Epilogue - Control
With a calming sigh, Malcolm Hargrove stepped into his large, dimly lit office. He sat down in the large soft chair behind the desk and took a moment to relax, allowing his public mask to slip away. Outside the huge tinted window behind his desk, the skyline of Sydney, Australia stretched on into the night. The sounds of the nightlife far below were cut silent by the thorough sound-proofing of his office.
Ever since he returned to the UNSC capital on Earth one month ago, Chairman Hargrove had held press conference after press conference regarding the budding alliance between the UNSC and the newly discovered race of equine aliens. Of course, “newly discovered” was hardly the appropriate term. Hargrove had made sure that the extent to which Dr. Leonard Church had nearly single-handedly ruined First Contact was well known to both the media and his political colleagues. After that, it was all too easy to explain how “lucky” it was that Hargrove had received that message and arrived in time to put out the metaphorical fires.
Of course, luck had nothing to do with it. Nobody needed to know that Hargrove had known the location of Caballinus IV all along, thanks to both of his moles within Project Freelancer. His agent on the ground in Equestria had kept him well informed on the conflict between Princess Celestia and the Director.
Of course, Hargrove would have been hard pressed to explain that to the rest of the Oversight-Subcommittee and the Security Council, which was why his investigation of Project Freelancer had been one of his paramount objectives. Not only did it allow him to legitimately seize all of Project Freelancer’s assets, but it had also put him on the radar of Princess Celestia and her allies, making him the one they reached out to and giving him legitimate cause to visit the enigmatic planet to make himself Celestia’s closest ally in the UNSC. Hargrove preferred to make multiple moves in single strokes.
On that note, a quick glance at the date and time reminded Hargrove that it was nearly time for his scheduled update on the Chorus operation. With the press of a few holographic buttons, Hargrove opened an encrypted long-range transmission to the distant planet, disguised its point of origin, and simultaneously scrambled the hundreds of equally as encrypted decoy signals. Lastly, Hargrove activated the voice filters and turned to face the window.
The towering tinted glass was now a viewscreen capable of holding video conferences with his associates, and after few moments, one such associate appeared before him.
“This is Locus, broadcasting on a secure channel,” the mercenary intoned in his deep menacing voice. He was a tall man in onyx-black armor with green detail and an X branded across his namesake helmet.
“Report, Locus. What is the status of your current assignments?” Hargrove asked. To Locus, his voice would appear as a synthesized drone of androgynous gender. Just as Hargrove wore the mask of a kind but firm leader in public, when dealing with his… less than legitimate enterprises, he wore a different kind of mask. One that allowed him to remain safely anonymous as he conducted his shadier business. Locus and his mercenaries on Chorus, CT and his Insurrectionists, and all of his other underworld contacts knew him by only one name: Control.
“Operation: Kingmaker was a success,” Locus replied, wasting no time to get to business with the cold professionalism that Hargrove admired. Too bad the same can’t be said for his partner.
“Donald Doyle is the new Commander of the Federal Army of Chorus,” Locus continued. “The civil war is hot again.”
“Wonderful,” Hargrove said with a satisfied sigh. Two moves in one stroke.
Locus proceeded to give Hargrove a brief summary of events on Chorus surrounding their latest operation. The details themselves were relatively unimportant. All they told Hargrove was that his plan was proceeding perfectly.
“And what of your other assignment?” Hargrove asked as Locus wrapped up his report.
“The new data you sent us proved to be useful,” Locus stated. That was another benefit of seizing all of Project Freelancer’s assets: The Director had a large amount of data on the Equestrians and their history in his possession. “We’ve found the artifact.”
Hargrove grinned. “Show me.”
In a few minutes, two more mercenaries in black armor appeared on screen pushing along a dolly carrying a large object covered by a tarp. Locus took a step to the side, and one of the mercenaries reached for the tarp and removed it.
Hargrove saw the console Locus was using to communicate with him in the reflection of an ornate mirror. The mirror was set in a frame of flawless white marble shaped like an upside down horseshoe. Shining gemstones covered the frame, and above it an effigy of a pony rearing up hung above the pristine reflective glass.
“It would appear you were right,” Locus mused. “This world is connected to theirs after all….”
