Rainbow Dash and Jason seem to believe that things may have leveled out. Rest assured, they haven't. This wouldn't be much of a story if the pair that helped pull Equestria through trying times didn't need to stick around to the end.
Well, things have leveled out. But it isn't like the enemies of Equestria to go too long unnoticed (because let's be realistic, they probably have some ego issues). And in context, the stuff that the Elements went up against before, hell, even the war didn't ever really prepare Rainbow Dash and Jason, or Equestria itself, for the maelstrom of chaos that's going to be released. And Discord is still a rock, so that's quite the accomplishment.
The third and final story in The Winds of Change story arc (first one located HERE, second HERE). Also the one where all of the clichés of writing in the first one are explained. Because somehow thinking about how to fix a situation for long enough actually gives you ideas on how to fix it. Or maybe I should just give writing a rest.
"Jason, get down!" Dash yelled, pulling the stallion roughly into the freshly fallen snow. "God damn, you keep making these close calls..."
Jason wiped the snow from his face, rolling his eyes. "Like I don't know, this is only a-"
"Shh!" Dash whispered quickly, cutting the stallion off. "We have to get some sort of distraction, we're pinned here!"
"Dash, it's just-" He tried again.
"No, this is serious!" She yelled back, watching Jason take a small step backwards. Only a moment later his head jerked to one side and somepony cheered. Jason impacted into the snow a moment later, a rivulet of blood working its way through the fur on his temple.
"JASON!!!"
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"Scoots, just stay calm, I just need to-"
"Dash, I'm bleeding out, it's getting everywhere, how am I supposed to-" A hoof went over the filly's mouth, her face somewhat white.
"You're not bleeding out, Scoots, just don't pass out on me, alright?"
"She okay?" Jason asked, holding a bag of ice to his head as he peered into Dash's bathroom.
"Yeah, it's not deep." Dash replied. "Could've been a lot worse." She turned to Jason with a chuckle. "She's overreacting almost as much as you were."
Jason scoffed. "Look, I was playing a part. I don't know how a rock gets into a snowball by accident," He said, putting hoof quotes around the last two words, "but it's not like it hurt that much."
"Whatever, Jason." Dash said, smirking. "And back to you, Scoots." She began as the filly tried to slink back a little. Dash pulled her back by her injured hoof, anger flashing through her eyes. "Don't touch those knives, Squirt. You're not trained to use them, and they're way too big for you anyway. Do you know how bad this could have been?" Dash asked, her voice rising.
"Yeah, I mean I just-" She looked to Jason for help, but he only frowned and gestured back to his wife.
"Scoots, if it had been your neck, I wouldn't be talking to you! This isn't a lot of blood." The blue mare said, pointing to the gently red tinged bandage. "Think twenty of these, Scoots." She sighed. "Maybe I'm scaring you, and I don't find any joy in that, but you've got to think more. You're a smart filly, if you give things enough time."
"Sorry." The kid said, as Dash let her hoof drop.
"Just don't let it happen again, alright?"
"Yeah..." Scoots said, trailing off in embarrassment as her gaze fixated on a bump of cloud in the floor. "Are we still going to the picnic?"
Dash looked at Jason, who cleared his throat. "You feel alright? Not sick to your stomach or woozy or anything?"
"No."
"Then yeah, we'll go." He said, turning around to leave. "I'm going to get the food together, and then we'll be off." His footsteps faded away down the hallway and down the steps as Dash tied off the bandage and smiled at her work.
"How come Jason can't just heal me?" She asked, rubbing at the wound with her other hoof.
"You can't just heal everything, Scoots, you'll never get stronger without a little pain. And it's not like Jason'll always be around to fix you up."
"But it hurts..." The filly protested, taking a step and wincing.
"Oh, sorry, I thought you were tough." Dash said sadly, crossing her arms and looking away.
"I am, it's just-"
"What, Scoots? You're going to be beaten by some little cut?"
"No, I just-" She hung her head. "You're right. I can't exactly be like you if I can't get over this."
Dash's smug look turned to one of surprise. "Oh no, you're not going to be like me."
Now it was Scoots' turn to look shocked. "What?"
"I don't want my own filly going through the same stuff I have, I want better things for you. And you're too talented in other things to worry about combat anyway. I'll still teach you a thing or two, but it'll only be for those times you really need it." Dash let that sink in, before brightening up. "'Sides, your cutie mark doesn't involve being on the front lines."
Scoots' demeanor seemed to change a little at that, and Dash could tell that she wasn't quite as off-put by the idea anymore.
"Now, about that picnic…" She said, smiling and turning to walk out of the room. Scoots trotted from the room a few moments later, gliding though open air as she leaped from the landing. Jason had a pile of food set out on the island in the kitchen, but had moved into the map room.
Dash peeked inside, giggling a little at the blackboard that was covered in equations and diagrams, some of them smeared to make space for others. He still had the ice to his head, as he flipped a bit of chalk around in the air, spinning it this way and that in his magic. She didn't move to disturb him, and he picked up an eraser and wiped half of the theory away.
An equation went in it's place, which quickly transformed into a differential that Jason looked at and nodded. He moved over a few steps and drew a large circle with the floating chalk, several smaller parts of what Dash assumed was a cell coming together rather quickly.
"How does a cell concern magic?" She asked, making the stallion jump and draw a jagged line through his work.
Jason sighed, watching her try to hide a grin. "I don't know." He said. "It was kinda stupid, in retrospect, to say that I was going to figure out how magic worked scientifically."
"Yeah, well if you showed Twilight that and acted like you were right, I don't know how well she would be able to dispute you."
Jason chuckled. "You may be right, but it's not as if I can prove anything. I'm no scientist."
"Have you at least narrowed it down?"
Another laugh. "Look, is it alright if I just tell you when I have to inform Twilight that I'm not any closer?"
Dash hummed, as if she was thinking. "Fine." She murmured, feeling Scoots tug at the fur of her leg.
"Dash, can we get going before too long?" The filly asked. "You guys have to do that thing tonight, and I don't want to miss out on time…"
"Fine Scoots." Jason said, grabbing the chalk out of the air and tossing it down to the little ledge at the bottom of the blackboard. "I've got a bet to collect on anyway."
"So, how is everyone?!" Dash yelled as the trio walked up to the rest of her friends. Jason unloaded the food he had brought, an old bottle of wine and a few bags of various snack foods. Human, of course, because Cheetos were way better than stupid vegetables for the millionth time.
"You figure that magic out yet, Jason?" Twilight asked, grinning ear to ear.
Jason put a hoof to his forehead. "I have a lead." He lied.
"Oh really?" She asked. "What is it?"
"Uh… an evolution to the change in ATP production during the Krebs cycle of cellular respiration." He said, making it up as he went along. Wait, that kinda made sense. Maybe.
"You- what?"
"I'm way farther than you, Sparkle." He said, raising an eyebrow. "Try making sense of that without finding a high school textbook."
She shook her head in annoyance. "I'm starting to become jealous of all the education you've gotten."
"Oh, because the personal student of the Princess has so much room to talk." He replied, sticking his tongue out jokingly.
"Calm down ya' little fillies!" Applejack hollered, stepping between the two. "Ya'll can't get like this every time because of some stupid bet."
"AJ, we're in a race to try to figure out the true source and movement of magical energy, there's hardly anything more important than that!"
"Besides electricity…" Jason murmured, as the purple mare glared over at him.
"Whatever Twi, Ah have a bigger issue to attend to." She paused, looking at Jason. "Ah won."
"And I don't believe you." Jason said, crossing his arms as he sat down. He reached over and grabbed one of the bags of chips, pulling the bag open and taking one of the crisps out.
"Oh yeah?" She asked, pulling out a picture. "Ya'll said that Ah couldn't tease a graft outa' that apple tree branch." She pointed to the picture, grinning. "In the middle a' winter, and it's perfectly happy on there."
"Damn." Jason said, peering at the graphic. He pulled a few bits from his saddlebag and passed them to the mare. "But don't think I'm not going to check for myself."
Applejack only smirked. "Big Mac wants ta' get another match in with ya in a few days. Braeburn's visitin', so that could be why. Probably wants ya ta go after the easy prey instead a' him. Or not, Braeburn was always pretty good at poker."
Jason grinned. "I'll keep it in mind." He turned away as a few more ponies walked up and the group congealed, sitting around in a rather wide circle.
"So, how's it feel?" Tank asked as Dash nuzzled into Jason's chin, his teammate's face spread with a rather calm expression that Jason could see right through. "Being married for a month, I mean."
Dash giggled, pulling back a step. "Nice." She paused. "Simple, actually."
"What's got you so worried, Tank?" Jason asked.
"Ugh, just- shut up about that. You'll see soon enough anyway." He mumbled, looking at the sunset as streaks of orange crawled across the sky.
"Fine. To answer your question though, it does seem to take a lot of stress away, I'm not really sure why." He paused. "Or it could be the fact that we haven't had to fight anything for a month. That's always an option. How come?"
"It's nothing. Well, it's not nothing, but-" Tank hesitated, before turning and walking away.
Jason shook his head, propping his saddlebag against his leg and pulling out a bottle opener.
"Ya know, Ah never thought Ah'd end up with griffin things that work better than some of the stuff we already had." Applejack exclaimed, setting down a saddlebag full of apples that Jason assumed was made from leather.
"That's leather." Jason said matter-of-factly, pointing at the bag. "Like, from cows."
"Ah know." The mare replied. "But hey, it's better than the stupid fabric that couldn't take a load. Ah even got a warranty from that griffin in town. Said that if it breaks in a month, he'll give me a new 'un. Ah think Ah just got a free bag, seein' as how short a lifespans those old things had."
"I dunno, animal skin's pretty tough."
"Watertight too, which is nice." She replied, lapsing into silence. Eventually she spoke up again. "Ah hope ya know how thankful everypony is for the things you two have done, whether they show it or not." The farmer spoke to the pair.
"You know," Dash began, "I don't know how much I would like the attention anyway. I kinda like how quiet things are, and that I'm not swarmed by ponies like some of those Canterlot celebrities. It's nice sometimes, but I guess I don't really need the reminder. Without sounding too vain, I know what I did, and it's all written down. I may not have achieved what I set out to do, but in Jason's words I've gotten as close to immortality as I can." Applejack raised a brow.
"I mean," She put a hoof to her brow, giggling slightly. "The things I've done won't be forgotten. knowledge is the one thing that has the potential to survive forever, and we all have that going for us." Dash finished, gesturing around. "Because let's be realistic, what's the point of life if you don't make your mark on the world?"
"And that's when the fish exploded in that guy's flower box!" Dash exclaimed, watching the gathered group of ponies erupt in laughter. With a dull pop noise, Jason popped the cork off of the wine bottle, picking up a tower of plastic cups. Muffled hoof steps approached, as Rumple pushed his way into the circle.
"Sorry I'm late, did Scoots give up and leave?" He asked, his face covered in soot.
"No, she's over there." Jason said, pointing a little ways down the hill. "How come you're so… black?"
"I, uh…" He twisted a hoof into the ground uncomfortably. "I was just working with Ferris. I asked him earlier if I could when you left the snowball fight cuz that guy put a rock in his snowball," Jason stared at Dash. "and he said sure, so I did. I made this." The foal said, pulling a curved knife out of his saddlebag and handing it over. Jason gingerly held it, finding a distorted but visible reflection in the steel surface. He passed it to Dash, who examined it for a moment before she touched the blade to her fur just above her hoof. She pressed a little harder and pulled away, staring at the little cut that had appeared. So it was moderately sharp as well.
Dash looked up to slightly shocked gazes and put down her hoof, blushing slightly. "Well, it's kinda sharp…" She said. Jason mercifully took the attention off of her as he floated around some cups, watching the other ponies as they stared instead at the drink. Dash handed the knife back to Rumble, saying something to him under her breath before he put the thing back into a sheath and took off. Jason assumed that it was where Scoots had gone.
"So, this is wine." He began, "It's made from grapes, and even though there isn't a lot in your cups, it's got an alcohol content about twenty five times higher than that cider. This should be fine though, because it's so little. I doubt any of you will feel tipsy. Anyway, just figured that you'd enjoy something new for a change, assuming this wine is still good." He took a whiff. Didn't smell like vinegar, anyway.
Rarity was the first to take a sip, smiling as she let the cup back down. "For such a hard beverage, it sure seems to have quite the cultured air to it."
"Well, it was used for a lot of romantic stuff, and as a fancy sort of drink." Jason said, taking a sip of his own. It wasn't the best he'd ever had, but then again, the best wine he'd had was sort of a fluke in itself. He'd bought it from some college kid for a hundred bucks, and when he'd tried to open it, the cork pretty much fell apart. So he hadn't ben expecting too much. The thing tasted heavenly though.
"So what do you all think?" He asked after they'd all gotten their tastes.
"Ah'd rather have a beer." Applejack said. "Rarity was right about her fancy junk, ah'll just stick to cider and IPA."
"And I don't know how you drink that stuff, darling." Rarity countered. "It's simply dreadful!"
"It's an acquired taste." The orange mare shot back, catching Rarity off guard. "You just don't have the patience."
"I think it may be from the fact that I still have tastebuds, dear." She said, batting her eyelids.
"Well I don't have a problem with it." Thunderlane cut in, breaking the argument. "But this is coming from the guy that already fermented cider to have higher alcohol content."
"And now makes beer." Jason added.
"Yeah. And that." The black stallion responded, taking another sip. "At least that hasn't become much of a chore, only Applejack really seems to come by, besides you Jason." He continued. "And then there's the whole hops thing, now that they don't cost a million bits a pound." The rest of the group nodded and Jason assumed that Thunderlane was being figurative. "'Course, beer is nothing new to griffins, but it's kinda past the point of being beer anymore…"
"It's nice having the griffins added onto Equestria though." Jason said, grinning. "I mean, they have these totally different things, and you'd kinda expect that we wouldn't have anything in common. I don't know how it is over there, but it's nice having all of these new things come in, especially since I thought they didn't produce much of anything."
"To better stuff!" Dash exclaimed, raising her cup. A chuckle circulated as the rest of the ponies held up their cups as well, a small clinking noise sounding as they collided.
"…and it is with great honor and joy that I hand the stage over to the two that I'm sure you know by now," the mayor said, taking a glance backwards. "I'm sure a lot of you have been wondering why we've been planting posts in the ground for the past two weeks and tying them together, but it's about to become clear." She smiled, stepping back and allowing Jason and Dash to step up to the podium.
"Maybe a few of you have seen how much brighter Canterlot's been up on the Canterhorn lately," Jason began, "and maybe some of you already know why. Before I give away too much, however, I'd like to give a little bit of congratulations to what we've accomplished in just a month."
Jason swallowed. It'd been a while since he'd made a speech. "The sheer amount of things that have been towed around and built, well, it's just insane. Miles of railroads, the blasting equipment to get there." Ferris grinned in the crowd. "And nobody even seems like they're ready to stop. This is only the gateway to a greater Equestria, one that would never have been built without the blood and sweat of everyone involved."
Dash grinned. "So, without further ado," she cut in, placing her hoof to a lever on a building that was almost sparkling new, "I give you the enlightened streets of Ponyville!"
She shoved the lever down, and for a moment nothing happened. Then, with a spark and the smell of ozone, streetlights started igniting. The courtyard that was previously dim in the late-dusk light was suddenly alight from several directions, and for a moment the ponies just stared.
It only took a moment for them to erupt in applause, spreading out quickly to bask in the yellow light. Jason grinned. He knew he wasn't the sole creator of the things that had happened, but he still felt proud. Equestria was beginning to turn into something that seemed modern, even if everything was a little mismatched.
And whether or not he was hardwired to think of the military immediately by now, he at least knew that Ferris had made a whole operation out of gun smithing. That meant that they were even beginning to turn into a superpower, at least compared to the rest of the known world. But hey, it was always better to have too many guns than too few. Eh, there was no such thing as too many guns anyway.
Jason yawned, looking over at Dash. It hadn't really been a stressful day, but it had definitely been a long one. Dash leaned against him after a moment, wordlessly conveying that she thought the same. It wasn't as if they didn't have things to do in the morning anyway.
The flight back was quiet, but that was how Jason liked his flights. He didn't mind the crazy flying with Dash, but there was something he loved about the silence of night. He'd taken to gliding around when he couldn't sleep, and just floating on the slight Ponyville updrafts. It wasn't to say that he was stressed, really. But he wasn't sure he liked the monotony that things had taken on.
Dash landed a few seconds before Jason did and they trotted inside quickly, sharing a few more yawns as the pair ascended the stairs. Jason peered into Scoots' room, watching the filly's chest slowly move as she slumbered. At least, what was visible through the huge clump of blankets she called her bedspread.
Jason let himself fall onto the bed, the thoughts from before still plaguing his mind. It wasn't to say he wasn't content- just- a little bored.
"Dash, do you ever miss a little of the tension?" He asked.
She stuck her head out of the bathroom, frowning in thought. "Not too much, no. How come?"
"No reason." Jason replied with a sigh. He looked back up to say something else, but Dash had already retreated.
"Well hopefully you won't mind staying up a little later…" She began, walking towards the bed in a Wonderbolts costume.
"I'm pretty sure Spitfire didn't give you that just so that you could use it in bed."
"Hey, when she needs me for another show, I'll use it then. Plus, it's such a waste to just let it hang in the closet."
"Fine, carry on." Jason replied with a grin and the twirl of a hoof.
She smirked before the look went away, replaced by a stern one. "I hope you know how badly you did on the entrance exam." A piece of paper floated into her hoof, and she looked up with a grin. "But, you know, I'm pretty sure that there could be some room for extra points…"
"You know, for beings without fingers, they sure can build things." Jason said, staring off a steep hill at yet another completed construction.
"I have to agree with you there." Dash replied. "But hey, there it is, the Hexagon." She said, pointing to the roof of the huge building.
"Yeah." He paused. "I guess the griffins didn't exactly stand by and watch though."
"It's quite the building, hmm?" Another pony asked, before she landed beside Dash.
"Morning princess." Dash said, dipping her head slightly. Jason did the same, and the three turned their gaze back to the building.
"Did you think it would be this big when you proposed the idea?" Celestia asked.
Jason shrugged. "I just figured that I'd know the shape. But it sure is something."
"With what we had, the fact that we even got the thing up is a huge surprise." The princess replied, shaking her head.
"Really?" Dash asked.
"Without the griffins, we'd have been hard pressed to do anything. We just don't have the available labor to throw around, and you wouldn't believe what a griffin can do if you supply food. I was worried when we connected the rails and droves of those guys started coming over. But when it comes to building, those talons with wings are way better than a pegasus at placing things. Kept us from needing to take some ponies from the weather crew as well."
"But why the haste?" The blue mare questioned.
"If you must know," she began, a sparkle in her eye, "Eravel made a trip over a few days after your marriage and urged me to get everything done as long as Chrysalis was still away and there was relative peace. Not to say I wasn't going to anyway, but with Shining saying the same thing I figured I may as well push hard."
"Well it's quite the masterpiece." Jason said with a grin, watching ponies on scaffolds touch up the paint and fit windows.
"So what of Bob?" He asked, after the silence had stretched on for at least a few minutes.
"It's been a few days since I've had word from Luna, but I'm sure you know that she pulled in a few dozen soldiers a week ago."
"I've heard she's getting closer." Dash said nervously.
"But it only takes one surprise shot with one of your guns to take anypony down. They're quite the equalizer."
Jason looked down, watching a blade of grass wiggle in the wind. "I suppose they are."
"Look, you two. I know that you've been through a lot, and I'm sure that you'd rather just go back to Ponyville and live your life. I know you want a foal of your own, and it's not as if the Estrous cycle is too far away. But you're the best we have, and I'm sure you've given a little thought to the idea that you'd be the ones calling the shots."
"Princess, I-" Dash began.
"It's up to you, I don't want to make it seem like something I'm cornering you to do."
"Would we be able to recruit anyone?" Jason asked quietly, and Dash looked over in shock.
"Jason, you can't possibly be-" His wife began, before she was cut off.
"Yes." Celestia replied. "You'll know where to find me if you decide to take part." The alicorn turned and took flight, and the wedded couple stared at her for a moment before they glared at one another.
"How can you possibly be considering going?!" Dash yelled, taking a few steps so that she was right up in Jason's face. He didn't back up, and looked her straight in the eyes.
"Because if we have a chance at taking out Bob, then I want to take it. I- he's always in my head somewhere, and on some level you have to want to know why he treated me like a fucking experiment!"
"Look, I hate him as much as you do, but-"
"But what?! I don't want to let other ponies die because we aren't there!"
Dash felt a tear go down her cheek, and she shook her head in frustration. "Can't you see?! We've risked our lives numerous times for this place, I just don't want to- We're married, for fuck's sake."
"We're stronger."
"We've got a kid."
"A kid that we can bring!" Jason replied, raising his voice again. "We're calling the shots, remember? If we bring Scoots to wherever we set up command, she'll be guarded. We've got superior technology, wireless communication…"
"Jason-" Her voice cracked, and she lunged forwards. Jason jumped, figuring that she was going to punch him, but she only buried her head in his shoulder and cried. Jason put a hoof around her head, feeling a few of his own tears pool up.
"We'll be okay, Dash. Get a few answers in the process." Jason's voice cracked on the last word, feeling as if the words leaving his mouth weren't his own.
Dash let out a heavy sob, trying to find her voice. "I- I just want this foal, and every time we look like we're in the clear something else just pops up." Another choked sob, one that almost made Jason join in. "I know we should, but I feel like if we do make it out, it'll just be another six months 'till I go into heat again, and that's just another half-year for something to take that kid away from me." She took in a ragged breath. "Or lose you."
Jason pushed a hoof through her mane, trying to think of something reassuring. He came up blank. He didn't want to do this either, no matter how bored he sometimes was in Ponyville. A little excitement wasn't worth all the risk and the stress, and it wasn't as if anything ever went smoothly.
"You know that we have to, right?" He asked, gently pulling her down to the ground so that they were laying in the short grass, sticking through a somewhat thin layer of snow.
"I- why?" She choked out.
Jason felt his resolve begin to crumble, but he soldiered on. "We've got a shot at taking out someone that would stand against us later. They- they're not going to just go away, Dash. Even if we have to wait to have a foal to make sure that it's safe, I wouldn't care."
Dash snorted, calming slightly. She pulled back and looked at Jason's green eyes, studying him and turning the thought around in her head. It was nearly deathly silent, minus quiet noises of construction from below.
"Only if she asks." Dash murmured, pushing her head back into Jason's shoulder. "If Luna tells us to go, I'll go. Not otherwise."
Jason would have liked to argue, but it wasn't as if he was keen to go back to fighting either. Of course, he hadn't been the one at his own bedside all the time. And he knew that his loyalty to Equestria would never trump his loyalty to Dash. That would be ridiculous, of course.
"God, I hope she resolves this on her own." Jason mumbled, a tear sliding across the bridge of his muzzle and onto the ground. The pair laid in the snow for an untold amount of time, trying to come to grips with the idea that they might be thrust back into combat so soon. Whereas before it had been just another battle, the continuation of a war, it now felt like Jason was retreating into the environment that he hated so much.
Jason sat up, breaking the silence with the crunching of snow under his shifting weight. He offered Dash a hoof, which she took with a slight upturn of her frown. He allowed himself a small grin, teasing up her chin with a hoof so that she would look him in the eyes.
"You know, there's a little bit of an upside to this."
"Yeah?" Dash asked, genuinely confused.
"If we're going to need to get a team together just in case, then at least we'll get to try out those guns Ferris has been fixing up." His frown quickly returned as Dash's face refused to lighten.
"Can we just-" She sighed. "Can we just go back to the house and lie around?" Dash heaved, trying to keep herself from breaking down once again. "I just want to be somewhere quiet with you and Scoots, if we can find her. I know it's got to be done, but- I just need to come to terms."
Jason turned his eyes to the ground, nodding his head. He tried to say something, but no words would come out. He was usually the one that would always come up with something to say, but the more he thought about this, the more his words abandoned him. He felt hooves around his neck, and let tears run down his nose. Jason didn't feel sorry or scared for himself, as much as he was frustrated that they would end up in a similar situation as before.
Sure, things were arguably better, and this was a chance to sleep better at night in the long run, but it sure didn't feel like it. He felt the same way he'd felt when Celestia had called on them the first time, minus one major difference.
He didn't know the enemy, and by now a death on his side wouldn't be of some nameless soldier. He was insulated before, but now… calling the shots on an operation populated by his best friends…
Dash opened her eyes, the gentle light of sunset coming in through the window. Jason's arms were still wrapped tightly around her chest, keeping her safe from completely descending into the more depressing emotions she could feel.
She could feel his heartbeat through her back and wings, the metronome that she never forgot the rhythm to. It was calming, unchanging, and predictable. She liked things that way.
It was funny that she could find any solace in a beat like that, but it seemed to have the undertone of life so clearly beneath it that constantly reminded her that they were still alive. Dash wasn't sure how glad she was that they were, considering how much they still had to do. For once, she wanted to feel like she was pursuing her own happiness, rather than the improvement of Equestria.
Jason shifted a little, his metronome remaining unchanged as his head rested atop the middle of her neck. Warmth spread through the contact and Dash's frown softened slightly. She couldn't even begin to wonder how he managed to sleep through everything. He had seemed just as nervous as she had, yet he'd conked out only a few minutes after he'd comforted her. She liked to hope that dealing with her didn't make him tired, but it wasn't as if she had anything to say.
"No, Shining, get away." Jason mumbled, holding her more tightly. "She's mine."
Dash giggled, feeling her bad mood improve more than a little. She heard the door open downstairs, only to close a moment later. Light hoof steps followed, and Dash assumed they belonged to Scoots. The kid trotted in, grinning as a bunch of oddly shaped balloons followed her inside.
The blue mare put a hoof to her lips, a muffled laugh escaping anyway. "Whatcha got there Scoots?" She asked, her face a dead giveaway.
The filly already knew something was up, and turned to look at the balloons in her hoof. "Balloons?"
"Oh yeah?" Dash continued, trying to figure out how to tell her that she'd used condoms. At least she wouldn't have been laughed at in town, considering the fact that they didn't really exist around here.
Scoots swung the balloons around, watching them bump into one another with dull ringing noises.
Dash finally lost her battle and burst out laughing, pointing at the balloons and tearing up. Jason shifted behind her, blinking his eyes a few times as Scoots frowned and released the balloons. They floated towards the ceiling and poked themselves in, like they were trying to penetrate the ceiling.
Needless to say, she lost it again. By now Jason had joined in to a lesser extent, as the filly's face turned a little angry.
"I just tried to get you something, and Pinkie was out of regular balloons, so we had to use these weird ones she found!" Scoots yelled, her voice wavering. "Why are you laughing?!"
