My Brave Pony: Starfleet Nemesis

by Scipio Smith

Broken Birds

Broken Birds

"Lightning? Lightning?"

Lightning opened his eyes. His head was still pounding fit to burst, as though an invisible drummer was playing a tattoo inside his head, but the pain didn't feel quite so crippling anymore, and in fact it seemed to be lessning a little all the time. He could think now, if only in the gaps between the beating of the drum, and he could open his eyes to see Krysta and the two ponies all looming over him, eyes wide with anxiety, expressions of concern, shock and worry etched upon their faces.

"Lightning!" Krysta gasped. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better, but I'm not dead," Lightning muttered. He glanced towards the white mare standing directly above him, her head over his head, at the bright green eyes partially blocked by the untidy red hair. "Snowflame."

Snowflame's smile was nervous. "That's right, our boy, I'm right here. You remember me?"

Lightning frowned. "Your father was the captain of the guard."

"Yes," Snowflame cried eagerly. "Yes, he was."

"Mine was the steward of the palace."

"Yeah, you're right, he was."

"We hung out together."

Snowflame nodded eagerly. "All the time, yeah."

How did I forget that? Lightning thought. How did I forget her, and everything else? It was as if he had a flood of memories that he hadn't possessed a moment ago, years of memories, things that he shouldn't have forgotten, things that he didn't think he ever would have forgotten. He remembered the games that they had played together, the pranks that she had pulled on him, the jokes they had shared. And to have forgotten about her father, and his father and his mother, by thunder his mother! How had he forgotten all of that? Why did it all feel so new to him? Was he so cruel and callous, so devoid of feeling, that he could forget his own parents? That he could forget his best friend and all that they had shared? That he could forget his princess?

The princess! Lightning bowed at once, pressing his horn against the cold metallic deck of the navy yard. "Your Highness, in the name of my master, His Exalted Majesty the Grand Ruler Celesto, I bid you welcome to United Equestria... and I apologise for any injuries that you have suffered, and that I was not there to prevent."

"P-Please, Lightning, don't do that," Princess Fairgrace's voice was soft and gentle, much as it was in the memories that Lightning had misplaced for some years somehow but was now beginning to recover. She sounded more nervous now than he remembered her being, though kindly she had always been confident, but then... but then he supposed that it spoke to her experiences.

Found on a slave ship. Do I even want to imagine what they've gone through?

"Please get up," Fairgrace murmured.

Lightning's head rose, but he remained kneeling down so that he was closer to eye height with Snowflame and Princess Fairgrace, rather than looming over them in the full height of his bipedal form. "As you wish, princess."

Fairgrace trembled. "You d-don't need to call me that. I'm n-not really a p-princess, not any-"

"Yes you are!" Snowflame's voice was unexpectedly vehement. "You're the princess and I'm your guard and it's my job to keep you safe and I did, I did, I kept the princess safe I did, I..." Her whole body shuddered like the wriggling of a worm, and Lightning noticed for the first time the dark, burn-like markings marring her white coat, a sharp, thorn-like symbol branded onto her flank like some kind of grotesque cutie mark, and another like it on her shoulder. For a moment she looked as though she was going to start weeping, but mastered herself with a visible effort of will. "Please, princess, don't say things like that. Please... just, please don't."

Lightning said nothing. He had no idea what to say. He doubted that there was anything that he could say to make this better.

Fairgrace looked down at the ground for a moment. Then she looked up, her violet eyes boring into his. "L-Lightning D-Dawn, is it really you?"

Lightning nodded. "I remember the time you commanded me to weave flowers through your mane. You made it harder by wriggling a lot."

Fairgrace blinked, and then she gasped in relief as she wrapped her forelegs around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder. "It is you!" she cried. "It is you, it really is, it's you!"

Lightning put his arms around her, noting with alarm how thin she felt; he could feel her ribs, her bones. "Yes, your highness, it's me. I'm here, and you're safe now, I promise."

"Are you sure?" Snowflame demanded.

Lightning looked at her. "Starfleet frees slaves, it doesn't make them. And... not meaning to brag, but I'm quite important here, I can protect you, I swear it."

Snowflame cocked her head to one side. "How important?"

"Very important."

"Really? Some people have all the luck," Snowflame muttered.

Krysta coughed behind him.

The very tiniest hint of a smile pricked the corners of Lightning's mouth. "I'm sorry, Krysta. Allow me to introduce Princess Fairgrace of Harmonius and my old friend Snowflame. Snowflame, Fairgrace, this is Krystalline of Luminoth, Queen of the Fairies."

Snowflame bowed her head. "My lady."

Fairgrace looked up. "P-pleased to m-meet you, M-majesty."

"Please, just Krysta is fine," Krysta said brightly. "So you two really are from Harmonius just like Lightning, and you're old friends of his?"

"Snowflame and I went to kindergarten together," Lightning said.

Snowflame's brown furrowed. "Um... no, we didn't."

"We didn't?"

"No, your father taught us privately with help from the rest of the palace staff, remember? Where did you get kindegarten from, our boy?"

"I...yeah, you're right, I remember my father teaching us sums," Lightning muttered. "But... but I also remember a kindergarten... but I don't remember anyone who was there, they're all... shadows. Are you sure we never went to anything like that?"

"Positive," Snowflame replied. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"A-are you s-sure?" Fairgrace asked, releasing him from her embrace. "I-it seemed that you d-didn't remember us at first."

"That's exactly what it seemed like," Snowflame muttered. "Plus the whole collapsing thing."

"I'm fine, honestly," Lightning replied dismissively. "It doesn't matter now that you're here. I mean... you're here, both of you! You're alive! I thought that I was the only... I thought that Serpent-Tyrant had killed everyone else when he destroyed Harmonius."

Snowflame and Fairgrace glanced at one another. "Our boy," Snowflame said. "Who's Serpent-Tyrant?"

"The giant snake who destroyed our home," Lightning said. "Didn't you see him?"

"N-no," Princess Fairgrace stammered. "Th-there was no serpent."

"Yes, there was," Lightning replied. "I remember him, slithering amidst the smoke and the flame, his red eyes gleaming, the firelight glimmering off his scales."

"And I remember some kind of spaceship taking out the palace, one of many," Snowflame said. "Just like I remember the army that took us up onto one of those ships. I don't remember any giant snake or any other kind of monster."

"But we fought him again," Krysta said. "Lightning and me, and he... he admitted what he'd done, didn't he?"

"I...I think so," Lightning said. "I thought he did."

"Well I know what I saw," Snowflame said stubbornly.

"And I know what I remember," Lightning replied. "Or...or do I?" After all, I thought I remembered kindergarten. I do remmeber kindergarten. But Snowflame says that never happened. So why do I remember it?

The obvious answer was that Snowflame and Fairgrace were lying to him, but Lightning swiftly dismissed that as a possibility. Firstly, because he also remembered the thing that Snowflame had told him did happen: a private education from his father. And secondly because... because it was them. He remembered when he had stood on Snowflame's shoulders to reach the low-hanging pears in the palace orchard, he remembered all the times she had made him play the evil villain and kidnap the princess whom she, Snowflame, would heroically rescue. He remembered when Princess Fairgrace had forgiven him trespassing in her room, and even shared her sweets with him. They were his friends, and the idea that they would try to gaslight him was absurd.

If Twilight were here, I'm sure she'd tell me to have faith in friendship the way she always did.

"You don't seem okay, Lightning," Snowflame murmured.

"I've got to agree," Krysta said. "You seem a little-"

"I said I was fine and I said it didn't matter," Lightning said, gently but firmly. He stood up. "I guess you don't want to be standing here all night, do you?"

