The Life and Times of Caughlin Mare

by Casca

6: Enter Furhich, Leader of the Order of Order

Every day's schedule was the same as yesterday's, and tomorrow's would follow soon after. Even so, Caughlin woke up a happier mare than most.

With a bit of levitation, she would carry a sleeping Luna to her bubble chamber, modified yet again to become a monitoring area, now that they did not have to feed her through tubes. She was starting to grow fond of her old workspace, and felt... something every time it was re-purposed. There were days when she found it hard to believe that it had been nothing but a simple hollow cylinder a long time ago, looking at all the wiring going to and from it, like the Medusa of glorified cans - she found herself even giving it nods from time to time, and caught herself before the words "Thank you" could leave her lips.

The amateur psychologist of their team, one thirty-something pegasus named Hanselphil - where he had found his theory text on the subject, devoid of author, publisher, and reason was a mystery - had teasingly said that it was "anthropomorphism at work in an increasingly un-objective, trauma-veered mind seeking"-something or other. She had asked him to spell anthro-whatever, and left the more smug of the two.

Even now, she felt herself smirking as she opened the door of the chamber. Intellectuals.

Connecting the probes to Luna was a delicate but well-practiced task. Her vital signs, growth rate and physical details were examined, recorded and cross-examined. Then she was woken up to wash up and eat - the foal slept surprisingly well, and Caughlin supposed that it was because of the higher demands imposed by her augmented body.

While the rest of the team filed in and got to work, Caughlin would take the alicorn to a side for schooling alongside Whooves. Reading, writing, 'rithmetic of suitable levels for the both of them, and it was not always certain which would be the more irritable of the two on the day. Lessons went on until an hour or so before lunchtime, where Luna was to learn to develop her wings and Potential. They were passively used skills, compared to magic; it was agreed that spending the formative years learning them would provide a stronger base for Luna to build her unique magic on.

After lunch, they would run a series of tests, followed by playtime and tea. A bit of light reading before bed, and Luna would be too tuckered out to continue.

It had been nineteen months since Luna's alicornification. She was the demure sort and fit in perfectly with her surroundings - she engrossed herself in new knowledge and asked a lot of questions, but said little of her own accord. Just as well. Caughlin liked that in her.

"Mommy, what's 'field'?" asked Luna, looking up from her sketch book with wide eyes.

"A field is an area around something," answered Caughlin, waking from her reverie. She looked at her own notes, where a careless hoof had smudged out half a page of derivations. She bit her tongue before an unsavory word could roll off it, and added: "Luna, I've said it before, I'm not your mommy, okay."

"Then what are you?" asked Luna.

"I..." That's the golden question, isn't it? She reached down and ruffled her mane. "Well, we're all your family. Everypony here. But I'm not specifically your mommy."

"Why can't you be?"

Because that would be selfish, thought Caughlin, wondering just who had taught her the idea of a mother - could it be that foals had some kind of innate sense of the concept? Perhaps Hanselphil's hobby wasn't completely useless after all, if it brought insignificant yet relieving answers to silly questions like that.

The alicorn was alive and functional - well, for a developing project - thanks to everypony's efforts, even the scientists at the Oh-cube. The unique attention was not hers to hog. It made her feel guilty, especially when the other mares cooed and joked at how jealous they were of her. Just because she was the one taking guardianship over her - and that was just because she had the most free time! - it didn't mean their importance in her life should be diminished. She felt that they should have credit too. And then there was the matter of Whooves... she winced as she thought about that. She was lucky that Luna didn't call him "daddy", or the embarrassment would drive her to resign.

The kiss wasn't even a kiss. It was just a playful peck. That was the story Caughlin was sticking to, and she meant it. And it was in the rush of the moment, at the peak of their euphoria. The period after the party had been the most non-threateningly awkward situation she had ever been in. She was older than him, his tutor and guardian of sorts as well. How could her colleagues think that there was something between them? Maybe for the heck of it, answered Caughlin, sighing inwardly. She remembered the soap operas of the past, and those questionable discs old Macquaire Pie had stashed away back in the days when he was not so old. He had seemed awfully flustered when she had asked him about it during her foalhood...

Professional. Just be professional. Caughlin smiled as Whooves trotted over. "Morning, Doctor."

"Hey," replied Whooves, returning the smile without any trace of subtext - at least, not until she searched harder.

"Good mowning, Wooves," said Luna brightly.

"Morning, Luna." He sidled over and kneeled down. "What's that there?"

"Basic magical field theory," replied Luna proudly. "Mommy's teaching me theory."

"That's awesome, Luna! You'll grow up to be a brilliant pony," said Whooves, letting the foal indulge in attention.

Whooves had responded to Luna surprisingly well. Instead of seeing her as competition, he had taken a great liking to her.

