had more than enough of their presence in her life. She planned to tell Conno and the rest of them to leave Equestria and never return. Anypony associated with the Triple M. Corporation would no longer be welcome in Equestria.
"Good Evening, Princess." Conno said from behind her.
Taking a breath, mentioned turned to find the black clad griffin standing behind her. "Conno."
The mercenary reached into his coat and pulled out a pen and notepad. "I want to know what happened to Sin Islander. We saw him walk into the castle, but has yet to emerge. We've heard... rumors of his death. Can you confirm this and allow his body to be examined for secondary confirmation?"
Luna shook her head. Fact was that Sin's body was never discovered, but if it was anything like what happened with that communist, he'd likely turn up in a very unexpected place.
"That's unfortunate." Conno said coolly, jotting down in his notepad. "Is it also true that you and your sister had him imprisoned and that was where he was killed?"
"We will be answering no more of your questions." Luna said flatly, earning a neutral glare from the ebon colored griffon. "Nor shall you be permitted to ask them."
"Oh?" Conno asked, his head tilting in an almost unnatural way for anything other than non-avian necks.
Luna felt herself grow slightly heavier and uncomfortable. They never told her how they did it, but she knew the feelings of discomfort came from the agents, always used when meeting resistance. But she was an alicorn, the mistress of the night, their powers were nothing compared to her own.
"Yes. We have had quite enough of you and your control over us. Now leave our castle, our city and our nation and never return!" She commanded, throwing her head forward and launching a spell at the griff. Conno dodged left just in time and waited for her to make another move. Seeing that her spell was just for added effect, the avian feline hybrid stood up and brushed off his coat.
"You realize I could ruin you if I told your si-"
"WE CARE NOT!" She cried. "We said we are finished with you. Now leave lest ye be imprisoned for extortion of royalty!"
She stared down the mercenary with a sneer, one he'd have likely mimicked if Conno's beak didn't always keep him in a mask of utter neutrality. Most griffons would allow their crests to express emotions through raising or lowering, however, he did not. All he ever did when dealing with anything less than full compliance was increase the weight of whatever invisible force she felt that made her uncomfortable, and he must have been angry because it was the strongest that Luna had ever felt it.
Sighing, Conno broke eye contact, as well as the repressive aura that bound her.
"You disappoint me, Luna." He opened his eyes and snapped his talons.
Suddenly, the mare found herself swarmed by eight leather coated griffons. She tried to cry for help but one of them immediatly clamped a claw over her muzzle to keep her quiet.
As she struggled to be released, she silently chided herself for being as foolish as she was to actually come alone. Luna hadn't thought these deviants would actually attack her within her own castle. Though, she also didn't think them as strong and tactical as they were either.
Upon their assault, they'd all immediately went for different parts of her anatomy. Starting with her mouth and horn, her wings and then her legs. In terms of actual strength, griffins themselves weren't very strong, they couldn't be for their wings to support the muscle weight, but what they lacked in physical power, they more than made up for tactics and speed.
Just as quickly as she pushed off one of the mercenaries from her person, it was right back again before she could use said free apendage. They held her body in place using both leverage and a keeping her joints braced into place.
Despite the fear of discharge, Luna began summoning a spell in her horn to push all of them away at once. Her magic took a great deal more effort than it should have, but she'd finally charged enough to set off the electric discharge, electrocuting both her assailants and herself.
The griffons looked up at her with beaks wide open.
Before Luna could charge up another spell, she was side swiped and pushed down to the ground, a sharp talon pressing deep against her ear drum. "GET HER!" Conno barked, forcing the mercenaries back to restrain her once again.
Luna tried to summon her magic once more, but something was slipped onto her horn, halting the magic in it's place.
"Dragon scales don't seem to work on concentrated Alicorn magic. Good to know." Conno growled, standing up from the pile and pulling out his pen and notepad, jotting the information down.
Luna continued to thrash, her anger and indignation meeting with fear over her helplessness. Her magic was restricted and so was her body, part of her feared for herself, but part of he wanted to think they wouldn't dare take advantage of her situation. Triple M. mercenaries were cold and calculating, but they were always professionals.
"The sad thing is-" Conno said, finishing up his notes and putting them back into his jacket. "-you're attack was probably the best thing you could have done. You see, seeing Sin survive this was a secondary objective to my unit once we'd learned of his presence here. If he is dead, and he died while in your custody, that makes you responsible, Princess Luna."
He reached back into his jacket and pulled out a small vile of dark purple liquid. He eyed the liquid for a moment, then looked back at Luna before popping the top off and walking over to her ethereal waving tale. He slammed his hoof down on it, making the lunar goddess cry out a muffled scream.
"And with responsibility, comes accountability."
He leaned the vial ever so slightl, dropping a single, solitary drop of the substance onto the very tip of Luna's tale.
Her eyes shot wide in shock as soon as the drop landed and she began to thrash around with renwed vigor. Pain beyond pain permeated through her back side. She didn't know what Conno had done, but it had caused her more physical pain than she'd ever experienced before in her life. The more time passed, the more excruciating the pain.