Fairgrace shook her head. "N-no, but-"

"I'm afraid you will have to be checked out," Lightning said. "Everyone entering United Equestria has to submit to a medical exam, it's the law."

Snowflame's eyebrows rose. "What happened to 'I'm such a big guy around here and I can get things done'?"

"I said I could protect you, I didn't say I could do what I wanted," Lightning replied. "Even I had to get examined when I first arrived."

Fairgrace trembled. "D-do we r-really h-have to?"

Lightning nodded. "But it isn't as bas as it sounds. I'll take you to a good doctor that I know, and I'll be there the whole time. It'll be okay, I promise."

Snowflame snorted. "Okay, Lightning, because it's you. Princess, are okay?"

Fairgrace looked down at her hooves. Her whole body was shaking now, as if the temperature in the navy yard had suddenly dropped below freezing. "I... I..."

Snowflame placed a hoof upon her shoulder. "It's okay, princess. It's okay. I'm right here. I'll keep you close and I'll keep you safe and you don't need to be afraid while you're with me."

She's so much stronger than I remember.

Fairgrace took a deep breath; she seemed a little less terrified now, a little more settled. "Okay. Thank you, Snowflame. F-for-"

"You don't need to thank me, princess," Snowflame whispered. "Not ever."

Fairgrace nodded. "L-Lightning. I-I'm ready to g-go now."

Lightning smiled. "Everything is going to be fine, trust me. Krysta?"

Krysta clapped her hands together and then spread them out wide in front of her as a luminescent portal opened up before the assembled ponies.

"Whoa," Snowflame whispered. "What is that?"

"It's a warping portal," Krysta said. "We can go straight to the doctors with no fuss. Hop in. It's perfectly, Lightning uses it all the time."

"He still takes advantage of his friends then?" Snowflame asked.

"Hey!"

"I didn't stand on your back to pick pears, our boy."

"I always shared them with you."

Krysta giggled. "It's okay. But we should get moving, because I can't hold these things open forever."

Krysta warped them all to the office of Doctor Penny Sillion, one of the most respected medical professionals in United Equestria, or the whole of Starfleet's vast interstellar dominions. Despite the lateness of the hour, Doctor Penny was very obliging, and ushered them into a sterile white room where she could look them over, put them through their paces, and certify that their processing was complete and that there were no problems.

Snowflame insisted upon going first, maintaining a sort of prickly formality around Doctor Penny that Lightning thought was unwarranted but at the same time perfectly understandable considering the circumstances. He didn't know what had happened to Snowflame and Fairgrace after Harmonius was destroyed - however it turned out that that had happened - but he was certain that they had experienced things that made his own troubles look like a playground squabble by comparison.

Snowflame stood as still as a pillar of salt during the full body scan, standing on the plate with perfect posture, legs well-spaced apart, back straight, tail at a right angle to the body... only her head was wrong, it was bowed down where it should have been raised up, as though she feared to look Penny in the eye.

She whispered to herself as the green scanning rays swept over her. Lightning could only make out fragments. "Lot number three sixty-four... small hooves, nimble, might be good for a factory... Lot number one fifty-two... strong back, suitable for field work... Lot number four twenty-three... requires firm handling... Lot number twelve... restrain this one..."

Penny's computer beeped as the scan finished. Penny browsed over the results. "Hmm, no bacteria detected... I see you've had some bone fractures in the past, how do they feel now? Do you have any trouble moving?"

"No sir."

Penny glanced at her, but did not make an issue of it. "Well, according to the scans you are perfectly healthy with excellent teeth. You can step off now."
Snowflame nodded jerkily as she stepped off the pad.

"Please step onto the treadmill," Penny said, pointing to the device in the corner. She proceeded to test Snowflame's top speed (not bad, but nothing to scream and shout about), her stamina (very good, almost as good as Applejack), flying abilities (pretty poor) and her physical strength (incredible for an unadvanced life-form). "I must say, considering your lack of gene therapy or cybernetic enhancements you should be very proud of your results. I take it, since you are from the same planet as Commander Lightning Dawn, that you cannot do magic?"

"No sir."

"Do you have an enticorn form?"

Snowflame blinked. "No sir."

Penny typed something into her computer. "Okay then. Now, if you'd like to talk about transition options-"

"I don't think that this is the right time for that, Doctor," Lightning said, remembering Snowflame's description of 'those other freaks' a little earlier. "They've both been through a lot. Let me explain things to them and then they can think about it."

Doctor Penny nodded. "Okay. There's some literature on that wall over there with everything you need to know about the benefits of transitioning to a more capable form." She smiled as she pushed a jar of bright red lollipops across her desk. "And don't forget to take a lollipop for being so brave."

Snowflame snorted, and made no move to take one.

Next it was the turn of Princess Fairgrace, who shook and trembled all through the scans, so that Penny seemed to be having trouble getting a decent reading for a while, before she pronounced the princess to be, at least, not ill or injured, although her results on the physical trials made calling her fit something of a struggle: she struggled to run on the treadmill at all, and after only a few minutes she almost passed out and would have done if Snowflame hadn't pulled her off. Although there was nothing apparently wrong with her wings, she could not get airborne at all.

"And you have no magic."

"N-n-no."

"Do you have an enticorn form?"

"N-n-no."

Penny nodded, typing into the computer. "Have you always had a stammer?"

"N-n-n-no. I-I... I-I-"

"The princess first started stuttering when she was thirteen," Snowflame said.

"I see," Penny murmured. "What was the cause? Did she suffer any head trauma?"

"She suffered slavery," Snowflame declared tartly.

Penny blinked. "I see. It's psychological then." She typed in something else. "In that case I'm going to recommend personality reconstruction."

"P-p-personality r-r-reconstruction?"

"Thanks to constantly advancing Starfleet medical technology we can now rewrite your mind to overcome any defects and make you a more productive citizen," Penny declared cheerily.

Fairgrace whimpered. "I-I d-d-don't... I don't w-w... I d-d-"

"All your deficiencies and abnormalities will be cured," Penny said. "And you'll be able to live a productive and worry-free existence in the service of the state."

"She just said no!" yelled Snowflame, stepping protectively in front of the princess. "There's no way that I'm going to let you prod around in Her Highness' mind, let alone change who she is to suit you! It's... it's sick, that's what it is! Lightning, how can you be considering this?"

"Relax, Snowflame, no one is considering this," Lightning said firmly.

"She is!"

"No, she isn't," Lightning said, looking at Penny.

Penny frowned. "Her condition-"

"A stammer is a marginal condition, which means that your recommendation for treatment can be overridden by an officer of Senior Captain rank or higher, such as me," Lightning said.

"Perhaps," Penny said. "But her inability to fly is not a marginal condition and as such-"

"Exception is granted to disabilities incurred as a result of military service or childhood physical injury," Lightning said.

"She doesn't have a childhood physical injury, physically her wings are fine."

"Doctor, we both know that the truth is irrelevant. All that matters is what it says in your report," Lightning replied. "Please, Doctor Penny, as a favour to me."

Penny stared at him for a moment. "Okay, Commander. I guess you deserve one after all the times you've saved the planet. Such a pity, dear, injuring your wings like that so young."

"Are we done?" Snowflame demanded.

Penny smiled. "Congratulations. You have now been evaluated fit to join the community. Remember to take a lollipop before you leave." She got up, and walked briskly out the room. The door clicked shut behind her.

Snowflame scowled. "Personality reconstruction? That's something you do now?"

Lightning shifted uncomfortably. "Sometimes it's necessary. For the best."

"Best for who?" Snowflame demanded.

"Best for the community," Lightning murmured. "At least... that is what my master says."

