Chapter 69: Ryan
On some level, Ryan knew what would happen when Vesper and Blake returned. He didn't need the incredible power of changeling magic to know what two people did when they spent the night together in a romantic spot. Or somewhere he assumed was romantic, anyway. Bats liked caves, it made sense.
Besides, he'd been entirely preoccupied with his own part of the plan, preparing to do the job of a changeling who'd been trained for this her entire life. When he thought about it like that, the weight of his stupidity really started to settle on him. Ryan had two days and a book to prepare himself.
The mission didn't seem completely impossible. All he really had to do was show up at the house at the right time, and impersonate an amazed mare seeing the natural world of Equestria through eyes she'd never imagined. How much did she have to know to say hello, look convincingly fancy, and stare around at everything?
Ryan did not need to sleep. Without any other members of the crew aboard the Bright Hawk with him, he didn't even pretend to try, which meant even more time to prepare for this mission.
Unfortunately the benefits of being a changeling did not come without their cost. For the last few weeks, Kaelynn's presence was always enough to keep him stuffed with food. But the fish was gone now, and with her his usual source of nutrition.
Ryan didn't know how much magic he'd burned through in the last few days, but it had to be a lot. Enough that he began to remember those first days in Equestria, when he'd thought it was a simple diet thing and he'd gone for over a week without a meal. Without Kaelynn, he could still get some nutrition from his friends, when they were around. But they'd gone off on their own, leaving Ryan to fend for himself.
He knew when they'd arrived without needing to listen, without feeling the deck shake, or even reaching out with his mind to search for company. Ryan felt the love radiating down towards him through the ship like an unshielded reactor core.
He stirred, tossing the book aside. Maybe it was time to try and take a break. There was so much in the air that even walking to the deck revitalized him. Though some of that probably came from just how hungry he was. Even the crumbs from the edge of a rich table were more than he had.
"Hey Ryan," Vesper said, between panting breaths. Evidently she'd lifted Blake up to the deck herself. Ryan turned towards him from a few feet away. He'd done a decent job cleaning up from a night in the cave—his mane was swept back, and there was less scent than Ryan expected.
Still so much that he'd have to have a dagger in his chest not to smell it, though. He smelled like Vesper. "Tests were a success," he said. "We can open the ceiling without bringing down a whole cave. Looks like the rescue is a go."
Did it help to be closer? Ryan trotted over to them anyway, and found it was easier to feed that way. Given this love wasn't meant for him, the proximity still helped. It was as fresh as something he'd picked up from the butcher in a brown paper bag.
"Fantastic." He looked between them, tapping one hoof on the deck expectantly. "Are you gonna tell me anything else?"
Blake usually lashed out—some part of Ryan waited for it. At least an argument would help him wake up. But he felt no harsh edge from him this time. Instead he laughed, pulling Vesper over to him with one hoof. "She won, I lost. But don't worry, Ryan. We finished every test I could think of. This doesn't change anything."
"It changes everything," Ryan said, shrugging one dismissive shoulder. "But if you got everything done, it doesn't matter." Or... technically, it was even better than that. Being near the two of them meant he wouldn't be charging into the lion's den while also starving to death.
If Kaelynn wasn't missing, he might've been able to take a little more joy in their incredible awkwardness together. Like they somehow expected him not to notice the way they looked at each other, or the color of their emotions. Over the next few hours, he pretended it worked, if only because it gave them more reason to think of him. He was hungry enough to take whatever trickle he could get his hooves on.
The next few hours weren't easy exactly, but they were the simplest part of Ryan's life for the next two days. They raised anchor, then flew down the mountain for Ponyville. They kept low, so low there was a real chance that ponies in Canterlot wouldn't even be able to notice them over the surrounding countryside.
Blake took care of getting their ship somewhere to mour. Just as he'd suspected, Janet's formerly-human friend was more than willing to help.
So it was that they left in mid-afternoon. Vesper and Blake each had a saddlebag of supplies for their half of the mission, including Kaelynn's dismantled rebreather. Ryan had nothing but the fake body of a messenger stallion he'd seen in Canterlot on his first day there. It wasn't like he'd be able to smuggle a ton of stuff past its guards.
They were past the point of spending their bits conservatively, so they just booked out a private room in the front car, where they could watch the countryside go by.
Ryan twitched as he saw Vesper set up her camera by the window. "Audio's muted," she explained, as soon as it was stable. "We won't be incriminating ourselves, don't worry."
Ryan glared. But making any kind of point with Blake firmly on her side was a doomed venture. "Hopefully there isn't much to talk about. The only chance we have is keeping this simple."
Blake clicked the door locked, then sat beside Vesper. Even so, he kept his eyes on the little glass window at all times. As though House Shimmer had spies on every train station, and had seen them land.
