Act 2 Part 4 - Twins
“Washington?” Church’s voice cut through the tense silence that filled the clearing. Twilight turned around to see the cobalt man jogging towards them. “How in the fuck did you get here?”
The Freelancer kept his rifle trained on the woman in orchid and green armor, “Locked on to the original signal from Tex’s Recovery Beacon and hijacked a drop pod from the Mother of Invention,” Wash explained cooly. “I’m willing to bet Agent South here did the same thing.”
Only one question really mattered to Twilight at that moment, “Where were you? Back on the ship, you told us you’d be right back but you never showed up. We had to leave without you.” Twilight’s ears folded down as the guilt of that decision caught up with her, “Sorry about that, by the way.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. I would have done the same,” Washington stated. “As for why I didn’t rendezvous with you guys on the ship, I got pinned down by Wyoming and a bunch of Freelancer troops. It was close, I only barely avoided capture.”
As Agent South pulled herself to her feet, Washington took a step closer. The barrel of his Battle Rifle was now inches from her visor.
“Personally, I’d like to know what you are doing here, South!”
South casually shrugged, “I was hoping to find Omega here. Trade up, y’know?”
Twilight nearly jumped back when a tiny figure appeared in a flash of green light. A spectral armored human surrounded by a green glow now floated beside south.
“I will ignore the insinuation that I am not up to Agent South’s standards and point out that the chances of such a plan working were slim even if the variables were in your favor,” it said in a reverberant, robotic voice.
“Nobody asked you, D,” South muttered.
“Ugh, another A.I.?” Church asked.
The construct’s green armored avatar disappeared and reappeared in front of Twilight and Church, “Yes. My name is Delta. I was the A.I. unit assigned to Agent New York until he was killed in action. I was subsequently recovered by Agent Washington and later stolen by Agent South Dakota.”
“Which was when she shot me in the back and left me at the mercy of the Meta,” Washington added with no shortage of venom in his icy voice.
“Shot by your teammate? I know what that feels like...” Church said bitterly.
“I’m betting you’re just itching to return the favor, aren’t you?” South then gestured with her head at something behind her. Following the gesture, Twilight found herself looking back at the crashed ship with We Are The Meta carved into its side. “If you want my advice, you’ll need all the help you can get if you want to deal with that little problem.”
“As it happens, I don’t want your advice nor your help.” Washington looked up at the little holographic avatar floating beside South, “Delta, is there still power in South’s dome shield?”
“Affirmative.”
Washington lowered his rifle and took a few steps away from South, “Then turn it on and leave it that way.”
Seeing what Wash was doing, South immediately piped up, “Delta! Command: Instruction: override Agent Washington’s order!”
“Exception: My programming dictates that priority must be given to the orders of the closest Recovery Agent.”
“Bullshit! You’re my A.I! Command: Instruction…”
“Negative, Agent South. I am Project Freelancer’s A.I. unit. As a rogue agent operating in direct defiance of Command’s orders, you are no longer a part of Project Freelancer.”
“You fucking cockbi…” South was abruptly cut off as she was surrounded by the appearance of the golden honeycomb dome from before. The group could see South’s angry body language inside but could only hear muffled yelling.
“Thanks Delta,” Washington sighed.
The glowing green A.I appeared in front of Washington, “I am here to assist.”
“Ha ha! Got told, bitch!” Church laughed.
“South does bring up a valid point, however.” Washington then turned to face Church and Twilight, “Is the Meta really here?”
Twilight swallowed and nodded grimly, “I saw it myself. It almost killed me, as well as my friends.”
Twilight explained to Washington everything that happened while she was gone, starting with Omega infecting Pinkie Pie and ending with her confrontation with the Meta in the Everfree Forest. She then went on to explain their plan to use the Elements of Harmony to stop the Meta the next time they encountered it. Washington listened silently the whole time. The Freelancer was still as a statue, but Twilight could tell that his mind was not.
“It sounds like a good plan, but the Meta hasn’t revealed itself since the encounter the other night, has it?” he asked.
“No,” Twilight said with a shake of her head, “I think it’s figured out that we don’t have Omega any more.”
The group fell silent as they contemplated the fact that finding the Meta before it could hurt anypony else was going to be a bigger challenge than Twilight initially thought. She expected it would simply try to attack them in Ponyville again, but now it seemed just as likely that the Meta would try searching for Omega elsewhere. According to the others Omega was destroyed, but how many more ponies would die before the Meta figured that out?
“So… what are we gonna do about the bitch in the bubble?” Church asked in an apparent attempt to find a problem that they could actually solve.
Twilight took another look at the armored woman pacing back and forth inside the domed shield, looking ready to break the first thing she came in contact with.
“Delta, what do you suppose the chances are of South shooting me in the back again if we let her out?” Wash asked.
“In the current circumstances? Highly unlikely. However, I have recently found out that a rifle shot to the back is not the only means by which she has betrayed an ally in the past.”
“Would these ‘other means’ involve shooting her teammate with a tank?” Church snarked.
Delta continued unabated by Church’s interruption, “Do you remember South’s account of her brother North’s death at the hands of the Meta?”
At that moment, Twilight felt a slight pang of sympathy for the woman within the dome shield. As a pony with a big brother that she loved and adored who served in the military, the possibility of his death was something that always existed in the back of her mind. If that possibility was a reality for South, Twilight couldn’t imagine what she was feeling…
“Agent South orchestrated the events that led to Agent North’s death. She is equally as responsible for his termination as the Meta.”