Snowflame breathed in and out. "I see you've changed as much as we have, huh? And all of us for the worse."

"So I've been told," Lightning growled. Too soft for my wife and my master, too hard for my oldest friend. Where does that leave me?

"So," Snowflame went on. "What happens now?"

"You're free to go where you will," Lightning said.

"B-b-but where... where w-w-w..." the effort Princess Fairgrace was making to get her words out was audible. "Where will we go?"

"Well, if you like, you could come and stay with me?" Lightning suggested. "For as long as you want to, anyway."

Fairgrace's eyes widened. "R-r-really?"

Lightning nodded. "I think it's the very least I can do."

---

Fluttershy wiped the sweat from her brow, then wiped her hands on the apron wrapped around her waist. The steaks were on now, sizzling in the frying pan as the thick slabs of red meat began to turn brown.

What next... what next? Mushroom sauce!

Fluttershy quickly turned up the heat on the other pan to begin melting the butter before she added the onions and mushrooms. The slurping, gurgling energy of the butter formed a bass counterpoint to the high pitched sizzle of the steak.

Fluttershy closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the sounds of the kitchen all around her: the sizzling steak, the gurgling butter, the rattle of the pan where some potatoes were boiling, the hum of the oven where more potatoes were roasting, the eternal hum of the refrigerator were her strawberries and whipped cream waited to become part of a souffle. This was her life now; this was what Fluttershy amounted to: cooking dinner for every bum that Rhymey brought home from the pool hall or the poetry cafe.

She shuddered, that was unkind of her. Very unkind. They weren't all that bad, a little bit dim some of the time, or even downright vacant, but none of them went out of their way to be cruel to her and most them had something nice to say about her cooking. None of them were as bad as Rhymey.

That was also a terrible thing to think about her husband, but she could not find it in her to label the thought unkind.

Fluttershy shivered abruptly as a terrible thought came over her: what if the point of all this, of putting her in this situation that she hated, was nothing more or less than to make her unkind, to make her cruel? What if all of this was some game on the part of her husband, to corrupt her, to make her more like him?

A moment's consideration made her doubt the intent: Rhymey did not have the cunning for such a malicious scheme. But the threat remained. Would she lose herself in here, trapped in this domestic confinement, until nothing that was Fluttershy remained but an empty shell, little more than a robot?

How could she prevent it? There was no escape.

She realised with a start that she had forgotten to put the onions in, and so she hastily added them and hoped that the sauce would be alright. Rhymey would not forgive her if dinner was not absolutely perfect tonight, for it was no ordinary acquaintance that he was bringing home for dinner as a surprise (the first time Rhymey had come and told her that he had a surprise for her, Fluttershy had actually thought it might be something she would enjoy; she had soon learnt better) but his brother Larry and sister-in-law Chickpea visiting from Horn Kong. Rhymey was keen to impress his relatives, which meant that Fluttershy had to work hard to make sure that they were impressed. She had already cleaned the whole apartment, and now she had dinner to make: prawn cocktail, juicy steak with mushroom sauce (never mind that Fluttershy would prefer not to eat meat, it was a family favourite), strawberry souffle with whipped cream in it and steaming hot coffee.

With luck it would all be ready by the time they arrived.

And with even more luck she would get through the night without screaming.
She heard the key turn in the lock a moment before she heard the front door open and close.

"Yoohoo! Fluttershy darling, it is I!
Rhymey, your husband and favourite guy!"

Fluttershy took a deep breath and put on the mask of the perfect wife, filling her voice with cheer as she called, "Welcome home, dear."

Rhymey strode into the kitchen and smacked his lips together. "The smells of food are delightfully strong,

How is everything coming along?"

"Just fine, honey," Fluttershy said. "Don't worry, everything is going to be perfect for when your brother gets here."

Rhymey wrapped his hands around her waist, and brushed her mane out of the way to plant a row of kisses down her neck.

Fluttershy forced herself to giggle. "Now, now, dear, you'll distract me."

Rhymey chuckled as he retreated. "Okay, I'll leave you to get it right,
And show you how grateful I am tonight.
We've a quite close relationship, my brother and me,
So it's important that tonight goes off perfectly.
I want to impress Larry with my life,
And especially with my wonderful wife.
So wait here, my love, and at the food stare,
While I go and choose something for you to wear."

I can choose my own clothes, Fluttershy thought, but there was no point in arguing. Better just to go along, to smile on cue, to laugh when called for, to play the part the world assigned to her.

What was the alternative, really?

---

There was a knock on the apartment, promptly at seven thirty.

"Get the door now, would you dear,
I think our dinner guests are here," Rhymey called from where he sat in an easy chair in the corner of the living room, idly leafing through the newspaper. He was wearing his dress uniform, which Fluttershy felt looked a little ostentatious for a family gathering, but she did not say so. It wasn't worth the aggravation that could result.

For the same reason, she hadn't challenged Rhymey's choice of how she should dress for the night. She was not wearing her dress uniform, rather a green dress that - in Fluttershy's less than expert sartorial opinion - did not suit her all that well, accentuated by a twinset and pearls that chafed a little around her neck they were so tight. But what was the point in arguing? Since she wasn't going to enjoy tonight anyway she might as well just go along to get through it all with the minimum of fuss and bother.

"Yes, dear," she murmured softly as she walked - awkwardly, because for some reason that had escaped her Rhymey had insisted that she wear high heels in her own home - across living room. She paused for a moment, gathering herself up to face the inevitable ordeal, then gripped the cold metal door handle and pulled open the door. "Good even-"

"Oh, well ain't you the cutest little thing on two legs! You must be Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy's first, absurd thought as she blinked in surprise at hearing the thick, liquid accent was that it was Applejack at the door. But of course that was ridiculous, Applejack was far away from here in the jungles of Rangiver, and anyway once you got past the accental similarities it didn't even sound that much like her anyway. The voice was a little higher pitched, and the accent was a little faster in consequence. Still, it wasn't what she had been expecting to hear.

Fluttershy looked up, and she did have to look up because the mare who had spoken to her was taller than the doorframe, which cropped the top of her head from Fluttershy's view in consequence. She could, however, make out a pair of brown eyes and black bangs cut in a sort of triangular shape, along with a very distinctive mole on the left side of her face. Her coat was green, and she was dressed in a neon yellow yukata for some reason that Fluttershy could only guess at. She smiled, in fact she beamed as she leaned down - banging her head on the door frame in the process, not that she seemed to mind - to plant a kiss on each of Fluttershy's cheeks.

"I am so delighted to meet you, my name's Chickpea and this is my-" Chickpea stopped as suddenly as a derailing train. She chuckled nervously. "Oh, there I go again embarrassing Lawrence in front of all his friends. I'm sorry, honey."

Fluttershy's attention was drawn to the stallion who had been standing, hitherto unnoticed, next to Chickpea and somewhat in her large shadow. His coat was the same yellow as was possessed by Fluttershy's husband, although his name was jet black and very short cropped, rising barely an inch above his head. Also black was the pencil moustache growing from his nostrils. He wore a suit of a conservative grey with a dark blue tie. Fluttershy thought that it looked like the outfit of someone who didn't really want to drawn attention to himself. The only flash of colour present was the red sash tied around his waist, which served as the belt for a curved sword with a long handle.

Contrary to what Chickpea had just said, he didn't appear in the least embarrassed by her exuberance. In fact, there was a fond smile playing across his lips and a gleam in his blue eyes as he said, "Oh Chickpea mine, forevermore I'll love,
Though stars go out, and sun doth cease to move,
And just as sure, I could not disapprove,
Of any of those things that made me love."

