Zero Point

by GJT_Productions

Cloud Seeding

"Hey, I'm here to pick up Miss Cozy Glow?"

"Relation to the patient, sir?"

"I'm her uncle. Her father sent me here in his place as he's tending to his... indisposed wife currently."

"... Fair enough, come with me sir."

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The nurse on duty leads the pegasus stallion through the hallways of the Canterlot hospital, eventually stopping in front of a door that opened into a room with a curtained-off bed. The nurse slowly pulls the curtain back, revealing the filly Cozy Glow in a light slumber in the hospital bed.

The filly gives a light moan, then her eyes slowly open. Her words are slow as she tries to process who she is seeing in front of her, but finally she recognizes the stallion in front of her: "Uncle Kriegspiel?"

The uncle gently shushes Cozy in return, then explains his presence here as such: "It's OK, Cozy, I'm here to take you back to your dad in Cloudsdale. You'll be living there for a while, just until things calm down in Canterlot."

"Where's Mommy? I want to see Mommy!" Cozy Glow demands as she enters into a more awake state.

"I'm afraid your mom can't come to visit you right now. She can't leave because the guards will lock her up the same way they want your dad locked up." the pegasus stallion smoothly lies, preventing the filly from asking too many questions. He also shoots an acid glance at the nurse beside him, cowing her into remaining silent about what she just heard.

"But we can leave Canterlot, can't we?" Cozy asks again.

"Sure we can. Princess Celestia would never order the arrest of a little filly like you, and they aren't hunting for me, just your father. As long as he stays in Cloudsdale, he's safe."

"...OK. As long as I can see Mommy later."

"I'm sure you'll get opportunity to see Mommy at some point later. It just can't be done right now. Come on, let's go to your new home."

The pegasus uncle lets out a quiet sigh of relief when the niece quietly complies - the smooth lying would ensure Cozy Glow would not learn of her mother's death until much later, and was another hoofstep on the path toward the filly becoming a master of duplicity...

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The trip back to Cloudsdale was for the most part uneventful, although Cozy Glow slept through most of it - she found it odd that the tighter she hugged her uncle, the sleepier she became and the more unusual sounds of pleasure he made during the flight. Later she recognized it was a critical early clue that she simply could not place at the time about what was going on.

Cozy Glow's dad, formerly the second Agent Deceit of the Agents of Chaos, was waiting for her and Uncle Kriegspiel at the edge of a designated arrival zone in Cloudsdale. The filly was completely asleep at the time, unable to take in the impressive cloud houses and weather factories in the great floating city arrayed in front of her. Uncle Kriegspiel gently set the sleeping filly down on a cloudbank a short distance away and greeted the father with an "crossed-hooves-over-chest" gesture, which the father returns.

"The filly is asleep - I have been feeding from her. It was bad enough having to take this identity..." the Changeling drone disguised as "Uncle Kriegspiel" whispers to his also-disguised comrade.

"But very necessary, considering you couldn't keep using Agent Sadness." the other disguised drone answers in the same whispered tone. "The natives here are very restless, we can feed from them until we can find a way to make contact with the Queen. And it will be very easy to provide ourselves with a steady source of food."

"How?" the first drone whispers in question form.

"You will see, the filly will be of great help to us in that. Just bring her to the house, and when she wakes I will show you how easy it is!" the second drone answers in whispered confidence...

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When Cozy Glow finally wakes again, the surroundings are unfamiliar, but she does recognize the faces of her father and her uncle looking down over her.

"Daddy... Daddy, where am I?" the filly moans out.

"This is Uncle Kriegspiel's house. You'll be living here for a while with me." her disguised dad answers.

"What happened to Mommy? Why did you have to knock me out and leave me at that hospital?! I hated it there!" the filly continues whining.

"I know, Glowworm, and I'm sorry I had to do that to you, I really am. But you'll see in the future that the good of all Equestria depended on it." the disguised drone continues, once again smoothly delivering lies to her.

"For the good of all Equestria?"

"Yes, Glowworm, and for the good of your mom as well. If you help me with something, it'll make seeing her again and being back together happen a lot faster. What do you say, my little pony? Give your dad and uncle a hoof?"

"...OK."

"There's a good filly. Just do as you're told and everything will work out in the end, promise to Celestia's sun..."

Author's Note:

("Uncle Kriegspiel" was loosely inspired by the OCs of "King and Queen Kriegspiel", created by AleximusPrime for an as-yet-unwritten story that will be featured on FiMFiction. You can find the vector art of the original OCs here and will provide a link to the story once it is posted on the site. )