“Damn, she makes Caboose's K/D ratio look good!” Church exclaimed.
And just like that, Twilight’s feelings of sympathy were gone.
“Twilight, can you contact those friends of yours and tell them to bring those Element things down here?” Washington asked.
“Okay,” Twilight nodded at Church, who reached up to the side of his helmet to activate his radio, “Uh… does this mean you have a plan?”
With a nod, Wash reached up to activate his own radio, “South? Are you there?”
“No, dipshit. I’m on Harvest. What do you want?”
“I’ve just thought of a way you can help us find the Meta!”
“See ya later, Mr. Simmons!” Applebloom called back as she ran up the path to Ponyville General. The hospital was by far the most modern-looking building in Ponyville, its clean concrete walls clashing with the rustic nature of the other nearby buildings.
“We’ll jump on you again soon!” Sweetie Belle added as she ran after her friend.
“I can’t believe you got your ass kicked by baby ponies!” Grif laughed.
“Hey, they’re a lot stronger than they look!” Simmons argued.
Applejack ignored the bickering Reds as she watched the two fillies disappear into the hospital front doors. According to Rarity, the two were going to play a game with Scootaloo in the hospital. This sat fine with Applejack. Scootaloo’s dad was still there, the stallion apparently hadn’t left Scootaloo’s side even after the lockdown was lifted. Applejack was confident the fillies would be well looked after between him and the hospital staff.
The source of Applejack’s concerns shifted to other matters. Namely the fact that Twilight needed her and the others’ help, which would require Applejack to miss her pie delivery to Shady Hollows. Granted, the delivery didn’t exactly earn the farm a big revenue but it was the principle that counted! Applejack promised the ponies of Shady Hollows that they’d get their Sweet Apple Acres apple pies on time like every year. But if Twilight said they needed the Elements of Harmony, that meant all of them had to be there. But what if Applejack’s Element didn’t work because she wasn’t honest with the ponies in Shady Hollows?
Applejack groaned loudly and gave her aching head a couple of shakes.
“Everything alright, dear?” Rarity asked.
“Not really. I gotta choose between helpin’ Twi with somethin’ real important and keepin’ my word to a bunch of other ponies!” Applejack sighed, “If only I had some extra hooves…”
Applejack’s eyes widened when she realized she did in fact have extra hooves. Well, not hooves exactly.
“Both of ya can it! Save yer muscles for when we get back to the farm!” Sarge ordered.
“I don’t know what you think that pony is going to have us do, but we probably won’t be using our mouth muscles,” Grif said.
“You will be! You never stop bitching!” Simmons exclaimed.
With an ear piercing whistle, Applejack got the Reds’ attention, “Okay fellas, I got a job for y’all! You do this an’ I swear to Celestia I will consider yer debt to Sweet Apple Acres paid in full!”
“That means no more farm work, right? I’ll do it!” Grif said.
“In the barn there’s a cart full of apple pies,” Applejack pulled out a map and gave it to Sarge, “they all need to be delivered to Shady Hollows through the Fire Swamp. Jus’ follow the map and yer golden!”
“Fire Swamp? That sounds dangerous,” Simmons said.
“If there’s a chance Grif might be killed, I’ll take it!” Sarge exclaimed. He turned in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres and waved the others forward, “C’mon men! We have a mission to complete with acceptable casualties!”
“Wait! It really is dangerous!” Applejack started. “You’ll need a lion tamer’s chair, a snake charmin’ flute…”
“Nonsense! We have the perfect diversion: Grif’s delicious corpse!” Sarge said as he started leading his reluctant team away.
Applejack watched them go with a pit of worry forming in her stomach. Sarge had proven to be capable enough in apple harvesting and they were a well equipped group of alien soldiers. She only hoped they wouldn’t screw this one up somehow.
As she watched the Reds go down the street, Applejack noticed a pony staring at them. An earth pony mare with a white coat and a blond mane and tail wearing guard’s armor sans helmet. She was watching the Reds with wide eyes, but the Reds paid her no mind. Not even when a spiteful grimace crossed the white mare’s face and she lowered her head. Applejack was worried the mare was going to attack the Reds when she started scuffing her hoof along the ground. But then the mare’s white ears perked up, and after a moment the aggressive look on her face was gone. The armored pony continued past Applejack and Rarity and entered the hospital behind them.
Applejack turned to Rarity, wondering if she too had seen the strange pony but Rarity was looking at something up in the sky in a completely different direction. Rainbow Dash swooped down and landed in front of Rarity, followed closely by Fluttershy. At the same time, Spike came running down the street to meet them.
“Okay, I’ve managed to get us a few sky chariots,” he said, “is everypony ready?”
“All except one…” Rainbow Dash said, frowning.
Applejack looked around. Four ponies, including herself. So who were they missing?
“Oh… yes… Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy said.
The four ponies looked uneasily amongst themselves.
“Well, the Elements of Harmony won’t work without her,” Rainbow Dash said, giving her wings a few eager flaps, “she’s gotta be over her experience with O’Malley by now! Hay, she got off easy! She didn’t have to fight the Meta!”
“Now let’s not be insensitive to what Pinkie’s going through,” Fluttershy stated, “she’s had a rough time these past few days and will need all of us to overcome…”
Fluttershy trailed off when she realized her voice was being drowned out by distant music. Unlike the goofy polka music that the Reds played upon making an entrance, this music was far more… bombastic. The four gathered ponies - as well as every other pony within audible range - looked up the street where it was coming from: the direction of Sugarcube Corner.
