One Way

by jroddie

41: of Green and Tubs

Chapter 41

The peaches bobbed in the tub along with me. I magicked peaches into my mouth whenever one drew near. It was blissful, and the pile of pits on the floor grew large.

“Come in.” I said quietly, expecting one of my Lieutenants or maybe even Luna, if I was lucky. There was a creak on the door as it was pushed open. The light hoofbeats narrowed down the pony to a mare, and a rather light one. I opened one of my eyes to look at her. I opened them wider when I couldn’t see one. I looked all around for her, and I had to grab onto the sides of the tub and hoist myself out. I looked around the room. One of the many rooms in the Palace that had a bathtub, filled with stained wood paneling and warmly lit, but sadly not one of the rooms with a lock. I looked around me. There wasn’t much. I heard another strange noise. I looked down.

“Aw!” I said unconsciously. There was a tiny little pony baby, with bright green eyes and a pale white coat. I knew it was Sebastian, but her tiny little eyes seemed to hypnotize me into not saying anything about it. She managed to get one of her hind hooves into mouth and gummed on it. I almost died of a brain hemorrhage, it was so cute. I had to bite my bottom lip to keep from telling the little tiny foal how insanely adorable it was.

“You’re pitiful, Ed.” A light female voice said from the door. I hated to drag my eyes away from the foal to see who it was. Sebastian walked in through the door, her adult female form entering the room like she owned it. I gulped. I looked down at little Sebastian, who was still nibbling on her hoof. Back to big Sebastian, who had sat down and was watching me with devious amusement. Back to little Sebastian, who had her forelegs open wide to ask me to pick her up. Back to big Sebastian, who had a hoof over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. My jaw hung open.

“Which one of you is real?” I finally said. The big Sebastian laughed.

“Which one do you want to be real?” big Sebastian asked jokingly. I looked back down at baby Sebastian.

“Probably that one.” I said, nodding at the little Sebastian. “She’s a whole lot more adorable and won’t try and kill me as much.” I said. Little Sebastian made some blubbery noises to emphasize my point. Big Sebastian clapped her hooves together once, as if to emphasise something.

“But then you would have to take care of a magically adept foal. She could actually kill you on accident.” She reasoned.

“It wouldn’t be intentional, and at least I can pass her off as my little sister.” I joked. Big Sebastian made an offended noise and threw a stray peach at me from across the room.

“I could be your little sister!” She said with an audible pout. I chuckled and leaned back into my tub.

“I think that there might be some law against patricide in Equestria. Might!” I added, raising my forelegs to ward off another peach. She let the peach in question drop to the ground. I sloshed back into the tub, sighing. I raised one of my hooves to rub my forehead.

“So which one of you is the real one?” I groaned to myself. Big Sebastian chuckled.

“Why does one of us have to be fake?” She asked. I lurched lower into my bath, lurking. Sebastian sighed. “I want in that meeting.” She said seriously. I laughed once.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Nope.”

“Yes!”

“Look, Sebastian. The last time that you came to one of my meetings, you were one of my Lieutenants that you seduced and then drugged the night before. Even if you weren’t disguised as somepony, It would be extremely hard to explain why you would be in the meeting. Besides, it’s not something I want you to know about.” I explained, floating a peach into my mouth. Sebastian scowled.

“Well then. I’ll just go and take myself with me.” She said, starting to walk over to little Sebastian. I sloshed out of the water.

“Don’t take her!” I complained. Sebastian looked at me incredulously.

“Have you ever been a foal, let alone taken care of one?” She asked of me accusingly. My ears drooped.

“No.” I mumbled morosely. Big Sebastian smiled.

“That’s what I thought.” She said, and picked up her smaller self with magic. The little Sebastian giggled as she was picked up. I looked after the adorable little thing longingly. She was at the door when she spoke again.

“I’m going to be in that meeting.” She said. I scowled.

“Do I get to know who you’re going to be?” I grumbled. Sebastian smiled.

“No. It’ll be obvious, though.” She said, and disappeared out of the door. I released a held breath and lurched back into the bath. The water sloshed. I raised a hoof up and splashed the water. I leaned back and looked up at the ceiling.

“I’ll never understand her.” I said to myself.

“I’ll be back in an hour, Luna.” I said, strapping on the shoulder of my armor.

“Promise?” She asked, eagerly standing behind me as I faced the door. I looked back at her and kissed her on the cheek.

“Promise.” I confirmed, and walked out of the door. I walked down to the meeting room. I passed several other ponies along the way that seemed much too busy to interact with me. There was even a pale golden unicorn that had three books, scrolls, and several quills that he was using to take notes with. I chuckled to myself as he passed. I soon turned a corner to the meeting room, and I saw several ponies quietly arguing with each other in front of the dais that was the entrance to the meeting room. One of them looked up at me, and the pony that she was talking to turned to look at me. By the look of his armor, I surmised that it was Antony before he actually turned. He turned back to Lieutenant Drizzle, and gestured that he would come back. He stomped over to me.