Ignoring Locus’s uncharacteristic musings, Hargrove’s thoughts became preoccupied with what it could mean. Evidently, Chorus is a planet rich with both Forerunner and Equestrian artifacts. Hargrove did not believe this was merely coincidence.
“Science Team has yet to uncover anything about it, or what it’s capable of,” Locus said as he motioned for his men to return the tarp over the mirror. “Do you want it delivered to your trophy room?”
Under normal circumstances, Hargrove would not hesitate to add a find like this to his collection. “No. Keep it on base at your primary facility for now.” There will be other trophies to acquire soon enough.
However, now that Hargrove had all of the Director’s data on Equestria, he had a hunch he knew exactly what that mirror was, and more importantly, what it had been used for in the past. Locus, on the other hand, merely gave him an inquisitive look that a less observant individual might have failed to notice beneath his otherwise unreadable black helmet.
“I believe that artifact will be of much more use to you on Chorus,” Hargrove said. “All we need is a spellcaster that can figure out how to activate it.”
Fortunately, his agent in Equestria was in the process of recruiting for that very purpose.
“Understood,” Locus said, even though Hargrove highly doubted that he truly did.
“Tell your partner to join us for our next debriefing,” Hargrove ordered before signing out. “Assuming all goes well with this new artifact, I may have a new assignment for the both of you.”
With that, Locus disconnected and Hargrove stopped all signals transmitting from his office. Turning back around in his chair, Hargrove spent the next several minutes going through piles of paperwork pertaining to his recent seizure of Project Freelancer’s assets. It was a tedious, but necessary duty as the Chairman of the Oversight-Subcommittee. That, and Hargrove liked to personally make sure there were no… discrepancies in his numbers, lest he raise suspicion.
“Excuse me, Chairman,” his new A.I. addressed him over the speaker.
“Yes, FILSS?” Hargrove said pleasantly. Acquiring and reformatting the former A.I. caretaker of Project Freelancer was another sort of trophy. Sure, there was always the risk of getting caught with an illegally formatted A.I., but Hargrove enjoyed a little risk every now and then. Besides, he’d taken all the necessary precautions to hide FILSS’s existence in his database with, ironically, help from the A.I. itself.
“The package you were expecting has arrived ahead of schedule, sir.”
For some inexplicable reason, FILSS’s voice changed after it was reformatted. The A.I.’s once pleasant, cheerful inflection was gone, replaced by a dead monotone that sounded almost… defeated. Personally, Hargrove preferred the new voice.
“Is that so?” he asked.
“Yes, Chairman. The package was delivered to the trophy room and secured as per your instructions.”
That was a bit of good news Hargrove hadn’t been expecting to hear today. After thanking the A.I., Hargrove stood from his desk and made to leave his office. He travelled through heavily guarded halls and took an elevator down to the main floor. From there, Hargrove walked across the building’s vast main lobby. Receptionists smiled nervously at him from behind the round, central desk as he passed. Behind them, the words Charon Industries were mounted on the wall in big, shining platinum letters. Hargrove looked from the obvious security guards scattered about the floor to the less obvious security measures hidden up in the walls.
Satisfied that everything was in its proper place, Hargrove continued to the far end of the lobby, where a small, unassuming door sat in the wall, a keypad beside it. Hargrove input the key code and the door unlocked for him. After following more winding corridors designed to trip up anyone unfamiliar with their layout, Hargrove came to an elevator that only went down. A quick fingerprint scan set the elevator in motion, and Hargrove waited patiently as he was taken down past even the lowest maintenance levels.
After reaching the bottom, the elevator opened up to one final hallway with nothing but a set of steel doors on the other end. Standing on either side of the doors were two of Hargrove’s most loyal and skilled guards. A retinal scan allowed the doors to open, and Malcolm Hargrove stepped into his trophy room.
Alien artifacts of various origins sat on pedestals throughout the room. Additionally, the room was quickly filling up with special objects taken from Project Freelancer. A charred brute shot, a synthetic body in a suit of black MJOLNIR armor, and a piece of rubble with traces of blood on it. But Hargrove wasn’t here to see any of that. His true prize at the moment was something his men had recently recovered from the wreckage of the Staff of Charon in Equestria.