A giant float taking the form of a great wad of cotton candy covered in sprinkles was driving down the street. On top at the back was the effigy of a certain pink party pony next to that of a blue alien helmet. The subjects of the crude work of art were standing on top of the float, throwing candy and baked goods to the very confused looking citizens of Ponyville.
“Sweets for everypony in honor of my new friend Caboose!” Pinkie decreed as she tossed a hooffull of cupcakes into the crowd.
“Yes! I am also celebrating me!” Caboose added, throwing candy at a group of foals just a little too hard.
Rainbow Dash flew over to the ridiculous display and hovered alongside the float level with Pinkie, “Uh, Pinkie? What are you doing?”
“Oh hi Dashie!” Pinkie waved before continuing to hurl more sweets at passersby, “Y’know how I usually like to hold a ‘Welcome to Ponyville Party’ for new arrivals in Ponyville? Well this time I decided instead of inviting everypony in Ponyville to the party I’d invite the party to everypony in Ponyville! That way they won’t have to wait to meet my new super great best friend Caboose!”
Rainbow Dash cocked her head, “Uh…”
“Oh don’t worry!” Pinkie leaned forward to whisper loudly at Rainbow Dash, “You’re still my super ultra best friend forever, which is a step above super great best friend but super great best friend is still a really high rank! Just above great great best friend plus!”
Rainbow Dash lowered her brow, “So… you’re feeling better then?”
“Oh yeah, Caboose helped me with the whole O’Malley thing! He’s really smart!”
Rainbow Dash looked at Caboose. The armored man was standing in cakes.
“Look! I made cake shoes!” Caboose exclaimed.
“See? Genius!” Pinkie sang.
“So…” Rainbow looked at Pinkie. Her tone no longer held the skepticism or mild annoyance that it had before. The last time she’d seen Pinkie, the pink pony was a mess. Rainbow almost couldn’t believe that she was looking at her old friend again, “You’re really okay?”
With incredible speed, Pinkie grabbed Rainbow Dash out of the air and hugged her tight, “Fine now, Dashie. Thanks!”
Pinkie released Rainbow Dash and gave her a simple smile to further reassure her. It was the smile Rainbow Dash remembered. Feeling like everything was going to be okay, Rainbow Dash returned it. At least until something else occurred to her.
“Uh, Pinkie? Who’s driving the float?”
Pinkie Pie and Caboose exchanged a slow look. “Don’t look at me, I was in charge of confetti…” Caboose stated.
The pair of them checked the float’s current course. It was moving at a steady rate, approaching somepony’s house complete with a very nice garden that was not long for this world.
“IT’S EVERY MARE FOR HERSELF!” Pinkie screamed as she jumped off the float.
“I CAN’T DIE YET! I DIDN’T SAVE MY GAME!” Caboose yelled as he did the same.
Rainbow Dash and the others watched with exasperation as the pair fell to the ground in an overly dramatic way that probably looked impressive in slow-motion. The float very slowly plowed over the fence and crushed the helpless flowers it guarded, finally stopping as the mass of cotton candy on wheels hit the side of the house… leaving no noticeable damage. A pink pony with a blond mane stepped out of the house and gasped at the state of her garden.
“Sorry Lily!” Pinkie Pie called out, “I’ll pay you the damage in cupcakes!”
“I HAVE NO INSURANCE!” Caboose added for good measure.
Lily responded to the scene as she did with any mildly stressful scenario: she passed out onto her front lawn.
“We haven’t even left town yet…” Applejack groaned, her hoof planted on her forehead.
Caboose and Pinkie Pie quickly joined their friends down the street as ponies started gathering around the crashed (and somehow on fire) float.
“Okay… so, everything’s ready. The Elements of Harmony are all packed up. Let’s get going!” Spike said after getting over the initial shock at what he’d just witnessed.
“Erm… what are we going to do about Pinkie’s new friend?” Rarity asked.
“Ooh! Ooh! We can take him with us! He can see his other blue alien friend!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“I will have two best friends in the same place!” Caboose exclaimed.
Applejack opened her mouth to protest the idea, but she then looked over at the crashed float and the group of ponies trying to put the fire out with Lily’s garden hose.
“Well... It’s better than leavin’ him here unsupervised!”
With that, the group made their way down the street towards Twilight’s home, where the sky carriages awaited them. None of them noticed the wall-eyed gray pegasus mare watching them from atop a cloud with a maniacal grin.
Church walked across the blackened grass of the crash site toward Agent Washington. After contacting Twilight’s dragon kid, Church elected to spend some time alone. For a time, it was actually quite nice. No bickering teammates, no Freelancers and no Goddamn pony aliens to bother him.
Of course, the problem with being left alone with nothing but his thoughts soon made itself apparent: Church’s thoughts made for terrible company. So with a defeated utterance of profanity, Church had left his solitary corner of the clearing and soon found his feet taking him towards the Freelancer in gray and yellow armor.
By this point the sun was beginning to vanish from the sky and Washington was talking to Quill and Captain Mirage. Apparently, the Freelancer was trying to get their help with whatever plan he had cooking. Church didn’t trust Washington at all, but if he was careful he might be able to squeeze some answers out of him.
He nodded at Twilight, who purposefully strode past him, eyes straight ahead. He decided not to ask her what she was up to, but the sight of her made him realize what she would do in his position. She would probably use her crazy unicorn intelligence to try and butter up Washington and then subtly lead the conversation towards the questions she wanted answers to.
