Chapter Four: Singapore Sling
In a house in the northern part of Wooster, Ohio, a woman sat at her kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee. She’d already seen the children off to school, and her husband, a graphic designer, had just left for work an hour ago. That left her, the quintessential soccer mom, off to her own devices. After all, she chose not to work, since she was independently wealthy enough to support the whole family; in truth, her husband had a job simply to keep himself from being bored during the days.
She didn’t have that sort of problem. Her “work”, such as it was, usually involved killing threats to her adopted home – this world – and continually declining membership in the Covenant, the organization determined to keep magic out of the hands of humanity for reasons she didn’t find satisfactory. Then she’d come home, spend time with Sarah and Jon on their homework and wait until Greg came home from his job. Then they’d chat over dinner, watch a movie suitable for the kids, then after the kids’ bedtime, would talk about their days. Hers, more often than not, managed to elicit a look of wonder or horror from her husband’s face. But she’d told him her past long ago, and he accepted it – the first in a long, long time to do so, and she loved him for that.
This was her day, in and out, with the occasional something different, like the two-week vacation to Honolulu last summer; or last Christmas, when they went to Minnesota to see his parents. They never saw hers, of course: she’d had to lie to her children – something she didn’t care to do, but Greg understood with the agreement that the truth would come when they were of age – that she was an orphan, and considering her very unusual name, it was certainly believed. Once in a while an old friend of hers would come by, like her best friend (and unbeknownst to her family, former enemy), a Japanese woman named Kuzunoha; or “her old college roommate”, a French woman named Emeraude, and they’d talk about a wondrous and magical past. For the most part, her days were pretty much uniform.
But today was going to be different.
Sitting in her house and drinking a cup of coffee, Faust A’Licorne, known to the history of another world as Queen Faust of Equestria, looked at the sky out her window and noticed that something elemental had shifted. And she knew what it was: after all, the last time it happened, it had caused her to abandon her beloved daughters and to watch the hell they went through – especially little Luna – from afar. She watched as they built a family of their own and finally prospered.
And now all of it was going to hell.
Finishing her coffee, Faust stood up, put the coffee mug in the sink, then went to get her leather jacket, a US Army Air Forces bomber she’d gotten from an old friend back in 1943. Slipping it on and zipping it up, she grinned and then instantly teleported.
There was work to do.
The pair found themselves in a wood-paneled room, with plush carpet and various trophies and plaques on the wall. Behind them, a mirror-like structure strobed with energy then became still as the portal went to standby. “Here we are!” Cadance said, gesturing with her forelegs. “Welcome to Singapore City.”
“Where’s here?” The place had a very distinctly British feel to it, which she liked; in truth, she often pestered Mike to get an assignment in Europe just so they could visit London someday.
“It’s the British High Commission to Singapore,” Cadance explained. “We don’t have an embassy here yet, so we run an interests section through the British. We would have done so through the Americans, but I constantly get reports that we’re supposedly too cozy with Washington, and that the superpowers of two different Earths being chummy with each other could destabilize the geopolitical climate.” She looked at DJ curiously and added, “And I thought politics on my Earth was bad. I’m still playing catch-up: are human politics always this inane?”
DJ grinned. “Well, there was once a comedian who said that politics comes from the Latin word poli, for many; and tics, from bloodsucking creatures.”
A sudden burst of musical laughter sounded. “I’ll have to remember that for the next time I talk to my aunts. Celestia, in particular, will love that.” As they left the room, they came to a guard desk in the hallway just before the room; Cadance signed her name to signify entering the building, an aura of blue magic wrapped around the pen as it danced on the paper. When it came to DJ, however, she chose to write the normal way, taking pen to hoof and jotting her name down. Watching, the alicorn was impressed; not only was the pony doing something that none of her kind did, but she was also left-handed.
As they were given their guest badges and continued down the hall, Cadance looked at DJ, a slightly awed look on her face. “You really do go about life the human way, don’t you? I don’t know anypony who would go through the trouble to learn how to write with their hooves. Mouthwriting is much easier.”
“No thank you. Do you know where that pen’s been? I don’t, and it’s unhygienic.”
“Well, to each her own, I guess, but I can understand that.”
“So, what are we doing here?”
“Well, I’m here because I need to finish up this meeting with the Singaporean Foreign Ministry as to where we can start building our embassy,” she replied. “As for you, well….” Her muzzle broke into a sly grin.
DJ felt a sudden pair of arms snake around her waist. She froze for just a hairsbreadth of a second, but then she felt the familiar pull of muscles, her nose picking up an all-too familiar scent, felt herself pressed close to the muscled torso of another. Instinctively she leaned in, feeling the memorable warmth and whinnied softly in content. In his arms again. At last.
She felt his lips kiss the top of her head as he murmured, “Hi, hon.”
She turned around, careful to ensure his arms did not once leave her side. She then looked up at him, gazing into his soft hazel eyes, taking in every inch of the face of the man she loved, seeing that familiar dusting of freckles, the same sandy blond hair and sloppy grin.
“How? I…?”
He grinned. “Captain couldn’t put me on leave since it didn’t qualify for emergency leave. However, she sympathized with us, so she pulled some strings. I’m going to be TAD to the military attaché office at the embassy in Canterlot for six months or until ‘they don’t need me’ quote unquote, whichever comes first. XO used to be WEPS on his old ship, so he was happy to step in. By the way, you owe them both autographed copies of your next book.”
“For getting you back? They can have autographed copies of all of them,” she said with a smile as she leaned into his chest. “But how’d you get here?”
“Helo onboard ship transited me to D-Gar, then from there caught a lift from an RAF cargo flight. I’ve just spent the last few days shootin’ the scuttlebutt with some guys from the Royal Navy for a few days while I waited for you.”
“Wait…you knew I was coming?”
“You didn’t know you were coming?”
“I don’t believe this sh—” she started, her voice rising along with her temper.
Mike immediately did damage control, via clamping down on her mouth with his. She didn’t exactly complain about the kiss, and it got her to calm down. After a few seconds, he pulled away. “Hon, you might want to keep in mind that we’re in an embassy. Decorum, remember?”
“Says the guy who just started tongue-wrestling with his non-human wife in the middle of a hallway,” she teased.
“The sacrifices a Navy officer must make to ensure his country is not embarrassed in the public eye,” he said with an equally mocking tone. “Besides, wasn’t much of a sacrifice since I like to do it so often.”
“Then can we do it again?” she pouted.
“Easy, tiger,” he grinned. “As soon as I got here, I was contacted by Cadance’s personal secretary. We’re here for tonight because the princesses have to talk to you.”
“All three princesses need to talk to me?” she asked. “Well, great, don’t I just look like a Mary Sue in a crappy novel?”
“Huh?”
“You have your special jargon, Sailor Boy, and so do us authors. A Mary Sue is an overblown little miss perfect that seems to have too much going right for her in her life, and by a little too much, I’m talking Biblical proportions.”
“Well, that settles that: you’ve had so much crap thrown your way, you definitely don’t qualify as a Mary Sue-whatever-thingy.”
“I have three princesses who are apparently also my aunts – oh, and they’re immortal alicorns, too. Tell me that ain’t Grade-A Mary Sue bullshit.”
“You have three aunts who are princesses, only one of which you seem to be getting along with, the other one you’ve been cordial to only once and the third one you pissed off in public during a slow day in the Ginza.” When she just looked at him with utter surprise, he looked at her with a knowing glance and said, “What, you didn’t think I wasn’t going to find out about that one?”
“H…how…?”
“I have my sources.”
“Did Cadance…?”
He recited from memory: “From: Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet, To: Lt. Commander Michael D. Hengst, USN, 833-00-4161 Copy: Commanding Officer, USS KONETZNI DDG-1321, Subject: Letter of Reprimand in case of Subject Named Member’s Dependent Name: Daisy Jo H. Hengst aka DJ Martinez. 1. This letter is to—”
Her eyes went wide with fright. “Oh my God, Mike, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to—”
“I’m bullshitting, love,” he said gently. “Honestly, the only reason I remember the format is because I just had to write that kind of letter early last month for one of my seamen who decided he wanted to steal from his fellow Sailors; it was easier than dealing with the paperwork for Captain’s Mast. But please don’t let me see one with my name on it because you decided you wanted to flip off leaders of a foreign government. She may be your not-so-pleasant aunt, but she’s also the number two in the Equestriani government.”
Whatever last vestiges of satisfaction DJ had from telling Luna off went right out the window. “Then how’d you find out?”
“Sweetie Belle sent me a private email the week after. Said Luna was extremely pissed at you and that you really hurt her feelings. Sweetie’s kinda disappointed in you as well for that, but I told her I’d talk to you about it.”
“But I didn’t say anything harsh! Well, not really.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Hon, have you ever really listened to yourself when it comes to someone…er, somepony other than the relatives you accept? You’re pretty much pretty dismissive if not outright brutal towards others of your own kind.”
“That’s not true – I have several friends who are ponies and aren’t related!” She looked at him angrily. “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?”
“DJ, it’s not a matter of ‘sides’.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “At least five of your aunts are on the verge of death right now – that Cadance told me. Two more are risking their lives right now to work towards solving the current problem in Equestria before it turns into a full-scale war that rivals anything humanity has ever had. Is starting another argument with Luna worth the chance she might ban you from going to Equestria? And what happens then if they die?”
“She wouldn’t do that! They’re my family!”
“Are you so sure?”
DJ opened her mouth to say something, but the look on her face was one of sudden worry; no, she wasn’t sure. One of the other two princesses might intercede if that happened…but then again, they might not.
Mike knew he got through to her and smiled gently. “Please, for me, just try to fake getting along with the relatives you don’t like on your pony side, okay? I’ve seen you diplomatically handle the ones on your human side – you absolutely cannot tolerate your cousin Kate’s husband, for example.”
“Well, Phil hits on everyone in a skirt and he’s blatant about it; I overheard him telling one of his friends once that he’d like ‘a piece of that tail with a tail.’ Personally, I wish Kate would be a little less clueless in that department, but that’s not for me to say.”
“See? So why can’t you treat, say, Luna that way?”
She sat and stewed in her own anger for a second before she huffed and said, “I’ll try. No promises.”
“That’s all I ask, love,” he said. “Now, let’s get your passport stamped and let’s get going – we’ve got a day ahead of us, and we have to get you to Orchard Road.”
“Huh?” she asked.
“Shopping District – we need to get a dress tailored for you tonight, since we’re meeting them at the Raffles Hotel – which, I might add, is an extremely expensive hotel and that the Equestriani government is paying for our room there while we’re here in Singapore overnight, so you might want to thank Celestia?”
“I swear, you play me like a fiddle,” she said good-naturedly. “That’s okay, though. You said shopping¸ so I can live with that.”
“And there goes my deployment bonus,” he muttered.
A beat-up Holden Barina crossed the Johor-Singapore causeway, moving over from Johor in Malaysia to the border town of Woodlands, in Singapore. Once there, the car drove through the streets of the town before parking in a nearby car park. From there, the five men got out of the car, walking a slight distance to a ratty outdoor café called the Rasa-Rasa Food Fiesta. The quintet sat down, ordered beers, and waited for their contact.