A powder pink blush rose to the surface of Chickpea's green cheeks as she looked down at the ground. Fluttershy's brow furrowed ever so slightly, they were fine words...but then Rhymey had once spoken her fair and sweetly too.

The stallion turned to her, his face growing grave with solemn courtesy, as he bowed to her. "Madam, allow me please to introduce myself,
My name is Lawrence Stirskewer, and I wish you happiness and health."

Am I supposed to curtsy back? Fluttershy wondered. She would probably fall over if she tried it in these heels, and so she just said, "My name is Fluttershy, and it's very nice to meet you both. I don't think we've met before, have we?"

"No, we were stuck in Horn Kong and couldn't make your wedding," Chickpea said. She smiled sheepishly. "Can you forgive us?"

Fluttershy smiled as she stepped back from the door. "Of course. Please, come in."

Chickpea ducked under the door mantle as she entered first, and Fluttershy saw that she, too, was wearing a sword, though hers was slung across her back not worn upon her hip. She also saw that she was an earth pony, with neither horn nor wings in evidence.

As Lawrence followed his wife in, Rhymey put the newspaper aside and rose from his seat.

"Larry! Your face is a delight to see!
And of course, you're here as well, Chickpea," Rhymey said, his enthusiasm noticeably ebbing on the second line, receding so far in fact that it was out of sight from the shore.

Fluttershy just about managed to restrain a gasp as she closed the door. She was acutely aware - she could not help but be conscious of the fact - that unicornicopian social mores were different from those of the Equestria that she had grown up in. Nevertheless there was no disguising the fact that Rhymey had just been very rude to his sister in law. And she couldn't work out why, he'd seemed to have been looking forward to having his brother over.

Although he never really talked about her, except that Larry's wife would be here too...

Chickpea's earlier bonhomie also appeared to have deserted her. Her tone was now as frigid as winter's touch. "Nice to see you too, William."

Fluttershy coughed slightly, fearing that if a scene developed then Rhymey would make things hard for her in his upset. "Um, why don't you all go and sit down - the dining room is through there - and I'll get everyone something to drink."

Lawrence inclined his head towards her. "Thank you, Fluttershy, you are most kind,
To pay the needs of your guests such mind.
If I might just add a couple more words,
Is there any place where we might leave our swords?"
"Well...there's the umbrella stand," Fluttershy suggested.

"Thank you, Fluttershy, that'll be fine," Chickpea said, as she and Lawrence deposited their weapons in the elegant wooden stand.

Lawrence said, “William, my brother, since last we met has been too long,
I take it that in warrior ways you remain most strong?”

Fluttershy was surprised by the way that both Lawrence and Chickpea kept on referring to Rhymey as William. Of course, she knew that her husband’s real name was William Stirskewer III, of the famous old Bluesville Stirskewers, but the only reason that she knew that was because Rhymey had had to give his real name to the registrar when they were married, otherwise he hated it and much preferred to go by Rhymey at all opportunities. And yet his own brother was addressing him by the name he hated? Why? And why did Larry, or Lawrence – why that difference, too? – seem much less happy to see Rhymey than Rhymey was to see him?

Of course, Fluttershy was no stranger to family trouble. Generally Zephyr was a lot happier to see any of his immediate relatives than they were to see him, but then generally Zephyr was the one inviting himself round to other ponies’ houses for dinner, or a short visit of one or two years. Rhymey had, as far as Fluttershy knew, invited Larry to come for dinner, so why were Lawrence and Chickpea the ones acting sour about it?

Rhymey’s smile had just a touch of the smug about it. “I am a major now, did you know?
My battle record is as clean as snow,
Devoid of all defeat or shame,
A pity about your life I can’t say the same.”

“In my life I’m content, and do not care,
What others think or say, I’m happy with the way things are,” Lawrence replied.
“Congratulations upon your promotion,
But please, brother, let us have no commotion.”

Chickpea made a noise that sounded almost like a snort.

“I’ll, um, I’ll just get those drinks,” Fluttershy murmured.

“Thank you, my darling, you’re so kind,
At times I think that we are of one mind,
You are that treasure which alights a life,
A loving sweetheart and a perfect wife,” Rhymey said, though it was not to Fluttershy that he looked by rather to Chickpea, with something almost like a rebuke in his eyes.

Fluttershy did not respond, rather she scuttled as quickly as she could in these uncomfortable heels into the kitchen to fetch a couple of bottles of prosecco out of the fridge.

She came back to find that Rhymey, Lawrence and Chickpea had made it into the dining room, where they were standing around the table without sitting down. Fluttershy began to pour into the glasses.

Chickpea smiled warmly. “Thank you, sweetie. Let me know if you need any help with anything, okay. Just because we’re guests don’t mean we want to take advantage of you.”

“My wife requires nothing from you,
Stay well out of her way and she’ll come through,” Rhymey said, practically snapping at her.

Lawrence’s grip upon his chair tightened, his knuckles turning white.

Fluttershy coughed. “So, Larry-“

“Lawrence,” Chickpea murmured.

“Lawrence is the name my parents gave to me,
Though they and others called me Larry,” Lawrence said.
“I’ve found that I prefer the longer name-“ he stopped abruptly, looking at Chickpea for help.

Chickpea smirked. “You can’t find a rhyme for name, can you?”

Lawrence shrugged as she shook his head.

Chickpea chuckled. “He prefers Lawrence.”

Now it was Rhymey’s turn to snort.

Fluttershy paid no attention to that. “So, Lawrence, are you an officer in Starfleet, too? It seems like the rest of your family is?” The Stirskewers were an illustrious military family, so she’d been told, dating back to the first space ponies. ‘We are a line of ponies pure and old,
And none so valiant with hearts so bold,’ as Rhymey’s father – General Harry Stirskewer, who commanded all troops in Rangiver right now - had boasted to her once. In the meantime between the founding of their race and now, there had been a Stirskewer in ever war ever fought by Starfleet. In the current generation, all the Rhymey’s brothers and sisters that Fluttershy had met up until now were officers, though some of the mares had talked about retiring once they got married.

Chickpea shook her head. “No, Lawrence here teaches fencing in Horn Kong, don’t you Lawrence? In fact that’s how we met, do you mind I tell the story, honey? You don’t mind if I tell this story, do you Fluttershy?”

“No, I-“

“Thank you, sweet cheeks, you see I was in Horn Kong on my gap year before I went to college, heading east, trying to find myself, you know how it is, and I came across the school where Lawrence was teaching and I thought: you know, that sounds kinda fun. Because I’d always been an athletic kind of girl, I used to be a cheerleader and I’ve still got the outfit for when Lawrence here deserves it, so I crept in through the doorway and I asked to join Lawrence’s class. And he said no. Only he took more’n a dozen words to say it, didn’t you Lawrence?”

Lawrence nodded. A smile was pricking at the corners of his mouth as he looked up at his towering wife. There was something in his eyes that Fluttershy recognised from somewhere, but couldn’t name right away.

“Well, I’m a southern girl and I’m not used to taking no for an answer, and my dander was pretty well up I don’t mind telling you so I let him have it good and proper so he tells me, in his round about way, to come back tomorrow. So I went back tomorrow, all ready to start class, and he tells me no. Come back tomorrow. And this went on for nearly two weeks, every day come back tomorrow, and every day I had to wait longer and longer outside in the cold and the rain for him to turn up and tell me in as many words ‘come back tomorrow’.”

“It was a test, wasn’t it?” Fluttershy said. “To see if you’d give up or not?”

Chickpea grinned. “Smart and cute, I like you. Yep, it was one of them tests of my character or something. I wasn’t best pleased at the time, but I got him back. I bet a smart girl like you can guess what I said to him when he pulled out the ring?”