“Edwin! Do you want to tell me what is going on?” He asked rather angrily. I frowned.

“No.” I replied bluntly. Antony sputtered.

“What do you mean, no?!” He almost shouted. For some reason, I found that statement to be somewhat funny.

“You’re really mad, aren’t you?” I said aloud. By the look on Antony’s face, he looked like he wanted to kill me.

“Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be?!” He said just as loud as before. Most of the Lieutenants behind him were staring. I frowned. If Antony didn’t stop soon, he would have found out how to force me to tell him. I summoned a dagger and pressed it to Antony’s throat. His eyes went wide, but my expression did not change.

“You will understand why I did not tell you when you find out, Antony. It is something extremely important and it cannot be said outside of closed doors. If you do not want to be unable to attend this meeting, I suggest you stop kicking up such a storm.” I spoke calmly, ending with pressure on the dagger. Antony gulped.

“Very well then.” He whispered. I pulled the dagger away from his neck and looked at it. Antony was gasping. The dagger was rather simple. It would have been a bar of blue metal, but it had the same waffle string handle that my larger sword did. The blade itself was straight to a point on one end, but the other end had a nice curve about an eighth of the way down the blade that met the other side of the blade. The sharpened edge had a zigzag border that separated the unsharpened blade from the sharpened portion. I puzzled over it for another second, but then blinked it away. I looked back up at the Lieutenants that Antony was talking to earlier. Lieutenants Dash and Drizzle, along with Second Lieutenant Soarin and another pony that I did not know the name of. She looked like she was Drizzle’s second. I walked up to the ponies, and they seemed to be very serious. I was rather uncomfortable for a moment, but we all started to walk up the dais. It struck me that I had never seen Drizzle’s Second Lieutenant before. A bright pony, most certainly. Her pewter-colored helm was at odds with her lime green coat and red mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a strange looking thing, kind of a silver circle with a hole near the edge. There was writing on the circle, but due to social graces I couldn’t stare long enough to find out. We all got up on the dais. Antony looked at me, then I looked at Dash. She smiled and knocked one of her hooves on the floor twice. After a nearly imperceptible pause, the dais began to rotate. I closed my eyes and sighed. I was extremely tired. I was awake in the inertia chamber for a few hours, and the nap I got there was very unsatisfactory, looking back on the experience. My eyes drooped slightly as the meeting room was revealed. We all clambered off of the entrance and to our respective seats, with not a single word exchanged. All of the ponies assembled were looking at me shamelessly. For some reason, my earlier uncomforableness was not there, and I looked all of the ponies that were looking at me. A few of them looked away from my gaze. The ones that didn’t were very scary looking ponies, one of them the large maroon hulk that I had seen multiple times throughout the palace. I need to get to know that pony, I thought to myself. Dash and Soarin flapped over to their place near the back of the room, while Drizzle and her nameless Second walked over to their seats. Drizzle had her seat near the front of the chamber, on Antony’s side. Antony and I took our seats wordlessly, while I mentally prepared myself for the things that I was about to say. Antony nudged the little marble block that was the gavel. His deference gave me the authority in this situation. I lifted the block with magic and slammed it back down on the ground. The deafening clash resounded though the chamber.

“I call this meeting of the Royal Equestrian Guard Corps to order. Hold your questions.” I said, raising a hoof to a reddish pony from the rear guard. He sat back down awkwardly.

“Many of you are wondering why I have called this meeting with so little notice ahead of time. Some of you may have noticed that we have received little word from Cloudsdale as of late. I know why. And I intend to fix that.” I said, which made the ponies murmur amongst themselves. I picked up the marble cube and slammed it down again. The ponies were all quiet.

“I know the cause, and I also know the cure. It will certainly not be easy. It will not be an emotionally bearable journey, for most of us. But it is necessary. I will need to tell you what is happening right now. But first, I need a squad of unicorns, extremely proficient in protective and long distance offensive spells. I also need a squad of combat pegasi. Preferably two of each. Everypony else, I’m sorry that I’ve led you away from your daily duties. If you do not wish to volunteer squads, you must leave immediately.” I said. There was hesitation amongst many of the lieutenants. I slammed down the marble cube, and everypony started rushing out of the conference room very quickly. I waited for them all to file out. I looked down at my hoof while they got out of the room. It was a good twenty minutes before they all left, because most had to take the statue. Some unicorns just popped out of the room using teleportation spells, leaving behind a disgruntled second lieutenant. It was a while before I couldn’t hear the grating of the statue, then I looked up to see three lieutenants left. Pix, the large maroon colt, and then Dash. I was surprised at all three of them. I had expected something completely different, but who was I to judge? I locked myself down to try and tell them what was happening.