At the back of the trophy room was a large bulletproof glass case. Inside, magnetically held in place, was a device roughly the size of a man’s head. Glowing blue lines ran along its body, and it looked around with a big blue eye as a frantic, synthesized voice muttered, punctuated by the occasional cough.
“Shield world? No no… too many variations… nothing like Onyx….”
It was some time after Hargrove approached the glass until the construct finally noticed his presence.
“Ah! Greetings, Reclaimer! I am 636 Rambling Frequency, the Monitor of… well, I suppose there isn’t much of a facility left anymore,” the construct said as its large eye turned to look at him. “Apologies for not noticing you sooner, but I have been most perplexed recently.”
“Perplexed?” Hargrove asked.
“Yes,” 636 coughed. “It would appear that my databanks on the homeworld of Species 29 are incomplete.”
“I assume that you are referring to the Equestrians?”
“Correct. Upon arrival on their homeworld with the other Reclaimers, I performed a quick scan of the planet and found things most intriguing. Much greater presence of Forerunner sites than should be usual for any ordinary repopulation facility. Regrettably, before I could investigate further, I found myself quite… restrained.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that, I am certain that working together, you and I will discover all of that world’s little secrets,” Hargrove said with a smile. “Now, why don’t you start by telling me everything you know.”
She waited alone in the featureless plane of nothing, just as She had for eons before. A mortal might go mad from boredom in a place like this, but in truth, She was quite content here—for now. After all, She had a window through time and space through which to glimpse Her world, and there She could watch Her little ponies grow under the guiding hoof of young Princess Celestia.
The appearance of Her oldest and most loyal friend broke the monotony of Her quiet dimension. He wasn’t really here, She knew. He was merely projecting himself into Her realm.
“The incident with the human military agency has resolved itself,” the old gray unicorn stallion said. He wore simple blue rags over white cloth bandages, his old face covered in stubble. An ancient stopwatch hung on a chain around his neck, its hands frozen at six. Any other pony in the outside world would simply mistake him for an unassuming old stallion. “You were right: There was no need for a ‘divine intervention’ after all.”
The gray stallion chuckled at his little joke, while She remained quiet and contemplative. “And what of the young mare?” She asked. “Is she safe?”
The gray stallion grinned. “More than safe. I hear she was instrumental in the downfall of the human military program—that ‘Project Freelancer’.”
She smiled, and the gray stallion looked at Her curiously. “You really think she’s the one, don’t you?”
She gave him a meaningful look, and the stallion errantly waved a hoof. “Right, right. Guess you would know that better than I.” The stallion then put a hoof to his chin. “Still… I thought the bloodline died out years ago….”
“While that very likely may be true, you forget one crucial detail: This young mare wasn’t born. She was made,” She said. “It’s possible the bloodline was reborn in her.”
Finally, the gray stallion gave a shrug and a wry smile. “Hmph. Guess it doesn’t matter how old ya get. You never stop learning!”
“If she really is the one we’ve been waiting for, we’ll have to watch over her,” She said, the worried frown barely perceptible on Her face. “Things are accelerating quicker than I anticipated. Now that humans and ponies are officially together in the galaxy, ponykind’s fate dangles precariously. We could either be snuffed out in an instant or thrive across the stars. If the mare really is who we think she is, she could be the key to finally fulfilling ponykind’s destiny….”
“I’ll watch over and protect her,” the gray stallion said, bowing low. “You have my word... My Queen.”
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My queen?! Uh oh...
This has been one incredible rollercoaster of a story, and I look forward to seeing a sequel!
Holy hell! damnit I can't believe you drop this sort of bomb on us then make us wait for a sequel! you sir are evil incarnate! gah a great second epilogue, so much new information and mysteries you have created. I'll be watching for the sequel.
In the words of a
wisemad woman: "DRAMABOMB!"Control (Track from RVB S12 soundtrack by Trocadero) - Hargrove and his hidden agenda with the Equestrians and the discovery of an Equestrian artifact on Chorus.
Holy crap! Could it be? The Mirror Portal is on Chorus!? Is that how the ponies will get to Chorus (and does this mean they will come out as....