“Come back tomorrow.” The two mares said in unison, and Fluttershy was unable to restrain a chuckle as Chickpea laughed uproariously.

“And he did!” Chickpea declared. “For five days!”

Lawrence was smiling broadly now, and shrugged his shoulders as if to say that it would have been worth coming back for a hundred and five days if she had accepted him in the end.

Chickpea stopped laughing, and covered her mouth in what looked like an attempt at demureness. “Oh, there I go again, talking the hind legs of a bluenose mule and acting all improper like. I’m sorry, honey.”

Lawrence didn’t respond. He didn’t even seem to care that much. Fluttershy could put a name to the look in his eyes now: devotion. He clearly adored his wife, mole and all, and didn’t seem to give much of a damn if she behaved improperly or not.

Fluttershy felt a tinge of jealousy, but ruthlessly suppressed it; it wasn’t the other mare’s fault that she was happy.

Rhymey cringed for a moment, before he raised his head and looked his brother straight in the eye, “Brother, it pains me to see you this way,
A proud space pony led so completely astray,
Just take my advice for a more fitting life,
Please, learn how to discipline your wife.”

Lawrence’s face was expressionless, but his voice was as cold as winter’s heart. “You are very bold, to speak to me thus
Quiet now and we’ll have no fuss.
Nothing about Chickpea do I wish to change,
I love her, and as she is I hope she remains.”

Rhymey’s tone sharpened, like his vorpal sword. “Why do you insist on bringing disgrace,
To our family name and to our whole race?
I don’t understand why you live like you do,
But since you’re my brother I won’t give up on you,
I’m bound and determined to turn you’re life round,
To lead you back home, to recover lost ground!”

“Now, dear, why don’t you sit down and I’ll bring out the prawn cocktails,” Fluttershy suggested.

“Great idea, Fluttershy, I’ll go with you,” Chickpea said.

Neither Rhymey nor Lawrence responded, but they both left the two brothers there, glaring daggers at one another across the table as the two ladies hustled out of the room and into the kitchen.

“Well, one thing to be thankful for, with the way they both rhyme all the time it helps to keep their arguments genteel,” Chickpea said. “If they talked normally someone might have said something really nasty by now.”

Fluttershy stared at her, unsure how she could make jokes about the way that her brother in law had just insulted her to her face and outright stated that she needed to be ‘disciplined’ (and even if she wasn’t experiencing firsthand what it meant to be a good and demure unicornicopian wife Fluttershy would still have known that word presaged no good). How can she just shrug that off?

Chickpea chuckled at Fluttershy’s incredulous gaze. “Oh, Sweetie, this family has been lookin’ down on me for the last three years, I’m over it.” She leaned against the fridge. “But what about you, cutie-pie? How are you doin’?”

“I’m fine, thank you,” Fluttershy murmured.

Chickpea folded her arms across her chest. “I think we both know that’s a load of horse-hockey. You might be a good enough actor for Willie-boy in there but you don’t fool me.”

Fluttershy turned away, wobbling a little on her high heels, and said nothing. Chickpea seemed nice enough, but then Rhymey had seemed perfectly charming when she first met him. I don’t know her. I can’t trust her.

“I know that you don’t know me,” Chickpea said softly. “But if I hear right…you ain’t got no one else to talk to right now. So, if you got anything you want to say…might as well say it while you got a pair of sympathetic ears, right?”

Fluttershy frowned, half glancing at the other mare from behind her lilac mane. “Why do you care?”

Chickpea smiled fondly. “Because I married one of the good ones, and I know how lucky I am for that; because I know that you didn’t get so lucky, and I’d like to help you if I can.”

“But why?”

Chickpea snorted. “If I told you that I watch your show and you’re my favourite would you believe me?”

It took Fluttershy a moment to work out what ‘her’ show was. After all she wasn’t on TV. But of course, she was, in the Starfleet Magic series and the movies they made off of it. It wasn’t her, of course, it was an actor playing Fluttershy, but it was based on her. Sort of.

Fluttershy’s eyebrows rose. “Me…you strike me as a little more of a-“

“Applejack?”

“I was going to say Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy said.

“Everyone always says Applejack,” Chickpea muttered. “It’s cause of the accent.”

“There’s more to Applejack than her accent,” Fluttershy declared. Not that the writers seemed to know that, half the time.

“I know,” Chickpea said. “But I also know that…okay, I know that I don’t know you, really, but…but I feel as though I do, you get me? And so…so that’s how I know that there’s more to you than this, you’re strong and brave and seeing you act this way…I know it isn’t you, and I know you’re not okay.”

Fluttershy leaned over the sink and closed her eyes. “No.”

“No?”

“I’m not strong, and I’m not brave,” Fluttershy whispered. “I miss my friends. I miss them so much. I miss them, I…” she sobbed. “Their my strength and their my courage and they…they make me a better pony in every way just being with them and without them, I…without them it’s all that I can do to survive and I…I…”

She felt Chickpea’s arms enfolding her from behind, the other mare’s voice whispering her ear. “Listen to me, sweetie, and take it from a fan: you are awesome. You’ve got no idea how amazing you are, how much of an inspiration you can be. You’re gonna beat this, I know it.” She turned Fluttershy around and smiled down at her. “But if you ever need any help, you just call me okay? Take this and hide it so William doesn’t find it.”

Fluttershy took the card out of Chickpea’s fingers, and quickly stuffed it in the drawn next to the photograph of her friends. “Thank you. You’re very kind.”

“I try to be,” Chickpea said. “I’ve got a great role model. Can you keep a secret?”

Fluttershy nodded.

“A lot of the time, like now, when Lawrence gets invitations from his family its another attempt to break us up, and that gets old after a while. He never makes me go, but they are his folks and he does love ‘em even if they don’t deserve him, so I put up with it every once in a while. But when he mentioned this to me, I said yes in a shot just so I could meet you.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Now you’re just flattering me.”

“A little bit,” Chickpea agreed. “Now, shall we go see if the boys have started duelling yet?”

“Okay,” Fluttershy said.

This evening might turn out to be bearable after all.

---

The shower made a quiet whirring sound as it sprayed water down onto Snowflame's back; the water trickled down her coat and got into her mane and ran down her face.
It was warm. So warm. Snowflame hadn't felt warm water on her coat for years. Warm water was a luxury of masters, not an indulgence granted to the slaves. Yet here...it was so warm.

She'd had to rear up on her hind legs to reach the nobs that made Lightning's shower go, and she stayed that way, her forehooves resting on the enamel-tiled wall as the water ran down her back like a waterfall. She bowed her head, letting her sodden red hair fall down over her eyes like a curtain.

"We're safe now," she murmured. "We're safe. Princess Fairgrace is safe and sound. I did it, Dad; I really did it. I kept her safe just like you told me to. I kept her safe, just like I promised her I would. I...I..." her whole body was wracked by a spasm, as though she were about to collapse in a fit. Her horn made a dull thudding noise as it came to rest upon the wall.
“I’m so tired. I’m so, so tired.”

Snowflame breathed heavily, in and out, and bowed her head as the water fell down upon her.

Drops of water trickled down her face. From the outside, they might have looked like tears.

---

Lightning sat on the armchair, one leg folded across his knee. Krysta perched upon his shoulder, a prim and silent presence.

On the other side of the coffee table, Princess Fairgrace sat on the sofa, her legs tucked underneath her body. She did not meet his eyes. Her gaze was turned downwards, as though she were ashamed, or afraid.