"You… condoms!" Dash yelled, rolling to one side. "Bwahahahaha!"
Jason was the first to calm down, and gestured for the filly to come to him. She hopped up on the bed, tears beginning to pool in her eyes. "I just wanted-"
"It's okay, Scoots." Jason said, a few laughs permeating his speech. "You wanted to get us something nice, right?"
"Yeah, cuz Dash has been sad all day, and I didn't know why, and I had to be in school, and-"
"Scoots, can't you see?" He replied, pointing at the now barely less calm mare. "There's no way she doesn't feel better now, even if things didn't go the way you expected them to."
The filly sighed, a little smile appearing again. "Yeah, I guess I did make her laugh, even if it was at my expense."
Jason nodded, letting himself fall backwards onto the pillows again.
"So why are you sad anyway, Dash?" Scoots asked, a little fear creeping into her purple eyes. Jason reached out a hoof to grab her, pulling her gently into his arms.
"I just suck at handling it." Dash replied, leaning against Jason.
"Hey, I didn't have to deal with you incapacitated in bed all the time." Jason countered, taking an arm off of Scoots to put around her insead. "Besides, it's not like most ponies would come up swinging like you do."
"Yeah, but you always seem to handle-" His hoof went over her mouth and she sighed.
"I go for a while between events of mental collapse, if that's what you mean. You're way stronger than I am in the emotional department."
"Can some pony please tell me what's going on!" Scoots hollered, pulling the pair from their conversation.
"Yeah, I-" He looked at Dash, who gave him the go ahead. "Celestia said that we might have to go back to fighting."
Scoots' jaw dropped, and Dash quickly put a hoof to her shoulder. "If Luna needs us to Scoots, not otherwise."
"But- But-"
"We can bring you along." Jason said, watching the foal immediately turn her focus to him. "Keep you in a command center, safe and sound. Maybe get a little use out of your intellect."
Now Scoots was stuck between relief and fear. "But I don't want you to fight anything!"
Dash looked away, sighing to herself. "It's better to be preemptive, right Jason?" She asked.
"Yeah…" He replied, a little put off. "We should see if Thunderlane would want to go."
"How come?" Dash queried, turning her gaze back once more.
"Because I'd rather keep Scoots happy while she's there, and getting a trained pony and her colt friend to come would help in more ways than one." He paused. "But you're still young, so if this works, you better not try anything."
"I-"
Jason stared, and Scoots closed her mouth. "And if he does anything, as innocent as he may seem…"
"He won't, I promise!" Scoots exclaimed, looking almost excited. "I'm still scared about this, but just think of how much ass you're going to kick, and I'll be there to hear about it right away!"
Jason grinned, looking at Dash to find a similar expression on her face. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad.
Dash's hoof met a heavy wooden door, ringing out with a few dull thuds. Jason and Dash waited a few moments, watching the door creak open to a couple of smiles. So that made things harder.
"Hey Dash. Jason." Morning said, nodding her head at the two of them. She opened the door wider, gesturing for the pair to enter. "Come on in!"
"What's got you so happy?" Dash asked, a lump of guilt congealing in her gut.
"Well," She began, rearing up to put an arm around Tank's neck. "Guess who popped the question last night?"
Dash's jaw dropped, though not because her friends were engaged. She had expected this, really. But she didn't want to have to tell them, and it hurt to think about, and-
"See?" Morning asked, extending a wing towards Dash. "Doesn't it look nice?" She watched Dash tentatively prop the ring up with a hoof, looking at it more closely.
"Well you two seem like barrels of laughs." Tank murmured, narrowing his eyes a little. "Would it kill you to smile?"
"Maybe." Jason mumbled back. "And in a minute, it'll be pretty hard for you to smile either."
Tank stared.
"Look, I wanted to make this as painless as I could, but evidently that's going to be impossible." Jason said with a heavy sigh. A tear hit the ground, which he angrily wiped away. It felt like he was reliving yesterday, and it hurt just as much in Celestia's shoes. "I'm sorry for saying this now of all times, when you two should be celebrating and making merry. Celestia met with us yesterday and told us that we might have to go back to fighting, this time with Bob."
Morning's jaw dropped. "No…" She whispered, fixing her jaw and scrunching up her face. Tank grabbed the mare and she buried her muzzle in her shoulder, openly weeping. Jason looked away, guilt eating away at his gut already.
"You don't have to…" Dash trailed off, though she knew that nothing much could be accomplished without them. "But you are some of the best…"
Tank tried to speak, before he shook his head and tried again. "If you're there, we're coming along. We may not have as many as before, but we're still a team. Don't forget that."
"So you're in?" Jason asked, feeling like an asshole for having to say the words.
"Hey," He cleared his throat again. "Give us a day, and we'll be up and at 'em."
"I can give you more than one…" Jason continued.
"No, I'm sure one's enough. After all, it's only training as far as we know." He paused. "Right?" Fear flashed through his eyes, and Jason realized that despite Tank's abilities to hide emotions, he was just as scared as the rest of them. Not to say that it was really surprising.
"Yeah. Just a precaution." Jason replied, his ears pining back. He so hoped that it was only that.
Another knock, this time by Jason. Dash shuffled her hooves as they waited, before she looked back up at him. "How come you're able to knock on things now?" She asked. "I seem to recall a whole lot of silence before when you tried."
"Yeah." Jason replied shortly. "I just never got the transformations down until Evening taught me the rest of the way. Before it was more like a layer of pony. Thus the armor and relative silence."
"And why you've seemed so much more comfy to sleep on lately." Dash giggled, shooting a small grin back.
"Hell- Oh, hey guys." Thunderlane said, opening the door wider and turning to walk back inside. "How goes it?"
"Not too good." Dash replied.
"Oh? You seemed alright yesterday." The pegasus continued, cleaning off a dish in his sink and placing it in a drying rack.
"Yeah, but then Celestia came by and said the if things went wrong with an operation that's kinda classified, she wanted us to get involved." Dash finished, gesturing between herself and Jason.
"Alright…" Thunderlane replied, squinting.
"And if you'd be willing, we'd like you to come along." Jason mumbled, shaking his head.
"Yeah, okay." The stallion nodded, returning to his work. "But why me? I'm nothing special."
Jason tried to shake off his surprise that Thunderlane had agreed so readily. "Because you're already trained, and…" Jason paused. "Well, we'll be taking Scoots along to make sure that she stays safe, and I wanted to see if you would do the same with Rumble. Think of it however you want, from a lack of leverage to the fact that I'd rather not separate those two, but that was my plan."
"Sounds good to me."
"You're oddly cool with this." Dash said, cocking her head to one side.
"Eh." He said, a plate clattering as he basically threw it into the drying rack.
"Something wrong?" The blue mare tried again.
"Let's just say that I'd rather take a break from Ponyville. If I get to bring Rumble along, well, then there isn't too much stopping me."
Jason decided to drop the matter. "You think Rumble will be okay with leaving?"
"Probably." Another clatter.
The changeling sighed, shaking his head. "Training begins tomorrow, probably around noon at the marketplace. That's where we'll meet, anyway."
Thunderlane turned and shook Jason's hoof, grinning slightly as he did the same to Dash. "Thanks for the opportunity."
"Yeah… don't mention it…" He replied, still staring at the black stallion.
"You know… it still doesn't feel real." Dash mumbled, putting a hoof into the path of a ball. She watched the cloud floor of her house bend and stretch around her hoof, before she knocked the ball backwards. Jason stopped it across the room, allowing his head to rest against the wall once again.
"I know what you mean." Jason replied, pushing the ball towards her once again. "But then again, to a certain extent everything doesn't feel totally real."
"Heh, of course."
"You know, insane people have been known to create worlds like this in their heads, and just live in those instead. I just hope I'm not some vegetable somewhere."
"Well that's an eerie thought." Dash said, rolling her ball in small circles under her hoof before she passed it back across the room.
"Yeah…" He trailed off. "That's probably why I want to get back so bad, minus seeing Ben and Mankin. Assurance that I'm not a basket case."
"Pfft, you're not." Dash replied with a chuckle. "You can't begin to say that everything you've felt, pain especially, was fake?"
Jason scratched his head. "I'm not saying this is fake, I'm just saying that sometimes I worry. It's not like drugs don't make people hallucinate feelings and pretty much everything else, so it doesn't seem that crazy."
"Maybe we'll get an explanation from Bob, when we kill him." She said, stopping the ball as it rolled over. "You mind if I cast some magic?"
"Trying to clear your mind?"
"It seems to work, most of the time." Dash replied with a shrug. Jason let a grin cross his face as he hopped to his feet, meeting Dash on her side of the room. He sat against the wall, watching Dash scoot over until she was leaning against his chest. Jason put an arm around her chest, following up with the other, letting them loosely hang around her.
"So which one?" He asked, squeezing her a little.
"I guess it depends on how much energy it uses, I don't want to tire you out…"
"Dash, I have a month's worth of built up love. You wouldn't even be making a dent."
"That much, huh?" She queried with a grin. "How's that feel?"
"Good. Content." He chuckled dryly. "Way better than when I was almost out."
"Have I ever told you how much I like the whole love thing?"
"What, giving it to me?"
"Yeah." She said. "It's not all the time that your love actually does something physical. Or… you know what I mean."
Jason nuzzled against her cheek, allowing his head to droop onto her shoulder. The two were silent for a while, enjoying the sense of relative calm that would more than likely be short lived. But the fact that they could feel safe and happy at all was an improvement over how things had gone before. Jason wasn't sure if it was because of the love, or the fact that they'd had peace for a month, but he didn't feel depressed. Well, maybe a little, but it wasn't the 'I don't even want to go on' depression. Just a reaction to the Herculean task they had to accomplish.
But he had things to look forward to, things that were going to happen no matter what, if he could help it. That foal, no matter how many times he thought of it, only seemed to gain importance. As soon as they were settled enough for that, then they would be done.
Done. That was a fun word to think of, that realistically killing Bob was one of the two obstacles in the way of peace and quiet. He could count those kinds of numbers on his hooves, they were so low. And dispute the fact the Jason didn't delude himself, that he knew they were huge tasks, things seemed to be in reach.
"You want to try teleportation again?" Dash asked, breaking the silence and nuzzling back.
"Sure." Jason replied. "Just make sure you know exactly where you're going this time." They shared a nervous chuckle, both thinking back to the last attempt where Dash had popped into existence just outside the house. Needless to say, Jason had called it a day and tried to find something to take the edge off the burst of adrenaline. It wasn't exactly easy to react to the sudden disappearance of Dash coupled with the screaming when she didn't find ground with anything other than total fear. Even if he knew that it was unfounded.
"Yeah, I went through a couple of Twilight's books. Hopefully that'll help a little."
"You've come far from the book-shunning stunt mare." Jason observed, hearing her giggle.
"Nothing wrong with a little intelligence, right?" She asked, tapping her forehead. "Ready?"
"When you are." Jason replied, feeling her draw on his love a second later, amassing the energy as her forehead began to glow. Dash squeaked, gritting her teeth as she concentrated. The magic plateaued in quantity, and for a moment it almost seemed as if she'd forgotten to release it.
Just as Jason thought that, his arms flopped to his sides and Dash disappeared, popping into existence across the room, about a foot above the ground. She landed and looked around, shifting her hooves to make sure that the cloud was really there. When she looked back up, her face was covered in a huge grin.
"I- I-" She tried, excitement getting the better of her. She let out an excited squeal, hopping into the air with a cheer. Jason felt the air leave his lungs as Dash enveloped him in a hug, thanking him over and over again.
Jason put a hoof to her shoulder and pushed her back a foot or so, grinning back. "I don't know why you're thanking me." He said. "You did all the work, I just supplied the energy."
"But-"
"Shush, just be happy that you did it. Guess twenty second time's the charm?"
"I'm beginning to like that number." She replied, not completely breaking her hug. Dash was silent for a moment, trying to formulate her words. "You know, my entire life, I've tried to break this record and that. But in the end, what it came down to was trying to beat myself. After all, once you've got the speed record, you've got to reinforce it, right?" Jason chuckled, and the mare continued. "But even where that's slowed down, you've just given me new things to try. I couldn't have even imagined doing the simplest of magics. But you've got me doing teleportation, moving things, and I- I dunno, that means a lot more than you'd think." She put a hoof to her forehead, sighing. "I guess I wish I could explain it a little more eloquently than that though."
"Hey, we aren't soldiers because we can use long words. We lead, we compel, and we fight. Honestly, we're probably not too bad of choices for that role."
"I remember how I used to say that this relationship was weird." Dash mentioned, leaning against Jason's side.
"I can recall."
"I don't think it really is." She replied. "Sure, you're a human-turned-changeling and I'm a pony, and we've come from completely different parts of life. I'm sure to everypony else, it is weird. But my god, I can think back to what I wanted, and what you were, and I realize how disappointed I would have probably been." She shook her head, smiling. "What we have, it just works. I mean, to the same extent I'm sure you never expected in a million years that you'd end up married to a pony, and one from a silly television show no less."
"I guess when you put it in that light, it makes us seem a hell of a lot less unlucky."
Dash stared. "Yeah…"
"And it makes me wonder that if there hadn't been everything that happened, if we would have just gone our separate ways at some point." Jason continued. "But I suppose that's a lot more theoretical."
"Speaking of theory, don't you have a cell process to finish?" She asked.
"Only if you'll help."
"That depends, if we figure it out and you know the process, could you give me my own horn?"
Jason grinned. "Oh, and make you more OP? Maybe." He crossed his arms. "But with great power, comes grea-" Dash tackled him to the ground, and the pair broke out in laughter. A thought crossed Jason's mind about how happily he was acting in circumstances that should mean the opposite, but he brushed it off. Nothing had been decided, and there was no reason for him to stress.
Dash pinned Jason and dug her hooves into his stomach, watching him struggle to escape the sudden tickling. His thoughts scattered, and he didn't attempt to recover them.
"I see what you mean by softer, Jason." Dash said with a giggle. "At this rate, pretty soon even I'll have trouble figuring out if it's you."
Jason tried to push her off, but couldn't garner the concentration or strength to. Just as he felt like he might die from laughing, Dash let up and he rolled to one side, continuing to laugh and pant, sucking in large lungfuls of oxygen. Dash smiled down on him, stroking a comforting hoof around his shoulder as he recovered.
Jason's thoughts from before returned suddenly, and his emotions failed to worsen. He made a decision, one that he was sure was correct. He wouldn't let the future affect his emotions now. He liked the way things were, and a life like this was still what he wanted. The big difference was that he'd make sure to remember this, an experience of life that he had to think back on and work towards.
He felt ready for whatever these guys had to throw at him, and judging by Dash's emotions, she was too.
The duo trotted through Canterlot's castle gates, spitting from the activity as they came upon the throne room doors. One of the heavy sides was partially open, and Jason and Dash quickly walked inside. Celestia was in one corner of the room, saying something to some ponies before she noticed her visitors.
"Have you two reached a decision?" She asked, turning away from the other ponies. "And if you have, Eravel is actually here at the moment, so it would be easy to ask his assistance."
"Yeah, we noticed that he wasn't at home for most of today." Jason said, "and this is pretty much the only place he goes outside of Ponyville."
"I will send for him." The princess replied, flicking a hoof at a pony that nodded and took off. "I'm guessing this means that you've decided to take part?"
"Only if we get to be in complete control." Dash said quickly, before she paused. "Or equal with Luna, but you know."
"I doubt Luna will have a problem taking a few orders." Celestia replied. "She may be a princess, but if she asks your help I'm sure she'll be willing to concede control as a result."
"This about Luna?" Eravel asked, walking into the room.
"Yeah." Jason replied. "We may have to get involved again."
"Ah, good. I was getting pretty antsy just sitting around. Makes me nervous."
"And so that makes two that haven't needed convincing…" Jason murmured.
"I guess I'll miss my friends, but hey, Team Green Bean, right?" Eravel continued.
"Yeah…" Dash trailed off. "Meet us at noon tomorrow, market square for training?"
"Sure." Eravel replied, throwing them a wave as he left the room.
Dash stared at the sunset, her legs slightly over the edge of a balcony she'd built with Jason a while ago. She heard some clattering from inside her house along with some swearing. His head popped through the window entrance a moment later, and he pulled himself across the windowsill to sit next to her.
"You know, I was kinda saving these things for when we were done, but I feel like now is a good time." Jason said, opening up a little wooden box with a few cylinders inside. He set down his computer, before cutting off one end of a cylinder and handing it to Dash.
"What's this?"
"It's a cigar." Jason responded. "You're supposed to smoke it and take the fumes into your mouth to kinda taste it. Has a little tobacco in it, but as long as we space these out that won't matter either. And don't take it into your lungs."
"Have you ever smoked one of these?" Dash asked, twirling it around.
"Yeah, when I got the last of my paperwork through and owned my new house." He replied with a grin.
"Alright, go ahead." She said, placing it into her mouth. "This tastes kinda funny."
Jason chuckled, raising a hoof towards her. He lit it on fire, holding it a little bit away from the end until it began to glow. He did the same with his own, staring back at the sunset as he blew some smoke out. It was a seriously good cigar.
Dash leaned against him, striking a cultured pose as she chewed lightly at the end, blowing out her own little cloud of smoke.
"Now all we need is a swimming pool to sit in, or a fancy suit." Jason murmured, chuckling to himself as he clicked a few buttons on his computer and music played.
The duo stared off as the yellows and oranges faded, reds and purples juxtaposing themselves slowly but surely. Yet despite the silence, neither left. Even if their hours here were numbered, there wasn't much anything more relaxing than a nice cigar with a quiet sunset. In some part of Jason's mind, the idea that this could be the last of his quiet evenings didn't really get to him. He had the memories, and he had the drive to get through anything that kept him from them.
A pony checked his stopwatch, the clicking seeming to pound through his head as a deadline came fast approaching. He twisted two wires together with his magic, yanking on them to make sure they'd hold. He turned tail and ran, descending a flight of stairs and pushing through a squeaky door. He heard quiet hoof steps behind himself, hopefully farther away than they seemed.
He didn't slow down, bursting through another door and onto the street. He continued to follow the wire as it snaked around stalls and trash in the Manehattan streets. He bowled over a foal, but was too focused on his task to care.
tick tock, tick tock
The wire ended, it's match separated by a few inches. He stooped down and bound the two halves, before setting off again. He turned down an alleyway, running through another door and into a deserted warehouse.
The door burst open to a back room and the pony limped through, completely out of breath.
"I see you're on time." Another pony responded. "Barely."
"It's- It's live." The runner breathed, watching the other pony's features seem to light up in joy. Not that he could be sure with the fact that his face was always obscured. "Can I see my family yet? Will you let my friends go?" He asked pitifully, trying to massage the cramp out of his hind leg. "That's all we've figured out, I swear!"
"In due time." The faceless pony responded, directing a goon with a flick of his hoof. "If I get my side of the deal."
The tired pony felt his veins run cold from nervousness alone, a hoof twitching as he kept his eyes on the henchman. The burly pony carefully put down a small digital clock attached to the wire, and watched the timer count down. It hit zero.
For a moment, the room was silent. The pony felt like he was about to throw up.
A thud sounded in the distance, followed by what sounded like thunder. The ground shook, and at least a few screams sounded, though they were muffled by the walls. The still breathless pony felt tears sting at his eyes as he fell onto his side and began to weep.
"Get him cleaned up." The nameless pony said, a grin almost audible in his voice. "He's free to go."
Days passed, and life returned to normal. Though they met every day to train, the overshadowing idea of more fighting and death seemed to ebb. It wasn't as if the team assumed things would just pass, but only become less terrifying.
It was the same scenario as on the third day since they'd began that Jason was late. Dash didn't worry, she knew that he'd been off to grab something that he'd said would assist them in training. She knew generally what it was, but she'd love to see the looks on the other's faces when they saw everything. She still had a few things to clarify anyway.
When Jason did finally arrive, he came with a pile of boxes in tow, and set them down in front of the others.
"I guess you're wondering why we're meeting outside of Ponyville today?" He asked, becoming slightly annoyed as everyone chose to stare at the boxes and ignore him completely.
"Yeah…" Dash responded, with a knowing tone. "What're these?"
"These," He began, sliding against Dash to put a hoof around her neck, "Are airsoft guns. An entire shipment that I'm sure pissed the hell out of some producer." He paused. "Well, actually a lot of shipments before I got useful things."
"Jason, Ferris has already made a bunch of guns, and we still haven't-" Morning began, before Jason cut her off.
"Look, I'm not letting any of you- well, you kinda already did, Dash…" He lost his train of thought. "Uh… Anyway, these things are nonlethal, and they don't have much recoil. So we'll be using these for at least a day before we worry about actual target practice."
Eravel raised a talon. "Why would we use these if they can't hurt anything?"
Jason grinned. "They're nothing like a bullet, but these things sting. Kinda like short term bees. It's about as close to the real deal as we're going to get."
"So this- does it use gunpowder?" Dash asked, pulling an M4 out of a box and twirling it in her hooves. She found the magazine release after a second and let the slightly curved metal drop into her hoof. "Jason, there aren't any bullets."
"Well yeah." He replied. "Of course."
"So…"
"Hold on, I'm looking for them." Jason responded, opening several of the boxes. "Ah!" He dragged over the cardboard box, showing off the cans and jars inside. "The white balls are bullets, and those cans have stuff that fires them." He gestured for Dash's gun, and she handed it over. Jason pulled off the lid to a bottle and jammed it into the magazine, letting it hiss for a moment. His horn glowed and a carton of pellets unscrewed, flowing out like some sort of weird water. A little blob of them flowed into the magazine, disappearing as Jason closed it up and pushed it back into the gun proper.
"So, if you'll direct your attention over there…" He said, pulling the gun into his shoulder with one arm. Jason made sure his footing was stable before he reared up a little, firing several rounds downrange. "Wow, gotta love the feeling of recoil." He said, as they watched the pellets impact a tree.
"You get recoil from those little things?" Dash asked, muffling a laugh.
"No, but-" Jason put a hoof to his chin, trying to find words. "These things are recreational, really. I used to use these for fun in the creek behind my house with Ben and some other friends of ours. Of course, how realistic is it if you don't feel any kickback whatsoever?" He paused. "So they added it, somehow. I could find out but I don't want to take this apart and look."
"So eye protection, everyone." Jason continued, pushing over a box of goggles with his hoof. "They're from Ferris and meant for other stuff, but they'll work."
"Is this like what we'll be using?" Tank asked, resting a gun against his shoulder. "And how do I pull the trigger?"
"Well…" Dash began, spinning a hoof around in the air as she thought. "Firstly, these are called assault rifles, which are like medium range things. We'll need a variety of weapons, because we don't know what we'll be getting into, exactly." She looked at her hoof, where she'd written a few words. "I'll be using something like what Jason already has, and hopefully you'll be using a shotgun, Eravel. Tank, Jason said that given the amount of weight you can carry you'd do well with the LMG, and that just leaves Morning and Thunderlane with…" Dash bit her lip, looking at Jason.
"We have a couple of sub-machine guns, but you may just want an assault rifle." Jason said with a shrug. "We couldn't pin you two as anything specific, other than the fact that you've still got to be able to fly."
"Isn't there a long range thingy?" Morning asked.
"Yeah, but Ferris is still working on making something that'll work for the ammo we found. Just to give you all an idea of how heavy these things are…" Jason trailed off, holding out a fifty cal round. Morning grabbed it and her hoof dropped, before she realized its weight.
"Holy shit." She breathed, weighing it. "Would not want to be hit with this sucker."
"Yeah. It probably sucks to fire too." Dash said with a chuckle.
"So how much weight are we talking about here?" Tank asked, taking the shell from his fiancé.
"A lot." Jason replied. "Good news is, they aren't brass, so you'll be able to carry more. The shells just burn up as they fire."
"How does that even work?" He inquired, looking up from the bullet he was carrying in disbelief.
"I have no idea. But hey, Ferris seems to." He paused. "Anyway, let's get on with it. Dash?"
She stared for a moment, before remembering what to say. "Oh!" She exclaimed, a blush passing across her face a moment later. "Well if you remember that practice thing we did before, way back when we were preparing for Windforge, it's the same idea in a way. The only difference is that we got some ponies and griffins to throw together some crappy little wooden buildings and bunkers."
"You're really enjoying the blank check from Celestia, huh?" Eravel asked with a smirk.
"I didn't ask for a mansion. Besides, you should be proud about what griffins can accomplish." Dash shot back.
"It was kinda freaky." Jason said. "They wouldn't take a break. Like, ever. Had to drag one away that looked tired."
"Well from what I've heard a lot of them are happy for the work." The griffin replied. "I would be, it's a whole lot better than the hard labor they used to probably do. That lasted from dawn to dusk, by the way. Not your silly nine to five stuff."
"I've got to say though, they've really got pride in their work."
"It's probably because they have something they care about building." Tank said with a shrug.
"It's a couple of shacks and ditches." Dash replied, deadpan.
"What I meant was, they aren't building it for a king that they hate."
"Yeah, what he said." Continued Eravel, pointing to Tank.
Dash shook her head, a little annoyed at the lack of focus. "Alright!" She yelled, shutting them up. "Two flags, two bunkers. We're the ones with experience, so we'll go on a team with Thunderlane against you three." She held up the gun, as Jason tossed them some pellets and gas cans. "Gas goes here, magazine release is here. Twist the little thing at the bottom of the mag to reload."
"Is that how it works with real guns?" Morning asked, staring at her own.
"No." Jason said. "You've got thirty rounds in a gun like this, and then you have to put in a completely new mag. So keep that in mind when you're firing. That said, don't worry about wasting bullets here or with real guns too much. Obviously you shouldn't fire at everything, but shooting in the enemy's direction isn't a bad idea. It's called covering fire, let's you move around while their heads are down."
"Alright…" Eravel trailed off, slapping a mag into his gun and grinning. "Alright, I'm good."
"Oh yeah, Tank, Morning." Dash began, tossing them two different rifles. "You've got something to pull next to the trigger there."
"Ah, yeah. This'll do." Morning replied.
"Okay, then without further ado, get going!" Dash yelled, sprinting off just like the others.
Jason pushed his back against a tree, hearing pellets whistle past. He pivoted around the trunk, spraying out a few of his own before he was forced to return to his spot. In a way, he liked this a lot more than fighting with knives. Things seemed simpler, or at the very least more familiar.
He galloped to another tree, by this point only needing to delay. But then again, sitting behind a tree was no way to hold attention.
Jason shifted his wings back into their changeling form, giving the things a few testing flaps. It'd been a while since he'd had these, not to mention even being a full changeling. Somehow that made him feel a little depressed, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly why. If he had time he had been thinking about frolicking in some poison joke again. He missed his old body.