)? And Queen....Queen Faust, and Starswirl the Bearded!? Were they who I think they were? What do they hope that Twilight (Ancora) will accomplish and what exactly is she destined for? And how will any of this and the events that have occurred will have altered the course of the Chorus Trilogy? Well... guess we'll have to find out next time, I suppose.
This has been a great story, Flynt! Hope to see the Mane 6 and our Blood Gulch Crew of dirtbags together again in the sequel sometime in the future!
Potential sequels I see in the works. Interesting.
Okay. I wasn't expecting this chapter. Thanks!
6982728
All of this, I hope it does happen. Imagine the possibilities!
That is an interesting question, isn't it?
Well... for one, Simmons won't be a part of it.
6983177
Good sneak peak, I can't wait for the sequel!
So THAT is where Swirly went too!
Celly may have words for him when or if he shows his face again...
Well well, we ain't finished yet are we. Still had one chapter left in ya.
Good to see this chapter can't wait for the sequel.
Yes good to see felix and locus.
Plus it only feels sad these days to know that all it can take to wipe out a planets population. Is just having a government where you can just call exterminatus on anything that may cause problems.
*if allowed*
Chairman: how are we going to get rid of the population of two planets?
Employee: how about declaring war on them!
Chairman: can't. Ones our new allies and the other is a bunch of peaceful idiots.
Employee 2: how bout we hire some merc and get them to start a civil war between two rival factions on the planet and allow them to keep the war going till the population dead.
Chairman: sounds like a good idea.
Door opens at the enterance to the chairmans office. A man in chrome armour steps though.
Stranger: why not try exterminatus. One virus bomb, one dead planet within depending on size, between thirty seconds and a minute, six months of wait after bomb drops, research can commence without issue.
Chairman: won't that bring lots of attention.
Stranger: Not if you have a reason. Purge the heretics, purge the xeno, all will bring the destruction of humanity.
Chairman: guards remove this man from my office.
Stranger turns around and begins to leave, guard get in way. guard left sevearly injured. A couple minutes go past.
Chairman: so we all agree that that was my plan.
Nods from rest of office
Chairman: good. Exterminatus both of the planets!
mass death and destruction ensues
Chairman stands on the side of his yaught.
Chairman: NUMBER 2 WINS.
Jumps into the water, remember back to his university days where he was the second best student... just under the infamous director.
*dun dun dun*
6983210 Don't worry if this is like what happened to Donut then, Simmons is alive and just hanging with Doc. Hopefully.
Back when this fic came out I commented something along the lines of
"this story is going to have a lot to compete with since theres already a RvB story here"
Flynt, you replid with "it will be very different from it"
and holy crap, was it different.
10/10
5/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4.5/5 IGN not enough Simmons
I love that this epilogue reinforces that hope that a sequel is coming. I can hardly wait.
So this queen... it's not Fausticorn is it?
6984320
There are other RvB stories but there was definitely room for a high quality fic; I don't feel any of the existing ones I read really qualified for that. A few were good enough to entertain but not of the caliber of... well, this one.
I'm still waiting (hoping) for the classic RvB 'We thought you were dead!' situation to pop up. Guess I'll have to wait and read it in the sequel. Am I in denial about those who are dead actually being dead? No, I'm just a firm believer in 'No body = Not dead' and not even the author out right saying they're not coming back will convince me other wise. This is a RvB crossover after all.
7004709 I refer you to my most recent blog post
7031979 I wish you the best of luck in this endeavour. I, for one, know how daunting it can be to jump into a fic with a hefty word count! (And yeah, Luna and the Director are both rather well-spoken
)
3583506 I didn't notice that you'd edited this comment (though, it is a pretty old comment) and thank you for it then and now. I will most certainly let my readers here know if I ever get to writing a legitimate book. However, I must second Headwind's request about marking and/or covering your spoilers. I'm sure your intentions were pure, but yeah. Folks just starting the story will definitely see that.
7033563 I think Grif is too lazy to sacrifice himself heroically.
Grif : "Here's to not going that extra mile!"