It wasn't possible, Alicorn's bodies could handle pain much better than normal ponies could. Why wasn't her body healing already? Why did her tail still burn like it was on fire?! She hadn't used nearly enough magic to justify anything like this happening.
Slowly, the agony began to subside. Leaving the mare gasp and pant for air through the grip of one of her attackers. Between that pain and the pain of being sexually taken, she wasn't sure which would be worse.
"Interesting." Conno intoned. Again, jotting down some notes. "The boys at the lab will be be thrilled about this."
He placed the notepad away and wondered to look Luna directly in the eye. He knelt down and grabbed her ear, making her wince as he dug his tallons into her soft flesh. "I want you to listen, and listen very closely, you filthy little trollop. I have a reputation, in that reputation I am known for getting answers and accurate information. So, I'll ask you again, did you and or your sister take him into custody?"
Luna gave him a defiant stare and blew her nose, sending small nose matter onto the griffon. Her rebellion was met with his grip on her ear tightening and him reaching into his coat and retrieving the purple liquid filled vile. "What this did going on the very tip of your tale looked excruciatingly painful." He popped the cape and dangled it just over her eyeball, the liquid a fraction of a degree from spilling onto her retina. "Would you like to see how it feels applied to a more... sensitive area?"
Again, Luna merely stared in defiance, determined not to talk.
Conno's eyes narrowed. "You Equestrians do amuse me with how far you're willing to push my patience. I've spent the last three days searching all of the places that the target may be and come up empty clawed. The only one of you who might have known anything was that unicorn maniac who thought he was a prince that we'd found in the hospital. He decided he wanted to push my patience as well, and it was the last mistake he ever made."
The griffin's talon twitched slightly, and a small drop of the liquid splashed a mere inch from Luna's eye and landed on the ground with a dull his. She watched with horror as the solution began to hiss and bubble, eating away at the grass and digging down into the dirt.
Suddenly finding the situation all too real, Luna looked at him and then at the vial. She couldn't see her tail, but she could still feel a small throbbing at the end. Whatever that stuff was, it nullified her healing. If he dropped that into her eye, she didn't know if she could recover from it.
Not wanting to find out just how powerful the tonic was, Luna nodded in the affirmative.
"Good, we're making progress." Conno patronized, loosening his grip and lowering the bottle. "Now, do you know where Sin's body is?"
Luna shook her head in the negative.
"Do you know for a fact he's dead at all?"
Frowning, the lunar pony considered the question and shook her head.
Conno glared down at her, his eyes somehow becoming harder as the discomfort he caused came back to her.
"Final question. Do you know where he is or where he might be if he is, in fact, alive?"
Again, Luna shook her head. Conno continued his stare down at her, his eyes demanding to know more and searching into hers for any more information she might have.
Seeing none, he sighed again and recapped the vial. "Thank you for your cooperation. Now, let me tell you what's going to happen from here: I know you can find ponies through their dreams. You will be looking for Sin and telling us if and when you find him. You will also be keeping your silence on your involvement with our organization and refraining yourself from doing or saying anything that could jeaporize our mission in Equestria."
"Should you fail in either of these regards, I'll see that you get a very long, very special bath." He withdrew his note pad and ripped out a peice of paper. "Silvia!"
One of the griffon's who held her legs let go and stood in front of Conno. "Since it was your responsibility to oversee Sin, you will be the one to report what's happened here and give these findings to Malich."
The female griffin cringed and bemoaned her lot in life. A decision met with a firm back hand from Conno. "I don't want your trivial bitching. I want you to get back to head quarters and take responsibility for your failure. You're lucky you're the VP's personal secretary. If you weren't, I'd have ripped open your stomach and left you to the wolves."
Luna's eyes snapped wide at the threat. She knew Triple M. agents were ruthless, but that was just sickeningly cruel.
When the griffin departed and was a safe distance away, Conno ordered his subordinates to release her. Luna immieiatly turned to see to her tail and was disturbed to find it the stars within had become stagnant and lifeless, with the blackness of night swelling and part of it somehow blistering!
She was hurt, Luna, the alicorn of the moon, an alicorn was honestly hurt.
"I'll make this simple for you, just in case you're confused in any way, shape or form." Conno growled, his face betraying nothing of his anger. "If you dare attack me or my subordinates ever again, not only will I drown you in this stuff, but I'll shove it down your throat until it eats past your stomach, dissolves your entrails, and destroyed your fucking rectum like fresh meat in prison. Am I crystal, fucking, clear?"
Again, Luna nodded, too terrified of what's she'd just experienced and her loss of invulnerability to do anything else.
"Good, and don't think your little guards will be able to protect you. I personally saw just how ineffective the Equestrian military is, and would put bills to bits that my squad of six could handle a hundred of your soldiers." He swiped at the alicorn and ripped the magic inhibitor from her horn, startling Luna even more.
Conno snapped his talons again and his subordinates retreated back to the shadows, halting to say a few words before joining them. "We'll be in touch."