But this was neither the time nor the place, and Jason hopped into the air, drawing an upwards diagonal until he was just below the canopy. He opened fire, stopping to go sideways when Morning fired back. If these wings were good for one thing, it was changing direction. With regular wings it all had to be on a beat, but with these, well, the beats were so little time between that it didn't really matter. And they rotated better to boot.
Jason watched a projectile whiz past, not having spectacular luck hitting his opponents either. Dash appeared into the brush to one side, but was almost immediately discovered and kept under wraps. It was no longer the festival of easy surprises that things had been. They'd learned and gotten stronger, and checking their own backs and covering one another was hard-wired in by now.
Eravel went down from someone's gunfire, a talon to his chest as Thunderlane popped out of the brush to join in. Jason felt a pellet bounce off his arm and shook it painfully, realizing after a moment that he was supposed to act like it was real. He let himself spiral to the ground, landing on his good hooves and falling somewhat gracelessly onto his side. He was only on his own for a moment, watching what he could see over the tall grass before Thunderlane wrapped a hoof around Jason's chest and started dragging him backwards.
Jason grinned, pushing his gun into his shoulder with his good arm and beginning to fire again. He saw Dash in the distance, pushed up against a tree as she tried to catch her breath. She had a grin across her face, evidently enjoying what she was doing. Of course, none of them would like it as soon as real danger was factored in. Airsoft was a game, and no matter how much strategy could be applied, it wouldn't shape up to the real deal.
They would have to deal with combat they'd never really seen before, the disastrous possibilities of things like tunnel vision and stress. And finally, the fact that it was just them. More ponies could be trained, but none would have the same credentials for a long time. Steve and Hunter came to mind, but they were still somewhere in the griffin empire with Sartos. Honestly, Jason would rather have them stay there, if something else came up.
From what he got in the newspapers, they'd already put down a small insurrection and cleared up a supply route. If they had a job there, Jason wasn't about to pull them away from it.
Tank got hit by someone, presumably Dash, and Morning quickly tried to cover the pair.
"He's dead, I think." Thunderlane said, leaving Jason behind a tree and peeking out. "Yeah, headshot."
"Alright, I'd probably be safe from bleeding out, but obviously not too mobile. So just try to regroup with Dash before she gets hit." Jason said, gesturing for Thunderlane to leave, which he did after a moment. The pegasus took off, flying between a few spread branches and disappearing into the leaves.
He weaved around a few trunks, sure that he was all but invisible to those below. Yet almost immediately he heard one impact behind himself, followed by a few more. His heart rate soared, and he grinned. It thrilled him, in some crazy sort of way. He knew it shouldn't, but with the fact that he was already dodging around branches at high speeds he ended up with a grin spreading across his face.
Too bad he was totally afraid of the real deal. He hadn't been on this team for long, if it was even the same entity anymore, though he was honored to be a part of it even if for a little bit. But he'd seen what Jason's guns had done in Windforge especially. It was so instantaneous, so foreign to everything else he knew. The idea that you could just point and shoot something that killed ponies still seemed impossible, though obviously the evidence proved otherwise. And he'd only seen a few unrelated events. The central square was a bloodbath.
At least he was going to get one to shoot back with.
He dove through a gap, pulling his gun against his shoulder and firing like there was no tomorrow. Morning sidestepped his bullets, firing back her own. They were starting to get an idea of how to lead a target, and Thunderlane felt pellets just missing his hind legs. He wound up the magazine, hovering behind a tree as he caught his breath. Morning was still shooting at Dash, until her gun started making a different noise and then stopped altogether.
Thunderlane peeked out, watching her try to pull a gun from under Tank. Her head went sideways a second later, and she collapsed on top of Eravel.
"Dammit." Tank said, rising to his hooves. "You had to run out of ammo, huh?"
"Hey, you weren't a lot of help, getting shot like that."
"It's not like I'm a small target like you are." Tank countered, grinning.
Morning stopped for a moment to think of a comeback. It hadn't really been an insult, and it threw her off a little. "You know you'll have to do better than that later."
"I know." Tank replied, shrugging. "But then again, we're not fighting amongst ourselves. Those ponies could break under pressure, while we- most of us won't."
"That was good, all of you." Jason said, walking up. "Injuries?"
"One to my rear leg." Dash volunteered.
"Obviously one to my head." Tank replied. "And to Eravel's chest."
"Alright, so Morning ran out of ammo, which was a total of several hundred pellets. So let's see… You probably won't use that much to shoot a few ponies, on account of the fact that bullets travel a lot faster, but that many will pretty much destroy a barrel, I think. Point is, if the thing starts to glow, I had Ferris make barrel replacements. Just swap it out."
Jason picked up a gun and pointed to the end. "Some of you will have knives at the end called bayonets. That way you can stab things without needing to pull out a knife, and you have longer reach."
"So is it alright if I get something like what I have now?" Thunderlane asked, smiling as he held up his rifle.
"I can try." Jason replied, grinning back. "Now all of you, back out there! Three more rounds!"
Scootaloo sighed, looking away from Cherilee and out the window. Something clacked against the panes, and everyone lost whatever interest they had in learning. That wasn't too much, because Equestrian history was horribly devoid of anything interesting whatsoever. She was hardly even exaggerating. Several more taps rang out, and Scoots quickly located the source. Eravel was partially inside a bush, moving from side to side behind a tree as some other pony that she couldn't quite see shot at him.
She briefly recalled her parents talking about training with fake weapons today, but those looked real enough. Maybe those little things didn't kill anything, especially if they couldn't bust a window.
"Scootaloo!" Cherilee exclaimed. "What exactly is it that you find so interesting outside the window?"
The foal looked around, slightly annoyed that she had been singled out. "It's… uh… classified?" A few chuckles swirled around, as some more things tapped the glass.
"Oh? I'm sure you can share the generalities." The teacher replied, her tone the opposite of happy.
Scoots twiddled her hooves, not making eye contact. "Jason and Dash are over there training with Team Green Bean." She mumbled.
"Oh, and my brother!" Rumble exclaimed. "He's part of that now!"
The class let out an 'ooh' before they all flocked to the window. Cherilee frowned, but gave in. She couldn't say she wasn't interested.
"What are they training for?" The teacher asked.
Scoots shrugged. "I can't tell you." She paused. "But if it needs them, it can't be anything good."
"Darling, hold still!" Rarity exclaimed, shaking Jason a little until he stopped trying to move. "I had to make a lot of stuff up on the spot, and your old wedding specs only work to such a degree!" The mare giggled, pulling the body armor tight against Jason's chest. She moved on to his legs and strapped parts together there as well. The rest of them were already suited up, looking themselves over with admiration. Jason could see why, he already felt like a tank.
"This feels great, Rarity." He said, moving around a little before a whack to his flank made him still again. She began to move more pieces into place.
"It better, I've been up all night putting on the finishing touches and getting Thunderlane's together." She stood back and allowed her horn to lose its glow, watching Jason take a few steps away and stare at a hoof.
"You're sure this is bulletproof?" He asked, craning his head around to look at his backside.
"It's been tested ad nauseum, Jason."
"Then why do I have velcro on my chest and back?"
"Oh!" Rarity exclaimed, clopping her hooves together. "I figured it could be hard to carry things around, so I took the liberty of taking your guns and attaching patches to them." She grabbed an assault rifle out of the corner with her magic, floating it over and sticking it to Jason's chest. She held it there for a moment as she attached a sling, tightening that a little. "See?"
Jason jumped into the air, watching the gun stay on as he came down. Hopefully the velcro wouldn't wear out. "Yeah. Good thing this gun has a pretty flat side."
"I wouldn't expect it to stay on no matter what, darling." Rarity continued. "I'm no miracle worker."
"These are way better than I could've expected." Dash cut in. "I mean, I expected a few issues with stuff you've never used before, especially with the armor plates in here."
"Honestly, dear." Rarity shook her head. "It took weeks, and a lot of meetings with Ferris. The fact that it worked out at all was surprising. Especially for Eravel."
"Hey, come on. I've got a perfect body." Eravel responded from across the room, chuckling to himself.
"I guess we just need to get everyone familiar with their guns, and we'll be good to go." Dash murmured, staring at her hooves. She sighed.
"Assuming we have something to do." Jason reminded.
"Go!" Rarity exclaimed. "Walk around in them, do whatever it is you do! I need to know if there's anything to fix with them. Plus, despite all of the usability, you six look fairly dashing. Maybe there's hope for stylish war attire after all."
Jason raised an eyebrow, scratching at his mane before Dash pulled him away. "Race you to Sugarcube corner." She challenged, watching the disguised changeling float the gun away and follow her. Dash got out the door first, skidding along in the thin layer of powder that was only being augmented by the current light snowfall. She almost fell but saved herself, throwing a laugh backwards as Jason wasn't quite as lucky.
He pushed the snow off his face, still feeling warm as he took off again. Jason knew he was hopelessly behind by now, but he wanted to finish strong. Even if it was just a pointless race.
Snow slid from his armor as he raced by the towns ponies, enjoying the fact that it felt a lot lighter than he'd expected. It was heavy, but still lighter than the metal of the Royal Guard. Nothing like his changeling plates though, but those would never take a bullet. He figured that they might even shatter and make things worse.
Though, to be realistic, if he was hit in the vest or elsewhere, it would hurt a lot less to crack his armor than to bruise. Ben had sent him a picture once that he didn't fancy bringing up in his mind. Oh, too late. There it was. Ew.
Jason skidded to a less than majestic stop, looking up at a boastful Dash. She held the door open to Sugarcube corner, gesturing for him to enter beforehand. He shook his head, giving her a small kiss as he walked past.
Scoots waved to them from a table with the rest of the crusaders, several cupcakes already set around the table. "You look awesome!" She exclaimed, as Applebloom nodded.
Dash looked at herself once again and giggled, pulling out a chair. Jason followed suit, tilting backwards in his own. "So how was school, you four?" He asked.
"We saw you training outside!" Sweetie exclaimed, pushing her chair backwards a few feet and striking a pose. "They were all like 'pew pew pew'," she began, acting like she was holding a gun. "And some pony else was shooting back, and it was so much better than Cherilee's lesson."
"Dammit, I told them to make sure they were far away…" Jason mumbled.
"Eh, those things weren't that bad."
"Yeah, but it's the principles, Dash. The principle-" The door burst open, and Twilight rushed inside.
"You seen today's paper?" She asked, clearly freaking out.
"No. I never read the paper, Twilight!" Dash laughed, elbowing Jason. "But this guy, on the other hand."
"Hasn't had the time." Jason finished, elbowing her back.
Twilight let out a huff, before she slapped the thing onto the table. "I- This isn't a joke!"
Jason looked at her and sobered, grabbing the newspaper with his hooves. He felt a rock seem to appear in his gut as he cracked the thing flat and turned it over. The headline made his blood run cold.
Explosion in Manehattan! Princess Luna Missing
"Oh god." Dash whispered. "This can't be real…"
"Hold on, I'll read it." Jason choked out.
Last night, an unknown noise awoke Manehattan citizens, as an old building toppled to the ground. It is believed, though not confirmed, that Princess Luna was conducting military operations inside when the explosion went off. Three Royal Guards have been found dead, and many more are suspected to be in the wreckage. Princess Celestia made a brief statement yesterday, on a brief stay with her sister when the event occurred. "All I can say is that I hope the perpetrators get theirs. And I hope that it's much worse that what we've taken."
Celestia could not be reached for further comment, and our reporters found it a bad idea to approach her.
Authorities are unsure where the explosives came from, as the only ponies that know how to make gunpowder and related explosives are located in Ponyville. Though they must be regarded as suspects, it seems more logical to assume that the recipe was separately discovered, because most all of them have obvious alibis. It must be considered, however, that within Ferris's blacksmithing operation some leakage of ideas could have occurred to new or fired employees.
It is far more shocking, however, to think of a new enemy. Equestria has already fought off the griffin menace, and the idea of something so close to home is worrying to say the least. If this is a new threat, far more shocking is its command over technologies that most ponies cannot even begin to create any for themselves. Some progress has been made with recent advances, but nothing that would imply such results, so to speak. However, alien technology continues to appear without end, and could be used to reverse engineer whatever was used. It could also be possible that it was used as found.
Princess Luna, however, has not been found in the wreckage. This means little, as there are numerous guards that have not been found as well, and much rubble remains. Though our hearts go out to those that lost their lives today and those that we hope are still living, previous veterans have began to band together once again, and have joined into the wreck full force.
It is a chilling thought to think that Luna will no longer be there to move the moon, and one idea many here at the Gazette refuse to believe. Until proof surfaces of her death or any national heroes' involvement, we will go on believing in what we know is right. We can only hope that our faith stands the test of time, and that Equestria's reaction to this problem is as swift as ever. Team Green Bean's active training recently should mean that if they are pulled in, they'll be ready.
In trying times like these, Manehattan needs something they can put their might behind. We can only hope that the might of the most populous city in Equestria is enough to eliminate these threats.
Jason set down the newspaper, his eyes wide. He stared at Dash, who stared back. Minutes went by before one of them spoke. "Ex- Explosives." Dash said. "They have explosives."
"And-" Jason put his head in his hooves. "Luna, oh my god!" He pushed back any grief, feeling the room turn sour with the sudden twist in emotions. "I swear to god." Jason said calmly, rage replacing his sadness. "If she turns out to have died, I'm going to make Bob regret even living. Hell, if I get the chance, I'll do it no matter what." He looked away, standing up and pushing the chair back a few feet. He paced around, mumbling. "Forty fucking ponies in that building."
Dash stared off into space, brushing her hooves together in thought. Twilight looked away, feeling guilty for being the bearer of such news.
"You know what?" Dash asked, not waiting for an answer. "This changes nothing. We'll get the team together, and we'll kick some ass. We'll just be a little more motivated to do it."
Jason stopped pacing, turning towards her with eyes full of angry tears. He walked over and wrapped her in his arms, trying to muffle himself as he let out angry sobs into her shoulder. A little of his rage disappeared, and he lost the urge to kick a table through the window. Dash stroked his back, waiting for him to get his emotions under control. She knew that it tended to be a lot harder for him when everypony was feeling the same and he got a constant reminder. Or so it seemed. They still knew next to nothing about what being a changeling meant.
Jason had dissolved into whimpers and occasional sobs, but Dash couldn't blame him. She felt like joining in anyway.
But as time went on, she felt the shock and anger wear off, replaced by blank feelings. She didn't really feel much of anything else, besides a drive to kill Bob. It felt like busywork that she had to complete, and she was done feeling things towards it. She was tired of the feelings, and she could tell that Jason was too.
A pony coughed, opening his eyes to the total darkness that surrounded him. His wings twitched, pain flowing through the entirety of his left side. He could tell the wing had been broken; it hurt the same way it had the last time he'd broken it, and he knew he'd just re-broke the same part.
His hoof slithered up his forehead as his wing twitched again, an involuntary whimper leaving his mouth as it brushed over a particularly painful lump. He hurt all over, both in the sense that his muscles were already sore and that the bruises and cuts just added to it.
A light clicked on as his hoof touched the little battery powered bulb on his forehead, clicking it into an on position. His eyes burned for a moment, refusing to adjust to the dim light. Eventually he found he was able to open his eyes correctly, and peered around the igloo of debris. He almost began to scream and try to dig his way out, sudden claustrophobia setting in that he hadn't known he'd had. Somehow the logical part of his brain won out and he kept silent, worried that the sound could detach a keystone somewhere in the ceiling.
He heard the sound of breathing that was not his own, and looked around for the source. Oddly enough, he couldn't find it, and suddenly the idea that he was dreaming seemed a logical conclusion. Of course, he'd never been in this much pain in a dream, or any, really. But some part of him wanted to be able to wake up.
The sound voiced itself again, a pile of rubble shifting as little pieces of debris rolled off of what he assumed was a pony. His mind suddenly leapt for joy at the thought of companionship, and he rushed to clear the pony of the chunks of the demolished building.
As he cleared away a slice and navy blue fur came into view, however, he suddenly felt relief wash over himself. He couldn't really figure out why a blue pony would have anything to do with his emotions, though. He knew that this place had fallen down atop them, but the things before that just seemed so…hazy.
He had uncovered most of the large pony by now, clearing off her cheek and picking her head up from the ground. She was a rather beautiful pony, though he couldn't seem to get over the fact that she had wings and a horn. Come to think of it, why did he have this light? And how had he known how to turn it on? He assumed it was from muscle memory, but he hardly even knew why such a thing would be needed.
There was also the fact that he was wearing armor, so he must have been a soldier of some sort. But his wing, the broken one. He knew it had been broken before, but he wasn't sure how or why. Had it been? Why couldn't he remember a thing?
The pony shifted, and he carefully swept across her eyelids with his hoof to keep her from getting any concrete in her eyes. She didn't wake up though, and a wave of nervousness washed over him. Was this some version of Tartarus? Was he forever stuck in this place just to make him feel lonely and confused at the meaning of his purpose, with companionship so tantalizingly close? Or was he just destined to go insane as this lamp went out and he became trapped in the darkness with no concept of passing time?
He began clearing the floor, finding smooth concrete a few inches below. He needed to get out of here.
Time passed, he wasn't sure how long. The pony was still sleeping comfortably, or not, but he hoped she was. He'd pushed all the debris on the floor into a corner, becoming increasingly worried as his light flickered. He quickly found a hatch and pulled, thanking… he had trouble finding a target. He felt cool air wash over him as he stared downwards. The light only illuminated a few stairs of the passage before it became black. He wanted to escape, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to go down there.
The blue mare moved again and he looked over excitedly, realizing a second later that she'd just shifted in her sleep. Maybe if he got her out of here, she would revive? It seemed a better idea than waiting for his light to run out, so he found some cabling and tied his wing to a length of splintered wood, another thing that he know how to do, yet could not figure out why. It was almost instinctual, and it creeped him out.
He pulled his companion onto his back, his muscles aching and protesting at her weight. His teeth gritted from pain and exertion, he took a step down the stairs, followed by another shaky one shortly after. The pair descended through the passage, their light disappearing as they moved away.
____________________________________________
Jason let his hoof dangle off the side of the balcony he had enjoyed with Dash just a few days prior. A cold wind blew, and he let it swing. Snow continued to fall, but he didn't care. It just turned into steam as soon as it touched his fur anyway.
"Here you go, Jason." Dash said, laying down beside him as she passed him a beer. She looked out over the midday landscape, taking a cookie from a plate before she set that down and a mug of cider replaced the sweets in her hoof.
"Thanks." Jason replied, raising it slightly in a sort of acknowledgment before he took a swig. God, sometimes he wished he knew how drunk he could get without risking too many brain cells. It was just one of those days, he supposed.
No one had taken the news well, besides Eravel. Even Thunderlane, with what Jason assumed were annoyances with some mare was still more than a little put off by the idea.
To that point, he kinda wondered what went on inside Eravel's head sometimes. That guy always seemed so ready for combat, but he didn't seem to like fighting itself… And then there was Applejack, who seemed to show enough interest in the guy. They were fast friends, but Jason couldn't really tell if she had a thing for him. To be honest, it was a stretch, and more than a little doubtful. Eravel, with how he acted about the other sex seemed to have no idea in actuality, or maybe he just cared about the fact that she was a pony. He liked to think that he just didn't know.
Jason shook his head, feeling Dash lay down against his side. Warmth moved between the two of them, but neither said a word. They were too busy thinking, making sure that before they left Ponyville they would have everything they needed. Jason had slapped together a walkie-talkie system almost a month ago, but it still didn't work well enough. Now he really needed to get it to work, but he didn't have enough power or the expectation that it would work in the first place.
Jason let his head rest on the cloud, taking a half-hearted swig of beer. Dash let her own head rest atop his, giggling a little when Jason let out a small sigh of annoyance.
"You ever think about what'll happen if we don't get this done in time?" She asked, a serious tone returning to her voice. "What'll we do if I do the whole heat thing and we're still fighting?"
Jason let out a long breath. "What's it like to be in heat?" He asked eventually.
"To give you the clean version," she began, "it's like being really hungry, and there's food just all around you, and it smells delicious. Usually you're not allowed to eat any of it."
"I knew that much." He replied. "I meant, how hard is it to control? I'm not suggesting we continue, but if we're going to have a kid, I just…I want it to be something romantic, I guess. I don't want to just have some lustful display."
Dash sighed. "It used to be pretty bad, I guess. Like, when I first got it. That really sucked, because I didn't have anypony to help me through it, with support and stuff I mean, besides Fluttershy. 'Course, she didn't go into heat until the next year even though she's a little older, so she wasn't much help." She paused. "I guess it's not terrible. I'm not driven insane with lust or accidentally getting pregnant every time I have it, so I guess that means something. But the food analogy is still there."
"So it's like a worse version of being a teenage boy." Jason replied with a chuckle.
"Huh?" Dash asked, lifting her head from his. "Males go into heat?"
Jason chuckled and shook his head. "I was just making a joke."
"Yeah, but…"
"Cuz teenagers are constantly thinking about sex…" He tried again. "What the hell do stallions do all day around here!?" He asked in annoyance.
"Well I mean, they get pretty hyped up around heat week." She shrugged. "Other than that, they're pretty mellow. Everypony's pretty mellow, really. I mean, I guess I know where you're coming from, but they're not notorious or anything. I'm probably an exception, to a certain extent. But then again, I only really got a drive after I met you."
Jason stared. He blinked, and continued to stare. "I-" He trailed off, furrowing his brow. "You're pulling my leg."
Dash stared back, and he knew that she wasn't.
"You- I don't even-" He cocked his head to one side, and Dash laughed. "Back where I come from, I specifically remember the whole teenager thing. Like, because whenever my thoughts wandered they'd always go straight to sex. I thought it was just general, but maybe it's a seasonal type thing considering the fact that you have a heat cycle. Then again, some of you get another in fall, so maybe you're starting to develop the same way humans are…" He paused. "How is this, with magic and all, the thing that I'm having the hardest time understanding?"
"Because you've got the brain of a horny little male human?"
Jason smirked, leaning in against her cheek and catching sight of lavender in the doorway which- He jumped more than he'd ever in his life, letting out a yelp as he fell off the balcony.
"Oh, hey Twilight…" Dash began, staring at the mare after Jason caught himself with his wings. "Why are you in my house?"
The mare got a moment to get her words together as Jason landed again, glaring at her with a look that could wither plants. Twilight let out a nervous laugh, though Jason was pretty sure she'd heard the tail end of what they were saying.
"You wouldn't answer your door." She said, as Dash peered over the side of the cloud at the ground far below.
"How did you get to our door?" Dash asked, looking back at her.
"I just teleported to a lower cloud with the cloud walking spell and worked my way up." She replied. "And, when you said-"
"So why are you here?" Jason asked in response, making sure to cut her off.
"Well, I know you're going back to fighting and all," she mumbled, dragging her hoof in circles on the cloud. "and I want to help."
"But-" Jason began.
"No, listen to me!" Twilight hollered, taking a step back to watch the two react. After they seemed to accept her remark, though not without annoyance, she continued. "I know what stuff you still need, and I know I can't do much when it comes to hoof to hoof and close quarters. But I can watch the command center, and I know the stuff you're trying to do with the communication thingies. I can provide the power with my magic, and-" She paused, pulling up a hoof to stare at something she'd written there.
"And I can track you people on a map and tell you information about the area and protect Scootaloo." Twilight finished, looking between the two of them.
She had a convincing argument, and Dash and Jason seemed to settle it with a quick look between them and an exchange of emotions.
"Alright, fine." Dash said, Twilight sighed in relief. "But you better get some idea of how to fight things hoof to hoof, Twilight." She continued. "If the guy we're fighting proved anything, it's that you might not always have magic. So talk to Eravel, I guess. I doubt he's doing anything."
"Oh!" Jason exclaimed. "And ask Ferris for a pistol. Tell him Jason or Dash sent you."
"This isn't going to be like anything we've done before, Twilight." Dash said, drawing the mare's attention. "The nightmare debacle was the closest, and realistically things are a lot different, and a lot more dangerous. Chief among those problems is the fact that we knew what Jason could do when he was possessed, and we still know nothing about Bob, and very little about Chrysalis."
"Who's Bob?" Twilight asked.
"That's the name we came up with for the pony that tortured Jason." Dash replied. "We'll fill you in on everything when we leave, alright? We're looking at tomorrow night."
"Pack light, and don't hold us back." Jason said, waiting for her to nod. "And I want you to know that we'll be the ones doling out orders. I don't care that you're the princess's personal student, and you better not dispute what we tell you to do. I told the others a long time ago that I didn't expect any lone wolf shit from them, and I expect the same out of you."
Twilight gulped, nodding again. She turned and walked back through the cloud house, a sinking feeling in her gut seeming to inform her that in a way, she hadn't ended up with what she wanted. Her mind had been clear up until now, but with the way they were talking about things, she felt a little scared. She'd wanted to enter into this operation for two reasons, and one of them had been to know what was going on. Now that she knew how little there was, though, she wasn't sure she wanted to fight it.
The lavender mare stared over the side of Dash's front yard, looking at a cloud below. She focused the energy in her horn, blinking out of existence and reappearing down below. Twilight repeated the process a few more times, sighing gratefully as she felt dirt against her hooves once again. Clouds always made her nervous, especially with the fact that there was a timer on her spell.
Twilight shook her head, beyond trying to figure out how she felt. She could care less about her stupid emotions. Or, at least, she wished she could. It wasn't as if she could just get them to go away. If she could just find a spell to repress them while she was trying to make decisions under pressure, that'd be great.
But Jason had summed up that fairly well. There were things that magic just couldn't do. So here she was, in front of the house of a griffin that still scared her a little, though she would never admit it.
She stared at the door, eventually drawing up a hoof to knock. It opened a few seconds later, and Twilight's stare got deeper. Eravel looked her over, the smell of alcohol meeting Twilight's nose and making her pull back slightly in discomfort.
"What brings a pretty little lady like you to my house?" He asked, leaning heavily against the doorjamb. Eravel seemed to be handling his alcohol fairly well.
"Are you drunk?" She asked, peering past him to look at a table with it's fair share of beer bottles scattered about. "How much have you ingested?!"
"Ah, that's not drunk for griffins." He replied, and from what she heard of his speech patterns, it seemed to be fairly correct.
"So you're just going to drink your problems away?" She asked, quickly adding, "And Jason sent me here to learn a little hoof to hoof. I'm coming along."
Eravel's eyes grew a little wider before they returned to normal, only noticeable because of the fact that she'd been looking straight into them. The yellow of his irises scared her a little, though she couldn't be sure as to why. He gestured for her to follow him and she did, closing the door behind herself.