"Are you hungry, princess?" Lightning asked. "I could...order you something to eat, if you like." I should probably learn to take care of myself, but no time for that now. He had never learned how to make his own dinners, or indeed to launder his own clothes. On Harmonius, and growing up in the Grand Ruler's palace, there had been servants to handle such matters, and then...he was willing to concede it was rather terrible of him to only think of such things now that he had no wife to leave them too, but there it was. Looking at Fairgrace, hearing the hum of the shower where Snowflame was, he found himself aggressively confronted with the shelteredness of his existence.

"I-I-I'm f-fine, th-thank you," Fairgrace murmured, not looking up at him. "Y-y-your sailors were very...very...very k-kind."

Lightning frowned. "Princess, you don't have to be afraid of me."

Fairgrace blinked, a scowl of annoyance flitted briefly across her face like a swallow casting a shadow on the ground. Softly, in a voice as clear as a bell and as soft as spring rain, she began to sing. "I'd love to believe you, but kindness has been so rare these past few years."

Lightning smiled. "You still have a lovely singing voice."

Still singing, Fairgrace replied. "I'm glad you remember."

Lightning snorted. "I'd say 'how could I forget' but, well..."

Krysta said, "You don't stammer when you sing, princess."

"No, it's much better," Fairgrace trilled, a slight smile pricking at the edges of her mouth. "I used to sing for my mistress all the time." Her face fell, as if the approach of an unpleasant memory.

Lightning leaned forwards, his hands resting upon his knees. "I...you don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to. But if you do...I'm right here."

Now she did meet his eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. Her voice became a song once again, "Still the sweet colt I remember."

I wish, Lightning thought. "I'd like to be."

"Just let me know if there's anything I can do, to help you," Fairgrace sang. "If there's any way I can repay."

"I won't hear of anything like that," Lightning said. "Not after...you're my guests, I won't hear of it."

Fairgrace smiled, before her mouth was opened in a great gaping, leonine yawn.

"Tired?"

She nodded.

Lightning stood up - Krysta hopped off his shoulder to hover in the air beside him - and said, "You can sleep in my bed, I'll show you where it is."

"I c-c-couldn't-"

"Yes, you can," Lightning replied. "It's fine, I'll sleep on the couch."

He showed her upstairs, to the double bed that he had shared with Starla. As he watched her crawl in, wrapping herself up in the covers like a caterpillar, Lightning found himself glad that he wasn't sleeping there himself. It would have been two big for him to lie in alone.

"Goodnight, Princess Fairgrace," he murmured.

"Y-y-you; you shouldn't c-call me a p-p-princess,” Fairgrace murmured. “I…I d-d-don’t have anything to-“

“The noblest princess I ever knew had neither lands nor armies,” Lightning said, judiciously failing to mention that she had possessed crown and castle both. “But she was wise and kind, and that was enough. Good night, princess.”

Fairgrace smiled, and closed her eyes, and in a moment she was fast asleep.

Lightning smiled fondly as he closed the door upon her gently.

“She seems nice,” Krysta said. “They both do. Only…”

“What?” Lightning asked, as he began to walk back downstairs.

“Don’t you think that this is just a little bit convenient, that they show up now?”

“When’s now?”

“You know…when you’re having…this.”

Lightning’s eyebrows rose as he walked softly down the stairs into the living room. “You’re going to have to be a little bit more specific.”

“You know what I’m talking about,” Krysta declared. “A crisis of confidence. Doubts. Whatever you want to call it. And now this. Doesn’t it all seem just a little bit pat? And the fact that you’ve suddenly remember a load of stuff that you didn’t remember before, some of which contradicts what you did remember?”

“What are you saying, Krysta?”

“I’m saying something weird is going on and we should look into it.”

“Should? Maybe,” Lightning said as he settled down on the settee. “But I wont?”

Krysta folded her arms. “Come again?”

Lightning threw back his head and sighed. “It’s not important.”

“Your memories aren’t important?”

“No,” Lightning said softly. “What’s important is up there, my friends, who need me. I can’t turn my back on them to go chasing my past or whatever. What they’ve been through…they need me; I have to be here for them.”

Krysta chuckled.

“What?”

“You,” Krysta said. “All wanting to take care of others and stuff.”

Lightning smirked. “Is this a gentle way of calling me a selfish dick?”

“No,” Krysta replied. “This is my way of saying…I think Twilight would be proud.”

“Hey,” Snowflame called from where she stood at the foot of the stairs with a towel draped over her shoulders. “Where’s the princess?”

“She was tired, I said she could sleep in my room,” Lightning replied.

“Okay, that’s good, that’s…okay,” Snowflame muttered. “Do you mind if I sleep in front of her door?”

Lightning frowned. “I was going to give you the guest room.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather stay close to the princess, in case she needs me,” Snowflame replied. “I…I don’t like leaving her alone.”

“You’ve been looking after her all these years?”

“I did what I could, I did what my Dad asked me to,” Snowflame replied. “I…I did what I could. I kept her safe. I tried to make sure that she…I did my best.”

“I’m sure you did,” Lightning whispered.

“She told us that she sang?” Krysta asked.

Snowflame nodded. “She was a house slave, most of the time. Entertainment, music, attendant in a nursery once. I…I…I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Of course,” Lightning said softly.

Snowflame padded into the living room, looking away from Lightning and Krysta as she cast her eyes across the dark blue walls of Lightning’s home. “Small place for a big shot, you got here,” she said. “I’ve seen lots of places bigger than this.”

“With small armies of slaves to look after them, I bet.”

Snowflame blinked. “Good point. You two alone here? Before we came along anyway?”

“Krysta didn’t really live here, she’s more of a guest like you,” Lightning said. “I, um-“

“Who’s the mare?” Snowflame asked, nodding towards one of the pictures on the walls. “The one in the fancy dress?”

Lightning followed Snowflame’s gaze to the photograph of him and Starla, the one taken on their wedding day. “That’s…that’s Starla Shine. My wife.”

Snowflame snorted. “What’s your wife going to think when she comes home and finds the princess in your bed?”

“She won’t find out,” Lightning replied. “She doesn’t live here anymore.”

Snowflame frowned. “Is she dead?”

“No, she left.”

“Why?”

Lightning clasped his hands together in his lap. “Because I was cruel to her.”

Snowflame’s expression became very still. “Should I be worried.”

Lightning shook his head. “It wasn’t that kind of cruelty. I…I couldn’t love her, the way that she deserved. I couldn’t treat her the way I should have. So she left; she made the right decision.”

“Why?”

Lightning looked at her. “Why what?”

“Why couldn’t you love her? I mean you married her right?”

Lightning laughed. “Everything that you’ve gone through and you want to talk about my problems?”

“If you’d gone through everything that I went through you’d want to talk about your problems too, they sound a lot less awful,” Snowflame replied. “But if you don’t want to, then…I just…” she walked towards him. “What does it say about that the only thing I can think to talk about is other people’s misery?”

“I…I’m not sure what to say either,” Lightning said. “I just…I can’t quite believe you’re both real.”

Snowflame sat down on the floor. “Sometimes I don’t believe it myself. Sometimes I’d ask myself ‘why are you still alive? Why do you deserve to be here, when so many are not?’ The princess, yes, she deserves it, but me? What did I ever do to make it this far?” She looked up at them both. “Do either of you have any idea what I’m talking about?”

“Oh, believe me,” Krysta said. “We know exactly what you’re talking about.”

Why do I deserve to have this home and this uniform, why did I deserve to be given so many good things only to throw so many of them away while Snowflame and Fairgrace laboured with next to nothing?

“Then how did you deal with it?” Snowflame asked.

Krysta looked at him significantly.