They didn’t have to wait long. A man dressed in breezy, light clothes arrived, a girl on his arm. On a leash held by the woman was a St. Bernard with a wary, anxious look in his eyes. At the entrance of the café, the owner briefly informed the man that dogs were not allowed in his establishment, but the man pulled out a thick wad of cash, placing it in the owner’s hand and quickly changing the latter’s mind. Finally, as he approached, Ghino di Tacco smiled. “Sorry about that. Had to grease a wheel to bring our beloved ‘pet’ into the restaurant – my wife can simply just not abide without him. You understand, I’m sure.”
The first man, a blonde, weathered Australian who looked more akin to the type of murderous settlers that had inhabited that grand island than the affable people of modern times, barked a guttural, joyless laugh. “You and terms like beloved are as far apart as they can be, di Tacco. But enough of that. I am here as promised, and I’ve spent the last couple of days training your new assistants. They don’t talk much; in fact they don’t do much of anything outside of what I order them to do,” he said, pointing to the three men sitting here. “They’re like fucking robots.”
“I wouldn’t worry your head over that, Mr. Ricard,” the woman said, affectionately petting the dog. “Those men will do what you ask. After all, that is what we are trained for,” she said.
“‘What you are trained fo’…Ghino, why do I get the feeling these guys aren’t what I think they are?”
“Does it matter? Get the job done and you can keep them. They’re very effective and Twilight here,” he said, motioning to the lady, “can show you how to handle them later.”
“In fact,” she said, “Take this one with you as well. He’ll be of help, won’t you, boy?” she said. Instinctively the dog leaned closer to its master, looking at her intently in a manner that Ricard suddenly found unnatural and disturbing.
“Twilight,” Ghino said firmly, “this isn’t the time for affection. Give him the dog.”
“But he—”
“Give him the drone,” di Tacco snarled in a dangerous tone. “You have no business being royalty, pepsis. Your place is at my heels and in my bed, understood?”
Twilight suddenly looked as if she’d been wounded. “Yes sir,” she whispered, as if slapped.
Ricard ignored it; whatever di Tacco did with his latest plaything was none of his business. “I’ll take the dog,” he said, not sure if he should, but accepting it anyway.
“Give the dog the same orders as you would the others, and you’ll see,” di Tacco replied. He then turned to the other man. “Did you get the resources you needed, DeVille?”
The other man leaned forward. “I don’t know what you’re planning, but yes, the extra muscle will come in handy. I lied to them, said I was hired by a wealthy Malaysian businessman who wants to reclaim Singapore for the Malaysian crown. You won’t believe how much some idealists will be swayed by pretty words.”
“And you’re sure these gunmen of yours will perform as planned?”
“Heh, what have they got to lose? They’re Karens who are tired of being ignored by both Thailand and Burma. The Malaysian government has been making legitimate overtures to them as of late, so if I were to step up and say that Malaysia were offer them something in return for a little hush-hush job, they’ll listen. After all, it’s that or a life of crime – and far easier to do one illegal job and be legit after than to try to continue keeping under the law.”
“And they’re trained?”
“The majority of them are former Karen Liberation Front rebels. The remainders are simple street thugs, but they can shoot a gun just as well as anyone else – that last group gets to be the cannon fodder.”
“Good!” Ghino said, smiling. “Then we have a deal. Once the job is done, the pay will be in the usual accounts in the usual banks in the Caymans. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to deal with dissent in my own ranks.”
“Yeah, deal with her until she can’t walk anymore,” Ricard said raucously. The three silent men and the dog looked at each other with an unspoken word, but then did nothing further. DeVille merely raised his glass of watery beer as Ghino and his playtoy went off.
They walked a few feet away before Ghino looked around, then slapped her hard enough across the face to drop her to the floor. “That was a stupid thing you did, Twilight, and I will not tolerate further dissent, do you understand?”
Laying on the ground, her eyes watering from the sting, she gasped, “But he was hungry! All I did wa—”
“—was possibly give away our position and get us arrested by the police,” he snarled. “Let’s get something straight, here and now: your only duties are to accompany me, follow my orders and perform in bed. Should you deviate from that, I will make it painful for you, understand?”
“Yes, my lord,” she said, softly, rubbing her cheek. It didn’t really hurt, but it was the cruelty and rejection that did. She was a pepsis, so she didn’t feed on emotions, but instead felt them in a very personal, empathic manner. His anger was a thousand red-hot knives jabbed into her and far more painful than the blow he’d thrown.
“Get up,” he said, changing his demeanor back to the affable playboy he was a second ago. “People might start asking questions if you continue to sit there on the ground.”
“Yes, sir,” she said. “Where to now?”
“Back to the safe house,” he replied. “You have to be punished, and I’m feeling a bit…well, I’ll let you discover that for yourself.”
On the outskirts of Fillydelphia, the sky looked an angry black and green, completely unnatural. It was the first thing Fluttershy noticed when she arrived, and it was the first thing she mentioned to Pinkie when the latter’s group arrived.
“Oh, but look at the awesome ropy clouds can we get the weather ponies to do something like that over Ponyville or Canterlot? Ooooh, what if we took some red food coloring and then had the pegasusususususususes color the clouds – then we’d have candy cane clouds! And then maybe if we can get some of those discord cotton candy and chocolate rain clouds, we can make a candy store in the sky! We can get Bon-Bon and Waterfire to help run it! Wouldn’t that be so utterly totally awesomely cool or something?”
“Those clouds worry me,” Fluttershy said to her old friend. “It’s like they’re acting like some sort of…control nexus around Fillydelphia.” She turned to the unicorn nearest her. “Shimmering Star, do your ponies have the proper spells set?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the mage team leader said, looking at his team members to make sure. “As soon as the British and our troops arrive, we should be fine.”
“Well, we’re here,” a new voice said as a group of ponies walked into the area. Unlike normal ponies, they walked upright like humans, the better to utilize their weapons if need be. Wearing camouflage, body armor, helmets, and boots to assist in the upright mobility, the squad walked into view, looking around as if ready for an attack at any moment. Their leader, in particular, had eyes of steel, the muscular body of a behemoth and a take-no-shit attitude. “What’s the sit, Lady Knight Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy looked at the mountain of a pony before her and smiled. “I have two questions, Colonel. First, are the British en route? Second,” she said with a smile, “when are you and Sweetie Belle going to settle on a date? You two have been engaged for five years now and that certainly took long enough.”
“Well, the first, you should hear the rotors of their helicopters as they arrive.” True enough, in the distance the whup-whup-whup of Royal Army aircraft as it approached the landing zone could be heard. “Secondly, well…don’t blame me if she can’t decide on a date,” Pip said with a laugh and a shrug. Turning back to his ponies, he ordered, “Okay, give ‘em a space to land. Pop some smoke, go pink.” One of the soldiers did as bid, throwing a pink-colored smoke grenade to signal the landing zone. The ponies ducked slightly as the helicopters, three Royal Army Lynxes, lit on the ground, as troops began boiling out of them.
A huge man, nearly as large as Pip, approached them. As he approached, he saluted. “Major Terrence Codrington, 5th Army Air Regiment.”
Pip returned the salute, as did both Bearers, who both went upright as well. “Colonel Pipsqueak, 1st Destriers,” he said, offering a hoof. “Behind me are Lady Knights Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They’re not quite a part of the military establishment, but their ranks are equivalent to NATO OF-8.”
“Bloody hell – two generals?” Codrington exclaimed. “And your special forces unit? What the hell is exactly going on, Colonel?”
“That’s what we’d like to know,” Pip responded. “Your men ready for us to come on board?” When the Major nodded, Pip turned to Shimmering Star. “Keep the shields up, maximum strength. I realize that’ll tire your people out earlier, but I’m hoping you can keep it up for at least a couple of hours.”
“We can keep them up for about six hours max, Colonel,” was the response. “Also, as per the Vice Archmagus’ orders, we’ve also added an antigen spell to prevent any potential hazards at the bacterial level from getting in.”
“Works for me. Okay, let’s get everyone aboard, ponies!” he shouted, waving his troops to the aircraft. “Uh, mares, you two plan on armoring up? It’s going to be dangerous out there. We’ve got some extra body armor if you need it.”
A sweet smile appeared on Fluttershy’s face. “Pip, it’s very sweet of you to be concerned, but we should be fine. Our Elements protect us.”
“Humor me, please. If something happens to you, I’m never going to hear the end of it from Sweetie.”
“Okie Dokie Loki!” Pinkie said. Both mares closed their eyes and the insignia gems on their necklaces began to glow, the glow beginning to cover them. Liquid metal poured down their bodies as the necklaces began to transfigure, and when the transfiguration was done, they were both dressed in black variations of what Pip wore, save for the insignia gems, which embedded themselves in positions over the mares’ hearts.
“When did the—?” Pip began to ask before Fluttershy grinned.
“Twilight found a book that helped us to expand our capabilities with the Elements,” Fluttershy explained. “While they were never meant to be used in an offensive capacity, we can at least form protective armor as needed.”
“Well, as much as I’d love to continue this magic show,” the Major said, “we’ve got a date with the town square.”
A few minutes later, the aircraft were buzzing over the tops of the buildings. One of the humans onboard commented how eerily Fillydelphia matched the similar city of Philadelphia on human-Earth; the maps of the two realities were so very close that one could be used in lieu of the other without much trouble.
“I’ll bet your Fillydelphia doesn’t have that nasty green smoke,” one of the mages said, peering out the door of the helicopter and to the ground below. The city was covered in a noxious, sickly green smoke that stained the very buildings it touched.
“We can easily remedy that,” Codrington replied over the communications line; he was in one of the other units. “Sabre 4, Sabre 7, take us down. Sabre 9, remain in the air until…Holy Mother of God….”
Fluttershy wondered what brought on the change in town and looked down, “Oh, sweet stars,” she said, a worried look crossing her face. Her thoughts immediately went to her husband and her daughter, and how much potential danger they were in. That instantly caught the attention of Pip who immediately looked over the side as well.
As the lower two units hovered above where the town square was, the smoke had cleared, revealing that it had not been smoke, but instead a nutrient mist. The thing that it covered was the hundreds upon hundreds of changeling cocoons below, as well as the massive one in the center. Pip knew from the research regarding changelings that they had two types of cocoons: the hanging ones, which were used to drain the emotional energy that the creatures used for food; and the stabilized, ground-based ones that were the eggs of new drones. The massive one in the center was the great birthing chamber, where new eggs were secreted and helper drones placed into newly created sacs.
Below, Chrysalis was giving birth to a new, massive army of changelings – and she’d decimated one of Equestria’s largest cities for a cradle.
Pip wasted no time. “EQMILCOM, Emergency Channel! This is Obsidian Six, repeat, Obsidian Six! I need some birds scrambled stat, fully armed for heavy bombing. Fillydelphia is scratched, we have Hotel Charlies; repeat, scratch Fillydelphia!”
“What the—” the voice over the commline said, as if he couldn’t believe it. “This is EQMILCOM. Start authorization code confirm: sequence Echo-Yankee-Lima-Seven-Nine—”
Fluttershy ripped the comm unit out of Pip’s hooves. “Priority override: Foxtrot-Sierra-Echo-Kilo-Three! I want those aircraft scrambled immediately!”
A pause on the other end, soon followed by, “Holy trot! We’re on it, ma’am! Priority Override code Element Kindness confirmed!”
As she handed the radio back to Pip, there was an apologetic look on her face. “We didn’t have time to bounce codes back and forth.”
“You okay, Fluttershy?”