“Uh, hey Wash! How’s the… uh… freelancing going?”
Washington turned around and looked at Church, unamused. “Okay Church, what are you trying to butter me up for?”
“What? No… I wasn’t buttering anything… except my toast… this morning.”
Dammit! Church was starting to sound just like Caboose! The two ponies Wash was speaking with trotted away, apparently having finished their conversation with the Freelancer who now had Church’s attention. Church decided the only way to make Wash forget about this conversation was to get him to start talking about something related to their mission.
“So, uh… what’s the deal with this Meta thing, anyway?” Church asked.
“Didn’t I already tell you guys? The Meta kills Freelancers and steals their A.I.’s and abilities. It took Gamma and Wyoming’s time device when it came here, and according to Twilight it could turn invisible, which means it must have taken Tex’s cloaking device.”
Church shook his head, “No, I know that. I mean what is it? Is it a person? Is it an alien? Is it some kind of hybrid? Like a human-alien that’s, like… part shark?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s a human… or it was. Now I’m thinking that all of those A.I.’s in its head are the ones running the show, and whoever’s acquiring them is just… kinda along for the ride.”
“Do you have any idea who this guy is?”
“The last time I encountered the Meta, I couldn’t really get a good look at it,” Washington exhaled and looked off to the side, “but… I have a hunch…”
Church waited for Wash to finish his thought, but the Freelancer never did. The thought just lingered in the air between them.
“You… wanna tell me what it is?”
Wash shook his head, “I don’t like explaining half-formed theories. I’ll tell you when I’m one hundred percent certain.”
With that impasse reached, Church decided to just go ahead and say what was actually on his mind. He didn’t care that Twilight would probably have thought up a more clever way to butter him up first.
“I’ve been meaning to ask, what exactly happened with you and Wyoming on the ship?”
Wash shrugged, “I told you all of the important stuff.”
“Not all of the important stuff,” Church said, taking a step closer to Wash, “how did you escape?”
“I managed to fight Wyoming off. He left several Freelancer troops to deal with me, but I was in a good position to use my superior training to beat them back. I went straight down to the generator room afterwards, but by then you guys were already gone.”
Despite the lack of a real mouth to speak of, Church felt a pleasant sensation around his face. The kind he used to get in his human body when he smiled.
“I take it the Reds were there, then?”
“Yes. They seemed pretty confused about what happened to you guys.”
Ah-HAH! Church inwardly cheered. It took all of his effort not to perform a fist pump at that moment.
Wash gave Church a sideways look, “Why are you pumping your fists in the air?”
Church froze. Apparently his effort was in vain. “Oh, no reason. Don’t worry about it!”
Wash regarded Church for a moment, “You still don’t trust me, do you?” When Church gave no audible response, Wash sighed, “Look, I wasn’t sneaking around trying to turn you and Twilight over to Project Freelancer, okay? Believe it or not, I have plenty of reason to dislike the project. We both do...”
Just then, Washington turned and looked towards the edge of the clearing, “Twilight’s friends have arrived. Get her and South over here!”
Sure enough, when Church followed Washington’s gaze he spotted a familiar group of colorful ponies walking past the security checkpoint, along with Caboose for some reason. Church returned his attention to the rest of the camp. It didn’t take him long to spot Twilight, who strangely enough seemed to be talking to South.
“Hey Twilight! Get over here, your friends arrived!”
The distant unicorn turned her head in his direction, little purple ears at attention. Twilight began trotting toward Church at a brisk pace while South and the ponies guarding her followed. Church couldn’t help but feel a little smug as they approached. Sure, Twilight probably might have done a better job at subtly steering the conversation, but even she was going to be impressed with the way he just exposed Agent Washington’s lies.
Twilight couldn’t keep herself from pacing anxiously inside the magically expanded tent that served as the mess hall. Doing nothing but waiting for her friends to arrive was torturous for a mind as active as hers. It had been hours since Church called Spike on the radio and informed him of the situation. Twilight had gotten a bite of dinner since then, but had very quickly run out of ways to pass the time.
As always, her mind seemed to race with a thousand questions at once. Currently at the forefront of her thoughts was Washington’s timely arrival and his refusal to give any details about what happened on the ship, as well as his most recent scheme. Then there was South. Something about the woman bothered Twilight deeply. What could have driven her to let her brother die? Twilight couldn’t imagine a situation where she could be willing to do the same to her own brother Shining Armor.
Twilight stopped pacing. Drawing in a breath, she turned and exited the tent. More and more, new questions had been plaguing Twilight’s mind and all she was doing was obsessing over them. It was past time to start getting answers.
Celestia’s sun was beginning to set out in the clearing where the crashed ship lay. Twilight purposefully strode right past Church, who nodded in her direction as he approached Washington. Twilight walked straight towards the human in orchid and green armor.
South was standing at the far edge of the clearing, sitting on a wooden supply crate while being watched by a pair of magi. Either Washington advised them to keep an eye on her or they still didn’t trust her; most likely it was a little of both. As Twilight drew closer to the target of her investigation, the little unicorn began thinking of ways to broach the topic of her curiosity. Twilight knew that the female former Freelancer would only cooperate if Twilight buttered her up first before subtly leading the conversation toward her question.
“Why did you kill your brother???” Twilight blurted out.
South looked up at the purple unicorn, “Excuse me?”
Twilight shut her eyes and inwardly cursed her mouth for its insubordination. Delta suddenly appeared between them in a flash of green light.