Wait, competition? She tried to restore some of the work while Whooves took over the foal, but the obscure relations were fading in the face of silly thoughts. That's not right. Whooves isn't a kid. Of course he wouldn't see competition for my attention... She stopped and stared hard at the lines of variables, nested in layers and layers of brackets . Not that my attention has anything to do with it. Don't get so full of yourself.

She felt a stare around her ear and turned to face its source smoothly. "And how about you, Doctor? Have you done your reading on individual element control in a time-shift field?"

"Well..." Whooves shuffled uncomfortably. "I can do it, the element control shifty thing. Isn't that good enough? It's not like I need to write it a letter of approval or something..."

"Whooves." Caughlin shook her head, chuckling. One thing had not changed at least. "It isn't enough that you can do it, you have to know what you're doing. You have to understand what the effects are now to determine what'll happen after. Or in your case, what the effects were to the effects today, or... ah, bother. You get the picture."

"I drew a picture," said Luna happily. "It's Mommy and Doctor and me and everypony eating cake."

"That's nice, Luna. Now get back to reading. We'll have a small quiz soon-"

There was a loud crack. Luna, who still hadn't gotten used to it, ducked behind Caughlin, letting out a choked scream. Caughlin half-hugged, half-patted her quickly, motioning for her to stay before trotting up to the new entry.

His visits had been fairly few and far-between, so it was with wariness that she took in the situation: Discord had brought yet another new pony. He was an old unicorn stallion, with greying mane and a dark brown coat. He seemed unfazed by everything, oddly, with an expression of stone. He, she noticed just before Discord spoke, was not staring at the ground, but levelly at her.

"Caughlin," greeted Discord quickly. "Spare the pleasantries. I just want to drop him off here before I forget or lose him. You may find him less fun that that other one - yes, you - that I brought over. He doesn't say much. Found him trying his hand at teleporting, and got stuck halfway through a rock, would you believe it! He was worth at least a laugh, and I know I need those." He gave the pony a nudge with a claw that jolted him a couple of feet forward, to his surprise. "I'll just stick him here. Maybe the next time I return he'll do it again and I can have another. Now excuse me, the ponies in Canterlot are getting restless from the relative lack of chaos in the lives."

"Ah - I'm sorry, relative?" asked Caughlin, thinking quickly. It was always like this - if they could shift Discord's boredom, they could prevent another bout of disaster. It wasn't much on the grand scale of things, but every little bit counted.

"Yes. It's almost sad. I focus my eye on someplace else for two weeks, beyond the Great Sea. They form a committee. Of all things, a form of government!" The top hat that had materialized on his head was thrown away just as fast, hitting a wall and disappearing in a powder-filled poof. "They're trying to organize their agriculture and construction, and already they're plotting how to kill each other. I swear, if I stopped doing anything for a month, when I come back things'll be no different, because you ponies are just so good at destroying things." He was popping up and down in various places as he went on; he was usually restless, but today more so. "But hey, there are you guys, and you seem perfectly whole to me, so there's an exception. Anyhow, I should really get going. I think I can sense a hurricane coming about in those parts." Before Caughlin could say anymore, he left in his usual burst of light and smoke.

All attention focused on the newcomer. He took a short bow, and raised his head.

"Hello everypony. I am honoured to meet you. And you," he said, turning to Caughlin, "must be Caughlin Mare. Grey coat, blond mane. Clearly the authority here, judging by the way you hold yourself. It is a pleasure."

"Same, I'm sure," said Caughlin cautiously. "So, you know my name from what I look like. You seem perfectly at home being here. Might as well settle it: any surprises we should know about you?"

"Only one," replied the stallion gravely. "I am Furhich, leader of the Order of Order, and I am here to oversee the progress of Project ALICORN."

---

Caughlin paced about in her room, horn aglow. Bubble after bubble grew, popped, grew again, painting and wiping away the shade of pink on her vision. She was fuming. She briefly remembered something about Luna being coaxed to take her nap in Whooves' room instead. It wouldn't have done either of them good for her to see her so angry.

She thought of Furhich again, and let loose another sphere, larger than the previous. It burst with an almost-satisfying bang. How dare he. How dare he!

Furhich had wasted no time with introductions. A brief nod, and he requested to see the alicorn. Luna was brought forward. He did not like what he saw. They began to argue, Caughlin trying to reason with him while he ranted on about resources and opportunity cost.

"It's been over a year!" Fuhrich bellowed, looking like something had snapped inside. The drastic change in demeanor had been stunning, to say the least. "Me and my ponies have been cantering all over Equestria just to stay alive, goading Discord to buy you time, and this is what we've been waiting for? A little blue foal that shies at strangers? This is supposed to be the champion against Discord? I thought the results you gave us were all positive!"

"Aren't they? What sort of rock have you been living under? Don't your scientists tell you anything?" retorted Caughlin, rising to the taunt. "You of all ponies should know that it would take a long time. Twenty, thirty, maybe even forty years for Luna to reach her peak powers! She's just a child, Furhich! She needs to grow like any normal pony!"