“No, I’m not.” The look on her face was intense. “If Chrysalis gets that army moving, it’ll make the wedding invasion look like a walk in the park. My family will be directly in their path and I will not allow my husband or daughter to be endangered. Ever.”
“FOOOOOOOOOOOREEEEEEEEEVVEEEEEEERRRRRRR!” a familiar voice canted and as Pip and Fluttershy looked at Pinkie, she shrugged. “Well, it seemed like the thing to say….”
The world suddenly jerked 45 degrees to the right, and Fluttershy had to leap in order to save a unicorn from falling from the helicopter to an untimely death. The helicopter shuddered and then buckled again as something hit it again. Alarms sounded in the helicopter and Codrington’s voice screamed over the line, “We’ve been hit! Sabre 4 and Sabre 9, get out of here no—” The line died off as an explosion sounded just below the helicopter; Pip looked down and the Major’s helicopter was now a burning, charred wreck crashing towards the street.
“Look!” one of the mages shouted, pointing towards the sky. A large black blur rocketed towards them, and this time, hit the skin of the of the copter hard. As the blur came around once more, it shifted just slightly and the figure became clear.
Nightmare Moon.
Pip wasted no time. “OPEN FIRE ON THAT NAG!” he thundered; his troops, already expecting it, started tracing the sky with bullets. Meanwhile, he got back on the comm line. “Mayday, mayday, this is Obsidian Six, we are going down, repeat, going down. Sabre 7 destroyed, Sabre 4 departing area.”
“Roger that, Oscar Six! Aborting attack run by fighters.”
Fluttershy looked him straight in the eyes, and he got the message. “EQMILCOM, continue attack run, earlier priority override applies.”
“You won’t make it out of there!”
“Don’t worry!” Pinkie shouted from where she sat; enough so that she could be heard by the folks on the other line. “We got it covered!”
“This is Oscar Six,” Pip said. “Appraise…Appraise Acting MINDEF regarding situation. We’ll do what we can to get out of here. Oscar Six out.” He cut the line and watched as the surviving helicopter started to move away from the scene—
—only to feel the jarring sensation as the tail section was torn clear from their helicopter. Nightmare Moon rocketed away from the debris of the damage she’d just done, arcing lazily for another pass at them.
“Quick everypony, everyone get off the helicopter!” Fluttershy shouted in a panic, but didn’t get much response as the demonic alicorn slammed into their helicopter, breaking it into pieces.
“ABORT RUN!” GEN Spitfire, REAF roared from the Equestria Military Command as she shouted into the microphone.
“We’re under Priority Orders, General,” the voice replied in shaky tones.
“Cloudbuster 13, so help me if you don’t turn your birds around, I’ll have your flank court-martialed, do I make myself clear?”
“Do you think I want to do this?” the voice asked. “Do you really think I want to start an attack run with them down there?”
Spitfire remembered who she was talking to. “No, I know you don’t and you’re just following orders. Catch up to that British helo and escort them to base. They just lost two of their own, and we owe them some backup.”
“Look,” the pilot protested, “We just lost my—”
“I’ve known them longer than you, Captain,” Spitfire interjected. “They’ve made their way out of worse things. They’ll be fine, I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” the voice promised. “Cloudbuster Flight Bravo, moving to escort Sabre 4 for RTB. Cloudbuster 13, out.”
Spitfire plopped down in her chair. “Remind me why I’m the acting Defense Minister instead of just my regular job as Air Force Chief of Staff?”
“Don’t even ask me, Spits,” Soarin’ said as he stood behind her. “We’re all just doin’ our duty.”
“I’d rather Rainbow do her job,” she said with a grin, but quickly wiped it off her face. “Look, I’m sorry that she’s….”
“It’s not your fault. And if anything, I appreciate you always being there for us – I’m sure she does, too.”
“Hey, what’s family for if you can’t abuse the rules?” she said to her best friend and cousin’s husband with a smile. “Now, if I can get that son of yours under control, he might just make a decent officer someday. I don’t know which is worse, that he takes after his mother too much or you too little.” Turning to look at one of the other officers to her side, she said, “Get General Goldengrape on the line. I want a full battalion ready to march into the Quarantine Zone within the hour. We cannot afford to lose the last two standing Bearers.”
“But didn’t you get that last report, ma’am?” the tactical officer cried. “The place is a chang—”
“I don’t recall this being up for a discussion, Major. Get that order out, now.”
“No no no no no!” a voice screamed and Cinnamon flew towards the sound as fast as she could. She only knew one filly with that voice. She rushed into the room, seeing a white pegasus with deflated blonde hair, bawling her eyes out. The pegasus turned to Cinnamon and tackled her in a sobbing hug.
“My fault! My fault! I told Mom not to go, that she shouldn’t,” the teary pegasus told the other, “but…but…”
“Shhh, Surprise,” Cinnamon said, trying to calm her own fears, able to only because the younger filly was so distraught. While they oftentimes said Cinnamon took after how her mother used to be, Surprise had inherited Pinkie’s emotional extremes, both in joy and sorrow. “They’ll be okay…Mom and Aunt Pinkie will be fine. And none of this is your fault,” she said, holding the pegasus tight, “so stop that, okay? Why not help Bubble with getting a party ready for them?”
That did the trick, as Surprise’s blonde mane poofed up just like her mother’s. “Cinny! That’s the most wonderfully awesomely incredibly fantastically stupendously supercalifragilisticexpialidociously idea ever! I gotta go find Bub and get him to help me plan the ‘Welcome Home Mom and Aunt Fluttershy’ party of the century!” And so the white pegasus became a rocket off to find her twin brother and raid the nearest party store.
“Thanks, Cinnamon,” Elusive said as he approached the pegasus. “I’ve been so emotionally drained the past few days I don’t know what I could have done to cheer Surprise up.”
“You’re welcome,” the pegasus said, getting back to her hindlegs. Elusive noted Cinnamon, now that she lived on human-Earth, more often than not was upright than normal, dressed like a human and was picking up their customs. Like DJ, Lyra, and many others, the young mare in front of him was getting used to the standards of living a human lifestyle, yet another sign of how much Equestria – and the rest of Alter-Earth as well – were changing because of the newest sapient species in their midst.
“How are you holding up?”
“Honestly? I want to go crawl into a corner and cry my eyes out. But I promised DJ that I’d watch her kids and those foals don’t need to see me break down right now.”
“That’s very brave of you, Cinnamon. I mean that.”
“Thanks.” She looked down into his face. “Have you met them yet?”
“Not yet. I’m not sure that’s a good idea until I meet DJ first. I’d like to clear the air between us before I do anything else,” Elusive responded. “I just hope I have the chance to.”
“How do I look?” DJ said, after spending forever with a tailor trying to find the perfect dress for the night. Mike, who remembered what DJ’s biological mother did for a living, wisely decided to keep his mouth shut about it, lest he find himself float tested in the seas around the small island nation.
“You look absolutely gorgeous, love,” he said, double-checking everything on his dress uniform. He decided to go that route rather than have a suit made; besides, he liked the way it looked and it would probably make any RSN boys at the scene jealous – a little fun tweaking between allies.
“Thanks,” she said, looking into the full-body mirror. The satiny evening gown accented her figure and made her look very attractive…mainly to her own kind, but thankfully DJ, not having the same body as her human peers, never had to deal with the “battle of beauty” issues on a large scale. Instead, the satiny sheen of the slate-blue dress shimmered and complimented her light coat, fitting her the way she wanted rather than going for, as she said, “the typical tits ‘n’ ass look” that evening gowns tended to enhance. Along with a matching clutch and pair of slippers the tailor had made to match the dress it had set Mike back over $700 in Singaporean Dollars – racking up about $470 US Dollars on his AMEX.
She slipped back out of it, putting it on the hangar, then back into a t-shirt and shorts so she could continue getting ready for tonight. “I’m debating if I should style my hair and tail tonight,” she said aloud.
“Why?” he asked. “You’ll want to look your best for tonight – not that I ever think otherwise – but…what, are you afraid you’re going to be outclassed by the princesses?”
“Well, no, not really, but…nevermind.”
“I know that nevermind, hon,” he said as he ran a lint brush over the coat then started inspecting it for “Irish pennants.” That’s your ‘if you’re not paying attention to me, I’m going to kill you later’ nevermind.”
She grinned and he could see its reflection in the mirror. “Am I that shallow?”
“As your husband I am hereby invoking the 5th Amendment so that I may not incriminate myself.”
“Love you too, dear,” she said sarcastically. “But seriously. They’re princesses. And supposedly goddesses, though I really don’t buy into that. But what I am worried about is Celestia and Luna. I haven’t seen Celestia since Lyra’s wedding, and Luna…well….”
“If you’re asking me what I think you should do, gravitate a bit more towards Cadance. You two seem to be getting along.”
“I suppose, but we just met and I don’t know how much of the family issues she’s involved with.” She huffed again, adding, “Why the hell does anything having to do with my pony family involve more chess moves than Garry Kasparov on speed?”
“Better than my family. You remember the year Mom and Dad wanted to have the whole family over for Christmas, right?”
“Yup, that I do, and I swear I will murder your Aunt Debbie and not hide the body if she ever calls me ‘that little alien thing’ again,” the pony said, looking through some clip-on earrings she bought; due to her ears being the way they were, she never had them pierced. “I mean, I know she’s a specist bigot, but really, the whole ‘I hope your kids don’t turn out to be deformed freaks’ was a whole new level of insensitive.”
“Dad lit into her for that one,” he commented. “But hey, Joe got his novel published because of you, so there is that.”
“Yeah, I’m happy for him,” she replied. “Besides, it always helps to have another person in my corner when dealing with your aunt.”
There was a knock at the door of their hotel room, and Mike went to answer it. “Yes, can I help you?”
“Ah, yes, I’m looking for a Miss Martinez,” the man said. “Is she present?”
“I’m her husband,” Mike said. “How can I help you?”
“Ah,” the man said. “Hotel services. I’ve been requested to bring this up to your room.” The man produced a small carrying case and a custody form. “Please, sign here.”
He took the case, signed for it, and the man departed, just as quickly as he arrived.
“Mike, who was that?”
“Hotel services. Apparently you had a de—holy fucking shit!”
“Okay, that did not sound good,” she said, stepping away from the mirror and heading towards where her husband was. “What exa—Jesus H. Gundam Christ!”
“Language,” he said and she quickly murmured an apologetic prayer in response. Once that was done, she scratched her head. “What the fuck was going through her mind when she sent this?” She looked at him. “There’s no way I’m wearing that.”
“It was a gift, hon; it’d be rude not to,” he said, “though, yeah, I’d be hard pressed to put that on if I were in your shoes.”
The item in question was a necklace of diamonds and sapphires that, like DJ’s gown, matched her coat. It also looked like it would easily be priced somewhere in the high-five-digit range, possibly in the low six. They were accompanied by a pair of sapphire earrings, also prohibitively expensive. This wasn’t a simple gift, but a piece of treasure. And then, the small note that came with it:
DJ,
I thought this went well with your coat, so I’m sending it along.Looking forward to seeing you tonight; it’s been far too long and I hope you’ve been well.
- Celestia
She looked at the necklace again. This thing cost more than her car, Mike’s car, and her parents’ cars and his parents’ cars combined…with change left over. And that was a guess on the low end of the potential cost.