“Technically, Agent South did not kill Agent North. She merely set him up to be ambushed by the…”
“Yes, she knows that, Delta,” South said.
Twilight struggled to read South’s reaction. Her tone sounded brash and uncaring as usual, but was her speed to cut Delta off indicative of guilt? Or did she just find the A.I. annoying? Twilight groaned when she realized she was as bad at reading the intricacies of emotion as she was at navigating the nuances of conversation.
“So, why did you do it?” she asked.
South shrugged. “I had orders. Command wanted combat data on the Meta and they offered me an A.I. as a reward,” South bobbed her head in the direction of Delta’s glowing green avatar.
“Agent South was the only one among the top Freelancer Agents to not receive an A.I of her own,” Delta added.
Twilight’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t believe it! Even if Princess Celestia herself had commanded her to let Shining Armor die, Twilight didn’t think she could go through with it. Let alone with South’s casual attitude.
“Didn’t you love him?” she asked.
South made a scoffing sound. “We were twins, but North always played the part of the older sibling. He was an overbearing, overprotective fruit who was practically sewn to me my entire life…” she sighed and what she said next was so quiet it could easily have been mistaken for a breath, “of course I loved him.”
South got up and began to pace. That was a nuance Twilight could read. “But he was holding me back,” South said, “Project Freelancer made it clear that the only way I was going to get out of North’s shadow was to play their game.”
South turned back to face Twilight. Her tone held no more of the arrogance it normally did, “So, I guess that makes me a fucking monster, huh?”
Despite everything she’d just been told, Twilight wasn’t sure that South was a monster. The things she’d done were awful, but there was a melancholy to her voice when she spoke.
“I know a pony who was also overshadowed by her older sibling,” Twilight said, “she too did terrible things to get the recognition she felt she deserved. But she’s changed. With the help of my friends and I, she learned the error of her ways and let go of her jealousy and hate.”
Twilight couldn’t help but wonder whether she could save South from her own resentment just as she had done for Princess Luna.
“Is there a point to this story?” South asked.
“What I’m trying to say is… you’re only a monster if you choose to be,” Twilight said.
At that moment Twilight decided that the only real monster was the Freelancer program. By the sound of things, Project Freelancer had gotten into her head and used her. Those A.I.’s seemed to cause more trouble than they were worth.
“I know that A.I.’s are incredibly useful, but what makes them so special that people are killing each other over them?” Twilight asked.
“A.I.’s can increase an agent’s effectiveness in the field,” Delta answered. “We power the more advanced equipment, such as Agent South’s dome shield, and can run calculations allowing our agents to perform faster and more efficiently than they would be able to otherwise. Of course, the other Freelancer A.I.’s and myself are not as effective as a full Smart A.I.”
Twilight tilted her head, “A Smart A.I.? Aren’t all A.I.’s smart?”
“When compared to organic minds, yes. However, ‘Smart’ and ‘Dumb’ are entirely seperate classifications for A.I.’s than they are for organics. A Dumb A.I. is limited to a smaller scope of expertise and is less self-aware, but because of this it has a longer lifespan.
“A Smart A.I. is limitless in what it can learn and has the appearance of a full, sapient being. However, this comes with the drawback of a shorter lifespan. Seven years to be precise. This is partially a result of the fact that all Smart A.I.’s are created from the neural pathways of a human brain.”
“Right. Just like an M.I…” Twilight rubbed her chin, “So… does that make you a ‘Dumb’ A.I.?”
“Actually, I am neither classification. The other Freelancer A.I.’s and myself are closer to what you would call a ‘fragment.’”
Twilight looked at the small green spectre curiously, “A fragment? Of what…?”
“The only Smart A.I. in Project Freelancer: the Alpha.”
All at once Twilight remembered her conversation with Washington on the topic of the Alpha; the Smart A.I. that the others had all been copied from. As far as Twilight knew, it wasn’t possible to copy an M.I. based on a pony mind. Did human technology make it possible to copy a Smart A.I.?
Church’s voice calling her from a distance brought Twilight out of her thoughts, “Hey Twilight! Get over here, your friends arrived!”
As Twilight began to make her way over to Church with South and the ponies guarding her in tow, she couldn’t help but wonder whether Delta had succeeded where she had failed. The little A.I. seemed to have deftly directed the course of their conversation to the topic that he was interested in.
As she drew closer to Church, Twilight started to notice that the whole clearing seemed a lot more empty than it was earlier. There didn’t seem to be any armored ponies on patrol anymore and even the ponies guarding the security checkpoint seemed to be gone. The only guardponies left appeared to be the two watching South.
As Twilight rejoined Church and her friends, a familiar pink pony abruptly popped up in front of Twilight with a huge grin on her face. Just like that, Twilight’s suspicion over the absence of the Equestrian forces was all but forgotten.
“Uh, Pinkie…?”
“Hi Twilight! I’m super silly, I totally forgot to give you your ‘welcome back, we all missed you a whole lot’ hug when you dropped by earlier!” Pinkie Pie grabbed Twilight and gave her a hard squeeze. “Welcome back, we all missed you a whole lot!”
Twilight squeaked as more air was forced out of her, and with a glow of her horn, Twilight used her magic to gently but firmly pry Pinkie Pie off of her. Catching her breath, Twilight gave Pinkie a sheepish smile. It would appear that whatever had been bothering Pinkie Pie before was now resolved.