They might have. Maybe Ryan should keep himself more alert for hostile feelings. But Ponyville had almost none, and neither did this car. Just the overwhelming intoxication of a newborn relationship.
"We go underground," Vesper said. "To the place you marked on the map. We wait for you. I guess I'm just trying to connect the... benefit of having you go in there? I know you want to save Kaelynn yourself, but we'd probably do a better job if we all went together."
The temptation to agree was strong. Ryan had no doubt in his mind that the greatest danger would be waiting for him. If Blake and Vesper could avoid blowing themselves up, sneaking past some cave tours should be easy. It was what they'd been doing for years, after all.
"I'm curious too," Blake said. "I can think of a few reasons someone might want to. What are you thinking?"
"It's my confidence in the maps I don't have," he finally answered. "I did my best to compare the maps. My confidence is down to... two hundred feet or so. Maybe a little less." He glanced sidelong at Vesper, with the edge of the rolled map protruding from her saddlebags. It was the closest thing to physical evidence for their heist they had left. The last thing they had left to burn, to destroy any evidence that remained. "If we're lucky, the rich ponies want their houses to connect with the caves, and we don't need to blow up anything. If we're not, I'm wrong by the length of a full house. We blow our way into the wrong basement, reveal our plan and make Morningtide run with Kaelynn."
Vesper nodded. "We can't get closer than that?"
"Not without taking way more measurements. Not from underground either—I'd need to start digging into the rock around the mansions of those ponies. If we could confirm rock types that might be enough to tell us what we need to know. Might. But it also might not have enough information, and we'd just give ourselves away to a dozen different private guards."
"Okay," Blake said. "Not just blindly hoping, it makes sense. But it's a lot of pressure for you. Going in on your own, somehow escaping from the tour, getting down far enough that you're on the lowest level of that basement, and signaling to us. Anywhere in that process, you could get grabbed. Your magic is cool, but it doesn't let you fight."
"Neither does—" he trailed off. But it was wrong for both of them. Vesper's magic was going to magic them up a bomb right now. And Blake could always burn anything that got into his way. "Look. Aerial was pretty clear about our odds if we try to fight on their terms. This is Morningtide's battlefield. She has magical defenses of her own. The only real chance we have is coming in from another angle. She lets me in past her defenses. I think she probably doesn't need to protect random parts of her empty lowest level. She expects attack from the city, not the caves."
He glared out the window, past Vesper's camera still facing down at the countryside. If it wasn't for the painful circumstances, he would probably be able to acknowledge the value that recording would have back on Earth. A video of another world, how cool was that? Losing Kaelynn had ruined his ability to focus on anything else. "We could give up on the meeting and take our chances, if you think we should. If we do, I... we still probably shouldn't wait. We only have a day after this whole mess to get back to Earth and meet with our friends. I don't think bringing more people in when we're about to commit a crime is a good idea."
Vesper nodded. "If this goes tits up, at least Janet got back to her family. And Galena got away from the pirates. That's a win."
"Until Galena transforms back into a bird in a few weeks," Blake added. "Sure. But I agree. Even if I had some special forces buddies to call—I don't, don't give me that look—these aren't conditions they're trained for. We're in another world, with laws that we barely understand. We don't know the enemy. We're also relying on intelligence we can't verify for the whole place. We could be going into a trap."
"We're not," Ryan interrupted, voice acid. "Aerial is good for her word. The changelings aren't lying—I'm staking my freedom on it."
"Okay, but..." Vesper began.
This time, Blake cut her off. "How about this, Ryan: what if we don't get your signal? What do we do?"
At least this was something he'd thought about. "Wait two hours from when I go in. If you haven't heard from me by then, blow the floor." And pray to god I'm not standing on it when that happens.
There was only one final detail of the plan to confirm. Vesper held out a little square device, dropping it onto the table between them. About the size of a phone, though there was no screen. "Here's the wire. I know it's probably not realistic Blake, don't even start with me."
Ryan took it in one hoof, a balance he could manage now only through his many weeks of practice. It didn't weigh much. The thing was really just thin plastic, with a single switch on the side. "How does it work?"
Vesper circled around to him, leaning over to take it. She tossed it up once, flipping the switch as she did so. "It's a penetrating sonar pulse. You need to get it against something solid, preferably the rock itself. It goes with this..." She leaned sideways, flipping open her saddlebags and removing something from within.
A yellow and black device, with a pole on one end connecting to a flat plate. "We'll have this up against the wall, and we can follow your signal. Screen here will show us any voids in the rock between us."
"Sounds perfect," he said. "Really Vesper, that's... amazing. Better than I could've expected. Better than anyone could hope for. You actually made it from... magic?"