“Fuck, I am so doomed,” she said. “I…I couldn’t wear this!”
Mike said with mock-seriousness, “Maybe they’re trying to make you one of them – Invasion of the Princess Snatchers. They’ll replace you with a pod person, like a Disney Princess or something.”
“Mike,” she said sweetly, “fuck you.”
“Well….” he said, as his eyes playfully darted from her to the bed and back.
“Don’t tempt me.” She looked at him and the gates were down. “I’ve already been trying my best to keep my hands off you as is.”
Luna laughed. “That was a cruel, cruel thing you did, Celestia.”
“How so? She is family, and if we’re going to be having a fancy dinner here at the most exclusive hotel in Singapore, I’d like to make her look her best. It was a genuine gift, Luna, not a prank.” Like DJ, Celestia was getting ready for dinner. She could have just used her magic to fix that in seconds, but there was something about the simple pleasures of doing it the old-fashioned way.
“You do realize, she will, as the humans so colorfully say, ‘shit bricks.’” The night alicorn tried to stop laughing, but couldn’t quite succeed. “You know, for someone who takes an annual vacation running around the human world for the past twenty years, you really don’t get them, do you?”
“I try, but it’s…you’re right, I don’t entirely understand them, which bothers me because that’s been my intent all along. Maybe because I didn’t have one as a lover.” Luna stared at her sister hard, and Celestia threw up her forehooves in surrender. “You know what I mean, Luna. For someone who’s supposed to be the more conservative of us two, you actually went somewhere I didn’t. Just out of curiosity, have you heard from him?”
“Robin?” She sighed. “I…I try to stay away and then I beat myself up for it. Then I go see him from afar and my heart breaks all over again. He turned 43 last week, and he spent that week in divorce court – leaving number two. And you know what? It’s my fault. It’s because he’s still in love with me after all this time…just as much as I am with him.”
“I’m sorry,” Celestia said. “I know it’s hard. I had a lover once, a stallion I saw in secret during the period you were…gone. Argent Lance and I were happy together, but not being able to reveal him to the public was hard, so very hard. I eventually had to let him go, and to get away from me, he moved to what’s now Zebrababwe but at the time was a land of minor kings.”
“Why?” Luna was surprised; in all the years since her return Celestia had never mentioned this; from her tone, there was a hint that even Twilight might not know this story.
“He wanted to get away from me in order to spare me further pain, because he knew that I’d do what you’re doing now with Robin. At the time, Equestria was going under a lot of political upheaval since I was dismantling the feudal system at the time and he knew I wouldn’t be able to get away to see him so I could break my heart all over again. He married again, but from what I understand, it was a marriage of convenience, not love.” She gave a distant smile. “Did you know Zecora’s one of his descendants? She probably doesn’t know since it was so long ago, but….”
“I wish Cadance was stronger, because I would so very much love to abdicate and let her take my position,” Luna admitted. “But she’s never really had any interest in governance until you started restructuring the government two decades ago, and now Twilight has surpassed her in power. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that, but…it would be scandalous if I left Twilight my position.”
Celestia sighed. “I know. I have Blueblood’s family complaining enough that we’ve given too much authority to a commoner, that I’m only doing it because I consider Twilight like a daughter, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And if Blueblood was a problem, his children Silver Platter and Gilded Lily are worse.”
Luna huffed. “I told you we shouldn’t have created the fiction that the old Royal Unicorn Line is distantly related to us. I told you back then, it would be more trouble than it was worth.”
“We needed King Jasper to hand power over to us before he sacrificed all his subjects in a vain attempt to stop Discord – it was the only way he would abdicate in favor of us.”
“We could have forced him.”
“You mean I could have beguiled him, ensorcelled him. And you would have been ignored and probably surrendered to Nightmare Moon a thousand years earlier than you did.”
Luna collapsed on Celestia’s bed; then looked out the nearby window at the skyline of Central Singapore. The sun was going down and instinctively, Luna felt out for the moon, but felt…nothing. The moon of this Earth had no avenue for her, as it moved on its own. That fact was both exciting and nerve-wracking for her; if Celestia felt the same about this Earth’s sun, she had never mentioned it. As for their world, they’d planned a lunar eclipse for the night and had let the populace know well in advance; the event would allow them to leave their native reality for the day and cause no undue panic to the populace.
As she continued to look out the window, she asked, “Do you know what scares me, Celestia?”
“German pop music from the 1980s? I know you lied to Robin that you liked it.”
“But he finds it interesting, so it was easy for me to humor him,” she said with a nostalgic smile. “But seriously. The rumors that Nightmare Moon has returned. I know I have hunted her, and I still intend to when we return, but…I’m afraid. I’m honestly afraid.”
Celestia left doing her mane and tail manually; her sister needed her more. Going over, she nuzzled the younger alicorn, whispering, “You know I would never let you come to harm again. I regret what happened to you and if there had been any way to save you I would have. I spent decades crying over what I did to you, Luna.”
“I know.” Luna’s voice was threadbare, nearly inaudible. “I…I don’t want to be taken by her again. I would rather die before that happens. If she is truly back, what hells must she be visiting on her new host? What could that host have agreed to in order to give her the path for possession?”
“I couldn’t tell you,” Celestia said, kissing her sister on the forehead, “But I will tell you this: I will protect you. Everypony will protect you. We are far stronger than last time – we have Twilight and the others to help now. In fact, I think it was Rainbow who said it best: ‘we’re family and we don’t let each other down.’ So true it is between us, dear sister.”
“I know, and I love them for it,” Luna said, putting her head down on the bed, “but I wish Robin was here as well.”
There was a knock on the door and Cadance stood there, looking at her aunts. “Well, dinner’s in thirty minutes, and if we’re going to be there before DJ and Mike, we’d best get a move-on, mares.”
“How’s DJ? You saw her earlier today and I’d like to know how she’s faring,” Luna asked.
“Well, I can’t really say. I just thought about how happy she was with her children and then I just lost it again.” The look on Cadance’s face was sad, and though she didn’t cry, the look in her eyes did enough. “It never goes away, does it?”
“No. It never does,” Celestia said. “Does it, Luna?”
She was silent for a bit, as if considering what she’d say, then spoke. “If it did, Cadance, we’d be the poorer for it. Well, I’ve got to go back to my room and get ready; I’ll have to conjure up something. Meet you two by the elevator in ten minutes?”
“Of course,” Celestia said.
“As Pinkie says, ‘Okie Dokie Loki!’” Cadance replied.
The two giggled a bit while Luna walked out; the night alicorn didn’t mind being teased if it meant Cadance would be in better spirits. But it also reminded her that there was another pony that would be joining them tonight, one that wasn’t in the greatest of moods the last time the dusky alicorn saw her. Luna rolled her eyes and sighed. It was going to be a long night.
“You should not be here,” a person told Faust as she walked towards the vault. At the moment, the duo was in the special books section of the Beinecke Rare Manuscripts library at Yale University, in its heavily sealed basement underneath. The vault area featured military-level security, all to protect some of the most valuable books on Earth.
“I’m going to look at my book,” Faust said, matter-of-factly, as she punched in a code sequence into the keylock by the door. The door accepted the command, and inside the vault, a robot designed to gently handle the manuscripts within went searching for the coded document.
“It’s not yours anymore,” the other voice said, softly. Faust felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see her old friend. Kuzunoha hugged her one-time enemy and said, “It ceased to be yours when you left it at that monastery in Bavaria so long ago.”
Faust smiled. “Hey, I give history its due and leave it here for posterity – it’s safer here anyway. But it’s still my diary.” As the two spoke, the robot opened the door and handed over a plexiglass case containing the legendary book officially known as MS 408, but known to the world as the Voynich Manuscript.
The fox looked over Faust’s shoulder and grinned. “All the world’s best cryptographers trying for centuries to decipher the book and all it is, is just your bored ramblings on observing this world since you first got here. I wonder what would happen if they were to find out that it’s written in the private magic argot of alicorns, worsened by your horrid penmanship.”
“A girl’s gotta have hobbies,” Faust said, a fond smile crossing her face.
“Couldn’t you have downloaded a copy? It is publicly available.”
“Downloaded on my phone for when I just want to read over old entries,” the alicorn assured her friend. “But it’s more than just that. I’ve recorded ancient mysteries and dreams here, all encrypted by magic that requires direct viewing of the book. And right now, I need to look up something I may have written down when I first arrived here. I fear that my children are in trouble.”
“Faust, Sarah and Jon are fine. Besides, when it comes to them, all you need to do is call the cops, right?”
“No,” the alicorn of imagination said. “I mean my daughters.” Faust never referred to her older offspring as anything other than her daughters, and at that point, Kuzunoha knew something was wrong.
“There’s not much I can do to help,” Kuzunoha said. “I would, but…my sister may somehow have found a way to cause trouble again, and I must do something to amend that. But if there’s anything else I can do, Faust….”
“I’ll know who to turn to, Kuzu.” The two former Alter-Earth queens looked at one another in silent friendship before the alicorn turned back to her studies and the kitsune teleported back to Japan.
CPT Rainbow Blitz, REAF walked towards the ready room, helmet in hoof and an angry – some would say typical – look on his face. Things hadn’t gone well and though he escorted the SAS helicopter back to base, he was in no mood to deal with the pilots, so he let his wingmates have that honor. Right now, all he wanted was a shower, a cider and to get back to the hospital.
“Great flying as always, Doug,” a sergeant told Blitz as he walked by and Blitz waved a hoof, cordially acknowledging the use of his call sign. While human pilots had call signs like “Fatso”, “Gray Fox” or “Sugar Mama”, somepony in the REAF had decided to use human names for their call signs and it stuck, with all pilots in Equestriani military service adopting the tradition. His was “Doug”, and the wingmates in his flight today had been “Allison”, “Mark”, and “Paolo”. His father’s was “Jack”, and his mother…she’d taken “Diane”, in honor of one of her closest friends.
“BUCK THIS!” he screamed, throwing his helmet in a random direction, the only way he could really release his pent-up anger at the moment. That Diane, a pony he’d loved and cared about as much as his own mother, he failed today. He couldn’t save either of his aunts, and then he was ordered to bomb the place they’d crash landed, and then ordered to protect some bucking humans who’d gotten them in trouble in the first place!
“You’re lucky I can catch,” a voice said, and Blitz looked up from where he was leaning against the wall in frustration. “Captain, need I remind you that you’re an officer and you need to compose yourself like one?”
Blitz straightened up, saluting. “Yes sir.” After a second, he said, “Permission to speak, General.”
“Son,” Soarin’ spoke, already knowing what his son would say, “it’s not your fault. You went out there and did your job. You followed the orders even after Spits tried to countermand them. You followed through.” Soarin’ looked at his son and saw both his younger self and his wife at the same time. Not really hard; though Blitz had his father’s features, he had his mother’s coloring and her untamed nature – some even said it was worse.
“Pops, you have no idea what I feel like right now,” Blitz told his father. “I was just talking with Luse yesterday, and he’s a wreck. Between us and Minty, we’re the oldest, and the ones the younger ones look up to – Cinnamon, Surprise, Bubble, and Apple Bushel all count on us. And if we can’t keep up on our promises, then what’s the point?”
“Well, hopefully DJ should be able to take up some of the load while she’s here.”
