Mixed Crusaders

by LegacyMine

Chapter Six - New Faces

"Applejack is proof that cybernetic enhancement doesn't damage a person's soul like some have claimed. Instead, being maimed and rebuilt seems to have motivated him to reevaluate his life and try to become a better pony. Not that he won't squash you like a bug if you threaten the Union. That's just patriotism."

-Quote taken anonymously from a minor government bureaucrat when asked about his opinions on Applejack: Element of Honesty and Secretary of Development.
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Home dimension of the DMD

Royal Changeling Alliance (Rebel Territory)

Soresu Province

In one of the more high class districts of Soresu, two stallions ate dinner together in upscale restaurant, standing out from the changelings that made up most of the clientele. The dim glow of the overhead lights glistened faintly off the cybernetic legs of the first, highlighting a body that was almost halfway mechanical. Glancing around the room the stallion saw a few changelings dart their heads away from him, awkwardly trying to avoid getting caught staring at the two ponies.

Not that the first one minded. Looking down at his body through his red cybernetic eyes, he idly noticed the sharp contrast between the metal of his mechanical legs and the orange hair of his body. It was certainly quite the sight, he mused while chuckling faintly to himself.

"Is something funny?" shaking himself out of his daze, the first one noticed that the second had spoken.

Applejack looked up into the face of Scarcity and cringed internally. Despite working with Scarcity for years, Applejack had never quite gotten over his more distinct features. Though Scarcity had once been fairly handsome, in his current state he looked, as Mourning Bell liked to say when he's sure his older brother wasn't listening, like he had fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.

He was a white coated stallion who was freakishly emaciated, almost a walking skeleton, with his ribs almost completely outlined and shriveled legs that looked like knobby sticks. His face was equally skeletal, skin stretched tight like a drum over his skull, all only serving to highlight his empty eye-sockets, perpetually separating him from the so called "normal" people in the world.

Not that any of this affected his ability to see or get around. If anything, his condition had actually improved his strength, stamina, and ability to see.

Suddenly Scarcity levitated a fork with his magic and rapped against one of Applejack's cybernetic eyes, interrupting his internal monologue.

"Hey wake up Applejack!" Scarcity demanded, "I just asked what you found so amusing. Was it that changeling we had executed earlier today?"

"Not at all," retorted Applejack. "I was just thinking about how ugly you are. And no one finds executions funny but you. Most people actually prefer not to hurt others if at all possible."

Scarcity then scrunched his face into en expression that Applejack assumed was annoyance. It was hard to tell what expressions were supposed to mean on a person without eyes.

"Hey," Scarcity snapped back, "Since the changeling rebels are using our money and weapons to fight their war the Emperor has the right to know what they're using it for. So when one of them starts embezzling our money, it's perfectly acceptable to have them dealt with."

"Yeah but did you have to stab him though the eye with a pencil?"

"I am the First Auditor of the Union, and I found a way to kill him that didn't waste money on bullets." Scarcity sneered. "Excuse me for actually doing my job."

Applejack growled in response, "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

The Auditor put his front hooves on the table and stuck his face forward in a menacing fashion. "It means that if you spent as much time working as you do-" whereupon he was interrupted by a faint buzzing from the black duster he was wearing.

He raised a hoof. "Hold on, I'm getting a text message."

Levitating a phone out of his duster with his magic the white stallion read the message. As he read his eyelids twitched strangely which Applejack figured was a holdover from the days when he actually had eyes.

"So what is it?" Applejack inquired, "Did Dark Star get his horns stuck in a power socket again?"

"Nothing so pleasant I'm afraid. Our younger brothers are trapped in another dimension," Scarcity responded dryly.

"What!" Applejack shouted, getting partially out of his seat as he did so. "What dimension is it? Why aren't you mad?"

"Quiet down, we're in a restaurant." Scarcity gave a dismissive wave. "Besides, it's one of those 'sugar-bowl' dimension as Poison Pie likes to put it. I'm almost as worried about what our brothers might do to the natives as about what the natives might do to them. I love Mourning Bell, I really do, but he can be a bit of a hoof-full."

"How did they get there anyway?"

"Apparently Dark Star had a mothballed dimensional gate locked in his basement, and our brothers managed to reactivate it."

"Well that's just great." Applejack said while slouching back into his chair. "What are we going to do about this?"

Scarcity shrugged. "There's not much we realistically can do. Until we complete our business here we can't go back no matter how much danger our brothers are in. And as much as I hate to say it, there's a lot riding on our meeting with those uncommitted rebel factions. Enough to make it more important than our family."

Though it didn't make him feel any better, Applejack knew that Scarcity was basically correct. When the rebellion against the Changeling monarchy had been orchestrated two years ago by so called "freedom fighters" (actually a collection of ruthless syndicates and corporations, but Applejack wasn't about to dispute Union propaganda) some of them had been more willing to accept Union assistance than others. Scarcity and Applejack were here to bring the reluctant groups on board, which could substantially help the Union war effort.

Pounding his hoof on the table Applejack demanded angrily, "Is there anything we can do?"

"Of course, we have plenty of options." Scarcity gave Applejack a patronizing smile before levitating his menu up. "I'm personally going to order the penne in a salmon sauce, how about you?"

Author's Note:

Sorry about the delay, but my life has been very chaotic lately.

If you have questions, feel free to ask. If you have corrections, I'd like to hear them.

This chapter was edited by the brilliant Nameless Narrator. Check out his work.

Comments

[mobian x]

7127283 Is the next chapter coming out soon.

[LegacyMine]

7608837 I have no idea. I'm pretty busy with college at the moment.

[Slavenger Karl]

When I read the premise I thought of Friendship is Manly, you know?

[LegacyMine]

7691328 I'm honestly not sure how to respond to that. But it's not a crack fic if that's what you were wondering.

[Slavenger Karl]

7691452 I think it's the Desteny Mark Desperadoes. That what hapens when there is too much testosterone in a name... XDDD