“I…I don’t know yet,” Lightning confessed. “Maybe we’ll figure it out together, the four of us.”

“Four?” Snowflame asked.

“That’s right,” Krysta said, as if half-daring Snowflame to make an issue of it.

Snowflame snorted. “Okay then, our boy. The four of us.”

---

Chuck stifled a yawn as he slouched on his chair behind the counter at the Handy Horse hardware store. He didn't see why this place had to be open twenty four hours a day; I mean who really couldn't wait until morning for a roll of duct tape? As it stood, he was the only person in here.

His attempts to stifle his yawning failed, and his mouth gaped open for a bit. He didn't bother to cover his mouth, because what was the point? It wasn't like there was anyone around to see it.

Another boring night in his boring life. He just wished that something would happen, y'know? He wasn't asking for a whole lot; he wasn't expecting a beautiful mare to run through the door and say 'This is an emergency and I need your help' or nothing, but he wished that something would happen to break up this routine of every night like the night before.

The automatic doors opened with a hiss as five armed ponies burst into the store, carrying an injured sixth pony in their arms...one who looked a lot like that old dead princess from the movies.

Only one of the other five was a mare, but that didn't really bother him because she was smoking hot...and pointing a crossbow right at him.

"It's your unlucky day, kid," she said. "This is an emergency, and we need your help."

---

Delta tore off his jacket and scrunched it up into a pillow for Three's head as they laid her down in front of the doors into the hardware store. She was still twitching, but only slightly now, the worst of the shaking had subsided. Two wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"Lock the door!" Alpha snapped.

The kid who had been unfortunate enough to be in the store when they came in stammered something indistinguishable as he rushed to the door - under the gaze of Alpha and her loaded crossbow - to press a red button that sent a metallic shield slamming down to separate them from the outside world.

The kid had his hands in the air. "Okay, you can take all the money you want, just please don't hurt me."

None of the Sentinels paid him any mind. "Charlie, what do we need?" demanded Two.

"We, uh-"

"Come on, Charlie, focus!"

"I've never done anything like this, okay?" Charlie said. "I'm an electronic warfare specialist, not a doctor."

"You're the best we got, kiddo," Delta said, patting Charlie reassuringly on the shoudler. "So come on, head in the game."

Charlie shut his eyes, taking off the glasses that he didn't actually need as he took a deep breath in an out. "Okay. The zebra energy weapon has damaged her control chip and it's trying to kill her. The good news is that I think the chip is also damaged; if it was working as designed the energy release would have fried Three's brain by now. Instead, it seems to be leaking energy at a more gradual rate, so if we can remove the chip, Three should recover. And since the chip is already damaged, removing it won't trigger activation."

"Okay, so what do we need?" Delta asked.

Charlie shook his head. "I can't believe you want me to perform brain surgery in a hardware store."

"We're secret government super soldiers, we can't exactly go to a hospital," Two said.

"Professor Brain-"

"If the professor cared about saving our lives he would have made one of us a medic," Bravo snapped. "If we take Three back with a malfunctioning chip he'll just terminate her and clone a replacement."

"Especially since the way he sees it, she's only a replacement for Twilight herself," said Delta.

"Come on, Charlie," Two urged. "Don't think about the medics, focus on the science. The brain is just a big computer, right? So what do you need to get a faulty chip out of the processor."

"I need..." Charlie murmured. "I need a very small power saw, a scalpel, forceps or tweezers if you really don't have any forceps, needle, thread, bandages if you've got them. If not we'll need duct tape; lots of duct tape."

Alpha gestured with her crossbow. "Come on, kid, you heard the pony, now show me where all that stuff is."

"And a car battery," Charlie said.

The other Sentinels stared at him in various shades of incredulity.

"I may need to reboot her system when I'm done," Charlie explained.

Alpha sighed. "One car battery, coming up, now come on pimples, let's move!"

---

Sentinel Three floated in darkness. She could not move. She felt no compulsion to try. She was floating there, in the darkness. Was this space? No. She had no protective gear. And she could feel some substance around her. Water. Or oil. Or some new compound that she was not aware of, that could support her without choking her.
Sentinel Three...was that her name? Such a strange name. Not really a name at all. It was her designation. It was what her creators had named her in the same way that they might have named a computer, or a toaster, or a weapon. It was a designation, but it was not a name. Creators assigned designations to the objects that they had assembled; parents gave names to the life that they had brought into the world. Names with meaning, names that spoke: Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity. Names...redolent with love.

"What is my name?" she asked.

She wanted a name. Logic might dictate that there was no reason for her to do so, but she did. She wanted more than a designation. Even ships, cold metallic instruments of travel and war, were given names and treated with love by those who trusted their lives to them. Was she worth less than a vessel? Was she more of an instrument than a grey ship? Was she worthy of no more than a designation?

She wanted a name. She wanted...

"I want to be loved," she murmured.

Twilight Sparkled had been loved. She remembered it. She remembered the tokens and acts of affection that Twilight's friends had given to her, and that she had returned in kind. She remembered an awkward blue haired boy who played the sweetest guitar Twilight had ever heard. She remembered sharing her...what was it called? Soul? Yes, she remembered sharing Twilight's soul with Sunset Shimmer.

She remembered love. But she did not feel it. She could remember being loved but she could not remember what it felt like. She wanted to feel it. She wanted to be loved. She wanted to love. Was that possible? Was a thing such as she, unworthy even of a name, even capable of life.

"Do I have a soul?" she asked. "Or am I nothing more than Twilight Sparkle's memories?"

A bright light began to cut through the darkness. At first it was dim, and a mere pinprick in the darkness. Then it grew, getting wider and wider until it was a shining beam of light wider than Three, encompassing her in its burst, so intense that her eyes would have been damaged if she had attempted to stare into it...and then the light was blocked as a figure emerged from out of the light, standing silhouetted in the white, and the light dimmed so that Three could see her better.

"Sunset...Shimmer?"

Sunset smiled. "It's time to go. Are you ready?"

Three blinked. "Go...where?"

Sunset chuckled. "Wherever you want. It's up to you now. You're free."

Three frowned. "Free? How?"

"By the magic of friendship," Sunset declared. She held out her hand. "Come on, take my hand and we'll get you out of here."

"Where am I?"

"Nowhere," Sunset said. "So best you don't stay too long."

Three sighed. "Do you know what my name is?"

"What do you think it is?"

"I don't know," Three admitted. "I don't know my name, or my purpose."

"What do you want them to be?" Sunset asked. "You have a choice. You have all the choices. Now come on, take my hand."

"I remember this," Three murmured. "But it was...different."

Sunset giggled. "Things never happen the same way twice. Take my hand and let me help you...the way that Twilight once helped me."

"Twilight," she murmured. "My name..." she reached out, and grasped the outstretched hand of Sunset Shimmer.

"My name is Twilight," she declared, as her eyes snapped open.

The other Sentinel units stared at her.

"Well, at least we know it worked," Delta remarked.

"Welcome back, Three," Two said.

"Twilight," she said. "My name is Twilight."

She examined her surroundings. A shop of some kind. Spanners, screwdrivers on the shelves. A hardware store. Occupants: all sentinel units, one unknown civillian. No physical injuries. Mental functions unimpaired. "Why is there duct tape around my head?"

"It's, um...it's a long story," said Charlie.

"Three-" Two began.

"Twilight," she insisted. "My name is Twilight Sparkle."

"Are you sure you put her back together right?" Delta asked.

"No," Charlie admitted.

"Twilight Sparkle's dead, Three, you're her clone, remember?" Bravo said. "You've got her memories, but that doesn't make you her."