“Oh great – if things weren’t bad enough, now that freakstick is coming. Fuck this, Pops. We don’t need that weirdo monkey-lover here.”
“Son, first, I see you’ve been learning human profanity,” Soarin’ said, crossing his forelegs. “Second, I don’t appreciate you talking about your cousin like that – and I definitely don’t care for the specist remark, got that? Several of your aunts specifically requested that she come, including Rarity and Twilight. If that doesn’t mean much to you, at least pretend that it does.”
“Yeah, but she gave Minty and Aunt Rarity and Uncle Silver serious bucketloads of horseapples – and they’re her family! Why the hell should I turn off the IFF transponder just because I think someone might be friendly?”
“Maybe because she’s from the same side as you. And maybe because we’re talking about family, not fighter-to-fighter engagements.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he said. “I’m going to toss myself in the shower and then head to the O-Club for a cider. You planning to join me?”
“No,” Soarin’ said as he handed Blitz back his flight helmet. “I’ve got to get back to the hospital.”
“I know. I’m worried ‘bout Mom too,” Blitz said in a rare quiet voice.
The grand dining room of the Raffles Hotel had actually once been a building across the street, but when the legendary hotel had been expanded in the mid ‘20s, the street had been closed to accommodate the greatly expanded complex. The Raffles Centre mostly included shops, a cinema and various other stores, but the piece d’ resistance was Sir Thomas’, the formal dining restaurant in the annex that drew the poshest of the posh in the community. Singapore’s well-to-do and celebrities came here, and anyone from lands abroad who was anyone came here.
So it wasn’t truly shocking when a US Navy Lieutenant Commander, resplendent in his dress whites, showed up with a date on his arm. What his date was, however, was the shocker. Just about every eye was on the pony as she walked with her husband towards the restaurant, and it was as though the pair were celebrities, star-spotters all around.
“See? I knew you were good for arm candy,” Mike said to his wife as the approached the restaurant.
“Speak for yourself, Mr. El Cedar,” she said as she looked back at him, a wide smile on her face. She felt like – as corny as it seemed – a princess. She was headed to a nice dinner in a faraway country (as if they weren’t living in one already) with the man of her dreams. She’d spent all that time getting ready, making the moment perfect. She’d styled her hair in some light waves, then acceded to Mike’s suggestion and wore the hyper-expensive jewels anyway. She was pretty sure she was getting noticed for that nearly as much as what she was – and truth be told, she wished they would notice the jewels more than her – but being the center of attention on occasion did have its benefits.
As they approached, the maître d’ was already prepared for their arrival. “Commander and Mrs. Hengst, I presume?”
“You presume correctly, sir. I’m guessing our party has already arrived?”
The maître d’ leaned forward, whispering. “All three have arrived. There are various security personnel throughout the restaurant and surrounding area, both SPF and Equestriani Royal Guard, so they’ll be well protected for your meeting, Commander.” He gestured to the young woman standing there in a waiter’s attire. “She will show you to the private room.”
“Private room?” DJ said with a worried face as the woman escorted them towards the private rooms at the back of the hall.
“Yes. ERG insisted on it, as the princesses would make for more obvious targets, though I’m not sure why the concern. Our Gurkhas are already in position and ERG ponies are on standby as well.”
“You seem to know a lot about the police for a waitress, miss.”
“Oh, sorry – just got a little too much into character, Commander,” she said with a slight blush. “Special Constable Sarah Kwok, SPF Intelligence.” She flashed her badge. “And now that I’ve shown my credentials, if you’d be so kind?”
“Certainly,” he said, reaching for his wallet and thus ID; DJ pulled the same from her purse. The police officer pulled a scanner out from her own pocket and ran them over the QR codes on the back of both cards. When both cards beeped, she handed them over. “Your Seventh Fleet sent over the code validators. SPF and ERG requested them because of the concerns regarding all three alicorns being present.” Kwok said as she opened a door, motioning for both to go in. “Enjoy your dinner, Commander Hengst, Lady Sandalwood.”
“Sandalwood?” DJ snarled as soon as the door was closed.
“Please give it a rest, hon?” he asked, speaking out of the corner of his mouth. DJ in turn gave him a look that capitulated, though she’d say nothing else. They walked down a short corridor that was meant to act as a soundbreak between the main part of the restaurant and the private dining room, and as they did, DJ got considerably more anxious, grasping his arm a little tighter for support.
“It’ll be okay, love. I promise. Look, I have to go up in front of the XO’s board at the end of the year to see if I’ll qualify to be the XO of a ship. If I can do that, certainly you can meet with three of your aunts.”
“Who are princesses,” DJ reminded him. “At least you won’t have to face a board composed of the CNO, SECNAV, SECDEF and POTUS, right?”
He thought about that for a second. “You have a point.” In any case, they arrived at the door and Mike, ever the gentleman, opened it for his wife.
The three alicorns sat at the table, Celestia at the center with Luna to her right and Cadance to her left. All three dressed in pure white evening gowns that were off one-shoulder and reminiscent of Greek chitons. Each alicorn seemed to have been color-coded in their accents, with Celestia wearing the gold, Luna the silver and Cadance copper. The three had their hair arranged in braids, and all three wore their formal crowns, the shape of the headgear looking as if they had metal halos. All three seemed to glow with unearthly auras, and each one looked impossibly beautiful.
DJ looked at the unnaturally gorgeous creatures before her, and then at her reflection in the highly-polished wood paneling of the room. Hello, my name is Ugliest Woman in the Room by a Landslide, she said to herself.
“You are not the Ugliest Mare in the Room by a Landslide, DJ,” Celestia said as she rose from her seat, headed over to embrace her niece. “It’s been so long since we last saw each other. You should come to the palace sometime.”
“H-how….” DJ began.
Celestia smiled. “I’ve been alive long enough to know that look. Call it Mare’s Intuition.” She then turned to Mike. “And I’ve wanted to meet you a long time. Sadly, I had to rush back to Equestria after the wedding, so I didn’t get the chance to meet you then. But you looked so dashing in your uniform then and the years have only made it better.”
“Thank you, your majesty,” Mike said with a smile. Years of military duty had made him better acclimated to meeting foreign military personnel and dignitaries than his wife, so he was in a better position than she.
“No need for formality; we are family, after all. Celestia is fine.”
“Then please call me Mike.”
Meanwhile, DJ had moved on to Cadance. As the two embraced, DJ asked, “So how’d the negotiations go?”
“Great! We start working on the Embassy building next month. We just bought the parcel of land across the street from the British and Australian High Commissions and the US Embassy, so that should make things easier overall. So, enjoying Singapore?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe! I could go shopping for hours, but…well, Mike has this thing about needing money to pay bills and for other vital things than just letting me go spend happy,” she said with a laugh.
Mike overheard that. “Because, y’know, taking care of the kids is generally considered a good idea,” he said, the mirth showing on his face.
“Well, we could let them loose in that small grove of trees just outside of Taura station,” DJ replied. “Could solve that raven problem that part of Yoko’s been having this year.”
Done with Cadance, DJ then looked at Luna, who had not left from the chair. The two ponies looked at each other, and neither one bothered to speak for a few minutes. Finally, they turned away from each other, both clearly uncomfortable and opting to sit at the table.
“Yeah, this is going to go real well tonight,” she whispered as she sat down.
“DJ….” he whispered back.
“So,” Celestia said as she returned to her seat, “Mike, my apologies, but dinner will be on the vegetarian side. I’m sure you can understand.”
He nodded. “I’ve already been mostly used to it, pretty much since I’ve been with DJ, but we do have burgers and what not on occasion.”
“You eat meat?” Luna said, a stunned look on her face, even as the other two alicorns had equally shocked looks. The trio looked at each other briefly as if they hadn’t expected that comment, and then back at DJ.
A bemused look fell on DJ’s face. “Excuse me ladies, but have any of you cracked open a biology book in the past century or twelve? Our stomachs are closer to humans that that of horses, though not entirely. I can – and do – eat meat, just not to the degree that Mike can and it generally has to be ground products or derivatives.” An embarrassed look then crossed her face as she then said, “Uh, didn’t you hear about the stunt I pulled last time I was in Equestria?”
Celestia looked concerned. “I thought it was just another rumor the Equestria Daily came up with. You’re telling me it was true?” Cadance’s look was one of shock, while Luna looked fit to be tied.
The look on Mike’s face was sympathetic. “I’ll admit, neither her parents nor I were happy with her for that. Plus, she suffered for it – stomach aches for days.”
“I will never eat a steak again,” she vowed, raising a forehoof in pledge. “Though I wish I could have introduced them to cheeseburgers. Cheeseburgers are nice. Bacon cheeseburgers are better, though. Ooh! You know, I….” She suddenly realized they were looking at her with a mixture of surprise and horror, and she immediately shut up. “I…maybe this would be better discussed later.” The humanized pony fell silent, and the room stayed that way as the waiters brought in the wine and salads.
After the waitstaff departed, Celestia closed her eyes and spoke. “DJ, do you know why we wanted to meet with you beforehand?”
DJ munched on the salad at the moment, deciding she really wanted a bacon double quarter-pounder at the moment. “That you’re not bringing the sixteen-inch guns to bear regarding my relationship with Rarity, I’m hoping.”
“No, not that. While I would very much wish you would make up with your birth mother, I cannot force you to. And, for the record, I would very much appreciate it if you did. No, the issues that we will be discussing tonight are two-fold: first, your formal return to the Royal Family, and secondly, the…the other issues,” the sun princess said, her tone growing sad.
“Is something wrong?” DJ asked.
“I’ll get to that shortly,” she said. “But since you’re a grown mare – or woman, as you prefer – it’s time you accepted your birthright, something you probably weren’t aware of: being a member of this family, you do realize you are nobility, didn’t you?”
“Celestia…please, don’t get me wrong, but Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Oscar?” the earth pony blurted out.
Everypony looked at Mike for a clarification. “You…really don’t want me to translate that, but it’s not anything bad,” he said evasively.
In turn, the sun alicorn just looked at DJ with a glance of disappointment. “You…just surprised me, that’s all,” DJ said somewhat apologetically.
Celestia gave a soft nicker of appreciation, and took a quick bite of her salad. “I just wanted to know if you were aware you held a title. Your m…I mean, Rarity is Duchess Lipizzan an—”
“Duchess Lipizzan? As in, Lipizzaner stallions?” When Celestia looked at her, she explained. “It’s a breed of horses here on this Earth. They’re famous for precision performance.”
“I…see.” A thought suddenly came to mind. “Shetland, Jennet, Mustang, Andalusia and Vanner?”
“More horse breeds. I take it those are the others’ titles?”
“Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, in that order,” Celestia replied. “We actually named the entitlements after ancient regions of Equestria. But…horse breeds? That’s just fascinating. Truly fascinating. But to continue, once you reached the age of maturity in our country – 20, just like most of the nations here on human-Earth – you became eligible for a title of your own. Though we’ll have to make it formal later, you are Countess Faroe, with your husband as Count Faroe. I’m guessing that’s another horse breed?”
DJ nodded. “One thing about being from Winchester: there’s nothing out there but apples and horse ranches, so nearly everyone at school had some background in one or the other. In fact, I think one of Applejack’s relatives bought some land out by Strasburg; Apple Chip, I believe.”
“You don’t seem too affected by the fact that I just made you a Countess. That’s unusual. Most ponies I know would jump for joy.”