“There are strange... Things, strange creatures, in Cloudsdale. They are extremely dangerous. My kind calls them Angelics, which is what I am going to refer to them today.” I said. The maroon colt kind of raised a hoof, flapping his wings a little bit.

“When you say ‘my kind’, what exactly-”

“You don’t often see numbers as a cutie mark, do you?” I asked, explaining. The colt, whose name I did not know, shook his head. “Well, I’d say that only four exist in Equestria right now. We’re all the same species. Anyways, These ‘Angelics’ are extremely dangerous. They have the ability to inhabit bodies of ponies. I am unaware if the pony remains alive during the process, but I have heard anecdotes that corroborate a pony staying alive after an Angelic is forcibly removed. Angelics are equipped with very formidable magic, along with superior strength and pointed teeth. They are very much Equuanoid in their original form. All of them have grey manes and black coats, along with red irises. The vast majority of them are unicorns. Also, the majority of ponies that I have seen inhabited by Angelics have been pegasi. There is a certain variation on the species that lives in Cloudsdale that are even more dangerous than the ones that inhabit the rest of Equestria. For some reason, their magic is even stronger than a regular Angelic, and they have been known to eat ponies. Now, I need you three here bec-

“I’m sorry.” Dash began, “did you say eat ponies!?” She exclaimed. I nodded. The maroon colt and Pix looked surprised.

“You understand why it is so important to destroy them. Now, I am planning on having a team of Unicorns stationed on a cloud a fair distance from Cloudsdale, using offensive magic to try and kill Angelics from there. At the same time, the team of Pegasi will be storming the city and trying to find any survivors of the city. Also, at the same time, three ponies of my species, including myself, will enter Cloudsdale and kill whatever Angelics we can find. I am at liberty to say that Clouldsdale will be destroyed by the end of the battle.” I concluded. Pix said nothing, but the maroon pony and Dash were outraged.

“What do you mean, destroyed?!” Dash yelled

“We cannot possibly participate! This place is our home!” The maroon colt said. I walked up to him. I looked him right in the eyes.

“When you see what Cloudsdale has become, you would want to destroy it yourself. It’s just a hunting ground. I have seen an Angelic eat a part of a pony right in front of me. They aren’t natural.” I said softly to the maroon colt. He paled as I spoke. I walked back away from him.

“I need to know what is going to happen before I commit guards to this endeavor.” Pix said. I glanced at her, walking up to the statue.

“I don’t know what is going to happen. That’s why I need all of you. I’ll expect you all to give me your reports tomorrow.” I said. I could see them all as the statue turned to lead me out.

The lime green second lieutenant with the reddish hair was waiting for me on the other side. She was looking at me with an utmost seriousness.

“Hello Sebastian.” I said. She punched the ground with one of her forehooves and swore.

“How did you know?!” She shouted. I chuckled a little to myself.

“Your mannerisms. That, and I’ve never seen that,” I emphasized by gesturing to her. “Before. You were better off with someone I’ve seen before.” I expained. Sebastian grinned.

“Now that you mention it, I did like that Ryo...” She said, trailing off.

“You can’t have him. I kinda have a use for him, and I need him not hungover and seduced.”

“You’re no fun.”

“It happens when you grow up.”

“I’m older than you.” She complained.

“You don’t act like it.” I retorted. I started walking down the hall, and Sebastian followed behind me. I reached down with my teeth to undo the belt on my shoulder plate. Sebastian took the opportunity to complain.

“And I wasted a perfectly good disguise to get into that meeting, and my Lieutenant didn’t even want to volunteer! I feel downright cheated.”

“Lieutenant Pix is in charge of deep cover espionage. She had nothing to volunteer.”

“Still, though. It’s just wrong. Can you tell me!? What happened!?”

“I can’t tell you.” I said coldly, getting my tongue under a tricky little buckle.

“Why not?!” She whined.

“Eh neh tu guet thus beckul eff.” I tried to say, trying to get this buckle off. Sebastian giggled a little bit.

“What?” She asked, her voice amused. I finally got my teeth around the little metal piece in the buckle and ripped it off. The shoulder armor clattered down to my feet.

“I need to get this buckle off. And I can’t tell you because it is a state secret.” I explained, picking up the armor with magic and draping it across my back. Sebastian oohed.

“Sounds fancy. Can I bug you until you tell me?” She asked hopefully.

“No. Because now, I’m going to go see my mare and tickle her until she lets me preen her wings.”

“Kinky.”

“Not really.”

“You’re hopeless, Ed.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“Of her, or of you?” Sebastian asked. I laughed a little.

“Whichever one you want. But now I have to go get my ticklin’ hooves ready.” I said, trying to remember which floor of the palace Luna’s room was on.

“Good luck.” She said teasingly as I started to gallop.

Comments

[Sonicbrony66]

I want a baby Sebastian...

[My Little Dashie]

Another great chapter, Jared :)

[jroddie]

349831 Sorry.