"It's not the growing part that disturbs me, it's the ridiculous rate at which it's going! Can't you do something to make her mature faster? She's just an experiment, after all, not even a regular pony, just dose her with something and-"

The rest was a blur. She had "seen red", the most basic instinct of equines when faced with immense rage. Maybe it was the complete buffoon Furhich had been that had triggered it. Maybe it was the fact that he was insensitive enough to say all of that in front of Luna. Maybe it was because he had brought up that one, unpleasant fact that Luna's ultimate purpose was to fight and defeat Discord, not to be a child to play with - the uncomfortable fact that everypony would rather leave at the back of their minds.

One thing was sure. She would not have blown up if she did not care about Luna. There was a little comfort in that.

So now I know what I think of her. All I had to do was let her and all of my team be insulted by some... some schizophrenic old coot!

The next few moments of outrage were only a smudge on her memory. When she returned to sentience she was locked in her room with a note that read: "Just cool off for a while. Luna's okay. Don't worry. -Whooves". And that was exactly what she had been doing. Cooling off. She was just not very good at it.

But even so, said the voice of second thoughts, that hated voice - Even so, to act so callously and violently in front of everypony... Have you no self-restraint? Are you too a child?

There was a knock on the door. "Is it safe?" came Whooves' voice.

"Safe enough," snarled Caughlin, feeling her horn ache. "You can come in now."

The door was unbolted, and her student stepped in. "Gee, Caughlin. I never knew you could kick like that," he said in awe. "You sent him flying, did you know that?"

"No. No, I don't. Can we never speak of this again?" moaned Caughlin, sitting down on her bed. "I feel like an utter meathead, Whooves. I'm a pony of science. I may be boiling furious now, but I shouldn't have resorted to physical violence."

"I think you landed a pretty good blow, there," admitted Whooves. "A bit lacking in speed, though for strength I say-"

"Whooves! How could you?"

"If it wasn't you then it would have been me!" replied Whooves hotly. "Or any other pony who's taken Luna as one of us! There's no way we would have taken that lying down."

"But the thing is, Whooves... he's right, in a way," said Caughlin remorsefully. "Think about it. Put yourself in his horseshoes. They've been on the run for their whole lives, Whooves. And they're depending on us to make a brighter future. " She gulped as she pronounced the words slowly. It was bitter medicine. "That sort of expectation shatters pretty hard, you know."

When he did not respond, Caughlin tried to go on. "Not to mention he's the leader. Everypony looks up to him. Who knows how many ponies are putting their hope in him? And he's put that hope on us."

"Caughlin. Listen to me," said Whooves, trotting up and gripping her shoulders tightly. "He's him, all right. Fine. But you're our leader. Family. And we've put our hopes in you, and I promise you, nopony's going to think any worse of you for doing what you did. Disappointed, maybe, if you didn't, but the fact remains that you did." She could hear, smell his deep breaths as he stared into her eyes pleadingly. Then he looked away. "Even if you could have kicked him a little lower in the belly, that would have been hilarious."

Caughlin blinked, mouth open slightly. Then she managed a tiny, pained smile, and drew him into a hug. But no more than that, she thought quietly. Exercise some self-control, dammit.

They left and checked up on Luna, who had just woken up. Caughlin lifted her tenderly in her hoofs and cuddled her. "Are you okay, Luna?"

"Yes, Mommy," whimpered Luna, trembling. "I'm sorry, Mommy."

"What for, sweetie?"

"For making you angry." Luna sounded like she was about to burst into sobs.

"No, no, Luna. It's okay, it's okay," soothed Caughlin. "You didn't make me angry, Luna. It's got nothing to do with you."

"The new pony said my name."

"Fu - ignore whatever the new pony said," said Caughlin, kissing Luna softly on her horn. It felt like she had a cold. There was clamminess in her throat as she continued. To get sick now of all times was just her luck. Because that's what it is, of course. Just sickness. "I... love you, Luna, just the way you are. And don't ever, ever think that I won't. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mommy." She could feel Luna shift in her arms. "I love you too."

She glanced at Whooves, who bit his lip and smiled.

It's the little things that matter, she recalled herself saying. She just wasn't sure how many of those little things they would have left now.

Comments

[PresentPerfect]

Neeeeee, cuteness!

[Zennyth]

I quite like this story. It has a very unique concept and its well written. It certainly deserves a lot more views. I'll be watching and eager for more!

[Casca]

3243382
Glad to hear it - you'll find out soon

3255146
Thank you kindly =) still quite a lot of the ride left to go!

3252039
Good catch thanks for these; I swear, the way they slip past me, you'd think I have some kind of agreement blind spot or something.

[PresentPerfect]

3255810
It happens! :V

[FanOfMostEverything]

Never underestimate the power of love, especially when dealing with the incarnation of internecine conflict. Definitely looking forward to more.