“Don’t get me wrong: I am appreciative, and thanks for it,” DJ began. “It’s just…well, truth be told, I’ll probably never use it. The US, being a democracy, really doesn’t have any such system; as a military officer, it could really impact my husband’s clearance and thus his job.”
“Oh, no worries there, DJ,” Cadance spoke up. “I asked Lyra to look into it in the event that it might be; I looked into the history of your nation and couldn’t find any examples, but I wanted confirmation just in case. According to the State Department, since it’s you who actually holds the title and not your husband, it should be fine.”
The married couple sighed in relief. “You don’t know how much that puts me at ease,” Mike was the first to say. “That could’ve been a problem for me if OPNAV decided to give me a headache over it.”
“I promise you, it won’t be a problem,” Celestia assured him. “I wouldn’t want to put either of you at risk.”
“Unlike Twilight,” DJ muttered. At the sudden look of guilt on Celestia’s face and anger on Luna’s, she realized she’d picked the exact wrong thing to voice. “I didn’t mean it that way! What I meant was—”
“No, you’re right,” the Princess of the Day said, her voice breaking. “I…I did it to Twilight. From the very beginning, everything was my fault. I should have protected her like a mother does, but…I’m so proud that she…she….” Celestia couldn’t take it anymore; her forehooves went to her eyes and she started crying, releasing weeks of pent-up parental worry over beloved protégé.
Luna nuzzled and soothed her sister’s worries. “It’s okay, sister. Twilight would not want to see you like this. You did what you had to, and she understands that.” Luna turned to angrily address DJ for the first time: “Unlike somepony, I’m worried about Twilight as well, sister.”
DJ felt like she was slapped. “Excuse me? You think I’m not worried about Twilight? Are you fucking crazy? Between her and Sweetie Belle, they’re the ones I’m closest to!” She leaned forward. “How the hell can you even say that?”
“Because you don’t act like you are a part of this family!” Luna thundered; she’d had enough with this overgrown foal, and it was time to put her in her place. “If you did, you would have visited! Do you know how long it’s been since your mother has wanted to see you?”
“I do care! And she’s not my mother!” DJ rose to her feet, her easily-ignited temper already aflame.
“Don’t raise your voice to me, young lady! I am your aunt and your princess!”
“In case you hadn’t checked into Hotel Reality, Luna, you don’t act like a relative – you’re like a Goddamn antagonist! Second, I’m an American, which means I owe you nothing in terms of loyalty. And third, I’m an American, which in case you weren’t aware, gives me the Constitutional right to be as fucking rude as I want to be, especially to fucking stuck-up cunts married to their crowns!”
“HOW DARE YOU, YOU PATHETIC FOOL OF A FOAL!” Luna roared in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH OF AN INGRATE YOU ARE TOWARDS THE MARE AND STALLION WHO GAVE YOU LIFE?”
“HOW DARE YOU!” DJ countered in what could only be called the classic American tantrum. “THEY DID NOTHING IN MY LIFE! MY REAL PARENTS RISKED EVERYTHING TO GIVE ME A LIFE, A HOME AND EVERYTHING TO BE GRATEFUL FOR. AND YOUR OH-SO-SAINTLY PONY BUDDIES? THEY DISMISSED MY PARENTS! SO HOW’S THAT FOR GRATITUDE, HUH, BITCH?” DJ looked at her husband and there were tears forming in her eyes even as there was a scowl on her face. “When you’re ready to leave, I’ll be at the bar. Maybe I can order a bacon double-cheeseburger.” Nothing more to say, she stormed out of the room.
Several minutes went by before anyone spoke. When the words occurred, it was Cadance, a look on her face somewhere between embarrassment and irritation. “Well, that went smoothly.”
“Yeah,” Mike said, his own countenance nearly a mirror for hers. “Yeah, no kidding.”
“And then Cinny said we should make the most epicest awesomest ultraest party for Mom and Aunt Fluttershy ever!” the teen pegasus filly said, bouncing around with glee.
“But did we get enough party supplies? I think we still need to cover the rest of the hospital just so Mom and Aunt Fluttershy know it’s for them and not that it’s for anyone else!” her younger (by one minute!) brother insisted. Bubble Berry looked closer to an exact duplicate of his mother than his sister did, though Surprise was nearer to her mother in terms of personality…not that Bubble was far behind her.
“Hrm…then what should we do, Bubs?”
The pink teen colt thought about it hard for a whole millisecond. “I got it!” he announced, moving a forehoof in a way that caused a snapping sound. “Let’s go decorate the palace! That’ll be sure to get their attention, and I’m totally completely 100% sure Aunt Celestia or Aunt Luna won’t mind.”
“That’s a great idea, Bubs!” his sister congratulated him.
“Because great minds think alike, Spry!” he complimented his sister.
“Then – to the party store!” Both teens blasted out of the hospital approaching ludicrous speed, headed towards the party warehouse store on the other end of Canterlot.
From a distance, three adults and one on the verge of it watched as the pink-and-white party tidal wave prepared to wreak city-wide havoc on the town.
“I wonder who gave them that idea?” Thunderlane said, looking to his left. He knew that his foals were special, and he loved Pinkie very much, but one Pinkie was enough to deal with. He essentially had three of them in his household, and for that alone, the princesses would have knighted him had he already not been married to one.
“Yeah, Ah wund’r.” Big Macintosh sighed and looked glanced to his right. He was worried about his wife and terrified for his sister, and under different circumstances, a party would take his mind off of things. But there was a difference between a party and letting slip the party-ponies of war.
“Yeah, stallion, I hear ya.” Noteworthy looked at the other two stallions and sighed, then looked at the same direction his friends did. Despite the good intentions, letting his rather exuberant niece and nephew loose on an innocent, unsuspecting city was, in some respect, tantamount to declaring war on one’s own kind. With his wife on the verge of death, he didn’t need any other surprises.
In the center of the glares, Cinnamon shrugged her shoulders and gave them an embarrassed and mortified smile, hoping that there was something just big enough – like a pencil – that she could hide behind safely. Additionally, Cinnamon’s pet bunny Diablo hid behind her owner’s leg; bunny and owner were an inseparable pair even if Diablo didn’t have the combative streak of her father, Angel. “Uh, divine inspiration?” Cinnamon said, hoping that somehow it would save her from utter destruction.
“Ah think y’d best keep an eye on the twins,” her father suggested. “Who knows whut’ll happen if’n they get the bright idea t’ paint th’ whole town in neon colors.”
“Or put up giant neon signs, for that matter,” Noteworthy said, snickering.
“Notes, please don’t say anything that might give them any ideas!” Thunderlane pled. “I don’t think Equestria could take the strain!”
Cinnamon sighed, Why me? Scooping up Diablo in her forelegs, Cinnamon took to the skies in the hopes of finding the twins before they raided every town in Equestria in their quest to create the mother of all celebrations.
Twilight Sunburn struggled to stand, practically crawling in the dark. She was in her normal body, having switched back and forth between several forms and after having…no, she didn’t want to think of it, as she turned to look at the sleeping form still in the bed. She hurt, both physically and psychically, having experienced both his tender mercies on her body and the starvation of the drones under his care. She’d tried to feed them as much as she could – as the lone female in the group, they naturally turned to her for succor – but Ghino forbade it, telling her should she even consider acting as a changeling princess, much less a changeling queen, he would put a bullet in her head.
And all the while, Twilight wondered what was going on. Something told her…this was wrong. Maybe her older brother Blood Armor didn’t know and would come to protect her as soon as he found out. Maybe her mother Chrysalis would come and tell Ghino it was a mistake, that it was time for Twilight to return to the hive and be with her family. Maybe even a miracle would come and her father, bits and pieces of whose recollections resided in her genetic memory, would come to help. She often imagined in her dreams that he would sing her lullabies and tell her how much she was a treasure to him.
But until that day, she had to do as was told and serve her current master. Even if she knew that what he was, was the last thing she’d ever want to touch. No love would ever come from him, nothing to nourish the changelings. She was all the drones had, and even if it was wrong, she had to protect them – they didn’t know any better, after all.
Making sure he was asleep, Twilight shifted into human form and left the room, heading towards the dog kennels. It was time to play with the dogs, or so it would seem. But to her, it was the right thing to do.
“Hey, bartender! What’s the special?” DJ said as she sat down at the bar.
“You’re at the Raffles and you need to ask that?” the bartender asked before turning around and seeing who the speaker was. “Oh, sorry – this hotel is famous for the Singapore Sling, a famous drink on this Earth. It’s a gin-based drink with a lot of other flavors. It’s world-famous. Would you care to try one?”
“Sure, thanks. Menu safe to order from here?”
“Sure. Special’s the salmon flambé, but for vegetarians like yourself, I recommend the eggplant parmesan.”
Perfect. “Cheeseburger and a side of fries.”
The bartender looked at her odd while he mixed the drink; he was surprised enough that he nearly lost control of his drink-making technique. “You sure? I thought your species didn’t eat meat.”
She grinned. “You’d be surprised how much non-ponies seem to think that.”
He paused briefly to punch in the order for her. “Okay, so charging it on the ERG tab. Probably shouldn’t be giving you the Singapore Sling, since it’s drinking on the job, but you just had to try one of them and besides, it’s probably a headache watching out for the princesses.”
DJ gave him a smile even as she tried not to betray her surprise. He thinks I’m with the Royal Guard. “Well, dealing with the princesses…sometimes some of them can be a chore,” she said quietly. It was, to her, both the truth and just enough to sound convincing.
“I can imagine. Anyway, bottoms up,” he said as he set the red drink in front of her.
DJ immediately took a sip; the flavor exploded on her tongue. Gin, cherry, pineapple; that much I’m sure of. What’s that last flavor? Angostura? Whatever it was, it was good, and she was going to probably want another – a lot more if Mike made her go deal with Luna again. “Oh, this is delicious! I’m going to have to get the recipe sometime.”
“We sell a drink recipe book in the gift store and it’s got the recipe. But can you get the stuff for it in your country?”
“I’m pretty sure I could,” she said, not admitting the country in question was on the other side of the planet and not in a different reality.
“Cool. Enjoy,” he said. “You need anything else, just ask.”
She was about to take another sip of the drink when a burly man in a suit sidled up next to her. “You sure they let you drink on duty?” he said, waving over the bartender. But before she could say anything else, he grinned. “Eh, just messin’ with you. Your boss already let us know that as long as you keep it to a minimum, earth ponies like you can metabolize anything in minutes. Wish I had that kind of metabolism.”
“It happens,” she said as she took that other sip.
“Oh, sorry, didn’t introduce myself. Staff Sergeant Jason Lim, SPF Intelligence. And you?”
“Uh, Sandalwood.” She tried to not let the disgust of using her birth name show on her face, but her real name was too human. “Trying to blend in like just about everyone else here, but I can’t quite do it.”
“Yeah, but ponies usually aren’t seen in Singapore, so you guys get to be the obvious security, and that just lets our intelligence folks and Gurkhas blend in better.”
The food arrived and the bartender set it in front of her. She forced herself not to cross herself after saying Grace silently; it was automatic for her normally, but regular ponies weren’t Christians. She picked up the burger and took a bite; the food was better than she’d had in other places, but clearly the Raffles was known for its drinks, not the food.