She chuckled nervously, painfully. "Well, yeah. It's not quite as perfect as you're probably hoping. There are some limits, maybe... painful limits." She sighed, backing away from him. She retreated along the narrow room, until she was right up against the far wall. "There's a limit on how far apart we can be. I can push it, but that burns magic."
"Too bad we don't have a few more weeks," Blake said. "He could practice being you, Vesper. Then he could summon his own gear."
She stuck her tongue out. "I don't want to think about where an idea that bad came from, but yeah. No time."
Ryan looked over the device, then back to her. "Maybe we should've started with that. What are these limits, exactly?"
"About a mile. So long as we can find an entrance to the caves in the upper city, it should be fine. Just don't wander off, or that thing is gonna vanish from inside your pocket. And if you do it sudden enough, you'll give me the worst migraine. Please don't."
It wasn't exactly a cheerful parting. Ryan did not wave to his friends, didn't even exit the train at the same time as they did. But with Vesper's limits, they couldn't take different paths through Canterlot either. Instead he followed them at a distance, occasionally changing identities when nopony was around.
He followed them across town, more or less in a straight line. They passed a locked-off entrance to the caves hidden behind an old service building, and he waited. Ten minutes later, he passed the door, lock back in place but shackle hanging open. Vesper was bad before. If she can summon lockpicks from the Dreamlands, even that lawyer should be afraid.
There was nothing more he could do to help them now, only hope that a couple of ponies that had just admitted their feelings for each other could somehow stay focused on saving Kaelynn long enough to actually break her free. Ryan didn't have enough space left in his brain to worry about that. He had his own impossible mission to complete.
but for the next few hours, he was stuck in agonizing limbo instead. The meeting with Morningtide wasn't until early evening. So he had no choice but to idle around the rich parts of Canterlot. He toured through fountains and down boulevards, always keeping the street he needed in his sight. He pretended to nap under the sun in a park, he hid in the shade of a gazebo and waited for the occasional royal guard to pass. He took on half a dozen different faces, so nopony would see him when they looked.
I'm getting you out of this, Kaelynn. One way or another.
Finally, the hour approached. He'd already chosen a particular patch of nearby street to arrive, where many of the local wealthy disembarked from their carriages. But not quite close enough that the lack of a ride here would be noticed. He hoped.
The form of Axiom was a little easier to wear with much practice. Her elegant curves and fine clothing felt more familiar to him now. By chance or intent, Aerial had designed a role that had aspects Ryan could latch onto. Axiom might be a daughter of wealth he couldn't imagine, but she was also an inquisitive, scientific mind. She came to the aquarium to study a species that she didn't believe existed. She knew there were holes in her understanding of Equestria, and she wanted to fill them. Now she could.
Axiom crossed the fine streets, past houses glowing with warm lights and metal walls. A few even had a watchful private guard or two, though they took one look at her and resumed their patrol. Nopony stopped her.
As Aerial's note required, she didn't go straight for the front door, but along the side of the property to the rear entrance. There was a heavy wooden double-door, probably meant for deliveries and servants coming and going. There were no other ponies on the outside, but she could make out quiet voices chatting on the other side. Their accents sounded sophisticated enough that she needed no further information. This was obviously the right place.
She marched directly up to the gate, then allowed herself a moment of hesitation. Axiom was a scientific mind, after all. She was inquisitive and clever, but the idea that she would need to break the law to learn was a novel and painful thing for her. Aerial had written it another way in her personality sketch. Axiom didn't even understand anything wrong was taking place. She understood systems and rules and that was all it took.
So it mattered that Axiom get the knocks right, exactly three with one second between the second and third.
On the other side of the gate, figures shuffled and moved, before one appeared in the narrow opening in front of her. A guard, wearing polished sunglasses even in the dark. They fixed her with what she could only assume was an intense glare. "Why are you here?"
So far, so good, that was the question she was supposed to answer. She retreated a step from the opening, holding her fine dress above the pavement. She couldn't have the hem dragging through the mud. "The Underground Naturalist Society gave me an invitation," she said. "My name is Axiom. I'm on the guest list tonight."
The pony vanished from behind the gate a moment. There was a little more shuffling, papers this time. Finally, the lock clicked, and the guard swung open one side of the double-door.
A little crowd of ponies gathered in the space beyond, on a grassy lawn illuminated with fine lanterns. Stretching out on the grounds was the rest of a party—hundreds of ponies, gathered in little groups, chatting and eating fine foods that Ryan couldn't name, but Axiom better not get wrong.
A little further on, she could even hear a band playing, music echoing out through the open mansion doors.
This was no little tour, as she'd thought. This was one of the banquets that Aerial had mentioned. Oh shit.