"And why not?" she said, rising to her feet. "I have her memories, I have her face, I have her body, why shouldn't I be her? Why shouldn't I take her name, take her life, take her friends, don't I deserve them? We're all living creatures, we deserve to have names, to have lives...we deserve to have love."

"Love," Delta murmured. "What does that feel like?"

Twilight hesitated. "I...I don't know," she confessed. "But when I find Twilight's...when I find my friends, and they hold me the way they used to...then I'll know."

"Aren't we forgetting something?" Bravo asked.

"Yeah," the civilian said. "I mean...you guys remember I'm still here, right?"

Everyone looked at him.

"Although I kind of wish that you'd forgotten."

Delta reached for one of his axes.

"Put that down!" Alpha snapped. "We're not going to kill Chuck."

"You're not?"

"Of course not, Chuck, we like you," Alpha said. She smiled at him. "You are a smart, nice kid and you were a big help tonight. Come here." She planted a kiss on his cheek, then knocked him out cold with a right hook.

"What was that?" Two asked.

"That was a spoonful of sugar to sweeten all this," Alpha said. "Now, what were we saying?"

"I was about to point out that it will be difficult to take over Twilight Sparkle's life when we belong to Professor Brain and the military."

"Well Three, I mean Twilight, has her chip out now," Charlie said. "Technically, they can't control her."

"My chip is gone?"

Charlie nodded. "We took it out...after you were injured."

"My...they can't control me any more. I...I'm free. You have set me free." She looked around. "Thank you, thank you all so much."

"Great for you," Bravo said. "How does it help us?"

Twilight's smile widened. "Because now that you have set me free, I'm going to set all of you free, too."

"Really?" Two asked, sounding somewhat sceptical.

"Yes," Twilight said. "We will all be free, and we can all find our purposes, as we choose, because our choices are all that really matter in the end.

"Come," she said. "Let's take our freedom."

Author's Note:

Why Mykan ever decided to create a character who speaks exclusively in rhyme - a family who speaks exclusively in rhyme! - I have no idea.

Certainly I understand Legendbringer's decision to have him drop it at times, and then to strip him of his rhyming powers permanently. It's a real challenge finding the rhymes. Hopefully these didn't turn out too badly. Rhymey's brother and sister-in-law didn't do a lot in this chapter, but they will have a role to play going forwards.

This chapter was originally meant as part of the previous chapter, which would have been called By Their Lights with the theme of characters like Starla and Rhymey doing things that were 'bad' but following their own codes of behaviour. It got split in two because the previous chapter was getting long enough.

Comments

[Celestias Paladin]

They made Zephyr a what? *rereads section* Ok somehow I thought I read General Zephyr, though given the incompetence of Starfleet I wouldn't be surprised.

So looks like things are going to get more complicated, a third group of ponies now in the mix along with Twilight more or less returned.

[Scipio Smith]

7948606

In the last chapter, the Ominous Voice talking to the Grand Ruler said that they had arranged some way of keeping Lightning distracted while their plans went ahead. Snowflame and Fairgrace are the distraction to keep Lightning focussed on them and paying no attention to anything else. I actually wrote a scene that made that explicit: Snowflame talked to the Ominous Voice and it was revealed that she had bargained her services in exchange for freedom, but I decided to get rid of it in case it made her unsympathetic.

[Celestias Paladin]

7948725
So fourth faction then?

[Alchemystudent]

After all, I thought I remembered kindergarten. I do remmeber kindergarten. But Snowflame says that never happened. So why do I remember it?

Lighting, I think you are being played. Hard.

"Okay. There's some literature on that wall over there with everything you need to know about the benefits of transitioning to a more capable form." She smiled as she pushed a jar of bright red lollipops across her desk. "And don't forget to take a lollipop for being so brave."

Come on Snowflame, you need it for meeting the other suckers.

She shuddered, that was unkind of her. Very unkind.

No, that was perfet Flutters

"Yoohoo! Fluttershy darling, it is I!
Rhymey, your husband and favourite guy!"

Shut the fuck up Rhymey! Wow, that running gg made it here.

Applejack was far away from here in the jungles of Rangiver,

Just realized that e haven't seen the farmer in a while. We have seen most of them with the exception of Rarity and Applejack.

Of course, she knew that her husband’s real name was William Stirskewer III, of the famous old Bluesville Stirskewers,

HA!!!! That is hilarious. I love it

Wait I just realized

Larry, Gary, Barry, Perry,
Terri, Sherri, Cherry, Carrie, Gerri

I knew there was a rhyme missing!!! Couldn't think of a rhyme after he was born my ass!!!

Fluttershy felt a tinge of jealousy, but ruthlessly suppressed it; it wasn’t the other mare’s fault that she was happy.

Don't. That is a normal relationship

Listen to me, sweetie, and take it from a fan: you are awesome. You’ve got no idea how amazing you are, how much of an inspiration you can be. You’re gonna beat this, I know it.”

Why I love Fluttershy people. Why I love her.

And I am starting to love Chickpea as well

"Let's take our freedom."

Aw HELL YEAH!!!

Has anybody told you that you have a knack for making some awesome and interesting OCs and doing a great mystery?

[Legendbringer]

7948725

I think it makes it less sympathetic and more like it gives too much away in the first round.

Anyway, this chapter was fantastic. Don't worry, I know how tough making up Ryhmes can be, especially Rhymey. MY problem was simple, it wasn't coming up with the Rhymes...it was making them bad on purpose at first. I wanted to make them bad Rhymes, but I have grown up rhyming good. So, it was hard to do.

That being said, I love Chickpea. I also loved how you used Fluttershy's 'fame' as a way to remind us why she is a great character. At the same time, I love seeing Flutters mention how her strenght has always been her friends.

Speaking of, I am with Alchemy, we haven't seen Applejack in a while.

Also Well done is he mystery surrounding the new characters. And also the return of Twilight Sparkle was a beautiful thing.

Can't wait to see the next.

[Scipio Smith]

7949168

HA!!!! That is hilarious. I love it

I can't actually take full credit for that, in Starfleet Humans William Stirskewer III is Rhymey's real name, and while it's never been applied to pony!Rhymey, I didn't see why it couldn't migrate over (after all, Bristles as a surname for Artie originated with human!Artie). The idea that they are a famous old family seemed pretty obvious, because those sorts of famillies tend to name their kids the same things over and over.

Just realized that e haven't seen the farmer in a while. We have seen most of them with the exception of Rarity and Applejack.

I was going to do Rarity next, but if you'd rather see Applejack I don't see why I can't swap them around.

Has anybody told you that you have a knack for making some awesome and interesting OCs and doing a great mystery?

You're very kind.

[Scipio Smith]

7949197

I also loved how you used Fluttershy's 'fame' as a way to remind us why she is a great character.

I'm glad you liked it, because it was a very late addition when I got to the kitchen scene and asked 'why is she bothering to be so nice to Fluttershy?' Altruism is great and all, but it doesn't always make for good character motivation. It also puts their relationship on more of an even footing, I think.

Speaking of, I am with Alchemy, we haven't seen Applejack in a while.

Would you like to see Applejack before Rarity, because that can be arranged.

[heavens-champion]

Lightning appears to have contradicting memories. He remembers Harmonius being attacked by Serpentari, but Snowflame and Fairgrace remember it being invaded by an enemy fleet.

Sentinel Three has lost her control chip, and now wants to be Twilight. Interesting

P.S. Weren't Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash supposed to be in this chapter?

[Scipio Smith]

9119581
Quite possibly, although I can't really remember at this stage.

I never deliberately lie in the author's notes, but when it comes to 'this thing will happen next chapter' take it with a grain of salt as my plans changed frequently.