“And a burger as well, huh? My, you are interesting, Ms. Sandalwood,” Lim commented. “You free afterwards? I figure we could—”
There was a massive burst of light and an ear-shattering roar, followed by a blast wave slamming her to the ground. Flames roared around her, scorching her gown and parts of her fur, hair and tail. She looked to her side, and noticed the cop talking to her had taken the blast full-force, caught completely in the flames. Dazed, DJ wasn’t sure for a second what hit her before the animalistic side of her brain crashed the realization into her dizzied mind:
A bomb just went off. The explosion’s happening now, and you’re caught in the middle of it – you’re going to die!
The part of her mind that was still tied to her equine ancestry got her to move, running forward, forcing her to drop to all fours and ambulate out of there as fast as her hooves could carry her. Because of the sudden shift in her movement and posture, the dress tore, her necklace snapped off and her mind became desperate to get out of there.
Unfortunately for her, part of the ceiling was ripped apart, dislodged by the blast, and fell towards the earth – and the earth pony. The ceiling – and part of the floor above it – crashed down on DJ with a ground-crushing crunch.
Closing the Voynich, Faust returned it to the vault and departed the library in search of a coffee shop. She had a lot to think about and it was taking her all her will not to break out in panicked tears in public.
My foals, she thought to herself, her mind muddled. My foals are in danger and there’s not a damn thing I can do to help! She was bound by The Rules, and that meant she could never return to Equestria or contact her daughters directly. But said rules didn’t affect the Nightmare. That harridelle had already once abused Luna; now there was nothing to stop her from hurting Celestia as well.
But there was one being she could turn to, one who had a stake in all this…and wasn’t bound by The Rules in the same way as she was; indeed, he was the needle in the haystack when it came to them. Her old friend, and inexplicably, her daughters’ enemy – Discord. She hadn’t spoken to him in the ages since his imprisonment; what had he done to earn their ire?
But I need his help, and he could never refuse me, she said, smiling inwardly and wiping a tear from her eye. Even if there’s bad blood between them, he’d do it, if only for me.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone, calling her husband. “Greg?”
“Oh, hey, honey, what’s up?”
“I need you to pick up the kids. I won’t be home for a couple of days. Wings and horn business.”
There was a bit of silence over the line, followed by, “Take care of yourself, Faust. You’re not immortal.”
“I know. I’ll be home as soon as I can, love. Bye.” She hung up the phone, and after taking a look to make sure no one would see her next action, she changed to her true form, the red-headed woman becoming a huge red-maned alicorn mare. Closing her eyes, her horn lit with ancient power, and she disappeared into the dreamlands.
Considering what he did for a living, Mike recognized the sound instantly. As he was still calming down the princesses, it suddenly came as a shock to them as he tackled all three with enough force to drive even Celestia to the floor. “Stay down!” he ordered as he got back to his feet, heading towards the door.
“What was that?” Celestia said, realizing she’d been shoved to the floor by a human half her size.
“That was an explosion,” he said as he headed to the door. Sure enough, the moment he reached the door, a man came into the room, carrying a submachine gun and wearing a SPF badge on a neck strap.
“Stay in here,” he barked. “There’s something going on out there, and we’re dealing with it.” The man looked around the room, suddenly realizing that there was no emergency exit; the discrepancy made him hiss out an expletive. He finally set his eyes on Mike and said, “That costume for show?”
Mike immediately slipped into officer mode. In a commanding voice, he said, “Lt. Commander Hengst, US Navy, Weapons Officer on the USS Konetzni. And you are, soldier?”
The officer nodded tersely. “Thaman Rai, Inspector, SPF Gurkhas. I’d salute, but now’s not the best time.” Rai reached underneath his coat, producing a Browning HP and two clips. “You’ll have to hold the fort, Commander. I’m going back out to deal with the issue.”
“What’s the SITREP?”
“We’re under attack – someone just blew the side of the bar out.”
Mike fought to keep the composure on his face. The bar? DJ! “Casualties?”
“Don’t know. But whoever’s doing it? They’re pros – the bomb hit the least defended place and they’re carrying HEAP rounds – kena sai. Nasty bastards. Don’t worry; we’ll carve them up, though. I’m closing the door, and our side will signal Morse code Foxtrot-seven beforehand. Anyone who doesn’t? Pump ‘em up.”
“Roger that. Good luck out there, Inspector.”
Rai flashed a brief grin. “I believe the appropriate answer to you is, ‘Aye aye, sir.’” With that, he slipped out and got into the firefight.
As he did that, Mike turned to the princesses. “I want you three to stay down. We’ve got terrorists out there. They’ve got high-powered rounds and those will kill in a heartbeat.” His voice caught as he said, “The fuckers bombed the bar.”
“The bar?” Celestia gasped. “Isn’t that where…?” She could see the tension in the human’s face, the whitening of the knuckles in his hands and realized what it meant. “Go! We’ll be fine. Go find her!”
“I can’t, Celestia.” His face fought for control, even as his voice broke. “Orders are orders. The minute the attack began, my duties require me to protect you, even at the cost of others.” The three alicorns gasped and Mike moved an ornamental table from against the wall to use as cover. It wouldn’t protect him from bullets, but the cover might give him enough protection from visibility to let him get the drop on the enemy first.
Cadance watched the stew of emotions on the human’s face even as he stayed to protect them. Shining Armor once told her that his duties to protect the three princesses (and, unfortunately, Prince Blueblood) were so paramount that he would have to follow them, even if it meant sacrificing his family to do so – even Twilight. But hearing something like that was one thing. Seeing it in action was horrifically something else and her heart suddenly bled for him.
“Mike, go – find DJ,” Celestia said, her tone firm. “I have magic at my disposal to protect us. She’s your wife – go.”
“That’s a negative, your majesty. You are the head of state of an allied nation, and I am under orders to protect fellow allies in conflict situations. I don’t like my orders either, but I am duty-bound.”
“Go,” she ordered. “I can protect us three, but your wife – my niece – is out there, defenseless, Commander! I am ordering you to rescue her!”
“Celestia,” Luna said, “I don’t think you understand what’s going on here.”
“Luna’s right, Celestia,” Cadance added. “I don—”
Someone suddenly burst through the door, carrying a machine gun, and quickly drew a bead on Cadance. Mike didn’t waste a moment and opened fire, doubletapping and putting two rounds straight into the chest of the attacker. The man, now dead, collapsed, but not before his death spasms pulled the trigger on the machine gun. The shots went wild, two of them embedding themselves in the wall behind the princesses – and the third directly in Celestia’s crown, knocking it off her head with a metallic ping before it too lodged itself in the wood paneling. Shortly after, the explosive part of the bullets went off, the popping sound tearing large chunks out of the wall as each round exploded.
Celestia picked up her crown, now with a hole in it, then looked at the hole in the wall behind her, the ruined crater that would have been her head had not Mike stayed behind to fire – a shot, she now realized that could have gotten through before she could cast a shield. Faced with that realization, the ruler of Equestria did what would come naturally to any intelligent being: she fainted.
“How’s she doing?” Mike asked, as he raided the body for the machine gun and clips.
“She’s out like a light, but otherwise unharmed,” Luna answered. “Mike – thank you. I don’t think she realized how dangerous it really was.”
“Yeah,” he said, the anger still in his voice; Luna’s outburst had been the thing that sent his wife out and now with the chance she was no longer alive, he was feeling less than hospitable to her…even if DJ had started it first. Several more tense minutes passed by as gunfire could be heard on the other side of the door. “If we needed to, could you teleport us out of here?”
“It’s possible,” Luna called back. “Celestia could have teleported us out of here together, but with her out, it makes it harder. I could probably do it, but I’m out of practice,” she admitted. “Cadance, can you?” The alicorn of love shook her head sadly; as the weakest of the three, her skills weren’t up to the task.
“Okay then – blast a hole through that wall. If there’s no emergency exit, we’ll just have to make one.”
“That I can do.” Luna’s horn began to glow with silver energy as she prepared to decimate the barrier between them and freedom, and—
Taptap-taap-tap taap-taap-taptaptap. Taptap-taap-tap taap-taap-taptaptap.
Mike drew a bead with the gun. “Come in slowly so I can see you,” he ordered.
A pony carrying a Beretta M12 came in slowly, forehooves off his weapon, which was slung around his shoulder. “Everything fine in here?” The pony suddenly saw the body and Mike lowering the rifle. “Yeah, I’m guessing they are. Major Steelhoof, ERG. Are the princesses okay?”
“We’re fine, Major,” Luna called out from where she was. “It was close, but Commander Hengst protected us.”
“Is it all clear?” Mike asked, his mind off the battle now and on a very frightening thing.
“Yeah, it’s a—” Steelhoof didn’t get to finish his sentence as the human rushed past him, Princess Luna immediately following. Steelhoof immediately saw Princess Celestia on the ground, just coming to, her damaged crown and the place where he assumed her head was in the path of just an instant before. Looking at the two remaining princesses, he said, “Yeah, apparently very bucking close.”
Mike ran through the corridor and into the restaurant proper. What he saw, through the smoke and the mist, was nothing less than a battlefield. Tables were overturned and bullet-ridden, as were, tragically, several bodies of people on the floor and the occasional pony. The bodies of the attackers were being dragged into the center, and a bunch of surrendering attackers were lined up against the wall, hands on their heads and guarded by several ERG and SPF members, all of them looking as though they would kill at a moment’s notice and held only in check by their professionalism. In another corner, a few SPF and ERG folks were separating their troops from the killed civilians, making sure to treat each body with care.
“We’ve got to find her, every second cou—” Luna said before she heard a choking sound and a cry at her side. She followed the direction of the sound and saw Mike racing to a pile of rubble, including some very large chunks of ceiling. Twisted metal and concrete covered the area and there were splashes of blood here and there.
And underneath all that, just sticking out from underneath the bottom of the rubble, a leg. A leg coated in tan fur.
“DJ!” Mike shouted, tossing the rifle and dropping to his knees to start digging her out of the rubble.
“Mike, stand back!” Luna commanded, and as he did, she used a spell, teleporting all the rubble away. Had anyone asked, she would have told them that there was now some rebar in orbit around this Earth’s moon. But that didn’t matter right now, and as Luna looked down, for the second time in her life she felt as though she’d betrayed family.
There, unconscious and lying in a pool of blood, was DJ. Her fur was scorched in several places and her right foreleg – her “arm” – was bent at an unnatural angle. A jag of metal pierced through her side and was slowly oozing blood. She looked frail, as if she could shatter into a thousand pieces at any moment.
Mike, his eyes growing red, wanted to reach out for his wife, stopped only by years of training in the knowledge that doing so could make things worse. He forced himself to get to his feet.
“Commander,” someone said behind him, and he turned and wheeled hard on that individual.
“I want a corpsman here in five seconds or I swear I will literally keelhaul someone,” he said in a harsh whisper that indicated he was only in control because of his training.
Celestia and Cadance soon arrived and gasped. Celestia’s heart broke seeing the dying pony but they had to stabilize her before anything could be done. So instead, she’d do the next best thing. “Mike, let’s get you out of here. You don’t need to see this.”
“I’m not leaving,” he said, sniffling and forcing back the tears, even as he balled his fists until his hands started turning white as sheets.
Celestia went over and nuzzled Mike; she knew it wasn’t a human gesture, but it was meant all the same. “You disregarded me when I told you to do this and you saved my life in the process. Please, let me make it up to you – you don’t need to see this. Luna, go with DJ to the hospital. Cadance, start banging on doors immediately – I want every intelligence officer on the island, regardless of country, giving me an answer as to why we were attacked.”