"Welcome to the Shimmer estate," the guard said, nodding expectantly. "You do want to come in, don't you?" The stallion was exactly the sort that Aerial had mentioned. A grizzled-looking figure, with scars visible up and down his legs. His muscles were large enough to make his uniform bulge, and those eyes never blinked. Not the kind of guard that would be easily distracted.
Axiom hurried across the threshold, stepping into the party. There was no need to fake her embarrassment, or the faltering way she walked. I am so far out of my league, she thought. Am I even important enough to meet their secret seapony?
"Axiom!" A group of older ponies waved in her direction from beside a table of bubbling crystal glasses. The one who spoke was perhaps the oldest of the lot, a wrinkled unicorn stallion with glasses as thick as her hooves. "We wondered if you were going to make an appearance! Fashionably late, as usual."
She had no choice but to join the party.
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Interesting!
I bet Morningtide is Sunset's mother, right? Taking up Seapony "rescue" to to comfort herself for the loss of her daughter? *shrugs*
----
Typo:
but for the next few hours, > But for the next few hours,
Welp... it's go time.
The heist is well under way. No doubt it's going to be a mess and the group will have to improvise but what heist doesn't?
No need to question anything, just gotta feed on the love.
In more ways than one. The testing in itself was physically demanding and she had to pull most of the weight. Surprised she was able to handle the after-test celebration. Though, I can see she has the endurance of a race horse. She can probably go all night long.
Tracy's certainly a good liaison to humanity. Though it's best to keep him in the dark about this.
They don't know about Tellin and the way the tank is designed. They'll have force it open quickly before security arrives. That will certainly trigger the failsafe. A rescue will kill Tellin unless Kaelynn can perform the transformation song.
If they had more time to plan, I bet Ryan could've probably smuggled and set up a few decoy charges above ground. Buy more time for the rescue party.
We don't know about Janet to be honest.
Well Vesper isn't uploading Youtube videos is she?
The most important missions are always daunting. Keep to the plan, improvise where needed, and you'll make it.
Everything's going to plan so far. Ryan's playing his part. Blake and Vesper are playing theirs.
I hope that Ryan's nerves won't cause to much problems. I wonder what they are going to do with Tellin since leaving him isn't exactly an option and he doesn't want to leave.
Too bad they didn't consider pulling in some two-way radios from Earth or have Vesper dreams up such, then they could map out about the house above the caverns by the strength of the signals going through the rock.
Oh, well, looks like they'll have to make do with the magitech shit that they don't really know how to operate... (not that they'd probably have any clue how shit from Earth works, for that matter, either
) ...but hey, what can go wrong?? 
Yes, Murphy, that's your cue to get fully involved in this story. Chekov has confirmed that he's got lots of his guns lying about, all locked and loaded and waiting for you to use!
Here goes nothing.
Have they found any bat ponies yet?
Assuming that it's empty.
In any case, here we go. The plan certainly won't survive contact with the enemy. The question is just how it'll die, and what chaos it'll leave in its wake.
Vesper needs to read more science fiction. A bobble generator or a Culture drone would make short work of this entire problem.
11036070
Star Vs The Forces Of Evil. A Cartoon where the Writers were taking ideas and plot points directly from what the fans wanted as the show continued on. The first season is very solid. The second is a bit messy, but still good. The third and forth/(final) seasons were such a mess that 'Everyone' hated the show. The reason being that by the time the third season Air, the show set up romance between the two main characters, and they weren't each others. But the Fans, even some of the writers, wanted them to get together. So Season 3 and 4 were a complete dumpster fire of a mess as Story and Lore took a backseat to romance being the main aspect of the show, having the characters act different, be out of character, and cheating on characters they were set up with in the first two seasons to be with each other, and all the drama that goes with it as they dump, are dumped, and so on. And the Fans outside the show, are Fanatics and were sending death threats, and all the usual Reylo fan bullshit, demanding their favorate main characters be with X character or they will hunt you down and kill your pets. That kinda shit. Was real bad.
A youtuber named Blue Order did a very good video about all the issues of that show, but it's 2 hours and 13 minutes long. Still a good watch, even if you never seen the show. But yeah, 'Shipping' and Romance killed that show that started out so great.
11035735
I’m thinking a Somebody Else’s Problem Field. Waltz in, waltz out.
Blake, Vesper, good job feeding the hungry bug.
Also, please do not blow up the wrong rich unicorn's house. Definitely don't blow up Twilight's parent's house.
Wait, do they know Axiom?
I thought Axiom was a made up if extremely detailed figure by the infiltrator, not an impersonation.
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Extremely detailed figure becomes a mole - just as good as a real thing until someone would start digging.
11041533
Wasn't she the persona Aerial created to do her digging?
I am slightly disappointed that I haven't found a single ‘Nice’ in the comments. :(