"I guess you're new to the whole fighting thing." He said, turning around and taking a swig of beer. "You never forget any of it, until you're intoxicated past a certain point." Eravel took another gulp. "And I'm hoping to get there."
"Why?" Twilight asked, immediately regretting her curiosity.
"Because maybe it's what I want to do with my night." He replied cooly, setting down the bottle with a thud on his coffee table. "Now, you gonna annoy me all night or are we going to do some fighting?" He pushed a chair out of the way, and Twilight suddenly realized how empty the room was. There was literally a table, a chair and an ottoman, nothing else.
"Is this really the best place?" She asked, feeling worried.
"No, probably not." Eravel replied, but he didn't move. "It's not like you're going to get to choose where you fight."
"But-" A talon fist bumped into her cheek, knocking her head sideways. Twilight toppled over, and Eravel brought himself back to his normal height.
"That was pathetic." He declared.
"We didn't even start!" Twilight screamed, holding a hoof to her cheek.
She felt Eravel's arms around her as he picked her up, placing her back on her hooves. "Who's going to tell you that they're starting before they punch you?" He asked, and she gave him a stare that could kill. "Come on, at least look like you're going to throw a punch."
"I don't-" She thought about how Dash and Jason appeared, and spread her stance. She looked down at her hooves, spreading them a little more, then a little less. She wasn't sure how she wanted-
Twilght toppled back to the ground, clutching at the same cheek. Eravel sighed, walking out of the room. Twilight nursed her cheek, seriously rethinking her idea of getting involved. The griffin walked back inside, pulling her back to her hooves roughly.
"Look, I'm going to go easy on you." He said, showing off his talons. He'd wrapped gauze around the knuckles, but shortly after he'd made sure she'd seen that, he opened one of his fists, revealing two sets of three loops, in line. "My fists do a lot less damage than a hoof, realistically. These brass knuckles are for making sure that they do a little extra." He paused. "Guess what, Twilight, if you don't learn to block a punch now, you'll be paying for it with a lot more than a couple little bruises. Imagine if I had a knife, for instance. These metal knuckles are a lot like a hoof as well, really." He watched the mare shudder a little, squaring her stance with a determined look on her face.
"Go ahead." She said, egging him on. At least she had some courage.
Eravel tossed away the knuckles and swept his arm to one side of her, a blow that she easily blocked with an awkward hoof movement. Of course, it was supposed to be blocked. His other talon quickly balled into a fist and hit her right in the gut. She staggered back, gasping for air as Eravel pulled the gauze on his talons a little tighter. "Better." He said, and watched her give a slight grin. "Still not good enough."
A fist went straight for her face, and everything went black.
"Alright, everyone got the mechanics of guns down?" Jason asked, making sure he was heard. "Check that they're turned to semi-auto. One shot, go!"
Several bangs went off, and the ponies turned to look back at Jason. He was almost surprised that things had gone well. "Everyone get a round off?" He asked, receiving several nods as Thunderlane and Evening stopped to rub at their shoulders. Tank and Dash followed suit, and Jason gave them the momentary pause. "Now how much fun was that?"
"Ha!" Tank laughed. "Figures you'd ask that! It was great!"
"Well, in a way it also sucked, because only two of you got anywhere near the target." He shook his head, chuckling. "We may have to go our separate ways, Dash."
"Hey, I can fire a god damned pistol!" She retorted, shouldering the gun again and firing off a round. Jason watched a neat little hole appear in the black of her target.
"Eh, close enough." Jason put a few tallies down on a clipboard.
"Dad! Dad!" Scoots yelled, skidding up in her scooter with her friends in the wagon close behind. "Whatcha doin'? I can hear ya all the way back- " She gasped, staring at the ponies on the firing line. "Are those guns?!"
"Yeah." Jason responded, opening his mouth to continue before the kids cut him off.
"Oh!" Sweetie exclaimed. "Can I try?! Please? I asked for one for Hearth's Warming but Rarity said no and laughed." She crossed her arms and pouted.
Jason looked warily at the guns he'd leaned up against the fence they were firing from, and walked over to grab one. "Tell you what, go get eye protection, like thick glasses or goggles, and I'll let you shoot a few." Jason said, watching them sprint off.
"Jason, have you gone mad?!" Dash nearly screamed, taking a few steps towards him.
"Dash, this is a twenty-two." He replied. "No recoil, and even if you got shot through the eye you could still end up surviving. It's barely even a gun."
"Fine, but nothing bigger, okay?"
"Trust me, I'm giving them a full course before they even fire this thing." Jason replied, chuckling. "Fire two! Set… Go!"
Water splashed against Twilight's face and she awoke, spluttering as she quickly sat up.
"You okay?" Eravel asked, warily watching her as he sat back down in his armchair.
Twilight didn't know how to respond. Her head ached, and they'd barely started. "I hurt."
"Well, not to sound like a dick, but get over it. From what I've heard and seen of you, you haven't really done too much…" Twilight huffed, and Eravel held up a talon. "…in the physical sense. All of your power, everything you have, is right here." He pointed to his forehead.
"Maybe that's how I like it!" She retorted, her horn flaring and pushing some of the water from her fur.
"I can guarantee that you won't get it that way." He replied, shaking his head. "You've become pretty well known, over these past few years. I wasn't here to see any of it, but I know what you've done. I know how you tend to work, and I know what stuff you're good at. You're logical, unpredictable only until someone finds the pattern you operate under. You're smart, and you're powerful, but unless you vary yourself you're kind of a sitting duck."
Twilight hung her head. Her mind ran through the implications of what he was saying, knowing that in a lot of ways, he was right. She made lists of almost everything, and took on every problem the same way, if she could. It made her incredibly efficient, and she knew she was hardworking and determined, but unpredictability wasn't her strong suit.
"You know what sucks about ponies?" Eravel asked, and Twilight assumed it was a rhetorical question. "You've got a big picture of exactly what you're good at. But at the same time, I've talked to Jason about hu- griffins," he corrected, cringing a little, "and if you replaced every pony with a griffin, hell, even a pony with no mark, it'd be a lot harder to pinpoint things about you."
"I guess you're right…" She said, looking away. Twilight pushed out any thought of Jason and whatever he was saying about humans. That was something for another day.
"Take Jason, for example. He's done stuff, learned spells, seemingly at random. His skill set is transposed from one world onto another, and I know you all see some of the things he does as weird. He's also got no mark. Problem is, he's got a kid and Dash. Dash is much the same way, only she's got her stuff from… completely different things in the same world, but you know what I mean."
He sighed. "But you know, I'm probably selling you short. You're smart, probably more than me, and it'd be a great help to have you along. Then there's the knowledge base that you have…" He arose, offering her a talon, which she took. "Now, the sooner you protect yourself, the sooner we can call it quits and get Jason to fix you up. It's not the last time we'll be doing this, though."
"You know what?" She asked, giving a little grin of her own. "No pain, no gain, right? It's just another way to get smarter."
"If you want to think of it that way, sure." Eravel replied, as they got set. Twilight threw an unexpected punch at his face, which he deflected with a laugh.
"Oh, I think I'm liking the idea of having you come along."
Eravel threw a clay pigeon into the air, and it blew into a million pieces as Jason hit the target with buckshot.
"Well, I told her to take a break from it and she fell asleep a few minutes later, but I can't say she isn't catching on. I mean, she's not good, and she'll need more practice…" He took the shotgun from Jason as he handed it over. "Pull." He watched the disk sail into the sky as Jason threw it, blowing apart a moment later. "But you know."
"How's she look?" Jason asked, almost not wanting to hear the response.
"She's swollen." Eravel said. "I'm sure she was having trouble seeing out of her eye."
"I guess I'll have to fix her up then." Jason replied, looking back towards Eravel's house. It meant something that she'd gone on for that long, at least. "Looks like she got a few hits on you." He laughed, pointing at the griffin's bruised cheek with a hoof. Eravel sighed with a chuckle, looking up at the sunset again. "I was drinking."
"That's your excuse?!" Jason guffawed, watching Eravel stare angrily. "You can probably drink any pony so far under the table that they die, and you're complaining about a few beers?"
"I- You know what? Of course she got a hit in. I was the one teaching her, after all."
"Oh, so now you're just going to take that argument, huh?"
"Yeah, blueberries."
Jason stopped. "I told you not to call me that."
"I dunno, it has a nice ring to it. Blueberries."
"I had that color setup for one fucking-" He put a hoof to his forehead, sighing.
Eravel opened his beak to reply, but a moan of pain from the house silenced them. Jason cringed in advance, walking back with the griffin. It wasn't without reason.
"Holy shit, did you try to block a train with your face!?" Jason exclaimed, staring at the mare, sprawled out across an ottoman. She mumbled something that Jason couldn't hear, but he figured it was either a sarcastic remark or a declaration of pain. The fact that her fur was purple at least made things seem slightly less bad.
"Just hold still, alright?" Jason asked, receiving a slight nod as Twilight closed the one eye he could see. Jason's horn glowed, and he shut his eyes as well, concentrating and formulating the magic in his head.
"You know, ponies swell a lot more than griffins do." He heard Eravel say, before his ears seemed to shut out all the sound, focusing completely on Twilight. He went through bruise after bruise, working in the same way he always did. The right side of her face went back to normal, followed by the left as Jason worked across. He checked the rest of her over, fixing a ding here and there, sometimes a cut or two. All and all, it had looked a lot worse than it was. Jason opened his eyes, looking at a mare that was nearly back to normal, minus a small scar to the far side of one eye. He staggered to one side, but Eravel held him upright.
She put a hoof to her face, wincing backwards as it touched, yet feeling no pain. Twilight stared at her hoof for a moment before she rolled off the ottoman, groaning in pain. "Jason, I know you fixed me up and all, but I'm- I'm still sore."
"Yeah. I'm not a miracle worker, I can't make you build muscles. By getting rid of the soreness, your body thinks that everything's fine as it is, when obviously it's not. If things get hairy, I'll heal you. But we've got a day, maybe more, that you can use. Plus, trying to fight when you're sore will just make you learn faster. Trial by fire and all that."
Twilight stuck a hoof out, poking Jason in the chest. "You aren't a hard-ass like this normally." She said, narrowing her eyes.
"Yeah, but I'm not your friend anymore. I'm your boss, and you're a mare that I've tasked with defending my daughter." He replied, taking a step forward to take advantage of the couple of inches he had on her. He felt kinda like a jerk doing this, but if she was going to do this, this close to when they needed to leave and fight, he couldn't take any shit whatsoever. That being said, she'd done this voluntarily, and she seemed to be holding up alright so far.
Something moved behind Twilight and Eravel groaned, diving across the room and just missing what Jason assumed was a rodent. "That little fucker, sitting around here, acting like he pays rent." He mumbled, trying to figure out where the thing had gone.
"Eravel, I can fix this, easy." Jason said with a grin, walking into the kitchen. He grabbed some bread, hearing a knock at the door. Someone answered it, and Dash's voice filtered through.
"I'm assuming Jason healed you?" The pegasus asked, and Twilight hummed to the affirmative. He heard hoof steps approach, and Dash gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, which Jason returned with a grin. "Don't be too hard on her." She whispered, taking a glance at the lavender mare, clearly stiff as she walked back into the other room.
"It's better now than later." Jason replied, taking his blob of bread into the other room with Dash close behind. "Where's Scoots at?"
"I told her to pack, and that we'd go through her stuff later if she ended up bringing too much. Honestly though, I don't think she has that much stuff anyway. She's a cheap kid to have around."
"Bread?" Eravel asked, watching Jason set it on the far end of the room.
"Yeah." Jason replied. "I'm fixing your rat problem."
"Look, I have a trap right here…" He trailed off, holding up a rat trap in his talon.
"I don't need that." Jason replied, watching the bread as they huddled behind the meager furniture, watching the bread intently. "Besides, it's a good introduction to everything Twilight doesn't know." The mare's ears perked, and she looked over.
"Like what?"
"Well for one, you've got no idea the limitations of the things a hive mind can do. I can't remember what you know, so here's the whole story. I have one, and every changeling has one. Chrysalis's is much stronger, so she can both connect to other changelings and control them. All I've got is a few shared dreams with Dash, and the fact that she can tell what my emotions are…"
"And the magic."
"Ah, yeah. Dash can do that."
"Huh?" Twilight asked, furrowing her brow. "No way, that's impossible."
"Is it, Twilight?" Dash asked with a cocky grin, floating over a beer bottle in her white aura. It spun around in front of the slack-jawed mare's face, until the pegasus grabbed it with a hoof and set it back on the coffee table.
"Ah! Jason!" Eravel yelled, pointing to the bread again. The rat stared at the group for a moment before it picked up the bread and ran a few strides, stopping suddenly in its tracks.
"Ha, gotcha." Jason said, letting out a quick huff of breath. The vermin walked over, staring at them. Jason stuck a hoof in front of it and it hopped on, staying still on Jason's forearm as he raised it up for the others to see. "S-still got it." He stammered. "Now let me show you how you take care of a rat the fun way."
"Pull!" Jason yelled, watching Dash chick it as he blew the thing right out of the sky.
Eravel tapped him on the shoulder, pointing to a cage. "So, what are we doing with it?"
"I dunno, if you don't want it then stick a rat trap by the entrance and leave. That's pretty humane. So long as we aren't squishing it or anything…"
"You think Fluttershy would care, before I kill the little sucker?" He asked.
The changeling shook his head. "I dunno. To be honest, I don't really know Fluttershy too well anyway."
"Alright, I'll go get the trap…" Eravel murmured, turning to walk back inside. He peered out a few moments later. "Twilight, come on! We've got training to do, and no time to do it!"
"But I-" She mumbled, looking up at the stars and back down. "I just-" The mare looked down, dejected, and began to wander inside.
"Twilight, stop." Jason interjected, mentally berating himself for giving the mare a break. It wasn't that he held a grudge or anything, but Eravel had the right idea. They didn't have time, and he was right to push her. "Look, just… three hours more, alright?" He asked Eravel, catching sight of Dash's approving grin. "Make sure you don't go too hard on her, because I want her to stay at our place for the night."
"Huh?!" Dash and Twilight responded, staring at one another as they realized that they'd echoed.
"I need to make sure you know what you're doing before we leave, and it's a good break from getting repeatedly punched in the face." His expression lightened. "Besides, you'll pass out on a cloud floor instantly. You'll be more rested in the morning."
"I guess maybe you do have a heart." Twilight cooed, and Jason chuckled.
"Don't tempt me."
"So, everything's good?" Dash asked, gesturing around to everyone, receiving several nods in response. "Cool, cuz I could use a little relaxation before we have to do whatever later tonight." She said, jumping into the air and hovering in place. "It's gonna be a cold one tonight."
"In a way, I kinda miss feeling cold." Jason said, floating up to her level.
"Yeah, because it's so terrible being a beacon of heat all the time."
"Hey, Summer hasn't come around yet. You'll hate me then." Jason shot back, hearing a chuckle from Eravel as they left the two down below.
"Yeah, or I might just end up warm enough to sleep without blankets. I always got just a little too cold before."
Jason grinned, toasting an imaginary alcoholic beverage at her. "To Summer." He said. They both understood the unspoken words behind his gesture. It wasn't a toast to a season, so much as the hope that they'd both be there when it came around. Dash returned the motion, opening her mouth to reply.
"Jason, come here!" Dash yelled, looking at a pile of gun parts on the ground. "I don't know how to put it back!"
"You'll get it eventually." He replied, and the mare gritted her teeth.
"Alright…" She growled, "Attempt ninety-four." Jason peered in, looking at the parts that were spread out across a towel.
"You know you're going to need this later." He said, watching her as she slid things into place.
"I can do anything with my pistol, I'm not sure why I can't just dramatically throw this away when it stops working and pull out a new one." Dash replied, briefly wiping off the barrel with a rag before she set it aside.
"I'd love to go in there all matrix style, you know, but I'm lazy, and carrying more than two guns seems a little ridiculous."
"But there'd be no reloading." Dash pointed out. "Makes me jealous of Tank with his ammo belts."
"Hey, two hundred rounds doesn't take a long time to fire, when he's the one trying to cover us. Plus, those things are way heavier than I thought they'd be, considering there's not much metal involved. Just the connectors, I think."
"Yeah, well-"
"Jason!" Scoots yelled from downstairs. "Are you coming back?!"
"Just a second!!" Jason hollered back, shaking his head as he returned his attention to Dash.
"What have you got going with her?" She asked, some of her annoyance left behind.
"She's got some school stuff to do, on some book. The kid wants my help, for whatever that's worth." He paused. "I mean, she chose a human book, but still."
"She's doing a remarkably good job keeping the whole thing secret." Dash noted.
Jason scratched his chin, leaning against the doorframe. "She kept the whole orphan thing under wraps pretty well too."
Dash didn't respond immediately, the clinking of metal the only sound. "I suppose you're right. It makes me happy to think that she got us. At least, for whatever we're worth." She let her head droop a little, and Jason walked over, sitting against the bed next to her.
"You know that we're not bad parents." He said.
"Yeah, but I want her to have a childhood where she doesn't have to worry about us. I want her cutie mark to be her biggest concern, like back when she started crusading. When she was my biggest fan and all that, I liked the attention--you know me--but I also liked the idea of being a role model. It was like what the Wonderbolts were to me, I was to her. I kinda lost the good intentions there sometimes, but now that I'm completely responsible for her, I just feel a little…" She twirled her hoof, trying to come up with the right word.
"Overwhelmed?" Jason tried, but she shook her head. "Scared?"
"Yeah. Like I'm not going to be what she needs from me. I can be a role model any day, but a mentor? A teacher? I just don't know."
"Jason!" Scoots yelled again.
"Just a minute!" His voice lowered. "I'm pretty sure this just proves the fact that you know what you're doing. Bad mothers don't question themselves." Maybe that wasn't true, but it sounded good the way it was.
"There's no way that's true." Dash said. Dammit.
"You're not a bad parent. You're smart. I'm smart, I think. Our kid looks to us, admires us, and we provide better than a lot of ponies could, especially under the circumstances." He paused. "I didn't just go along with having kids because it means romantic sex," he put a hoof to his chest. "which I love, but because I knew we could rear an awesome goddamn kid. They say that parents work their asses off to make life better for their kids, and I think we'll have succeeded at that by about a million times."
"Maybe a million and one." Dash replied, wrapping a greasy hoof around his neck as she leaned over to peck him on the cheek. "You better come up some crazy way to make a baby romantically," she whispered into his ear, "because as soon as that week hits, you know I won't be putting up with that."
Jason got up with a chuckle, giving her a small kiss back. "How am I supposed to concentrate on a book when you say these things?"
"You'll get it eventually." She said, grinning as Jason let out a groan.
"Using my own words against me." He muttered, turning to leave. He shot back a glance. "You win this round, Rainbow."
"Alright, where were we, Scoots?" Jason asked, watching the foal labor over a piece of paper at the coffee table.
"Why did I pick such a long book?" She whined, looking up with tired eyes. "I just want to go to bed!"
Jason let himself collapse onto the couch. "Well, you're finding themes and such, because apparently prompts don't even change on other planets, so you can just do anything you want."
"But-"
"The trouble, Scoots, is backing up your theme. You can call anything you want one, but you'll only make a good essay if you can be clever about how you argue your point, so to speak." She handed him her book, which he turned over in his hooves.
Jason grinned. "Lord of the Flies! I loved this one!"
"Yeah, it was in the bookshelf, so I grabbed it." Scoots replied, pointing into the map room. "I guess I didn't expect the Fly Lord to be… that, but then again, it wasn't a bad read."
Jason debated the idea of having Scoots call in sick tomorrow. But keeping her in school was probably the better idea, especially with so much left to do. "So, what theme are you doing?"
"Well, I thought about the idea of civilization versus… whatever they become, and-"
"Savages." Jason filled in, and she nodded.
"But that seemed to… I dunno, repetitive. So I could focus on symbols instead, like that guys glasses or the conch, or…" She trailed off.
"Well, that's two out of three paragraphs." Jason reminded with a grin, lightly pushing at her shoulder. "You didn't need me for that, ya goof!"
"I only thought of that when you were around though!" She complained, and Jason let his grin warm a little.
"Oh, hush. See if you can get that far, and I'll help you with the rest when you finish."
"Promise?" She asked. "What if Twilight gets here?"
Jason laid a hoof on her shoulder. "I can make time."
_________________________________________________
Twilight felt the air whoosh away after her final teleport, welcome to cold to her swollen face. It wasn't as bad as before, but Eravel hadn't let up as much as she thought he would. She was starting to think that they were all going to be hard-asses when it came to her. Not that she cared a lot, it was to be expected.
Of course, that didn't make the fact that everything hurt seem any better. Though she suddenly had an appreciation for the pain Dash or Jason felt when they got beat up. At least she had a pistol at her hip now, though it had taken a bit of explaining to make few- fur- Ferris understand that she hadn't been mugged. And he'd only told her about a thousand times not to touch it.
Twilight heard sounds of laughter, and looked inside through a window next to the front door. She wasn't keen on entering right away anyway.
"What are we going to do Piggy?" Scoots asked Jason, and Twilight furrowed her brow. "We can't light a fire without your glasses!"
"Uh-" Jason stammered, holding up a book, which he skimmed for a moment and set down. "We- we'll use the conch, Ralph. We can help Jack see the error of his ways if we can just find a shred of humanity left in him."
"But-" Scoots sighed, looking around at invisible ponies. "We're so few, and- Wait, Jason, you screwed something up here."
"I think we swapped lines."
The door shut with a quiet click and both of their heads swiveled to the mare in the doorway. Scoots quickly put Jason between her and Twilight.
"God, you bruise easy." Jason said, walking over.
Twilight giggled, her laugh turning into a whine as she jostled at a painful tooth. "You can fix it?" She asked, her voice low.
Jason sat down in front of her, watching the mare tenderly do the same. "Hey, I got an idea for the essay!" Scoots exclaimed, hopping over to the table to write some stuff down.
"Good." Jason replied shortly, gently pushing Twilight's head to one side so that he could see her cheek. It wasn't that bad, really. Steve had been worse when they'd been fighting Nightmare and he'd ran into a wall face-first. And it was still far better than earlier, but that was probably because of the fact that she hadn't had as long to swell up.
Twilight let out a noise of protest at Jason's slow proceedings, and he took his hoof away. "Don't move, alright? I'm going to do this in the easiest way possible, if it means conserving a little energy."
She nodded, but jumped a little as he pushed his horn carefully against the side of her cheek. It was always easier with shared contact, which reminded him a little of electricity. "Jas-"
"I said not to move." He replied, closing his eyes.
Twilight felt his horn heat up, the warmth spreading out along her cheeks as she felt her swelling lessen. Her tooth rattled uncomfortably a few times before it solidified its roots again and stuck fast. It felt pleasurable, in a way. It was like the sudden diminishing of pain had a feeling all its own, one of relief more than corporal enjoyment.
"You better be healing her, Jason." Dash said from upstairs, and Twilight flicked her eyes upwards, over Jason's mane. He let out a huff that left the fur on her neck humid feeling, but made no response. "Yup," Dash continued, looking over Scoots' shoulder at her writing. "Definitely healing."
"Does he always-" A hoof held her jaw in place, and she stopped. Jason removed his horn from her, grinning as his head slumped and came back up, like a foal trying to stay awake.
"You all good?" He asked.
"Sore, but yeah." She checked the loose tooth with her tongue, amazed that it was fixed. "That's some power you have right there."
"When it comes down to it though, it's really pretty limited." He shook his head. "I can heal a few ponies a whole lot, but I can't replace a lot of what isn't there. If they lose a lot of blood, I can't do much. Obviously getting shot in the head falls into the same general category."
"And you almost pass out after being incapacitated for a while." Twilight finished. "Which, by the way, what's it like?"
"Healing?" Jason shrugged. "It's not something I think about too much, after I start. I could do it without thought, but then you'd just end up healed of everything, and that'd put me out like a light. I'm assuming that it's some changeling response to shut down with such a sudden loss of love like that, because I've not had a lot of trouble with repeated smaller spells. But when I concentrate, I guess it's like fixing a house. You get in experienced people to fix stuff, which is like me, but of course, to save money, you'd want to do the easy stuff yourself. That's my best analogy, because I don't really remember a whole lot of it. It's a weird time…"
Twilight furrowed her brow, but didn't respond. Dash took a step forwards, opening her mouth to speak. "So I guess you two have to get stuff together. I'll probably find something to do out here and get stuff packed, but just call if you need me for anything."
Jason threw a salute back with a grin, directing Twilight's gaze towards a table. "So here's what I have so far." He began. "I got the walkie talkies to network with this computer, using the reception and power it already has to allow the signal to reach a little further. I even got this camera hooked up to stream to it." He pulled over a helmet with a camera stuck to the top, tapping a few buttons on the computer.
"Hey, that works!" Twilight exclaimed, staring at a low frame rate video projecting from the computer screen.
"Well, kinda." Jason murmured, moving the helmet around. "It's delayed and has trouble with high frame rates, which is to be expected. I just want some sort of visual contact, so that I don't have to try to describe things."
"Yeah, alright."
"So I made an antenna for it, which I actually took from an old cell phone, and-" He pulled at a little antenna, extending it a foot and a half upwards. "It works a lot better that way." The frame rate sped up, and as Jason shifted the helmet the view stayed smooth. "It works at close range, but that's about it."
"And you want me to extend the signal?"
"Yeah."
"Good to know you're using my skills effectively." She muttered, and Jason frowned.
"You know, I don't want to use your skills to their full potential." He said, crossing his arms. "We're in for the long haul, and I don't know anything about what you do well. So yeah, you're stuck with a job like this. Hopefully it's easy to do the magic, because you'll be rattling off information like crazy. I can't do magic during all that, and I needed someone who could."
Twilight nodded, looking at the computer again. She turned back, opening her mouth to speak. "So, why did Dash say stuff about humans earlier?" She asked, changing the subject.
Jason paused. "It was a joke." He turned his head back to the table, writing something down.
"Look, Jason, I know everything." She said, keeping a straight face even though she was bluffing like crazy.
"You're bluffing." He said, and she mentally berated herself. Was she that obvious? "But I guess you don't have a terrible poker face. Just might want to work on those emotions."
She face hoofed, shaking her head at the realization that she had expected that to even have a chance at success. "You know," Twilight began, "I'm part of the team now, I deserve to know these things."
Jason paused mid-word, before his pencil finished off the sentence. "Fine." He turned in his chair, looking her in the eyes. "Since you won't ever leave anything alone." He sighed. "I wasn't born a changeling, or a pony, or anything with four legs. I was a human, on a planet where the only sapient beings were humans. I had friends, a family for a while, and I was fairly happy. Then I got into a car accident, died or something, and ended up in this stupid body in this stupid place."