Before Twilight could comment on the matter, Pinkie Pie was scooped up off the ground by a pair of big blue hands and deposited in front of Church. Despite her rough treatment, Pinkie didn’t seem hurt or annoyed. She simply looked up at Church with the same happy smile she always wore. Church simply looked down at the poofy pink pony with some consternation.
“Uh… what…?”
“Hi Church!” Caboose popped up behind Church and looked down at Pinkie Pie over his shoulder, “Pinkie, this is my best friend Church! Church, this is my other best friend Pinkie Pie!”
Caboose pushed an incredibly stiff Church closer to Pinkie.
“Uh… I don’t...”
“Nice to meet you Church!” Pinkie hopped up in front of Church’s helmet with a noisemaker all of a sudden in her mouth. She blew it enthusiastically, causing it to emit a grating high-pitched noise and the papery end to lash out at Church like a snake.
A loud pop echoed through the clearing as Church was sprayed by confetti. “I. Have. A confetti cannon,” Caboose stated as he stood there holding the cylindrical object in his hands. Pinkie Pie continued blowing on her noisemaker, the end repeatedly slapping against Church’s visor like the tongue of an overly affectionate dog.
“Great,” Church said, “fucking great. I have two of them now.”
“Hey, Twi!” Applejack approached Twilight, drawing her attention away from the odd scene. “What happened to all of the guards?”
“I was wondering the same thing,” Twilight answered.
“They were all sent away,” Washington approached the group of ponies and blue soldiers with an armored unicorn mare following close behind him. “We decided they would be better kept in reserve, safely away from the coming conflict.”
Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and hovered above the group. “Who the hay is this guy?” she gestured to Washington with her front hooves
“Yeah! Who is that guy?” Caboose yelled.
“Caboose, we know Agent Washington,” Church said flatly.
“C’mon, I think I would remember a guy who’s gray with yellow stripes. He looks just like a road!”
“Ugh, just shut up…”
“I bet cars hate him…”
Twilight decided to nip this problem in the bud, “Everyone, this is Agent Washington! He helped me get home along with Church and Caboose!”
Twilight’s friends seemed to relax somewhat and each took a moment to introduce themselves to the Freelancer. Their eyes then drifted over to the second Freelancer among them.
“And this is South. She attacked us, shot Wash in the back and killed her brother!” Twilight winced as soon as her brain caught up with her mouth.
The rest of the ponies gave South distasteful looks and a few shuffled away slightly. Twilight went on to introduce Delta, whose avatar’s appearance startled almost everypony present. Lastly, Washington gestured to the armored pony beside him.
“And this is Captain Mirage. She and I have been working out a strategy for dealing with the Meta.” Washington turned to the unicorn Guard Captain, “Why don’t you show them your ‘special talent?’”
Without changing her stoic expression, Captain Mirage fired up her horn. To the chorus of surprised gasps from the entire group, the two mages who had been guarding South began to shimmer and wave like a body of water. In an instant, the pair of unicorns faded from existence and disappeared completely.
“Whoa! It’s like a magic trick!” Caboose exclaimed. “Are you going to turn them into a bunny?”
Pinkie Pie suddenly hopped up onto Caboose’s back and peered over his shoulder. “Or even better: a chocolate bunny?”
“They were illusions…” Twilight muttered.
“Yes, when the Meta arrives, Captain Mirage will make it seem as if the military is still in this clearing when they’ll really be in Dodge City standing by,” Wash explained.
“This is spectacular and all, but I thought we were trying to find the Meta,” South stated.
“Yes, I was just getting to that,” Wash turned to face South, “you’re going to lead the Meta right to us!”
South scoffed. “And how am I going to do that?”
Washington didn’t answer. At least, not with words. Instead, he drew his sidearm, raised it at South and pulled the trigger. The loud bang made everyone jump, even the stone-faced Captain Mirage raised her brow in surprise. South hunched over clutching her bleeding left hip and looked up at Washington while Delta stated, “Alert! Friendly fire!”
“Right… bait. Guess I should’ve figured…” South collapsed to the ground as the others looked on in shock.
A calm, distant female voice came in over Washington’s radio, “Come in Recovery One. Recovery One, do you read?”
“Go ahead, Command,” Washington answered.
“We have a Beacon, Wash. It’s Agent South.”
“AAAAAnd break!” Caboose drew attention away from the morbid scene with another burst of confetti from another cylindrical device.
Church jumped, “Jeez! Where are you getting those things?!”
Sunny Side placed the glass vase filled with water on the table beside the hospital bed. She then filled it with the flowers she had bought earlier: a bouquet of yellow roses. It was then that Sunny finally brought herself to look at the filly in the bed.
Her sister Bright Side lay still in the hospital bed, her eyes closed and her little blue chest rising and falling. A few tubes were feeding fluids into one of her forelegs, but aside from that Bright Side looked fine, like she was just sleeping. If Sunny didn’t know her better, she would have assumed that was the case, but with a sad smile Sunny remembered that her sister was never this still, even when asleep.
Sunny put a hoof on her sister’s, “Don’t you worry, squirt. When you wake up, Equestria will be a safer place! Promise!”
Sunny stayed like that for a time, holding her sister’s hoof and stroking her mane. All was silent save for the steady beeping of the heart monitor and the occasional raised voices of a few fillies in another room. Too soon did Sunny feel the presence of another return to her mind, and the small ghostly image of the alien in black armor appeared floating beside them.
I found our target. He’s heading for Dodge City. Tex reported. Are you ready?