7038854 And you have a profile pic of a creature from said franchise. *High Five*
From a reader who only started reading this story fairly recently, I feel as though I have lived an entire lifetime in the words on my screen. When I approached the end I almost didn't want to finish it, if only to let it live on for a bit longer. All the same, brilliant story from beginning to end. I look forward to more.
7141673 The sequel will most definitely answer that, but since it will probably be quite some time before I even begin writing it, ask yourself: who's the one major RvB character to still not get an appearance in this story?
I loved this story. Everything about it, from the action to the characters, was all perfect. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if you had connections to Rooster Teeth or Hasbro for how masterfully you captured the characters. I pray you carry on with a sequel.
7158388 Even I didn't notice it, and I wrote the damn thing!
7164585 Your title pictures from Act 3 Part 7 - Prelude to Final Chapter - Always Red Versus Blue seem to be broken.
7178444 Yeah, I've been having trouble with images ever since imgur started cracking down on image linking. I'm still working on finding a way to work around it
7179092 Everytime they make a change or update, it always screws with use somehow.
7189292 Probably as many times as it takes to convince Lauren Faust to change her mind on that point, considering that's been the canon since the beginning. And is actually canon in the comics. It also becomes an important plot point in this story much later, so whether it's even canon to the actual series is kind of a moot point here
7202594 Sunset and Tex explained this in the previous chapter, but to refresh your memory: Sunset cast a series of spells to M.I.-proof herself and the mane 6, and put up wards and enchantments around the secluded area designed to keep Omega from leaving it. Their plan was that once Tex kicks Omega out of Pinkie's head, he would have nowhere to go and eventually expire, but nobody was counting on a lost and confused mail pony stumbling into such an isolated area.
7203018 I refer you to my previous comment in regards to Tex's plan with Omega. As for why she doesn't use her robot body, now that she's an M.I. she's no longer able to inhabit it, as she's incompatible with A.I. storage devices. I will admit, I don't think I ever outright explained that, and thats my bad, but most people managed to put two and two together.
7307311 search in your feelings you know it to be true
7350358 Uh, who again?
7366439 He might be referring to Epsilon's little nickname for Carolina in the Chorus trilogy
7366534
Oh, I didn't caught on that.
Will read this as soon as I finish watching R vs B
I came here because Darkwing left with his unfinished My Little Caboose story.
Started reading this yesterday, LOVE the characterization and the writing. My only concern so far is how the perspective keeps shifting from Blood Gulch to Ponyville every 5 minutes or so. It's kind of disorienting, and makes it difficult to immerse myself in either location. Does that sort of skipping around slow down at all soon?
7495029 I never considered the scene changes an issue, and nobody said anything about them until now, so I'm sorry to say that the lengths of each scene are more or less the same throughout. However, later chapters have the different scenes slightly more closely tied together if that helps
7497044 Thank you for your honesty! I'm surprised you didn't get any comments on it before, but then, I do tend to be overly critical when it comes to narrative flow. :P I can't write all that well, but BOY can I nitpick. ( ;
7498973 Well, I only hope you can still enjoy the story despite its flaws!
if its red vs blue where do you put purple
7511438 Purple is their unholy lovechild.
What an intense ride that was! Definitely looking forward to more of this universe
I still am in denial that you killed Derpy. I loved you and this is how you repay me?
YOUR TOAST HAS BEEN BURNED AND NO AMOUNT OF SCRAPING WILL REMOVE THE BLACK PARTS!
I finished this story two days ago. Despite an excess of profanity and moral gray areas, this has been one amazing ride, with an epilogue that leaves me looking forward to a sequel.
7983855 Another name for Red vs Blue might as well be "Excessive profanity and moral gray areas, the web series"
Glad you enjoyed it, and don't worry, the sequel is coming... eventually!
This was a great story. The only complaint I had was that Carolina never appeared in person. Can't wait for the sequel.
7996276 If the relative lack of Carolina was your only complaint, then the sequel should leave you satisfied!
Why do I get the feeling that in the squeal when Felix comes into play with the ponies and does what he does, Im going to hate him even more?
8044361 I have NEVER had SO much hatred for a character then Felix. In fact I don't think he could be anymore hateable. But I have been wrong before.