"But-"
"So of course, after I went to Ponyville, got chased out, went through the whole rigamarole, I ended up with Dash and Scoots, and some friends. I also got this power that I don't even want." He paused. "So instead of living a fairly- well, it might not have been normal, but I was used to it, kind of life, I got stuck here."
"Is that why the soul magic guy's interested in you?" Twilight asked.
"Look, if I knew why he wanted me to experiment on or kill, I would've acted on that clue by now. But I don't. I don't know why he wants me, I don't know why the soul magic on the map had something wrong, and I don't even know why I was brought here!" His voice rose. "I have no idea why I have to wade through ten feet of shit for a country that isn't even mine, or why I do it!" Jason's breath caught, and a wiped his eyes before any tears could slip out. "I just want to see my friends again." He finished, leaving the room quietly.
Twilight stared after him, sighing to herself. This is what always happened when she asked too many questions. It also happened to be like the fifth time she'd annoyed Jason, and even beyond that, the information just wasn't fulfilling. She liked knowing things because it made her feel safer, that she knew what was coming. But that had just made her feel like an asshole.
That was probably the problem anyway. She wasn't the most compassionate pony in the world, and it was really starting to show. Jason wasn't as cold as she'd thought, which should have been obvious given the fact that he was married to Dash of all ponies. But the fact that he'd lost it scared her.
Twilight had read about war, and the terrors thereof, and Eravel was right. You never left it behind. It was always there, always etched into your memory. Maybe Jason didn't have a day to day problem with it, and she couldn't know how it affected him, but when it came to Dash, she could see the differences. The mare had become more calm and collected, still showing off her boisterous, competitive side, but in a conservative way. Like, in repressing some of her memories she had in fact repressed herself in general.
She rose, wondering briefly why she had gotten herself into this mess once again. But more importantly, Jason at least deserved an apology. He deserved several thousand, probably, but she could at least knock out the tip of the iceberg.
"What's got you all riled up?" Dash asked as Jason walked into her room and laid down on the bed beside her. He shook his head, knocking a tear sideways.
"It's not Twilight." He murmured, closing his eyes and pushing himself into her side a little.
"What then?" She inquired when he didn't continue.
"I-" He paused, trying to keep his voice steady. "She asked me about human things, and I was kinda mad at her, so I spilled. I just- I just kept talking and yelling about things that we still have to go through, and then I remembered…" He trailed off, and Dash was about to cut in when he continued. "You remember that dream last night?"
"Yeah. Of course." The blue mare replied, swiping a tear from his cheek. "I'm not sure where the faceless guys came from, but-"
"Those were supposed to be my friends!" He exclaimed, unable to hold himself together any longer. "I- I kept trying, that whole time, to remember what they looked like, but I couldn't. I couldn't remember." Dash wrapped her arms around Jason and he planted his muzzle in her shoulder. "I can deal with the regular nightmares, but that-" He sobbed. "I just want to see them again. I want to tell them that I'm alive, and I want to just have a conversation with them one more time."
Twilight pulled her head from the doorway, sighing to herself. Of course she just felt like more of a jerk now. Maybe some of that was because of the fact that Jason wasn't such an emotionless rock. She'd always been suspicious when Dash would claim that he was hilarious, and yet he didn't try any sort of real comedy on them. The reasons were fairly obvious now, considering the fact that he didn't have references he could pull or a society he could make fun of. The way he'd talked about his home before now, she'd assumed that it was much the same, minus the technology. But he wasn't even the same species as her, or his wife. Some part of her commended him for not taking the change with more issues.
That was probably what made him stronger than her. He feared combat, but not because of his own safety. He wanted a foal, and he wanted a wife to help raise it. But even then, the fact that missing his friends took such a high priority made her think. He had all these things to worry about, yet everything came down to other people, and how they were doing. Chances are, it was the same thing with Dash.
"Twilight, what'd you do to Jason?" Scoots asked, her purple eyes seeming to burrow into the similarly colored mare's soul.
"I-" She sighed. "I just asked him what he was hiding from me, when there really wasn't much to know."
"So you know about…" The foal trailed off, gesturing with a hoof.
"Yeah, that Jason was human." She muttered, looking away.
"You got to see him, then." Scoots began, "in human form, right?"
"Uh, no. I mean- That was him?" Twilight questioned, mentally groaning. Of course it was. "How?"
"Poison joke." The filly said dismissively, "but that's not the point. I mean, I think-" She took a step in, lowering her voice. "Don't tell anypony, but I think those two are getting a little distant." Her eyes turned downwards. "Ever since they got stuck back into this they got kinda quiet. I'm not sure what they're thinking, but it can't be good."
"You don't have to tell me this." Twilight pointed out, but Scoots shook her head.
"I sometimes get pulled into their dreams, and for a while it was great. We did dream things, but I could do whatever I wanted outside of massive changes. There were a few nightmares, but we fought them off and it was still kinda nice. But they're- the last one, a few days ago… they aren't winning anymore. Stuff's just past their level I guess, and they know it." Her voice cracked, and she took a few steps away. Her eyes retained the same hardness, as if she was adverse to showing emotion. "I just want to have a family that I can keep."
Twilight watched the foal walk away and up the stairs, disappearing onto the landing.
Is this what this turned ponies into? She didn't- then something clicked.
They weren't worried about the fighting. They didn't fear death, at least not overly so. This family, grouped through the trials of what they'd accomplished and bound by loyalty and love, really just feared the idea of being alone. They would fight tooth and hoof for their allies, but Jason and Dash were smart; not everypony would make it out alive. They weren't scared of overwhelming odds, so long as they didn't have to fight them alone.
The mare moved, groaning as she stretched her hooves above her head and yawned. She opened her eyes and glanced to one side, where Jason was watching her. "You fell asleep." He said.
"Yeah, I guess I did." She responded, her sore muscles complaining about the movement. "What time is it?"
"One." Jason replied. "Everyone else is asleep."
Twilight yawned again. "It's really quiet up here."
"Sometimes I wish it wasn't." He said, stretching an arm out. "I miss the sounds of the city."
"I'm surprised you find it nice to sleep with noise." She noted.
"It's just one of those things, I guess." Jason continued. "I'm sorry for going off on you earlier, but I guess the last few days haven't exactly been easy."
"Oh no no no, you're not apologizing to me. You're the one that deserves an apology. I pestered you too much about things that didn't matter, and I'm sorry."
"Well, it's one thing off your mind, I suppose. It's not like you to forget about something like that anyway."
"I just wish you would have told me by yourself, without all of that." Twilight said, sighing. "But of course, now I can see why you wouldn't."
"I just don't want my whole life on display, you know?" He asked, and she nodded. "It's not much of a secret, but it's one that I don't think would go over well. Even beyond that, I just don't want ponies to know. Outside of my friends and family, I would rather just stay under the radar. I don't want ponies going crazy over me, I just want them to remember what we accomplished." He paused. "And I guess I want my paycheck, but that's more because I don't want to live off of someone else's money. If I didn't have the position I have now though, I kinda wonder what would have happened to me."
Twilight watched him pull a red box with a plus onto the table, which her tired mind eventually deduced to be a first-aid kit. "I wonder what would have happened to Equestria."
"I'd like to say that we were the keystone in that, but we weren't." He shook his head with a chuckle. "Things may have ended differently, but I'm sure someone would have arisen to fill our spot."
"You'd really rather have some job in town, keeping your head down?" The lavender mare asked as Jason unclasped the side of the box.
"Looking back, yeah. I'm sure I would've joined a resistance, but after I'd be right back to my job. I don't like the chaos around here, with magic and what-not. I'm pretty sure the laws of physics still work, but I can't really be sure of that either. Thing is, any idea of an army invading my country is just that: it would never happen, outside of some sort of natural disaster or nuclear war." He put a hoof to his forehead and sighed. "I'm getting off topic. Point is, there's stability there that just doesn't seem to exist here to the same extent, and I'd like as much of that as I can get. There's no such thing as a guy too powerful to take out, sitting in a bunker somewhere in Manehattan. We were all human, and you got out what you put in, for the most part."
"Equal playing field." Twilight filled in.
"Yeah, we didn't have a third of the population that did this or that, no talents on our butts… If something caught your fancy and you put your mind to it, it could be achieved. People just seemed less committed to a trade than they do here. My friend joined the military at the beginning of his career, when he could have done a million other things. But he set his heart on fighting enemies halfway across the world, nowhere near the immediate threat level the griffins had."
"What happened to him?" She asked, watching him organize the contents of the container.
"I don't know." Jason responded. "That's why I want to go back."
"To see what happened?"
"To make sure he's okay, to tell them I am… Any way you look at it, I'm quite literally dead to that world, and it wasn't even a good way to go."
"Cars, right?" She asked, and he nodded. He couldn't remember when he'd given her that information, but he didn't doubt that he had. "I guess this begs the question of how you would want to die, if you had a choice."
"You know, I just wanted it to be fast." Jason began, frowning. "I didn't want to have some disease and try to fight a losing battle. But at the same time, I didn't want things to be abrupt. I want to say my goodbyes, have Dash, Scoots and hopefully the rest of my family around. At least go when I'm happy."
"You're not much of one for uplifting conversations, huh?"
"I didn't schedule any for today, so no." He returned his attention to the table. "But whatever, let's just get this stuff done."
"Sounds good to me."
"Alright." Jason said, taking in a breath. "I assembled a big amount of medical stuff that I'm going to divvy up between us."
"But you can just heal us, so it won't really be used, right?" Twilight asked.
"Three things. I could die, won't always be near you, and could need it for myself." Jason replied succinctly, pointing with his hoof to a row of items. "Now, these are syrettes. One use, and they basically dose up the pony with morphine. It dulls pain, if you don't know, and it's fast acting."
"And these are gauze, tape and suchers." Twilight added, pointing those out in turn. "But what're these big needles?"
"Adrenaline." Jason said. "All the effects of regular bodily adrenaline, but concentrated." He set them aside, watching her grab at one.
"I take it this will be a little more than a regular dose, what with the size of humans?"
"If we need adrenaline, I don't think that'll matter." He paused, shaking his head in thought. "There are a lot of conventional ways to use it, but with magic and all the other things that could happen… I just don't want to think about any of this."
"I know what you mean."
"There was a book I read, once, about a guy that could kinda see his whole life at one, without time as a factor. It was just a meaningless thing to him, other than as a dating device. He knew when he'd die, and when he was born, and how. The book was a haphazard set of skips to various points in his life, where something happened, and he moved again. But he was always passive about what happened, knew that there was nothing he could do to change his eventual fate. It was almost as if he just sat back for the ride." Jason went silent for at least a minute, but Twilight knew he had a follow-up and waited. "I wish I could see what was going to happen, when this is all over. I might care if it was bad, but at least I would see it coming."
"What's the book called?" Twilight asked after a few moments of silence.
Jason stared for a second, before he gestured for the mare to follow him and got up. "I have a few bookshelves filled with books and magazines and stuff. You're welcome to look at them whenever, so long as you don't lose them or give away any secrets."
"It's been a long time since I've seen anything like these though." She said. "I promise I'll be careful with them."
Jason's mouth turned up into a small grin as he led her into the map room, one wall covered by bookshelves. "I went through everything we found a couple weeks back, and stuck them all in here. They may not be my books, but a fair number of the ones I read still came through."
Twilight browsed along a shelf, her horn tingling with magic as she grabbed an interesting one gently and pulled it free. She held her breath, feeling as if a simple breath would cause the paperback to fall apart. "This is so cool."
"And you'd be surprised the kinds of things writers could come up with." Jason grinned a little wider, both from pride and a little humor. "I guess it'll all be sci-fi to you though." He heard Twilight giggle as she opened the book to the first page. Jason continued to look over the bookshelf, his grin transitioning into a warm smile.
He always had a little bit of humanity here, after all. Sure, it wasn't a friend, or even a being. But so much was represented, so many emotions and thoughts that were uniquely human. He passed by a familiar title, and memories passed through his head. The plot of the book came second to everything else he remembered about what had happened while he'd been reading it. The fact that his book, even if this wasn't it on his shelf, had been given to him by a friend, that Ben had almost given the ending away… The way they'd laughed at the movie.
Jason felt warm, the feelings of fear and anger, of loneliness even, all but covered. He felt content, and for the first time he hadn't needed to be in Dash's arms, forgetful of the outside world only because of the fact that his love for her pushed that away. He still felt that love, and the closeness to her despite his separation. Memories continued to sweep back through his mind, some of his life here, some of his time before. He wasn't happy about what he'd been through, but he could at least be happy about what he'd made of it.
"You okay, Jason?" Twilight asked. "You've been standing there for like five minutes."
He shook his head, breaking the trance. "Yeah, actually." He smiled back at her. "I'm going to go lay down. We can do the rest of what we need to in the morning. Read however long you want, but if you want to migrate, Dash left some blankets on the couch for you." With that he was gone. Twilight watched him go, his rather abrupt change in demeanor more than a little strange.
But what should she know? She signed up for this, and… in a way, beyond all the problems, the loneliness, the unpredictability… The idea of a similar life to his, after the fighting, seemed a nice idea. Twilight looked at her book, eyes losing focus as she thought. There was only one thing that could lay everything out in front of her, concisely. One thing that could make all the trials and tribulations clear, and lay out her goals and obstacles.
"I left you for one night, maybe only a few hours, and you cover my living room in lists." Jason said, making Twilight jump and draw a jagged line across her current paper.
"What?" She shot back, her eyes tired. A blanket was around her shoulders, another spread on the couch.
"You get any sleep, at least?"
She yawned, setting the list aside. "I'm not sure, I was restless. Maybe I got to sleep for a while and don't remember."
"Nervous?" Dash asked, trotting down the stairs.
"Maybe a little…" Twilight responded, looking downward. "It would have been nice if anything had prepared me for this."
"It's not like we're going to get into any crazy situations for a few days anyway, so don't think that we're just hopping into an active war zone." Dash said, nuzzling against Jason as she walked by. He turned and grinned tiredly, pecking her on the cheek as she veered towards the kitchen. "Want anything, Twilight?" The blue mare asked, disappearing through the door.
"What've you got that's high in protein?" She inquired, and Jason gave her a look, and she shrugged. "I need to build muscle."
"Well, there's always meat." Jason pointed out, and her face took on a look of distaste. "We have a lot of that."
"You know, the whole meat thing makes a lot more sense now." She said, as Dash peered back out, waving a few strips of meat at her.
"It tastes good, you know." The pegasus observed with a grin. "Baconnnnn." She cooed, drawing out the word as she continued to shake it around.
"Just make it Dash, she can just take one of mine if she wants."
"Morning dad, morning mom." Scoots mumbled as she walked into the kitchen, taking her usual spot on a chair at the island.
"Sleep well, Scoots?" Dash asked, and the foal stared. "I'll take that as a no, then." Dash muttered, turning back to watch the sizzling meat intensely. These ones wouldn't burn like the last thousand, she could tell.
"How's it going there, Dash?" Jason asked, nervousness permeating his voice. She'd made him let her do the small things with cooking, and she had marginally improved. Most of that was because she didn't want to watch Jason eat something she knew was terrible and then tell her how much better it was compared to the last one. He probably took away his taste buds, which she couldn't blame him for doing.
"Fine, I think." She said, flipping the strips over as she heard the jingling of cereal into a bowl. "But that's by my standards, so…"
"I dunno, those look pretty good." Jason murmured, standing over her. "Better than last time is right."
"Good to know you have faith in my cooking skills." Dash replied sarcastically, flipping another strip.
"Should I have faith?"
"That's probably a good point."
"That's good about there, Dash." Jason said, and she pulled the pan from the heat.
"Alright, Twilight," She began, a sparkle in her eye (hah!), "Prepare to enter a world of culinary awesomeness."
"I really hope you're right." Twilight replied, some disgust still clear in her voice.
"When have I ever been wrong?" She asked, as the whole room burst out into evil laughter. Maybe the warfare wasn't the only problem with these ponies…
"Well, this is a large room." A pony said to no one in particular. It made him feel a little better to have a conversation with nothing at all, rather than accept the fact that he felt so lonely. Some of that was ironic, considering the pony draped over his back.
His words echoed back, the vaulted ceiling of the windowless area stretching into the darkness above. Those stairs had gone down farther than he would've liked to imagine, but as he looked up, things felt a whole lot worse. At least it wasn't dark, even if he couldn't tell where the light was emanating from. He didn't even know if that was ground level back there though, come to think of it. That could've been a basement or a cellar for all he knew. Maybe he was just cleaning up his own basement, and stuff had toppled over on him? No, he was wearing armor, and as far as he knew, soldiers weren't an elite cleaning force.
He scratched his face with a hoof, his wing giving a twitch of pain as he lost his balance. The two ponies hit the ground, separating on impact. He watched the mare, expecting some sort of backlash. Instead, he heard scuttling. His ears turned around, his head quick to follow.
He didn't see anything. The stallion pulled himself up and walked a few paces to one side, trying to see around one of the many pillars. All he got was a hoofful of cobweb, which he looked down at with disgust. His eyes focused past his hoof, onto the skull of an old pony, left here by who knows who. It just made him want to leave more.
He pushed the mare onto her stomach, carefully picking her up once again. A hoof hit his wing and he groaned, the sound echoing out like the others. More scuttling sounded, and he looked straight upwards. Eyes appeared, followed by scores of others. His heart thumped, and he took a quick breath, waiting for whatever it was to show itself outside the gloom.
He didn't have to wait long, as a long, hairy leg extended down a pillar, followed by seven more. He screamed, breaking into as fast of a run as he could muster. He looked up again as the pillars rushed by, and saw more joining into the chase. Suddenly he burst through what felt like thick tissue paper, and tumbled along the ground. It turned out to be very sticky tissue paper.
The mare had some of the same stuff on her back, but with him it was much worse. His hind legs were stuck together, and even as his tired muscles tried to pull them apart, what little movement he achieved was reversed by an inevitable slackening as his strength gave out.
He rolled over, staring at the mandibles of the spider as it loomed over him, his reflection easy to see in several of the beast's eyes. As soon as he moved to push himself away, the thing bent down to grab him, and he covered his face with his hooves. It jerked away, sliding a ways away on the stone floor as the spider webs on his hooves severed themselves.
The stallion looked behind himself, meeting the eyes of the mare he'd carried this far. She attempted to stand up, staring at him and the room with confusion. "Comet, what-" She started, before losing her balance and flopping onto her side. "Ow…"
He must be Comet, which meant that he knew this pony somehow. She had some armor on as well, so he assumed that they were in the army together. Comet didn't think on the issue long, jockeying to his hooves to run. He picked up the mare once again, limping towards what he assumed was the exit. He passed through the small door, only to hear a thump behind himself as a spider smacked into the sides of the opening.
The mare jumped slightly on his back, but Comet pushed on, turning a corner or two before he slowed down. He stopped beneath a torch, and slid the mare gently against the wall.
"Who are you?" He asked, and the mare's eyes went wide.
"I'm princess Luna, your captain." She replied, watching him with wary eyes. "Can you not remember?"
"No." He said shortly. "Not a thing. Thanks for knocking that spider away though."
"I doubt I'll be doing much of that in the near future." Luna grumbled, looking at one of her hooves. It was cut and bruised, just like every other part of her. Her head hurt, and she probably had a concussion. That was the one word any unicorn didn't want to hear. It loosened the control on magic and made it harder to start. Not that she had much left in her anyway. "Do you have your rations?" She inquired, searching herself and coming up blank.
Comet took a moment to look, finding a busted up can of beans. "I guess so." He said, handing them over. Luna pulled an armor piece from the bottom of her hoof, smacking it through the lid of the can and bending the metal away.
"Hopefully we can get out of here soon. Wherever this is." Luna noted, looking down at the meager amount of food.
“Jason, we should go meet up with the others!” Dash yelled, hauling a saddlebag onto her back. Jason didn’t respond. “Jason?!”
She made a motion with her hoof telling Scoots to stay, and trotted upstairs. As soon as she looked into their bedroom she found him, slumped against the side of their bed with a half-filled saddlebag draped over a hoof. He had fallen asleep at some point.
But Dash didn’t feel like waking him up. She grabbed a piece of paper, scribbling her whereabouts down before she stuck it to his chest. He’d definitely notice that, she figured.
In any case, she couldn’t stick around here forever. The blue mare leaned down, planting a kiss on his forehead with a slight hum. Then she was off, through the door and back down the stairs. Back in Jason’s dreams, however, things were not so tranquil.
Shots rang out, knocking holes in the flimsy brick wall Jason hid behind. Chatter spilled out of a coms device in his ear, telling him this or that, hostiles sighted here or there. He found himself disconnected from the artificial reality, like he had been lately. Not that Jason could say why, because he didn’t know.
A couple guys slid up beside him, aiming over the wall and letting loose some bullets a moment later. One turned, and Jason realized that it was Ben. Some part of him felt a sudden release of stress, and he let himself grin. The dream seemed to fall into a little more focus.
But Ben was still staring, narrowing his eyes in confusion. He ducked as some more bullets hit the wall and covered his head with a hand.
“What’s your name, soldier?!” He asked, yelling over the noise.
“Jason!” He yelled back, aiming and shooting downrange.
“What?!”
“I said it was Jason!”
“You’re not a no slacker, so where’d you even- You’re not a soldier!”
Jason looked down at his uniform, finding that it was one hundred percent army. “I beg to differ.”
“No, I mean, you’re not- You’re-“
Jason didn’t have time to respond, as a grenade floated over the wall, rolling to their feet. He grabbed the thing, pulled his arm back, and-
Woke up. He looked around his bedroom, chuckling to himself. Some part of him missed the vivid dreams, the ones in which the boundary between his home and here didn’t seem too large.
He shifted and heard the sound of paper crumpling. A note was on his chest, and he stared at Dash’s loopy writing, remembering in a moment about all the stuff he still had to set up. With a sigh, he pulled himself to his hooves, and continued to pack.
______________________________________________
A man rolled out of bed, his forehead covered in sweat. He threw off his shirt, walking into his bathroom and closing the door. He turned on the faucet, washing cold water over his face. He was shaking, and he was having trouble keeping it from continuing. His knee ached.
He leaned against a tile wall, enjoying the cold material against his bare shoulder.
“You okay?” Came a female voice from the other side of the door. “Ben?”
He didn’t respond for a while, trying to make sense of the dream. “Just a weird dream.” He replied.
“A strange dream has you in the bathroom, trying to cool off?”
“It-“ He sighed and leaned over to open the door. “It was really vivid, and it was set back in Afghanistan.” The girl sighed, laying a hand on his shoulder. “But that wasn’t the weird part. Jason was in there, and as stupid as this sounds, it didn’t feel like I was in control of him.”
“Must’ve been pretty crazy.” She observed, and Ben nodded. Some more silence ensued.
“You know what, Kyra?” He asked, and she looked up. “It was so much more than vivid. Rocks were hitting me, and I was feeling them. It felt like complete reality.” His knee gave another pulse of pain.
“Coming back to bed?” She asked. “Or are you just going to cool off a while longer?”
“In a minute.” He replied, resting back against the wall.
Dash wandered back past Jason, who was busily packing, humming a tune to herself. She trotted up the stairs, checking this way and that for anything that they may have missed.
She walked into Scoots’ room, looking around at the barren walls. The kid had packed just about everything into one suitcase, which made Dash feel a little guilty. But she never asked for anything, and even when they pointed stuff out, she just said that she’d never use it anyway.
Her birthday was in the spring just like hers, so at least they had time to think of gifts.
Maybe a normal child wouldn’t really mesh with them anyway. Scoots had her quirks and differing interests, and the filly reminded her a lot of Jason. They both stood out from everypony else, and were fiercely independent. That probably wasn’t the best way to word it, seeing as Jason wasn’t his own boss, and was hitched to her, but that wasn’t what defined him or Scoots.
Pride was probably more applicable. Neither of them took help if they couldn’t help it or didn’t absolutely require assistance. She was probably the same way, honestly. Maybe a bit more pride on the side and less modesty.
She found herself in the bathroom, debating whether or not to take a shower. Her fur was clean and all, but she just felt like one.
They couldn’t spare the time, however. The train that they were supposed to be on left soon, and considering the fact that it was a passenger train minus their car, wouldn’t want to wait long.
As soon as they got back, she was going to turn the shower into a tub and have a nice long soak with Jason. Maybe even get some of those spa rocks and steam up the place. She may have hated the spa, but steam still felt nice. She could skip the rest of that junk for sure.
Dash stared at her reflection in the mirror, tracing a scar on her cheek with her eyes. She wondered if it would’ve bothered her if Jason wasn’t stuck with her. Some part of her realized that she would’ve been hard pressed to date, had he never existed. Without the scar, obviously.
She didn’t like dating, which had worked out. That had to be some sort of a plus.
Jason was always saying how strange it was that she wasn’t hit on or already taken, and given his reasons, he seemed right. She always just put things down to the fact that she had always been competing against everypony, and that romance was more of an obstacle in the way of her goals. To say the least, she had been wrong. Right in a sense, but still wrong.
She wasn’t a Wonderbolt, but she had trouble figuring out what had changed her goals. Technically, she was a Wonderbolt, but she hadn’t actively pursued that. She’d trained with the team for a day, but they weren’t in season anyway.
Dash hadn’t loved Jason from the start, or even liked the guy. She’d given him the benefit of the doubt, and that was it. Her friends had been wrong, and she’d endeavored to make things right. She didn’t want to think about his death on her hooves when she could’ve prevented it. Then everything had snowballed, and she’d been forced to work with somepony. He’d been her friend by then, but still.
She’d come to trust him, and rely on him, and as soon as that happened the rest just seemed to follow. Dash still thought back on it fondly.
Her eyes refocused, and she smiled. Dash pushed a hoof through her bangs, the prismatic fur sliding over her hoof. She furrowed her brow, leaning closer to the mirror.
“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!” She yelled, backing away from the mirror and into the wall.
Jason slid into the room, staring at her with a face full of fear. “What happened?!”
She looked at him, tears in her eyes. Her first attempt at speech was interrupted by a sob. “I’m not even twenty five!” She exclaimed, her eyes flicking back to the mirror.
“mmm… what?” Jason asked, taking a few steps closer to embrace her. “What’s wrong?” He asked again.
“I’m- I’m going grey.” She replied, breaking into more tears. “This shouldn’t be happening! Not to me, I’m supposed to have a long life after this, and I’m already old enough to lose color in my mane!”
Jason didn’t respond, focusing on her head as he put her mane back to its normal color. He spotted maybe two or three grey hairs, quickly turning them back. Jason swept a hoof over her head, pulling her gently against his chest. “Good as new, alright? Totally fixed and everything.”