“Okay,” he said, head down and unable to take his eyes off his dying wife. In the distance, ambulances could be heard as paramedics rushed in, running against the clock.
Yup, some characters are growing and some extras are getting added into the mix. Best thing I can say? If you've read everything in the past, don't be surprised if there's some changes. 
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mmmmmmmmhhhmmmm
I hope DJ will be okay and wont lose a limb or anything but anyways cant wait for the next chapter this one was good
Well, that one hell of Charlie Foxtrot.
Hmm, it's always nice to see my country gets mentioned in a story, even if there's a terrorist attack involved.
One curious thing though, our Orchard Road seemed to have been renamed Orchid Street. =s
Oh shit!
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So a standard family get together then?
Damned terrorists making trouble, they should just crawl back into their holes and stay there.
Before the fight between DJ and Luna, Celestia says she will get a title because she's over the Equestrian age of majority (don't you mean maturity)
There's other small errors which I can't remember, none of which are ground breaking. Like how you phrased Elusive's consoling of Surprise. Would he call "Pinkie" Mom if he's referring to Surprise's relationship?
Luna's jelly of DJ
now that was one hell of a shitfest! I approve of the violence but not of the death...
ISTM that DJ has conflated 'acknowledging her pony ancestry' with 'abandoning those that raised her'. Or that her Pony relatives acceptance will require her to abandon her human family.
Though by this point positions on both ends seem rather set in concrete. 
It is interesting when stressed she goes for American comfort food (burger and fries, both in Japan and Singapore).
On the Luna/DJ interactions, why is she thinking of DJ as an overgrown foal? Just the relative age differences, the stubbornness, or the lack of a cutie mark?
Well that was certainly an explosive chapter.
While I am fairly familiar with military jargon and what not, I gotta ask. What does TAD stand for?
1. Gundam? lol love that.
2. FUUUUUUUUCK WHY? DAMN TERRORIST! dunt let DJ die plz D:
Was that a MGS reference I saw there?
658847
Actually, IIRC, there's a small street near the American club (which is just off Orchard Road) by that name. It had a bespoke tailor. Granted, it might have been the name of the tailor instead of the street, but I knew I wasn't talking about Orchard.
659076
And that's what happens when you have me and three other people editing at 3:30 this morning.
659250
The stubbornness. We do the same with human adults "who haven't grown up."
659258
Temporary additional duty. It's the Navy's term for a temporary assignment lasting 180 days or less and that you plan to return to your parent command.
659431
Nope, either pulled from my mind, experience or the minds and/or experience of other military folks I know.
659451
So I was wrong about Gray Fox damn oh well great story you have here.
Alright I need the opinion of someone who's read this. One of my authors is pushing me to read this despite the fact it breaks my rule of "No politics," and my rule of "No religion," in pony fics.
Can anyone tell me how significant these elements are before I spend any time reading?
i.imgur.com/Ltbdg.jpg
659451 Ah, I thought it was along those lines when I read it. Since I come from a military family and read a lot of military type books I have a fairly good grasp on acronyms. In fact, I learned most of my swear words from my mother, (go figure right?) she was a Navy Corpsman (or would that be women?) during Nam. Granddad was a bubble head, Grandma was marines and my Uncle was a Seabee. And that's just the immediate family on my mothers side.
659460
The human pilot call signs are officers I've worked with in the past.
659482
Know the feeling: my wife's former Army, my brother-in-law's former Marines, my father-in-law is a retired AF colonel, my mother-in-law was civvie, but her father was former CG. On both of my parents' sides I have military members abounding. So this stuff comes somewhat natural even if I didn't have my own service experience to fall back on.
659463 The religious element isn't really talked about in detail, and in my opinion neither is politics. Other than for giving some general background information on current World Events. Course this is my opinion.
659485 Yep, my mom used to regale me with stories of when she was in the service. My favorite one was when she rode a horse through a minefield that wasn't marked. That was when she was stationed at Gitmo.
659501
I know that feeling (except it was ocean mines, not landmines, and Korea, not Cuba.) But sea stories are fun.
659505 Indeed they are. That would be my Grandpa's department. Started out on the old diesel boats and then transitioned over to Nuclear. Took part in the Cuban Missile Crises back in '63. Tons of good stories, but that sea mine story sounds like a whale of a tale.
659076
EDIT: just saw the scene you were mentioning. It was actually Cinnamon who was comforting Surprise, and Fluttershy was mentioned; it was intentionally made confusing because Cinnamon isn't that strong at being, well, strong.
659512
Like you wouldn't believe. The ROK Naval Base in Pusan (now Busan), South Korea, has the bay mined (at the time, all ROKN bases did; not sure if that still applies) to protect against nK ships. They switched things up every few months and always sent us the updated safe path. Well, we were sailing through and I was standing aft lookout at the time and after we pulled up to the pier, I heard the CO throwing the shit fit of the ages. Turns out they'd just changed the mine path and that we were'nt given the current safe path...and the way we went through just by PFM turned out to have a dud mine. Had it hit, aft lookout - and thus me - would have been go-bye-bye. Needless to say, I got a lot of drinks bought for me at the club that night.
I find it ironic that this happened, because two months later, there was the infamous "Hariyuki shuffle" incident - and I was on the ship for that one, too.
Terrorists. Why'd it have to be terrorists?
If she does lose a limb, will you give her automail? A full metal prosthetic?
659676
659170
Sadly, both in fiction and real life, that's just how terrorists roll and you can't have one (that level of violence) without the other (death.)
659779
Do you really want someone with as mercurial as DJ with a metal prosthetic she could beat someone over the head with? She makes Ed look like a pacifist.
this is amazing.
659299
The story's called All-American Girl for a reason.
659787 Yes. Yes I do. Very much.
659451
Ah, okay.
Damn there's a bunch of spouses and kids to keep track of
Regarding the latest turn of events:
...UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU....
Ffffffffffffffffffff...
*5 minutes later*
...UUUUUUUUUUDGE!
...
This is just fan-tipping-flastic.
660889
That's what happens when two generations pass. And we're not quite done with bringing up the seconds and thirds! Get your scorecards out!
660916
I'm guessing it got your attention.
660977
Yes. It did. You've certainly gone above and beyond the standard bar for authors on this site.
660889
Personally, I'm hoping the author will release a family tree at some point. At this time I think it's the only way to keep all DJ and Mike's relatives straight.
661348
I'm guessing this is a hint.
661412
Hint 2: Hint Harder.
Such a resource would be greatly appreciated.
This certainly made up for chapter 2's semi-slowness/exposition!
You make me have so many conflicting opinions about your characters.
First off, love Mike. He's an anchor just like Cadence.
I'm losing all of my sympathy I had towards DJ that grew in chapter 1 though. How long has it been since chapter 1? Hasn't she matured just a little bit? Cause I'm pretty sure All-American girl doesn't equal All-American... well... bitch.
Either way, there's lots to look forwards to: the pressing epidemic all whist dealing family conflict.
It's a good mix, but I enjoy the family conflict a bit more than the pressing doomsday. Maybe I just don't know enough about it yet, so I'm not sure where to place it. It's very clear they present a clear and immediate threat - so why would the princesses be hosting fancy dinners whilst only 2 elements are up and kicking?
Isn't security > dinner?
Anyhow, really enjoying it thus far. Keep it upppppp!!
662292
Mike is definitely DJ's anchor and yes, he and Cadance could probably compare notes for their respective spouses.
It's only been five weeks since Chapter 1, and frankly, DJ's issues have been stewing for years. As Mike put it, when it's not the members of her pony family that she cares about, she's somewhat brutal towards other ponies. Is it fair, oh, absolutely not. But she's due for a big wake up, and Luna had finally decided she was going to be the one to knock on that door. Problem is, Luna's definitely not the best person for that job.
The dinner was collateral to why they were there. The three were there to formalize relations with Singapore and Cadance took it upon herself to add trying to mend the relations with DJ into the mix. Had that not happened, they probably would have had a state dinner with the Singaporean president at the Istana (Singapore equiv. of the White House.) The real question you should be asking (and yes, I left this open on purpose) is why all three princesses departed Equestria as one for this. Who did they leave in charge in the meanwhile? Blueblood? It's clear he's not exactly liked.
But there may be changes in DJ's demeanor soon. That is, if she survives....
Huh, better written than I expected. Still not sure if I like it or not. Interesting world set up though.
664604
You wouldn't be the first person who said that (including Japanese girlfriends while I was stationed in Yokosuka.) I blame it on the fact that I was taught by my grandmother's best friend back in the 80s (yes, I'm carbon-dating myself here) and she came over from the old country back during the post-WWII occupation of Japan. So couple about 30-odd years of distance between leaving Tokyo and living in a small heavily Hispanic town in the LA area and one's language quickly becomes an anachronism. And that's what I learned.
A thought: You should probably post a link to the sidestories in the next chapter, and in the description for the story proper. That way new readers can easily find them.
This story has it all! Changelings, explosions, gunfights, political intrigue... the list goes on!
And did DJ really just out-shout Princess Luna? She has my respect!
666583
Seconding this.
666583
667083
Okay, now in the description.
666251
Fair enough. It certainly dates you but it was well done so I suppose that's all that matters. Though done right it can sound cool as hell
.
I only get to say otherwise since my significant other is Japanese and I've been fluent for ages >_>. Still, I do greatly appreciate that you actually put the effort in to write in grammatical sentences.
As she continued to look out the window, she asked, “Do you know what scares me, Celestia?”
“German pop music from the 1980s? I know you lied to Robin that you liked it.”
What?! Hey, our 1980s pop music wasn't that bad.
... okay it could have been better.
Things just keep on getting worse, but it's more or less to me that I'm watching a movie. I'm actually reminded The Dark Knight Rises of how dark as in how bad everything gets before there's a way for everyone to get out of that safely. There are so many military terms I don't know about in there, but I can look over them due to the fact that they don't really distract from the story and there's enough info for people like me who are not that well taught about the military to figure them out. I guess I have to look these things up later in my free time. Also, it's a good thing that Mike really is such the kind of guy to be DJ's conscious and I'm pretty sure she acts the same way for him. Mike has a point that DJ is initially distrustful of anyone from her world at first glance that's it's literally the first thing they say that will decide her opinion of them. She should at least hear them out more, either way I hope she comes out of it okay.
Good grief. Just got through the first couple of (very looooong) chapters of this. It's like... like a tom clancy novel but with ponies. I love it!
Alright, read the third chapter, you have Gilda living in Canada (from the second chapter), Pipsqueak in line with SAS, Gurkhas spec ops, and navy officers, get them together with someone/pony with ties to Poland and you'll have the ultimate group of badasses.
This is turning out to be a lot like my one of my favorite all time stories here on fimfiction. You have my rapt attention good sir or madam. Come to think of it, with a story this good, I think I'll follow you as well.
Granted, Fluttershy is OOC, but with so many more chapters for me to go through. I'll give the benefit of the doubt and assume you'll be having her flex the kindness muscle soon enough.
So far the rewrites are flowing nicely with good pacing and the new scenes and The Killing Moon chapter was a nice touch in giving us more details on what happened to Twilight and the others. I feel sorry for them in a way.