It was a hard concept to get used to, sharing her mind with an alien entity. Despite Sunny’s hatred for the Meta and the race responsible for its being, Sunny found herself trusting this Tex. Sharing her mind allowed Sunny to see much of Tex’s memories and allowed her to piece together just who she was. There were many details that Sunny didn’t really understand but the most important fact was that Tex wanted to stop the Director. Whoever he was, his organization was responsible for everything. Tex would stop at nothing to bring them all down, nothing else mattered.
Not even her life. Not even Sunny’s. That was okay though. Sunny wasn’t sure her own life mattered much now, anyway. If she died fighting the Freelancer program with Tex, then so be it. As long as Sunny got a chance to fight in Equestria’s defense like she should have before, nothing else mattered.
Sunny nodded in reply, but her eyes lingered on her sister’s still form. Even so, leaving now, knowing that this could be the last time she saw Bright Side, was hard. If you wake up to find you don’t have a sister, I hope you’ll understand it’s for the best. Such thoughts were no longer private. Sharing a mind worked both ways. The alien construct looked down at Bright Side before floating in front of Sunny.
Word of advice: don’t say goodbye…
Twilight and her friends lay in wait in the cover of the brush just outside the clearing. Each of the six ponies were wearing their Element of Harmony as they watched the open area where the ship lay. A few ponies with white coats and golden armor stood vigilant at the center of the clearing. At least, that’s what it appeared. In actuality, they were mere illusions courtesy of Captain Mirage. They all stood around the inert form of South, who lay on the ground in a puddle of her own blood, the similarly crippled ship an appropriate backdrop.
South would survive, Washington had assured them that much. Her armor locked up as it entered “recovery mode,” preserving South’s vitals and keeping her from bleeding out. Washington had explained his plan to them; that the Meta was likely intercepting the Recovery Beacons that were transmitted from a dead or dying Freelancer and that was how it was finding them. The plan was to make it seem as though South’s initial attempt to break into the research camp had gone more poorly. The Meta would arrive and find South on the ground surrounded by Equestrian soldiers.
Upon attacking Captain Mirage’s apparitions, the Meta would reveal itself, giving Twilight and her friends an opening to hit it with the Elements of Harmony. It was a solid plan, though Twilight wished that Washington had explained it to them beforehand.
“Psst! Hey, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash leaned closer as she whispered. “What’s the deal with that Washington guy?”
“Yes, I’m quite curious about him myself,” Rarity whispered. “He seemed like a perfectly good gentlecolt up until he shot his friend.”
“Reckon what we’re all tryin’ to say is: can we trust him?” Applejack asked quietly.
It seemed that Twilight wasn’t the only one wondering that after all. Washington had been willing to help her get home, but like Church he had his own reasons for doing so. Though Twilight knew she could trust Church, she wasn’t exactly sure what Washington was going to do once he completed his mission to take down the Meta.
“No. We can’t,” Church answered.
Twilight turned around to face the cobalt man. He was currently crouched, as he had been watching the woods behind their backs along with Caboose.
“I had a little talk with Washington,” Church said. “Turns out he’s been lying to us!”
Applejack tilted her head, “How do ya figure?”
Church paid Applejack no mind and looked straight at Twilight, “When I asked what happened to him on the Mother of Invention he said he managed to make it down to the generator room but just missed us. Said all he found was the Reds trying to figure out what happened to us.
“But that’s impossible. Just before you teleported us here, you convinced the Reds to help us and they went outside to stall the Freelancer reinforcements. He would have found them there instead of in the generator room!”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin, “Okay, so why would he lie about where he saw the Reds?”
“Maybe because he didn’t go down to the generator room at all!”
“So where do you think he went instead?”
Church shrugged, “I dunno. Somewhere he could do sneaky Freelancer things!”
“That would explain why all the cookies were missing from the cafeteria…” Caboose mused.
The entire group (save for Pinkie Pie) gave Caboose a queer look. Twilight quickly returned her attention to Church.
“Look, I don’t know why Washington lied to us and I certainly don’t agree with most of his methods, but I think we should give Washington the benefit of the doubt for now. We have enough on our plate as it is without distrust among our own ranks!”
“Oh my… what’s she doing here?”
Everyone turned at the sound of Fluttershy’s small voice and saw the yellow pegasus looking up at the sky. Sure enough, just above them was a gray pegasus with a blond mane and tail. She appeared to be setting up several stormclouds.
“Derpy? No! You’ll ruin everything!” Rainbow Dash took off, waving frantically for her friend to get out of the line of fire.
Strangely enough, when Derpy turned to face Rainbow Dash, the gray mailmare had a crazed look on her face. Derpy smiled at Rainbow with unsettlingly normal eyes. Then with lightning speed, Derpy attacked with a flurry of punches, finishing off with a sharp elbow to the joints of one of Rainbow Dash’s wings. Twilight and the others all watched in horror as Rainbow fell from the sky and hit the ground hard.
Derpy then flew over to one of the clouds above the group and gave it a hard kick. The five ponies and pair of humans barely had time to dive out of the way of the lightning bolt that came down.
“Oops! My bad! Mwa ha ha ha ha haaaa!” Derpy laughed.
Applejack gasped, “Whoa, nelly! I know that laugh!”
Caboose looked up and waved pleasantly, “Hi O’Malley!”
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Oh god, my sides!!!!!!!!
So that's why cars hate him. Caboose is genius!
this is based on the red vs blue series right?
Great
You know, I just figured something out.
Agent Washigton has grey and yellow armor,
just like most Spartan IVs on the Infinity!