“They’ll just grow back.” She murmured. “Even you can’t reverse aging.”
“I can’t reverse it…” He trailed off, focusing once again as his horn glowed. A minute passed. “But I can make it seem like it never happened.”
“Just because- Just because you put my mane back doesn’t change anything. I’m still old.”
Jason turned, pushing her gently in the direction of their bed. She hit it with her hind legs, tipping onto the blankets. He let himself fall on top of her, holding himself an inch above her muzzle with his hooves. “You’re not old.” He said, covering her mouth with a hoof as she tried to dispute him.
“I don’t know what you’re worried about. Grey or not, you’re still Rainbow Dash. Given you, it’ll probably end up a grey scale rainbow anyway.” He paused. “So maybe we aged a couple years. What’s done is done. I know I can make you live just as long as you want to. This doesn’t mean anything. You’re still my wife in her early twenties with the mane of her twelve year old counterpart.”
Dash looked up at him, wonderment in her eyes. “I don’t want to outlive you because of it.” She said.
“Of course.” Jason replied. “Without me, Rainon Hash wouldn’t make sense.”
Dash laughed beneath him, and he let her up. “Can you really, though?”
“I don’t see why not.” He said with a shrug. “Unless we’re talking disease. But replacing the cells in an area with young ones isn’t too hard. For skin. I’m guessing I can only replicate the best cells in places that don’t make new ones. But I can replace scar tissue with good stuff, and make everything run exactly how it’s supposed to. Nothing close to immortality. Like, the maximum lifespan that you would get.”
“How long?”
“Do you really want to know?” He asked. Not that he did either, to be honest.
“No.” She replied, shaking her head. "But hopefully you didn't waste too much love on that, right?"
"Trust me Dash, I have way more than I know what to do with by now." He hugged her against his side. "There's a reason that I've been saying that Bob better watch out."
“Does everyone have everything?!” Jason yelled, as the train blew its whistle. He watched Twilight hug Spike a distance down the platform and he let himself onto the box car, out of the gently falling snow. Every available space was filled, leaving an isle through to the cars on either side. As Jason walked through the stacks, he realized that a fairly large square at one end had also been left open, filled with a bunch of chairs and a table. Most of his team was there. Footsteps behind him confirmed that Eravel had shown up.
A few more whistles blew, and the train lurched into action. Windows most of the way up the wall let in fading light, shining on the dust that floated in the air.
“How nice of them to give us an entire train car.” Eravel observed, sticking his bow and a quiver on a stack of things.
“Did we ever get a name for this mission?” Morning asked.
“No.” Dash responded, sitting down. “But I’m sure Jason would come up with a ridiculous name if you asked.”
“Well?” Morning inquired, batting her eyelashes.
“Um.” Jason replied. “Hold on a sec…” He sat down, tapping a hoof against the chair in thought. “Operation chocolate chip cookie.”
“Does everything have to be a food item with you?” Dash shot back, laughing.
“Fine. Mystery glove.”
Evening frowned. “What’s that supposed to even-
“It’s a mystery!” Jason exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air.
“Kids are going to love learning this stuff.” Tank pointed out, leaning back in his chair as it gave a creak of distress.
Jason opened his mouth to respond as the side door of the train car opened behind him. A pony peered in, smiling nervously as he walked inside. “I just have to-“ He pointed across the car, at the opposing door.
“You know how long it’ll be till we get to Manehattan?” Dash asked, and the pony nodded, setting down his briefcase.
“About an hour, hour and a half tops.” He replied, starting off down the car.
“Hey, you forgot your-“ Morning began, only to stop as the pony disappeared. “Ah well, he’ll come back for it.” She said, sitting down once again. Jason eyed the luggage.
“How could he possibly forget something like that?” Twilight asked, gesturing towards the case. “He was here for like five seconds!”
“You’re right.” Jason agreed, standing up to walk over. He put his ear to the side, heard a few ticks, and threw it through the window with his magic.
“Why would you do-“ Twilight began, before an explosion rocked the car. Jason jumped, looking down at the spot the IED had occupied seconds before. He'd done that more on a hunch, not expecting much to happen.
“Welcome to Operation Mystery Glove, I guess.” Jason mumbled. “That must’ve been the gift basket.”
"Scoots, stay here." Dash commanded, taking a glance at Jason, who was cradling the wing he wore around his neck in one hoof. "Morning, you've got wings, come on!" Dash continued, tossing the mare a gun. "All of you except Tank, try to keep this place locked down. Tank, sweep behind us, make sure we didn't miss him."
Jason picked up his own, throwing the sling over his neck as he pulled the charging handle. He pulled a headset on, attaching the walkie-talkie to his sling. Dash did the same. "No time for armor. Everyone remember what he looked like?" He looked back towards a couple of nods. "Good, let's go."
Jason raced down the train car, ripping open the door at the end. He stepped across the gap, catching sight of the swiftly moving railroad ties, and slid open the one to the next car. He shoved a pony into his seat, pushing through the isle as he caught sight of the unicorn, disappearing into the next car.
"Everyone, get the fuck out of the way!" Jason yelled, his anger getting the better of him. "You're all in danger!" He added as an afterthought, watching as ponies quickly stopped staring and obeyed. His pace spread up, and he pulled open another door, then another. The next car was more orderly and quiet, though he seemed to draw a lot of attention.
They had to be running out of cars; this wasn't a long train.
~This thing working?~ came a voice over Jason's headset. He assumed it was Twilight's.
"Yeah." He responded. "Loud and clear." Another couple doors. Another sprint down a car, this time a dining one. Jason barreled through a pony delivering food, spraying the contents everywhere. He caught the guy with his magic, tossing him into a booth as the other two passed.
"Dash!" Jason yelled back, pointing to an emergency door. "Both of you, cut him off!" He skidded to a halt at the door, pulling it open as the noises of the train suddenly became twice as loud. Then, the second door closed behind him and he was cut off.
"How many more cars, Twilight?" He paused. "This is number four."
~After that, you've got… two and the engine. Luxury is the second car on this train.~ The sound of a few flipping papers was heard. ~I don't know why that would happen so fast, when we don't arrive for another hour and a half.~
"You're saying that he needs an escape plan." Jason filled in, moving to the next car and pulling his gun into his shoulder. He fired twice, ripping a couple holes in the far door as it closed behind the pony. "Possible hit, suspect may be injured!" Jason yelled over the line, hoping that Dash had hers connected.
~Roger that.~ His wife replied, and he let out a sigh of relief. ~Continuing with that in mind, touching down.~
With bated breath, he opened two more doors, finding the pony sprawled out in the isle, a wound in the back of his leg. He got up and limped a few paces away before tripping again, landing on his back. Then another shot rang out, whizzing past Jason's head. He teleported on reflex, appearing behind the pony. It took him a moment to take in his surroundings before he knocked the gun out of the guy's hoof, pushing his other hoof into his throat.
"Got him." He said, pushing his other hoof onto the pony's snout. "Open your mouth!"
There were a few murmurs of confusion from around him, but Jason ignored them. The pony grinned, shaking his head. His horn glowed, and Jason smacked it with his hoof. The magic disrupted, and Jason brought his hoof back again. He smashed it into the tip of the pony's horn, and with an audible crack a chunk broke off.
The enemy screamed beneath him, more out of rage than in pain. "You fuck! As soon as you get off this train, you're not in whatever fantasy you lived in before! This is our territory, and we don't like trespassers!" Then, with a resolute crack of his teeth and the slamming of doors as Dash and Morning walked in, he convulsed.
"Fuck!" Jason yelled, belatedly trying to pull their assailant's teeth apart. "Our shot at information, and he kills himself!" Morning gestured to the ponies around him, most looking scared out of their wits. "I'm sorry about this." He said. "Hopefully this is all you'll see of us in the next few weeks."
The body floated in his magic, slowly trailing behind him as he walked down the train car. Things could probably have gone better.
Jason dragged the pony through the last set of doors, ignoring the fact that the corpse's head bounced across the gap. He'd at least flown it between the middle cars, saving the ponies there a sight.
"Seems like the coms are working well." He said, letting the hoof he was holding fall to the ground.
"Is he dead?" Rumble asked, peering out from around a small box stacked on some larger boxes.
"Not by my hand." Jason replied, enjoying the fact that everyone knew what he meant. With the hand part, anyway.
"But what does that-"
"Go ahead and tell him, Scoots." Close enough, anyway.
Dash walked by, pecking him on the cheek. "One down." She whispered, taking the seat she'd been in before.
"That's an optimistic way to look at it." Jason replied, flopping down into a chair of his own. He stared at Morning for a moment, who had situated herself on Tank's lap. Dash seemed to have done the same, and quickly abandoned her chair, taking up a similar position on Jason. He hugged a hoof around her, as she cutely nestled her head under his chin.
"I've got to say, in a lot of ways this is better than the military back home."
"How come?" Tank asked, jerking as he received a playful poke to the side.
"You can't bring your wife along, or anything like that. I mean, those are different circumstances, and we came into this in less than perfect conditions, but you know what I mean." He paused. "Women can get into the military though, but not in combat roles."
"Why the separation?" The other pony inquired.
"They don't want to have to worry about children or distractions. There was some study that showed men trying to save the women first in most scenarios, which might be some sort of instinctual thing. It seems to hold water, at least."
"I actually kinda meant, why can't they see combat?" He asked.
"Ah. I dunno. I mean, they'd have to pass the same physical tests as men, which is already kind of a disadvantage, but…" He sighed. "Whatever. I didn't mean to get into some stupid comment on the whole thing. Point is, I've got my wife here, along with my kid. I'm really glad things worked out that way."
"And you're saying that under normal circumstances, it never would've?" Morning asked.
"Yeah." He finished, a grin breaking across his face. He squeezed his arms around Dash a little tighter, and she giggled.
"I just think it's funny that you come in here with a corpse, and then fifteen seconds later you two are all hugged up." Twilight observed, a pair of headphones leaving one of her ears open to sound as they covered the other.
"What're you doing?" Dash asked, pointing at Jason's computer.
"Just going over this guy's dialogue, trying to make sure that there isn't anything I can get from this."
"Oh yeah, what'd he say?" Thunderlane asked, stretching his legs.
"Just something about being in his territory, and then there's a clack and Jason exclaims that he killed himself. How did he do that, by the way?"
"Some sort of poison caplet in his mouth." Jason replied, shrugging. "Maybe cyanide."
"Well, whatever it is, it's annoying." Twilight pointed out.
"Yeah." Thunderlane backed up. "I wish we had a little more information about this whole thing. I don't know what things were like when you were getting into classified stuff with Eravel, but you had a lot more to work from, right?"
"Not really." Eravel said. "I guess I knew some stuff, but we were assuming that we could incite dissent among a population that may not have had much hope to begin with. That was more of a gamble, though. This is more of a dark room, where we have to try to step around all the broken glass."
"You need to cool it with the beer, Eravel." Morning jeered with a chuckle, and the griffin frowned.
"I'm not that far from the truth." He continued. "I'm not going to give up, or act like we don't have a shot, because we do. Who knows, maybe there's a keystone somewhere that pieces this whole thing together. But if that guy proves anything, it's that they have the cards. We could get lucky and be dealt a great hand, but the chances of that are slim. To continue the poker analogy, it'll be a bunch of small wins before we can have a shot."
"Good to know you're looking on the bright side." Thunderlane muttered.
The noise of metal on metal was heard farther down the car, to the words, "Found ya!"
"I am." Eravel murmured. "We aren't the kind to not give it our all anyway, so there's no sense not sharing what we're thinking."
"The worrying thing here is that they knew when we were leaving." Jason said, feeling all eyes land upon himself. "And get a guy on the same train in time. I don't know where they're getting their information, but it's worrying that they can get so much."
The train coasted into the station, and Jason slid open the side door. The platform was sparsely covered in ponies, many of them walking alongside Jason as the train came to a stop. At least two dozen guards were assembled, along with various other staff members. Snow was falling slightly more heavily, illuminated by the station lights. The sun had long since faded. He could see the lights of buildings floating in the air, trailing into a light fog that had formed. It was much more impending than the small town of Ponyville.
A guard walked up and saluted, and Jason stepped off. "Sergeant Dust, Reporting for duty, Sir!" He yelled, becoming silent once agin. Jason turned to look at Dash, who shrugged.
"At ease. Who's orders brought you here, soldier?" Jason asked.
"We were already stationed here before the disappearance of princess Luna, Sir!"
"I hope you know that neither you or your men will have a primary role in this mission." Jason said, failing to keep a grin from his face as Dash nuzzled teasingly at his side. He pushed her away, and she giggled, coming bad for a second attempt.
"We're just stationed here as subordinates, so it's completely up to you to give orders. No fighting, no big deal."
"I'm glad you're-" He laughed as Dash tickled him with a wing. "Will you stop that!?"
She narrowed her eyes, smirking. "You can't hope to stop me, especially not once we get out of public!" She exclaimed, reaching down and picking up Scoots with a hoof, laying the filly over her head. "And with my Scootahat, your chances are nil!"
"I knew you got more from the buffet car than a sandwich." Jason replied. "Your sugar high is worse than your daughter's."
"Sir." The soldier said, and Jason returned his attention to Dust. "We should go to Headquarters."
"Yeah." Jason replied, trying to act like a respectable leader. "We should."
"Wow, spared no expense." Jason breathed, looking around the high ceilings of what appeared to be a hotel lobby.
"It's really convincing, for a fake hotel." Tank continued.
"It's real." Dust said, gesturing around. "The place is supposed to open in several months, and the owners were more than happy to let us rent it out."
"Really?" Jason asked. "Did you offer a lot?"
Dust shook his head. "The CEO of another hotel chain was killed or kidnapped last week, and I guess they assumed that it could become a pattern. They lent us this place for a fair price and we made sure it stayed believable and underground. To everyone that it may concern, this is just a construction project nearing completion. For those watching what declassified developments there are, this city looks like it's going downhill fast. A hotel being built"
"What do you know?" Dash asked, shifting Scoots around on her head with a giggle from the foal.
"Just what Princess Luna told us, which wasn't a whole lot. She went into what the guy's weaknesses were, but other than a few things, she said that she just didn't know that much. We were stuck pursuing all the leads that we could find, and nothing ever panned out. Whenever we started to get somewhere, things would just end. We hit a wall on everything."
"Any prisoners?" Eravel inquired, shifting the gear he had insisted on carrying around on his back.
"No." Dust replied, looking away. Jason couldn't tell if he was embarrassed or frustrated. "But we can worry about that tomorrow. I'm sure you're all tired. Just go over to the desk for your rooms."
There was a murmur of agreement, and the group walked over to what Jason assumed was the front desk. It was ornately carved, and shone brightly despite the dim light. The pony was probably a guard without his armor, and he regarded them with some amount of relief. "Rooms for you all are on the seventh floor." He said. "We've got them all cleaned up, so just pick one that you like and pack away whatever you chose to bring. Everything in the train will be moved to HQ on the eighth floor, and will be set up at your leisure."
Jason picked up a ring of keys from a bowl, nodding to the pony in thanks. The rest of his team followed suit.
"Well, if I wasn't in shape before now, seven flights of stairs will definitely do the trick." Tank said, breathing heavily.
"Come on, Tank." Eravel responded, hopping up the last few stairs. "It's not that hard."
"Says the one in a lighter weight class with wings." Tank muttered sarcastically.
"But I'm just so brittle." Eravel replied, donning a feminine voice. "Think of all the things that could happen to little old me."
Tank broke out in laughter, shoving at what little of Eravel he could reach. "You bastard."
Eravel chuckled. "I call this one!" He yelled, stopping to unlock the door and look inside. "No I don't!"
Jason walked by the open door, peeking inside at the unfinished interior. Dust handed him a map of the floor, and Jason looked it over. He passed the next couple doors and stopped at the third, finding a key with the corresponding number. "This one should be connected to another room, Dash." He said, as the door swung open.
"Wow." Dash murmured succinctly. She wandered inside, as Jason dismissed the guard. Scoots brushed between their legs, hopping up onto the bed. The filly bounced a few times, letting herself fall onto her side after a few. She sank in after a moment, making Jason wonder just how soft the bed was. He dropped the stuff he'd brought in the corner, separating Scoots' little saddlebags from the mix.
"This is almost as good as clouds…" Scoots exclaimed, trying to move before she realized that she was stuck. Dash extracted the filly with a hoof, setting her on all fours.
"When did you get so heavy?" She asked.
"'Bout the same time I figured out I was taller than Rumble."
"I hope you know how much it sucks to see you grow up, in a lot of ways." Jason said, laying down on the bed. "I can't believe how much you've changed."
"Oh!" Scoots yelped. "Measure my wingspan again, Dash!"
"I thought you'd forgotten about that." Dash replied, grinning. "It's been almost two months without a mention. Maybe a little more, even."
"I wanted it to be an obvious change."
"Fine, I'm pretty sure I have a tame measure in my stuff." Dash said, getting up.
"Why?" Jason asked.
"Because I like to measure things." She replied. He couldn't tell if she was joking. Either way, she walked back with a tame measure, and gestured at Scoots to spread her wings.
Jason and Dash both swallowed hard, and Dash extended the metal tape, holding it at one end while Jason extended it the rest of the way. He was left with a number he couldn't compare. He didn't remember the first measurement. "Is this good?" He asked.
"What is it?" Dash asked back, looking worried as well.
"Three feet nine inches, give or take." He said. That seemed small, but their wingspans were ridiculous anyway. And Scoots was tiny.
Dash looked relieved. "That's six better." Scoots seemed completely aware of that fact.
"They did grow!" She hollered, hopping into the air with a flutter of the things. Both adults let out a sigh of relief. "Can I go show Rumble?!"
Dash yawned. "Tomorrow, Scoots. It's after midnight. Growing fillies need their rest." She poked at Scoots, sending the orange foal onto her back. Dash took the opportunity to dig her hooves into her soft belly as the foal tried to push her away. "Apparently I'm going to have a rival in the sky pretty soon, huh?" Dash asked, tickling harder.
"Dash! Stop, I can't-"
Dash let up, allowing the filly to leave. "We'll set up your room tomorrow. Try to get some sleep."
"Wait." Scoots said, trotting over to the window and parting the blinds. "Woah…"
"Lights?" Jason asked, peeking through. It'd been a long time since he'd seen much of a city, and this almost made him feel as if the train had brought him back to Earth. "God, that's a sight I've missed for a while."
"Familiar?" Dash asked.
"A little." He replied. "If we ever get back to Earth, we'll have to make it a point to see New York at some point. It's spectacular."
"Didn't you say you lived near some other big cities?"
"Yeah, I guess." He said with a shrug. "But San Francisco is just a blip on the radar compared to New York. When this is all over, we should make a bucket list."
"We should. I'm sure there's a lot that I could show you around Equestria as well."
"I'd like that." Jason replied, pulling himself into bed. "Now stop stalling Scoots. Bed." He watched her trot by and disappear into the other room. Dash shook her head. "I do not have that kind of energy."
"Only occasionally." Jason replied, grabbing her with a hoof and pulling the cyan mare into a hug.
"I can still be angry if I hug you back, right?" She asked, as Jason threw some covers over her.
"We'll discuss it tomorrow." Jason replied, reaching to one side to turn off the bedside lamp. "Night, Dash."
"Watch me almost remember this in the morning." She replied quietly.
Jason chuckled. "And so my entire strategy for ending arguments is laid out."
"I have trouble staying angry when I'd much rather sleep against you."
"I would act smug, but I'm kinda the same way." Jason replied, closing his eyes and pulling her tighter against himself. He felt himself drift into sleep quickly, happy thoughts passing through his mind for a change. He had a lot to be thankful for, and at the moment he found himself able to push such things to the forefront of his mind. For the first time in a while, he shared a dream without strife or trials, one expressing the joys of what he had accomplished, and what he still dreamed to do.
He felt optimistic, confident in himself and his team. Confident in his luck, skill and friends, and the ability they had to pull him through. The final ark of drama was just beginning, and while he didn't know where it would take him, he knew where he would end up. Just like this, with Dash and Scoots, a team full of guys he loved like brothers. And most importantly, peace of mind.
Jason stumbled into their so-called command center, his eyes heavy with a lack of sleep. Dash was close behind, looking only slightly better.
"Apparently making a switch from a cloud to a real bed is harder than I thought." She muttered, looking around the highest floor of the hotel. It was at least two stories between the floor and the ceiling, broad windows extending around the sides and giving them an excellent view of the city, or at least, what managed to stick through the morning fog hugging the ground. It was going to be a bar, Dash figured, what with the tables and partially built counter to one side of the room.
"This is way cooler than I expected." Jason noted, admiring the woodwork of the ceiling. "It's no war room, but hey."
"Mind explaining what that is?" Dash asked back, and he let out a breathy laugh.
"It's just a room they have under the Pentagon, I think. Has a map of the world on the ceiling that lights up with dots and stuff. I don't know that much about it, seeing as it's probably pretty classified." He walked over towards the guards that were already grouped around a table, getting a few salutes on the way.
"What's all this fanfare about, Dust?" Dash asked, making it to the table slightly before Jason did.
"Just a map. Celestia had it sent out a few weeks ago. Apparently they've been of enough use to bring back."
"Yeah, you could say that." Jason interjected. "Plus, they'll make cool museum pieces for when we're all famous and old." He yawned, showing off the almost humanoid canines he'd reinstated a while ago. Whether or not it made the other ponies nervous didn't really matter to her, but she liked them, personally. They were cool looking, and she kinda liked feeling them up when they kissed. Maybe it was just a thing specific to her, or maybe she'd just developed a likeness for them.
"She okay?" Dust asked, and Dash jumped out of her trance.
"What? Yeah, I'm fine." The blue mare replied, and Jason yawned again, blinking slowly.
"Look, there's nothing going on today. We're just moving stuff around and doing basic surveillance, so why don't you get some sleep while you can." The guard pony suggested, ushering them away with a hoof. "You look like a couple of corpses."
"Hey! Only I get to call my wife a corpse, because if she punches me across the face, it'll seem more politically acceptable." Jason said, slurring a few of his words. God damn, he was tired. At least a few ponies seemed to chuckle at the lame joke. "Wake me if anything interesting happens." He said, leaving the room after Dash.
They shuffled back to their room, collapsing in a pile of hooves on the bed. Jason's hoof was bent uncomfortably, but he fell asleep all the same.
He awoke with a thump, still half asleep as someone pulled him upright, and thrust a wad of stuff into his hooves. Water splashed over his face, and he shook his head. "What!"
"We got movement! A possible attempt at a lead!" Jason watched Dust slam the door behind himself, presumably rousing the rest of the team. He looked at the armor in his hooves, blinking. Dash was in a similarly damp pile against the bed, though she had at least succeeded in getting one leg of the body armor on.
If this was an actual shot at something, then maybe he could be done today. Maybe this was just the shot he was waiting for? He hopped into the air, hovering in place as he magic-ed the clothes on, landing as he zipped it up the back. He swished his tail to one side, turning around. A few plates tapped against one another, but as usual he found himself amazed at just the degree to which this thing fit him like a glove.
He held up Dash in his magic, helping her the rest of the way, as he turned to run through the door into Scoots' room. She was still sound asleep, somehow, and he gently wrapped an arm around her, placing her on his back.
Dash pushed the door open for him as he broke into a gallop, carrying himself down the hallway towards the staircase. He spread his wings, taking the speed he had to glide up the stairs. Morning and Thunderlane were there already, although there were no signs of the others. Jason set Scootaloo into a comfy looking chair, wondering how she could have possibly managed to stay asleep. He envied her.
"Where's Twilight?" Jason asked, looking around.
"She was in the lobby, coming back from getting some food. We disguised her, so you don't have to worry about ponies taking serious note of this place." Dust said, taking a sip of water.
Twilight trotted inside, looking like a hobo. It was a surprisingly good disguise, actually. The lavender mare nearly tore it off in disgust, leaving the rags in a pile on the floor. "Do you have any idea what was on the ground in the alley back there?"
"Oh, get over it." Thunderlane said with a laugh.
"No, I mean it. I have no idea what that was." She replied, shivering. "Anyway, I hear we have stuff going on."
"We do." Jason said, picking up a gun as he slung it around his back. Tank walked in, making a bee-line for his machine gun. Eravel wasn't far behind.
Dash situated a headset around her ear, handing one to Jason. He followed suit, sticking a few magazines through loops in his vest.
Twilight cleared her throat. "I don't know if Rarity went through a whole lot with that body armor, but watch the seams. They're not bullet proof."
"I figured." Dash replied, sticking a helmet over her head. "Besides, we're still a lot safer with them on than not, obviously."
"Do you know what it'll feel like if you get hit and it doesn't go through?" Twilight asked.
Jason shrugged. "It hurts a whole lot, I guess. Other than that, I'm not really sure. Nice big welt to show for it though."
"Yeah…" The lavender mare trailed off, lost in thought.
"Let's go!" Eravel yelled, joining the others in the group.
"Dust, where are they?" Jason inquired, meeting the officer at the map.
"Well, our only report puts them around here, although they could have moved." He pointed to a couple of alleyways. "But it's all we got."
Jason nodded, stretching out his wings. "Now where's the back door?"
The group raced down an alleyway, taking a turn as the alley let out. Ponies cleared in front of them, leaving a wide area in which to run through.
~Alright, I've got some tracking up.~ Twilight cut in, the sounds of activity spiking behind her.
~Go Right!~ Dust yelled in the background, and the group executed a rather synchronized turn down a different street. They were getting towards the center of the city, if building size had anything to do with it.
Dash laughed. "These anything like the towers you got back home, Jason?"
He shook his head, laughing back. "It's a start."
Dash pushed on her walkie-talkie, assuming a sort of hobbling run. "What kind of information have you got on teleportation, Twilight?"
~Well- uh, I know that the magical energy used is proportionally related to the distance travelled. Or is it exponentially?~
"What kind of distance do you think is realistic?"
~I wouldn't try anything over a mile. Teleportations are dangerous, because while it's theoretically possible to teleport anywhere, the toll on your body is… The pictures aren't part of my fondest memories, let's put it that way.~
~Right Again!~ Dust hollered. ~Should be an alley towards the end of the street. We're looking for a warehouse… 13. Maybe that's B.~ Some hushed conversation went on. ~Pretty sure it's B.~
"God, this is a class A operation." Jason laughed as they turned, shaking his gun sling slightly loose. "We really got our shit together."
"At this point," Morning replied, taking in a breath. "This is the best we're going to get."
"The sad part is that you're probably right." Dash responded, slipping on the cobblestones as she turned into the alleyway. The group started to slow, heads swiveling every which-way. Jason came to a stop, the others following suit.
"God damn it's quiet." Jason whispered, walking down the alley. He passed a big twelve on the side of a building. "What is it we're looking for, anyway?"
~It's just a lead, Dust says.~ Twilight responded. ~Looks like you're in the right place.~
"I'd hope so." He said, pulling his gun from his back. "Never seen an alley so clean in my life, so of course there's evil afoot."
~Alright… Just take a left coming up here.~
Dash slid along the wall as the corner neared, peeking around. She pulled her head back, nodding that it looked clear. "What kind of lead, anyway?" The fact that she had just now decided to ask such a question spoke tons about how rushed they'd been to leave.
~Gunshots and a victim.~ Twilight replied. ~Found last night~
Jason stopped, looking around. "Makes me wonder if this is a trap…" He murmured, staring at the edges of the buildings' roofs far above. A couple of ponies pushed a door open at the end of the alley, chatting about something or other. Jason met the eyes of one of then, who froze. His buddy pulled a gun from his back, and Jason could hear the clambering of his team to cover behind dumpsters and the corner they had just passed.
The shots seemed louder when he was being shot at, whizzing by with foreign, high pitched cries. It almost sounded like someone had decided to pull a zipper at a hundred miles per hour past his ear. He peeked out, firing back at the two ponies. He got one in the bottom of the hoof, watching him fall behind cover. Tank pulled a huge charging handle across the alley, then pulled it again, and again. He opened up the gun, pulling free a mangled round and pulling the belt to the next bullet.
"How does this even happen?" He exclaimed, rolling the bent canister across the alley as he popped up to fire. Belt linkings flew everywhere as he let loose into a dumpster that one of the ponies was hiding behind, ripping holes through the thin iron like it was paper or plastic. He switched to the other side of the alley moments later, blowing through boxes and a trash bin. Tank let up, the alley going silent. Eravel whooshed overhead, slowing as he hit the dead end wall. He fired some buckshot downwards, apparently mopping up, and then landed just outside the door.
~What was all that?!~ Twilight yelled over the line. ~Everyone alright?~
"Just fine, Twilight." Dash responded, swapping her empty magazine with a new one. Tank stared at the pile of bullet linkings on the ground, and then his mangled bullet. Jason couldn't help but think that it'd been sabotaged.
"Alright," Jason began, taking a step towards the door. "Looks like another episode of clear the-" He flopped backwards onto the ground, clutching at the front of his shoulder. "Ooooooow." A bullet hole stared back at him through the door as everyone broke for cover. He laid his head against the ground as more bullets ripped through the door, sending splintered wood everywhere. His shoulder felt like someone'd kicked it while traveling at a hundred miles per hour. Thank god it'd hit in the middle of an armor plate.
~You okay?!~
"No, I've been shot!" He replied. He wasn't sure if it hurt more or less than he'd expected. "Get those guys back there before they get us surrounded!" Jason ordered, watching Tank provide suppressing cover.
~Shit.~ She replied, the mic shuffling across her fur. ~No, get out of my way! I can help!~ Her voice was distant, as if she was already across the room.
"Twilight! Stay there! That's an order!" He yelled, taking Dash's hoof as she pulled him to one side. "Twilight?" He heard the sounds of a mic being put on, and Dust's scruffy voice came over the line.
~Twilight's gone.~
"What?"
~She heard you get shot and surrounded apparently, freaked out at me, said that it was her fault for not providing perfect information or something, then said that she was going to help.~ Dust sounded as annoyed as Jason felt. Bullets whistled by.
"Why would she-" He put a hoof to his forehead. "How does she think she can help? She's not got much training at all!"
~Well she ran before I could stop her, and I can't very well cease feeding you information. I've got a couple guys on her, but we can't let some ponies dressed like government personnel outside without making the risks larger that we'll all be found out.~
"I'm really regretting my decision to have her tag along." Jason replied, leaning around a dumpster to return fire. "Fucking moron sometimes, that mare."
~Look, it's better she do this now while we aren't in a dire situation back here.~
"She's really lucky that you're right." He peeked around at the doorway, watching a hinge get shot off and flop by. The door swung ajar, and Tank came around the corner, a belt of bullets sliding over one arm as they fed his gun. He stopped firing, stepping behind a dumpster as the alley went silent once again.
"Morning, come here." Jason said, gesturing with a hoof. The mare darted across the alleyway, sliding to a halt. Jason took off his camera, tying it onto the mare's head quickly. He transferred the antenna and the little processor into pockets on her armor.
"Got her as an eye up there?" Dash asked, and Jason nodded. Morning took off, rising above the buildings and into the air, zigzagging through the silent air in case someone decided to shoot.
~It's getting a little less choppy.~ Dust said, coughing in the background. ~Keep your head steady, Rain!~
~As if I've ever used one of these.~ She replied, clearly annoyed.
"Tank, pull up the rear!" Jason yelled, pulling his gun into his sore shoulder and gesturing for Eravel to take point. The Griffin rushed inside as a couple ponies burst from the far end of the alley. Jason felt a bullet hit the back of his lower leg, following Eravel inside as Tank and Thunderlane forced the ponies to find cover.
His eyes adjusted to the light as Eravel flipped a table, pushing it up to a doorway as the metal top dented around him. Dash pulled her charging handle, leaning around the side of the door to let loose some fire. It was a lot louder inside, that was for sure.
"Dash! Look out!" Jason hollered, tossing a grenade through the opening. He covered his ears, yells and gunshots becoming muted. A thud shook him to the bone, and Dash peered around the doorway. She retched.
"Got 'em." She said, her voice sounding less than victorious. Eravel turned the table sideways and pushed it through the door, and Jason pulled his riot shield from his back, letting it scrape along the ground as he moved forwards. The bottom of the shield bumped into some rubble, but when he looked down-
"Oh my god." He muttered, sure his face had gone white. That was a hoof. A hoof that wasn't… connected.
Eravel pushed it aside, giving Jason a gentle shove as he pointed ahead of them with a talon. "Blood trail leads that way."
He pushed down his disgust and terror, the conflict suddenly becoming a lot more real than it had been, if that was even possible. He wasn't even sure why, really. After all this time of stabbing and fighting, the fact that this would- maybe it was just a little too far. Dash walked past him and up a flight of stairs, turning on a laser sight at the end of her gun. Jason did the same, pushing all recent imagery out of his head.
Dash let a few gunshots ring out, dropping her gun to her side as Jason entered the room.
"Thank god we aren't the ones who have to deal with the bodies afterwards." She muttered, wandering a little further into the room. She pulled a blanket from a nearby couch and threw it over the pony. Jason couldn't help but add his total agreement and follow, keeping his eyes firmly elsewhere.
"Tell me if you find anything." He said, rifling through a few papers. He picked up a gun that was leaning against a wall, looking at the wear before he stuck it under the sling of his AUG, making sure that it stayed on his back. There were a lot of M16 style weapons coming through, which seemed strange. Aside from his gun, most of them were American-designed weapons. He shook his head. Trying to find a pattern from the things that came through seemed fairly hopeless. It wasn't as if M16s weren't common anyway.
"These guys could be a little more organized." Dash muttered, balling up a blank sheet and throwing it through an open window.
~They threw something through the window.~ Morning said. Jason heard a couple wingbeats above.
Jason facehoofed. "The building's clear. I gotta get used to this radio, apparently."
~Second floor?~
"Yeah. Check above us and make sure that we didn't miss anything. I sort of doubt we did, considering the fact that there aren't any stairs going up another floor."
~Unless they hid some.~ She replied with a laugh. Dash looked over, knowing Morning had a point.
"We're definitely going to check, now that you mention it." Dash said, moving a little table away from a wall. "It would be great to find a secret room, because these papers are useless."
"You too, huh?" Eravel asked, sighing. "I guess we won't be making any breakthroughs."
"That'd be too easy." Jason murmured. "And we all know it can't be easy." He turned, descending a few stairs. The back wall sure looked farther away on the ground floor, but probably not enough to matter. Plus, these buildings were old, and ponies didn't exactly have computers to test engineering on. Or calculators. That seemed like an obvious difference, though.
Jason punched at the back wall, his hoof going straight through, but nothing revealed itself. He spread out the hole, looking down the interior of the wall. He didn't see any hinges or a sudden stop.
"Well, I don't think there's anything here." Jason observed, signing as he leaned against the wall. "The anticlimax here is unbeli-" He fell through the wall, hitting his head as his vision filled with dust.
Dash laughed in the background. "Lack of a climax my ass!" She coughed as she entered the cloud of plaster, helping him up with a hoof. "Makes me wonder why they'd want to completely close off a room like this."
"Couldn't you just teleport in?" Eravel asked. "I mean, if you knew it was there…"
"Well there we go." Dash said, blowing a little wind pattern in the dust. "Jason, you got a little…" She pointed to her cheek, before gesturing wildly all over.
"Ha. Very funny." Jason replied, deadpan. He pulled his gun to his shoulder, hiking up a rickety flight of stairs. No one greeted him. The room was sparsely furnished. A desk here, a little shelf there.
"What do we have here…" Dash asked, chuckling to herself. Evidently the mood had improved substantially. Jason picked up a lone page, holding it up in the dim light for them all to see. It was a page of scribbles, crossed out words and notes. Axim, crossed out. Igbo, crossed out. Some words crossed the page in a language Jason didn't understand. He wondered if the existence of this room and the location of their mission had been a coincidence. But then again, his mind couldn't kick the notion that this was bob. The name Hercules was circled, and the lack of dust over the shiny ink only confirmed the fact that it was recent.
They walked outside slowly, meeting up with the others. Tank was at the end of the alley, looking through the vest of one of the ponies for information.
Hooves clopped down the alleyway, and Twilight skidded to a halt moments later, her horn ablaze. Jason remembered the fact that he'd been shot, because he'd managed to largely ignore the pain up to now, and peeled away some of his armor. Ooh. That was definitely a bruise.
"I'm here." Twilight huffed. "Here." She repeated.
Jason eyed her for a moment, not feeling in the mood for a rant on why she shouldn't have come, and how she put his daughter at risk over something he'd already warned her against. But it still annoyed him, and he knew he had to do something. However, Dash beat him to the punch.
"Why?" The blue mare asked, and Twilight stared.
"What?"
"Well, where's Scoots? Is she safe?"
~Looks like it.~ Dust said, and Jason watched Dash's ear twitch in annoyance.
"Yeah, she's fine." Twilight responded quickly. "I mean, she's in a building of royal guards, so I don't-"
"You're supposed to be there to protect her when we can't. Not anypony else. You." Dash poked her chest with a hoof. "Catching on?" Twilight didn't respond. "For someone as smart as you supposedly are, you'd think that a little more brain power would go into common sense. What were you going to do here anyway?! Levitate a guy out of the way before he shot you with a piece of metal that moves too fast to even see?!"
"Dash, I'm sorry, I didn't-"
"Exactly, didn't think! You never seem to think before you act!" She paused, huffing. "I'm not sure why we even keep you around."
"Dash!"
"Why should I? You're not doing what you were brought here to do, and you act like we should be willing to forget that immediately! You had one job!" Dash yelled. It'd been a long time since her face had turned that deep of a shade of red.
The mare walked past Twilight, shaking her head. "One fucking job."
The corridor may as well have gone on forever. With no perception of time, Luna couldn't tell whether they'd been walking for ten minutes or an hour. The princess looked towards her compatriot, straining to see him through the dark. There was a sense of irony to the fact that she couldn't see in total darkness, being the princess of the night. She could see in any conditions on the surface, when the stars' light or the moon could help her out. A third princess would've fit nicely, considering all the places the celestial bodies didn't reach. Princess of the earth or something.
"So, what now?" Comet asked, his hoof steps offbeat from his limp. "I mean, what if this thing goes on forever?"
"It must lead somewhere." Luna responded. "Even if it dead ends into some chamber and we have to turn around, there must've been some reason this tunnel was built."
"But didn't you say you're a princess?" The stallion inquired, and Luna sighed. If only she had more experience with amnesia. "Shouldn't you know why these things are here?"
"There are things in this land that easily predate my sister and I. Some are wondrous, as this would be without the darkness and giant spiders, yet appear far beyond the technology of ancient ponies. And of course, no concrete records have been found about any of it."
Comet scratched his head. "Hey, with the darkness bit, how come you can't make your horn glow?"
Luna put a bit of exploratory power into her horn, immediately regretting the decision. Pain lanced through her forehead, and her legs faltered. It hadn't hurt so much when she'd thrown a spider from Comet, and now she couldn't preform the first use of magic that children learned. It'd probably been the focus. Before, she'd just thrown energy at a target, but now it mattered how her energy manifested itself. A concussion to a unicorn was like one of Jason's guns with a bent barrel. You could never do what you wanted to, and it was dangerous to try.
"You okay?" Comet asked, as a reassuring hoof went over her shoulders.
"I'll be fine. Just a little headache."
"So no magic?"
"No magic." She confirmed, starting to walk again.
"You know, it kinda looks brighter down there, doesn't it?" Comet asked, pointing down the corridor.
"A little, maybe. Probably just a trick our minds are playing on us." Luna replied.
"I suppose we have to investigate it anyway though…"
Jason hissed as Dash attempted to peel off his body armor. There was a knock at the door.
"Go away, Twilight!" Dash yelled. "I've got more important things to take care of at the moment."
"Dash, I-" The purple mare tried to respond.
"I said I'll deal with you later!" The room was silent for a few moments before hoof steps retreated down the hall with a quiet sigh.
"How come you- ow- exploded at her like that?" Jason asked. "I mean in general, not just now. I didn't see you being the one to do it."
Dash sighed, successfully pulling the fabric a few gentle inches. "Twilight's well meaning and all, but- for all her intelligence, she just doesn't handle any sort of pressured decision-making well. I guess I got mad at her because of the fact that she didn't even need to make a decision, let alone assume that she needed to help. And besides the anger from her breaking orders, we've gone through so much before that the idea we'd need help is a little ridiculous. That second part isn't the big part of the anger, obviously."
"Still got a bit of a vain streak in you, huh?" Jason asked, clenching his teeth as Dash pulled his armor and it finally let go, sliding off his fore hooves. He still had the lower half on, but that was unimportant.
Dash bit her lip. "I think we deserve a bit of a vain streak. God, welt is right."
"Should I look?"
"Up to you."
"That really instills confidence." He sighed, opting not to look. "Throw me that shirt."
Dash grabbed a T-shirt from their nightstand, tossing it over. "I don't know why you keep some of this stuff around."
Jason pulled off a store tag, sliding it over his upper half. "Human clothes are useful for a lot. The fabric's pretty strong, doesn't easily degrade, and it covers up welts like these." He paused. "Plus, I'm a little chilly right now."
"You're chilly." Dash said in disbelief, pointing at him. "You're always like a million degrees!"
"Room temperature is farther away from my body temperature." He replied with a shrug. "Being cold is weird for me too."
"You don't think it means anything, right? You feel okay?"
"Yeah. Look, maybe it's just the healing process. If love keeps me warm, and it's being used for healing, maybe I'm a little colder. Usually I just stay passed out under hospital blankets until I get better."
"There were those times you got cold under Canterlot. That didn't make any sense." Dash pointed out, throwing an eye towards Scoots, who was hidden somewhere in a pillow fort that may or may not have fallen over.
"Yeah, well I'm no doctor." He paused. "Then again, even they wouldn't really be able to diagnose most of what I could have."
"Don't you just love being different?"
"If I could become a regular pony I would."
"I wouldn't let you." Dash replied. "I didn't fall in love with a regular pony. I probably wouldn't even know you if you'd been regular from the beginning."
"I dunno, with my charming good looks…"
"Pfft. The most you could say is humor."
"I'll accept that." He replied, beginning to push the armor from his lower half. The room grew silent again.
Dash finally spoke up. "So what about that Hercules thing?" She asked.
"I really just hope that it isn't anywhere close to literal. Hercules was this big strong guy from Greek mythology that was physically unstoppable. Mentally, not so much. But people mostly refer to the physical bit. Bob might be blatantly misusing the name, but it's still worrying."
"Especially considering the fact that Bob knows physical muscles won't do much against our magic." Dash added.
"Ooh, yeah…" Jason paused, shaking his head. "Damn. See, if he was human, all he would have is a plan. He wouldn't be able to do all these weird things and keep this fog about him. Both literally and figuratively."
"Well I doubt he's going to wait too long to show off something that he was so keen in advertising." She replied. "But of course, there's no way to be any more ready than we already are. Except, of course…" She pushed herself into Jason's side. "If I decide to love you a little more."
Muffled complaints came from the pillow fort.
"Look," Jason began, "Though I do appreciate your increased love, I feel like it's sort of pointless. There's a lot we haven't seen, but I don't doubt the ability for us to come out ahead."
"So you don't want any love?" Dash asked rhetorically, shifting away. Jason followed, tipping her onto her back so that he was looking downward into her eyes.
"Corny, cliché line." He said, putting on a dreamy expression as he moved his face close to hers. Dash put a hoof around the back of his head, pulling herself up to kiss him. "You bastard." She whispered a moment later, pushing him to one side. He landed on his bad side, grunting as he hit.
"You know," Dash began after he seemed to recover, "I sort of like it here."
"Did you expect anything like this?" The stallion asked, gesturing around. Laid out in front of the pair was a huge cave, which disappeared downwards into gloom. "And do you think it goes upwards?"
"I haven't a clue." The princess responded in a near-whisper, her eyes straining for the ceiling. "I also can't say I know where we are. There were mines around Manehattan, but this is clearly naturally formed." She looked at the mouth of the tunnel they'd come from, staring at the stalactites that had begun to form from the ceiling of the unnatural entrance. "Each inch on one of those is probably about a hundred years of dripping. Assuming that the water and mineral content there was constant, I'd say that this passage is at least a few centuries old."
"You said something about being princess for a thousand or so, right?"
"These structures far predate my lifespan, yes."
"Isn't that sort of eerie, knowing that even a thousand years doesn't really shed light on the world?"
"Well, I definitely didn't think this conversation was going to be about things I don't know either." Luna replied, slightly annoyed. "I've known that I-" She paused, finally taking a few steps into the cave. "Haven't known everything for a long time. I never really assumed that I did, and after this whole disaster of the past few months with the war and Jason and so on, there's been no end of things I've just had to just go with."
"There's a war?" Comet asked.
"There was. Officially, it's over. Unofficially, we still have a small contingent of the army tied up in areas where the previous government remains in control. While it's not a spectacular threat or long lasting, it's just as much of a headache as this city. We're dealing with a pony that has survived his own death, and only just now risen up. I don't know what he's capable of, and I'm not sure if we can fight him."
"Just us?" Comet asked, his lower voice making an spooky sounding echo. Luna gestured for him to follow, and began to hike upwards in a slightly smaller cave.
"No, we have ponies that can fight. But none really specialize in magic, and I'm probably the only other pony in Equestria that knows their way around the same type of magic the enemy uses."
"So basically, you think that if they've got any sort of base in the city, it'll be here?" Jason asked, pointing to a somewhat run-down part of town. "And I'm assuming you've got no subways or anything, right?"
"No tunnels, if that's what you're asking…" Dust said, furrowing his brow.
"Basically subways are underground trains that transport people around a city, by the way. It's efficient transportation."
"Noted?" Dust replied.
"So the point is," Dash took over, "we should look here?"
"Ah, well more specifically, these few blocks. This city's full of royal guards… or at least it was. Luna specifically set them up to act as civilians, going about jobs here and there and staying vigilant. We didn't get a lot of tips, to be honest. But maybe that's because we weren't around the right areas." He shook a hoof at them, grinning.
"So we're looking here because the lack of traffic through this area implies that it might be of importance?" Jason asked, leaning backwards in his seat. "That's ridiculous."
"Yeah?" Dust asked. "You went to one of the same places last time."
Jason stared. "That seems a little too convenient. Just look where we haven't been and boom, obvious evidence. They've got to be playing us. Why else would there be a plant like that. Bob wanted us to know that. I'm sure he would want us to go there too."
"You know, you forget that this is after months of work." Dust responded angrily. "And look, you knocked off a bunch of guys today. That's a success."
Jason sighed.
"What about the tips?" Dash asked. "Do those help?"
"When Luna pursued those, the suspects either committed suicide or disappeared off the map. I don't think they were supposed to be found. Similarly, the guards had suspicions towards these areas that, while unfounded, were somewhat legitimate. They knew what they were doing, and I doubt much got through them. At the very least, having an idea of the locations of more cronies of this guy should help. You can design a raid however you like, expecting heavy resistance."
"I suppose that's true…" Jason replied. "There's a high chance it'll be a 'shoot everything that moves' scenario."
"Yeah, well either way, we aren't doing anything about it tonight." Dust said, turning away. "Get some rest and we'll plan this out tomorrow."
Jason landed on top of a roof, folding up his wings as he peered down on the block they had decided to investigate. There were a few that showed promise, but trying to attack more than one at a time was too risky. They didn't have the manpower, especially, with the other half of Team Green Bean, Steve and Sartos stuck down south. From what he'd heard they were needed anyway, so he couldn't exactly complain.
"So that's our target?" Morning asked, watching Tank, Eravel and Thunderlane come to the mouth of the alley below. The griffin made an okay sign from one talon, lining up in front of a street level door and aiming at the old lock. He gave a nod, beginning to count in his head as Dash, Jason and Morning shifted over to the rooftop of the target building and lined up against the roof access. Eravel's shot rang out as Jason pulled the wooden door from its hinges with his magic, storming downwards into the darkness.
No shots came to meet them, but he could hear the sounds of a skirmish downstairs. The trio descended another flight, only to find one dead pony, his firearm still in his hoof. A tattered cloth curtain blocked off the other half of the first floor, and the team began to move towards the barrier.
Laughter rang out, and the curtains shifted. Bob sort of passed through the flaps like a light breeze, grinning. It was the first time he'd opted for a lack of any facial fog, leaving his shockingly normal face open to the world. He didn't really look like a bad guy that wanted to do- whatever bad things he wanted. The guy looked more like a librarian or maybe a shopkeeper.
~I don't quite enjoy the radio silence.~ Twilight murmured. Jason saw Dash roll her eyes.
"Yeah, well that tends to happen when you're looking at the guy we're after."
Bob had lost his grin, and was looking straight at Jason with a somewhat quizzical look. "I see you're still a changeling." He said.
Jason didn't credit the guy with a response. He didn't really have one either, but that didn't need to be mentioned.
"You're quite the interest, you know. I expected this little problem would resolve itself, but it appears you're just as at home as ever." He was only met with blank faces. Bob put on a face of faux surprise, and Jason suddenly felt himself get fed up, raising his gun to point at the fiend.
"Woah there." Bob replied quickly, holding his hooves in the air as at least fifteen ponies pushed through the cloth with guns raised. "Don't want anyone to get hurt here."
"Shut the fuck up." Jason sneered, hearing the others raise their firearms in defense.
"Haven't you ever wondered, 'why me?'" Bob paused, but received no answer. "Come on, we all have. It's part of being alive. I guess you didn't fall into the whole, 'alive' group for a while though, did you?" He paused. "Guess you can check that off the bucket list. Or can you?" He acted like he was weighing two invisible options. "Paradox?"
Jason's eyes widened, but he kept his mouth shut.
"Oh, I see we've got a winner!" He laughed. "You're powerful, but you aren't that smart. Let me tell you a story, alright? I think you have a bit of time." Bob cleared his throat, pacing to one side. "You, my dear Jason, woke up in a meadow near Ponyville a few months back. And you know what? Achieving magic on day one I've heard? That's quite the accomplishment. Completely impossible, but an accomplishment nonetheless."
There was a long pause as Jason tried to get his mouth to work. "Then how'd I do it?!" Jason replied, annoyed. He shifted his gun to a crony, who flinched. "I don't care how much you seem to know about me, it still doesn't change the fact that anything happened the way it did!"
"No, it doesn't. But it does change the circumstances under which they did. I don't know what you think about that body, but it definitely isn't just a re-skinned copy of your old one." Bob's smile started to come back. "I'm sure Luna's told you about me, and the soul magic, as she calls it. We talked like this once, before she… ceased to exist" He explained, gesturing around. "She's starting to show her age." Another pause, as he seemed to lose his train of thought. "Anyway, souls aren't easy to come by. Bodies like to hold onto them, you see. But your world sure seems to have a lot of people dying. Large populations do that, you know."
Jason spluttered. "No, that's not what-"
"So I grabbed a few. Could just focus on a little area and suck them up. And you know what? They're slippery things, souls. They don't really exist in the way other things do. But yours was all annoying. Slid right into some busted up changeling after that supposed invasion."
"That's impossible!" Jason yelled, his gun shaking. "This is my body!"
"Well, I guess you could call it half and half." Bob proposed. "The other guy's still in there. I mean, come on. You don't just pick up magic and walking like that. You just had it all along. Knew it. Muscle memory, so to speak."
A frustrated tear slid down Jason's cheek. "You're wrong."
"I could be, but it sure explains everything a bit better, right? Look how helpful I am. Basically a saint."
"B- but why tell him anything!" Dash screamed, taking a step forwards. "What kind of a stupid fucking plan is that anyway?"
"I thought it was good." He turned around, sticking his head through the curtain. "Hercules! Did you think it was good?"
Another head popped out, and a large pony walked through. "I thought it was good." He replied.
"Now, gentlemen, if I can direct your attention elsewhere. This is the guy I'm sure you all know about. He's an example of what happens when you smack two souls into a body and they stick. I suggest you don't piss off Hercules. I'm sure this also sheds some light on why you're such a bother, changeling, although you did prove the possibility of such an outcome. It takes research and time, a perfect client and a lot of luck to get anything like this fellow here. Can you see why it annoys me that you haven't died yet, and that body hasn't outright rejected you?"
"It's started to become clear." Jason choked out. Not his body-
"How about memories? I'm assuming you've got a bit of haze over stuff you should remember, right? It doesn't seem like everything really transfers between brains, or something. Maybe you don't know what you don't remember. Hercules has a few gaps, to say the least. Then again, I can't say I know the effects of being with a changeling that wouldn't have developed knowledge or free will, Chrysalis being how she is." He tapped his chin in thought. "Huh."
There was a long pause.
"Well, I quite love last words." Bob picked up. "They're clichéd, but what can I say?" He pulled out a notepad. "I'm a little old fashioned."
For the first time in his life Jason couldn't hope to think of a clever retort. He also couldn't seem to get his mouth to become moist in the slightest. His mind was too busy going through the ramifications of everything he'd just heard. The fact that it made sense infuriated him. But his anger wasn't turning into action; it was too bound by the prospect that his life was due to the actions of someone he despised more than anything. And on top of that, what if this really wasn't his body? He looked down at his hoof. Somewhere inside him was a random changeling that he'd taken over.