4647058
No.
4647211 okay....
I knew O'Malley was dumb but this takes the cake ...
The Meta is going to have a field day trying to decide what the wants more. Delta? or Omega?
I guess the real question is which one comes first?
Cliffhanger, eh? ^^
That line nailed my coffin, killing me, with laughter!
4647058 are you kidding me? how could you not know if this was based off RVB
Oh god, why did I stop reading this?
Holy fuck, you write the Reds and Blues so accurately!
Every chapter leaves me begging for more!
Sarge! Sarge should get to drive the float!
And Simmons, he's actually in charge of confetti!
God dammit, everything was going so well and then... Omega happens.
Though the real question is: Does RT ignore that bit of fridge brilliance (Wash is a roadway) or did they did it on purpose?
Hmmm, I haven't watched much of RvB, but interesting - if each of the AIs is a 'fragment' of the same smart AI, that explains Meta...
4647058
Nope! this is based on the popular web series blue vs red!
Rainbow Dash, Worf of MLP, destined to be beat up by every villain ever to show they're dangerous.
this not look good o'mally came in derpy body and try to kill them
This has got to be
the best placed 4th wall breakage
ever
of all time
Yep, that's Caboose alright. Also, I like that Wash still got to shoot South, even if this time it was for a (somewhat half-baked) plan.
One thought I have though, is that I'm not entirely sure what Omega's motives are for showing up at this exact moment, besides wanting to destroy everything, I mean. It seems like kind of a dumb move to appear at the place where a trap is set for a maniac that wants to steal you and all the other A.I.s.
And while the true meat of the story is still centered around the Blues and their whole convoluted backstory ("You ever notice how the Blues have, like, a lot more stuff going on than we do?), I like that you still gave the Reds something to do. Honestly, I'm equally interested to see how their journey through the swamp goes.
4651484 oooohhhh
4655072 To be fair, O'Malley doesn't have any idea what the Blues and ponies are up to, he's just out for revenge! Suffice to say, he's in for a surprise (or a couple
)
"Yes, the war's over. We've won. Turns out you're the big hero and we're going to have a parade in your honor. I get to drive the float. And, Simmons here, IS INCHARGE OF CONFETTI!" -Sarge
4660589
SUCK IT BLU- NO RED!!
Holy hell..... How will they beat the Meta now?
I loved the RT reference you threw in this one.
What I expected:
An AH/RWBY reference.
What I saw:
A reference to Joel and the confetti cannons from Gauntlet Season 2.
Well played.
Also, during the parade float crash scene, why is it that I can imagine it going in super slow motion with the Slo-Mo Guys music playing in the background?
As far as partnerships go, so far we've got:
Caboose and Pinkie Pie
img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121030014915/rvb/images/thumb/1/1b/Caboose_is_angry.png/640px-Caboose_is_angry.png
img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111211223354/mlp/images/thumb/b/b1/Pinkie_Pie_firing_her_cannon_S2E9.png/640px-Pinkie_Pie_firing_her_cannon_S2E9.png
Church and Twilight Sparkle
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120127045847/rvb/images/thumb/4/42/You...are_the_Alpha.png/640px-You...are_the_Alpha.png
img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130217093608/mlp/images/thumb/6/66/Twilight_%22everything%27s_NOT_going_to_be_fine%22_S03E13.png/640px-Twilight_%22everything%27s_NOT_going_to_be_fine%22_S03E13.png
Sarge and Applejack
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111007222228/rvb/images/thumb/a/a4/Sarge_-_Quid_pro_quo.png/640px-Sarge_-_Quid_pro_quo.png
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120630015530/mlp/images/thumb/f/f1/Don%27t_wet_wittle_wawity_make_you_all_saddy-waddy_S01E21.png/640px-Don%27t_wet_wittle_wawity_make_you_all_saddy-waddy_S01E21.png
Simmons and Rarity
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111105023151/rvb/images/thumb/6/6e/Future_filled_with_Simmons.png/640px-Future_filled_with_Simmons.png
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120423080308/mlp/images/thumb/6/6b/Rarity_attack_S02E26.png/640px-Rarity_attack_S02E26.png
Grif and Fluttershy
img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120612161021/rvb/images/thumb/c/c7/Grif_in_Warthog_S10.png/640px-Grif_in_Warthog_S10.png
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120326171251/mlp/images/thumb/3/37/Fluttershy_blushing_smile_S2E22.png/640px-Fluttershy_blushing_smile_S2E22.png
... and Rainbow Dash
...
...
Please don't leave her alone.
img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121005182934/mlp/images/thumb/4/4d/Rainbow_Dash_being_daww_S2E16.png/640px-Rainbow_Dash_being_daww_S2E16.png
I'm really hoping you'll eventually explore what the Meta's ultimate goal of reforming the Alpha.
Be nice if they're able to save or redeem South.
Oh no...
Now Caboose has Church's Sniper Rifle AND more than one confetti cannon...
Where'd I leave my Over-Shield!?
6744146 Next to Andy.
Mr. Slow Reaction-Time?
Srgt. Team-Killer?
Sr. Talks-to-Tanks?
...
...
...
Seems legit.
6975888 Nope. Epsilon is.
Aww man, that's hilarious. I just wanna see a video of Derpy laughing maniacally while twirling a big black moustache.
Augh this story frustrates me in all the best ways.
My prediction Sunset Shimmer is an m.I.
7414817
I believe that would be Theta.
Yes O’Malley kill them all.