He felt his anger start to win out over his shock. He gritted his teeth, looking back up at Bob, who was waiting patiently with a pencil in his hoof. "You want a suggestion?" The guy asked, as Jason's horn started to glow. Dash caught on and started to collect energy for whatever type of spell she decided to use.
"No." Jason replied succinctly, a hoof bursting into flame as he threw a wide semicircle of green fire at the line of ponies. He pulled out his riot shield, levitating over a piece of old sheet metal to act as a secondary shield. The team came closer together, backing out the door as quickly as they could.
The flames dispersed, leaving a line of slightly singed ponies. "No." Bob said, dotting the period. "Alright, so go after him…" He paused. "Oh wait, just get them somewhere so that Hercules can clean them up. He's not that high of a priority though, so don't kill yourselves." The goons rushed out. "Probably will anyway, though… idiots." Bob murmured, his avatar fading into the gloom.
Jason took a turn from the door, running down an alleyway as the team split up. That wasn't a fight he was going to win, and he wasn't sure how much he wanted to fight at the moment anyway. He ducked around the side of the building, pushing his back against the wall. Dash stopped next to him, peering around the corner. They were in some part of the alleyway, but from the ground she couldn't be sure.
"Jason, snap out of it!" She said, watching his chest rise and fall a little too quickly. She grabbed his hoof, flapping her wings. "Come on, we should at least fly a ways away first."
After a couple of seconds, Jason seemed to acknowledge her. He spread his wings, shaking his head free of tears. They barely lifted off the ground before bullets whizzed past the corner, landing inches away from them. Dash felt something impact her side, sending her back to the ground.
Dash ducked back behind the corner, folding her wings away as their window for escape faded. Whatever had hit her, it didn't really hurt a whole lot. Must've whiffed or something. She pulled her gun up to one shoulder, pivoting around the corner to return fire. The pegasus barely got a couple shots off before she retreated around the corner. She chanced a glance at Jason, who was wiping his mouth after he'd presumably vomited.
If Bob had been trying to wreck Jason's morale, he'd succeeded.
"There are a million of them over here!" Dash hollered, watching Jason pull his shield from his back and deflect a bullet in the nick of time. Dash felt a wave of dread wash over her as she realized they were cornered. She pushed herself against Jason, trying to stay behind his shield. "Do something, Jason!"
"I can't concentrate!" He yelled back. "Why do you think I don't use magic in combat?!" His voice broke on the last word.
"Well you've got to!" Dash replied, wrapping a hoof around his midsection in an attempt to comfort him slightly.
He was gathering power in his horn, but she could tell it wasn't a fast process. Every time a bullet hit, it would lose a bit of it's light as Jason concentrated elsewhere. He dropped his gun, turning his head downwards. The air cooled, his horn turning the nearby air a brilliant green, building towards whatever spell he was about to cast.
Jason barely felt the bullet bounce from his shield. What he did feel was the one that impacted his fore hoof, taking it out from underneath him. He tried to catch himself with his other hoof, but only flipped himself over the rest of the way onto his back when the shield got in the way. He started to roll to get up, shutting his eyes tightly as Dash grabbed one of his hind legs and began to pull him towards her.
Dash looked around, surprised by the sudden lack of gunfire. She chanced a peek around the corner, almost bumping into a bullet that was slowly making its way past.
"Jason, you did it!" She yelled, aiming at a guy and firing before she moved onto the next one and the next one.
"Dash, I-"
"I know it only works for a while, alright? I've got it covered."
"No, that's not it." He replied shakily, and Dash looked over in confusion. Her face fell. Jason had a bloody hoof held to the front of his shoulder, pulling it away for a moment so that he could push himself against the wall. "This hurts."
"Jason, I-" She bent down to pick him up, but he shoved her away with an arm.
"There's not enough time. Just shoot them."
She didn't have time to argue. Dash angrily pulled the trigger on the one that had flanked them, checking around the corner to knock off a few more. Their bullets were beginning to accelerate in the air, and she pulled back around as the spell collapsed with an audible crack. Dash slid down the wall next to Jason, and pressed at her walkie talkie. She pulled her hoof away a moment later, realizing that it was blown pretty well to shreds.
"I guess that explains why she was so quiet." Dash laughed, watching Jason hold up the cord to his earpiece that had melted through, his face a mask of pain and tears.
"I think it got stuck on my hoof in there." He explained, the pain only slightly coming into his voice. He tried to laugh for a moment before his shoulder complained and he gritted his teeth. "What are the chances that it hits a seam anyway?" A whine. "Oh, this is so much worse than I thought it would be."
"Yeah?" Dash asked, pulling out a bandage and wrapping it around his shoulder tightly. A pony stepped around the corner, aiming a gun at them as Jason's horn gave off a flash and he thudded against the opposite wall. Dash started to get up, but relaxed as she realized the crumpled heap wasn't moving. "Do you think you can fl-"
A section of the wall exploded a few feet away from the two, creating a sizable pile of bricks against the opposite wall.
"Shit." Jason muttered, getting to his hooves slowly. His shoulder literally felt like it was on fire. "So I take it you're what's his face?" He asked, as a pony slowly walked through the hole.
"I am." He replied. "It's interesting to finally see both of you in person, you know. I mean, the boss wants me to kill you and all, but-"
"Oh, you've decided not to out of the goodness of your heart?" Dash asked, batting her eyelashes cutely as she raised her gun.
"Well, I've got to say that I sort of admire what you've accomplished in the last couple months. Boss didn't expect you to get anywhere so he just sort of left things alone. Then you did and obviously he wanted to know why, and now he just wants you out of the way having found out the answer. Not that you're a huge threat, really." He paused. "So look, no hard feelings. Just following orders. Loose ends, you know?"
Jason pulled Dash's lowered gun from her hooves, pointing it at Hercules. "Shut up."
click
"Now!? Really!? Now!?"
Hercules' horn started to glow brightly, and Jason shielded his eyes. He took a step backwards, stepping on his gun that he'd dropped earlier. He grabbed it, realizing too late that he wouldn't have time to change the outcome with a single bullet. He felt Dash grip onto his shoulder as he charged his own horn, his forehead heating up past all levels of comfort as he forced as much energy into a teleportation spell as quickly as possible.
He saw the light suddenly become like the surface of the sun through his eyelids, heat washing over his body and singeing his fur for a brief moment before his stream of consciousness ended.
Mission command was silent. It was a little ways past the pin drop analogy.
"Did it break?" Dust finally asked, poking at the computer screen. It had frozen on the last frame, the top of Jason's helmet barely visible on the bottom of the screen against the light. "It broke, right? The camera thing just can't handle that kind of exposure?"
The screen replaced itself with a grey screen that read, "Signal lost. Open Troubleshooter? It helps, we promise."
"Shit." Twilight murmured, still staring.
Scootaloo was staring as well, though she was doing a good job hiding her worries. "I'm sure they got away." She affirmed. "They get away from everything." She only received silence. "I know it! They're too strong to die like this!" Tears streamed down her face, any composure lost. The filly shifted on her hooves for a moment, not knowing what to do. Eventually she sprinted for the door, leaving the others behind.
It took her several tries to get the door to their room open with her hooves shaking like they were. She nearly launched herself into her parents' stuff, digging through it like she'd found gold. Scootaloo knew they still had it, somewhere. Moments later she let out a pitiful cheer of victory, pulling free the old notepad they'd used months ago. Jason had it, she was pretty sure. He better. If Dash and him weren't dust in some alleyway.
She shook her head free of those thoughts, simply writing the words "Are you alive?" before collapsing to the ground in tears atop the notepad.
Jason hadn't thought of a destination for the teleportation. He would punch himself in the face for that one, but he couldn't really seem to feel his hooves. Or anything, really. That was weird. Was he dead? Had he not teleported or something?
Then he got hit in the chest by an unseen force, knocking the air from his lungs. Usually he got his hearing back first. This time it was just pain. His front was burned, his shoulder seared with pain, and he just felt worn out. Well, worn out was sort of an understatement.
He felt himself get rolled over, his eyes opening to the sky just as raindrops hit his face. Rain again? Really?
"Jason, you okay?" Dash asked, looking down at him. The amount of worry on her face seemed a little overkill. This wasn't much of a life threatening thing. Unless he looked like shit… He sat up quickly, feeling nauseous for a moment and regretting the move as his shoulder burned. He tried to ignore the pain, and looked himself over. His fur had been singed off in patches, replaced with a few small circles of angry red flesh. A flash of green spread across his front, filling in the fur that was missing. It looked a little better.
"I'm fine." He replied, letting himself flop back to the earth. He bit his lip as his shoulder flared up again. "Well, sorta."
The rain had started to pour.
"Alright, so now that that's out of the way, what's wrong with this place?" Dash asked.
"Huh?" Jason looked around, immediately noticing what she was talking about. The colors looked different, less one-dimensional. "What?"
"Why does stuff look weird?" She asked, her eyes scanning the landscape. Dash picked up her gun and slung it onto her back, pushing Jason's towards him. The shield was still sort of attached to his hoof by a strap, and he shook it off.
Just as fast as it'd started, the rain stopped. Dash was looking up with surprise as the clouds broke apart and sunlight began to show through. "What the hell?" She asked to no one in particular, shaking her head. She was silent for a moment as the air warmed up, thinking. "Do you think big teleportations screw with the weather?"
"Uh, maybe?" Jason replied with a shrug that became painful. "I'm no expert."
"Yeah, but do you feel how much warmer it's getting? Wherever we are, it's not cold and snowy anymo-" She paused. "What."
"What?"
"Where the hell are we?" She asked, pointing through rapidly clearing haze at a cluster of buildings down the hill they had appeared on. They looked like office buildings, sort of.
"Chicoltgo?" Jason asked, watching the rainy haze fade and his assumed ground-level drop further on the buildings.
"Those are way too high already." Dash replied, barely louder than a whisper. She leaned against a tree, watching the weather continue to cease.
More buildings emerged, a pyramidal one becoming visible as sunlight washed over the duo. "That sort of looks like-" Jason fell silent, hot, salty air blowing past them and drying his soaked fur.
"Like what?" Dash urged, pressing her hoof into a well-trodden path. It had the strangest tracks, from she could see was left of them.
"So… What now?" Dash asked. "Oh my god, what about Scoots? What if we can't get back?!" The blue mare started to shake, and Jason grabbed one of her nearby hooves with his good arm.
"We'll get back. I'm sure we'll be able to."
"But what if-"
"No, I'm sure we can."
"But-"
"We can do it, Dash! I'm sure Twilight can figure out how this happened!"
"We can't contact her!" The mare yelled back, gritting her teeth as she stepped towards Jason. "How is she supposed to know that we-" She stopped dead. "The pad of paper."
"What?"
"You have it, right? The one that contacts Scoots?"
Jason rolled to his feet, collapsing as his leg refused to adjust. He didn't stop, pulling the saddlebags off as he reached inside. "Yes!"
"You got it?!" Dash yelled, crouching next to him. It was covered in dots, 'You alive?' Clearly visible across the front. They must've been tears.
Dash pulled the pencil from Jason's hoof as soon as he produced it, writing a 'yes' that went slightly off the edge of the page due to its size. Another dot appeared, then another. "Oh god, Scoots…" Jason mumbled sadly.
'Are you okay?' Appeared a moment later.
'We'll live.' Dash replied. 'Jason says we may have ended up back in his world.' "What was this place called again?"
"The planet or the city?"
"The planet, I guess."
"Earth." Jason replied, laying back on the ground in a heap as he looked at the damage to his armor. Unsurprisingly, large parts of the front had been burnt away, leaving him with a patchy appearance. Whatever kind of heat that had been, it definitely wasn't natural.
"Oh, that's right." Dash said, face hoofing. Her stress was dissolving by the moment. 'Earth.'
'Are you stuck there?' Scoots asked back.
'No, but ask if there's anything Twilight can do to help.' Dash paused, tapping the eraser to her chin. 'We've got to get somewhere better than here.'
'Why did it take you so long to respond?' The paper asked back. Dash furrowed her brow. It'd been like two minutes.
'How long has it been?'
There was a pause, before 'about an hour' came back.
"Woah, what?" Jason asked, making an irritated noise as he tweaked his shoulder the wrong way. "I guess teleportations aren't instant after all." Dash copied his words onto the paper with an author tag.
'We'll try to get back as soon as possible, but remember that we love you, kid. There isn't a whole lot of danger for us here anyway.' Dash waited a few moments, reading Scoots' response.
"Jason, didn't you say you lived near here?" Dash asked, giving her wings a testing flap. The air felt strange
Jason's wings grew with a flash of green, and he extended them outwards into a much broader wingspan. "I'm not too cool with the idea of doing much more than gliding if I can avoid it." He said.
"Yeah. You mind passing on a bit of the improvement? Air feels sorta thin."
"Well that would explain why I can't seem to fully catch my breath." Dash's wings stretched out on her sides, becoming closer to what would look like it could support a small horse. She cringed a bit, shaking her head.
"I'm going to tighten it." Dash said, gripping the ends of the cloth in her hooves.
"Wait, I'm not re-" Jason clenched his teeth, a muffled groan escaping his lips. He was breathing heavily, and Dash attempted to jostle his arm to make sure it was tight against his chest. She only got an angry huff of air back in response as he continued to catch his breath. "Does the air really feel that thin here?" He asked after some silence, his voice sounding shaky for at least a few reasons. "I thought it was just me being injured and out of breath or something, but I mean… Like this is a lot"
"A little." Dash paused. "I'd probably call it a few thousand feet at least. Are we on a mountain?"
"A hill, sorta, but the ocean's probably less than a mile away so we're not that high."
Dash tied a second knot, pulling it tight with another gasp from Jason. "Think you can fly?"
He flapped his wings a few times, nodding. "So long as my arm stays steady, and this wing thing doesn't hinder my ability to gain altitude in the first place." There was a pause, and Jason finally felt the emotions he'd kept from affecting him roll over. He almost lost his footing. It'd been blissful for a few minutes when he had other stuff to think about.
Dash could see the sudden change in his expression, wrapping her hooves around his neck. The movement was partially just to keep him upright. "It's okay, Jason. This doesn't change anything."
"It changes everything." He choked back. "I mean- I can't even figure out how to cope with what he said." Jason lowered himself to the ground, and Dash rolled him over so that he was on his back leaning against her as she propped him up. "Everything I'd assumed, that this was some sort of happy go lucky coincidence… I was put like this by a mad man! A murderer, Dash!"
"He said you weren't supposed to go into this body or survive." The pegasus replied, pushing some of Jason's mane out of his eyes. "That's all you. Everything you've done was by your choice or your will, uninfluenced."
Jason was silent for a while, as sounds of people started to draw closer and become clearer. "I guess it's a little better that way." He finally said, shaking his head. "I just wish I couldn't attribute my origins to him."
"Hey, it's alright, Jason. I still love you." She batted her eyelashes down at him.
He let out a half-laugh. The pair went silent again, sitting still for a few seconds in thought. Jason's ears twitched as voices became individually audible over the background noise of the city. "We should move."
"Why would it matter if we got seen?" Dash asked, looking around.
He cleared his throat, trying to void himself of his emotions and set them aside for the time being. He- just couldn't deal with this right now. He cleared his throat. "Well, I don't think we'd get hurt, but it would cause a lot of commotion." He paused, swallowing. "The Earth only has one species capable of intelligent thought, and the existence of another would draw a lot of attention. Not just there, but it could conceivably spread all over the globe in minutes. Even if they didn't figure out the intelligence part, a new, strange species would still make the national news at least, even if it was just because it looked like a complicated hoax."
"Wait, what? Minutes?"
"The power of the internet at its greatest." Jason replied, lifting into the air. "I mean, not like two minutes, but you know what I mean. Stuff gets out there pretty fast. Now come on, we've got some sightseeing to do."
Dash glanced over at the mass of buildings again, looking up as a helicopter passed over, presumably investigating the storm. Some planes were making their way up into the sky far away. "Do we ever."
Jason's fur was drying, and so with it came the heat. If the difference in seasons when he'd ended up in Equestria the first time was to be repeated, summer would make sense. The updrafts were helpful, pushing them upwards with minimal work despite the thin air. The sun said it was the afternoon, probably around one or two. Wait, daylight savings. Three or four? That sounded right. He never was good with that sort of thing.
The pair gained elevation as the land underneath them descended down the hill. Dash muttered a wow that was lost in the wind.
Jason started to swoop downwards, speeding up as the pair made their way towards downtown. If he could build up enough speed, it would be doubtful that anyone could really make out what he was. Staying somewhat low helped put obstacles in the way of people's views. He turned his head, staring at the park they'd come from. Buena Vista Park, if he remembered correctly. That meant that flying due east would run him into Market Street, which he could follow towards the bridge.
It was weird flying over a city where he'd previously only walked. It was also weird being able to move so quickly. He encountered Market in a minute or so, tapping Dash with his good arm to make sure she knew where to turn.
Dash was caught on the edge of her self control. She wanted to zip around the buildings and make her own racetracks, something that would be irritating to set up with clouds and nowhere near as cool. Her reflection popped up against the windows of a taller building as she passed, disappearing half a second later as she ran out of reflective surface. No Sonic Rainbooms here, that was for sure. She could make out some more ocean at the end of the street, as the buildings grew higher and higher. A little one car trolley train moved on the street below, surrounded by cars. There were cars and people everywhere, in fact, in numbers that boggled her mind.
The buildings got taller and taller, completely dwarfing the ones in Manehattan, until they stopped abruptly, replaced by water. The first thing she noticed was the massive bridge to her right, which Jason pointed out a moment later. As if she could miss it.
"So that's the Bay Bridge, which goes through that little Island. The barely connected bit of land to that is Treasure Island. I've no idea what the hill bit is." He pointed to the left, almost turning around. "Golden Gate Bridge is back there, and to the right of that is Alcatraz on that other island. That was the prison in that one game we played." Jason looked forwards, watching the fog that had built up across the bay against the hills. Flying in the fog probably wasn't a great idea. They could try to go over it, but he didn't know if it had crested the hills yet. If it had, they could miss where they were going entirely. "Oakland is to the right under that fog, and Berkley is to the left. I guess since the fog gets thick closer to the hills on that side, we'll go towards Berkley."
"Where does it end? Surely you can't just have cities like this forever?"
"No, we're over the hub area here, surrounding the bay." He swept his good arm around the horizon to the south. "If we keep going east, that'll be where the suburbs are. You could probably go twenty miles from here in one direction or another and be amazed that there could possibly be a city so close. With all the movement and fanfare, there's still a huge amount of open space. There's actually a regional park near my house, called, um…" He pushed his hoof to his chin, thinking. "God, what was it?"
Dash tried not to let herself get distracted by the bridges spanning from the other side of the little island. She failed. "What're those bridges called?"
"That's still the Bay Bridge."
"That bridge has a gap in it."
"I'm pretty sure that's the old one." He scratched his head. "Yeah, that was it. They're tearing it down now." Jason took a sudden dive, basically free falling as he neared the water below. He spread his wings, slowly pulling up as he raced along the surface. His shoulder complained, but he paid it no heed. The water was calm enough to see a blurry reflection of himself as he shot along. Dash passed by, laughing as she touched the top of a wave with a hoof just enough to hit Jason with some spray.
The pair began to rise again, nearing land. They didn't rise too far, as Jason opted to stay low and watch for landmarks that he knew from a slightly lower perspective. He could just go east until he found… well, he knew the street anyway. He'd recognize it. They were zipping by just slowly enough for him to read the signs anyway, although the water accumulating on his fur was a little bit of a bother.
"What are we looking for?" Dash asked.
"A street. I think it's called Braddock. No, Sadduck? Hold on, I know it's got that uck at the end." He shook his head. "Oh! Shattuck!" He grinned at Dash, looking forwards just in time to see that he was losing height as the elevation beneath him rose. And strung between the two buildings in front of him were a couple of wires and a floppy hanging sign. He hit the brakes, losing most of his speed before one of his wings caught. He was sent tumbling through the air, flapping pointlessly as he spun.
Something gave way as he hit it with a shattering noise, and he continued to tumble. Just as he got his spinning under control and got a sorta helpful upside down flap in, his back hit the ground. He slid for a while, rolling onto his chest and coming to a stop who knew how far away. Just as he'd been starting to feel better, he was back to a world of pain. Jason let out a choked breath, coughing up a few specks of blood onto the tile beneath him. As if his day wasn't crap already.
So he looked up. Suddenly the fact that the floor was tile made sense. Dash swooped down, going in for a more graceful landing before she hit the smooth ground and slid a few feet behind him as she tried to stop. So much for secrecy.
"Richmond bound train approaching."
An entire station of subway passengers were staring them down, their mouths various degrees of open. They looked taller than he would have thought. Jason pulled at his gun sling, trying to draw attention to it so that he could look just a little more menacing. As he finally pulled it into a ready position he lost his balance and nearly fell, his arm burning as he tried to extend it to break his fall. A line of blood had already made its way down his sling, dripping onto the tile and pooling there slowly.
"You okay, Dash?" He whispered, turning his head enough to see her and the people at the same time. Someone had a smartphone pointed at them. Now several. Great priorities.
"There's a guy here!" She whispered quickly back. Jason turned quickly, catching sight of a guy that had unfortunately been behind them when they'd landed. The human jumped, backing up a step, then another. A subway train interrupted his next.
Jason stared, almost in shock. The young man, probably around twenty, slid up to them, coming to a stop. His arm and shoulder were beyond busted up, but he didn't seem to take much more of a hit. "Shit." Jason mumbled, looking at the crowd. The train came to a stop, its doors opening as more people came out and joined the party.
"Dash, watch my back for a second." He said, taking a faulty step towards the guy. His good leg twisted under him, and he just ended up on his face a few feet closer. As he pushed himself back to his hooves, he could clearly see the smear of his own blood on the ground behind himself. He pulled together some energy, focusing on the human.
The poor guy's arm audibly snapped back into alignment, and a couple people took a step forwards, probably figuring that the random alien thing in front of them was making things worse. Dash panicked, pulling her gun from her back and into her shoulder, keeping it aimed towards the ground. "Stay back!"
"Don't point a gun at them!" Jason yelled back, losing some of his concentration.
Dash shook her head, sliding her gun onto her back as people took cover around the pillars on the platform, though some others held their ground. "It's okay! Gun's gone!" She yelled out nervously, watching Jason push the unconscious fellow towards the wall at the end of the platform, only a few steps away. He propped the guy against the wall, shaking his head with a hoof to try to get him to wake up.
"Jason!" Dash yelled, as a guy broke through the wall of people, running towards Jason with his fists balled.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing with my son?!" He yelled, quickly closing the gap between Dash and himself. He simply jumped over Dash, ignoring the fact that she'd squared up her stance. Jason pulled his sling off with his teeth and held up his bad hoof, ignoring the pain as it lit up with green fire. The guy came to a stop, looking down at Jason with a mixture of trepidation and fury.
"Your son's fine, by the way." Jason said, hearing blood drip from his hoof. He turned just long enough to take a glimpse of his victim, who opened his eyes conveniently. Jason let his hoof go out, returning his leg to the ground as he moved painfully to one side, letting the two do whatever they may. "Tie up my damn arm, Dash." He muttered to the mare, watching her pull a new strip of fabric from her saddlebag and begin to tie it around him. Then came the hard pull, which resulted in obligatory yelling and swearing.
"Have a nice rest of your day, people." Jason said, spreading his wings. "Sorry about this. Can't say it was planned."
"Fremont bound train in two minutes." The speakers said. With a whoosh of air, Jason turned and flew down the tunnel going south, turning to make sure Dash was hot on his heels. Jason rubbernecked, looking around at the circular tunnel. He'd never been able to really look at one of these before. The thought didn't really overshadow the fact that he'd already screwed up the not getting seen thing. He let himself slow down, trying to put as little trauma on his shoulder which had only gotten worse by now.
The tunnel took a gradual right, opening into another station shortly after. They streaked past the people, the station platform disappearing quickly behind them.
"Does this ever open up?!" Dash yelled, starting a gentle left turn as light flooded inside. The tracks ascended into the air, transitioning into a bridge as Jason continued to follow. A train rushed by on the other tracks, whipping wind past the pair and making them wobble. Jason banked left after a few moments, gaining some altitude.
They seemed to be approaching a sort of wall-bridge thing in the fog, which Jason turned to follow. As it came into better view, Dash saw hundreds of cars below, driving down the giant road that crossed over street after street. It didn't have any of the lights or intersections that the other ones had, and way more lanes.
Jason was staying a little lower than Dash would have liked, as they raced past another train that was in a station and the road worked its way into the hills. It was much cooler in the fog than it was in the summer heat, and it only seemed to get thicker as they flew further. The road took some tighter turns as it drew close to a mountain.
Just as they turned the final corner, the duo slowed. Jason pointed out their path, and they whooshed into one of the several tunnels, which was perfectly round minus the flat floor. There were giant fans hanging from the ceiling that they had to dodge around as the temperature rose rapidly.
"You know, they hadn't built this when I was last here!" Jason yelled over the traffic noise, which was considerably louder than it had been in the enclosed environment.
Twenty seconds or so of tunnel, and they had gained at least thirty degrees of heat. Dash flew out slightly ahead of Jason, looking around the massive valley that greeted them. Jason sped up, taking advantage of the lack of fog. Dash looked behind herself to see the beginnings of a tumble of fog coming over the hills. It looked like a foamy wave stuck in place.
The valley gradually widened over the next few minutes as buildings started to pop up more frequently again, though on a smaller scale than before. Jason allowed himself to gain a great deal of altitude, gliding on the warmth rising in the hot day.
"You don't get updrafts like this in Equestria, that's for sure." Jason noted, dipping a little as he continued to lose bits of speed.
"Are we almost there, Jason?" Dash asked, looking at the lines of blood that had gone down his side in the wind.
"Yeah. We're over Moraga. Wait, Orinda? Moraga station… no, that doesn't sound right. Yeah, Orinda. That's the station for the same network of trains as before down there. Had trouble remembering that name for a second there." He paused. "Anyway, we're close but I don't want to fly fast if I can avoid it."
Dash nodded, feeling nervousness almost run through her veins as she realized that Jason could very easily have gaps in his memory like Bob had said. She shivered, and when Jason looked over passed it off for windchill. Her fur was still damp, and he seemed to understand. She tried to turn her focus back to the scene laid out in front of her, looking at the houses nestled into the hills, the golden grass that covered the crests of rounded peaks and waved in the wind, a lake that passed by with a little lighthouse in the middle. She couldn't say it distracted her a whole lot.
Twenty or so minutes of slow flying went by before Jason started to drop, turning away from the big road that disappeared into the distance, over the hill towards a huge mountain that was surrounded by flat land. The thing easily rivaled the Canterhorn.
They were low now, close enough for Dash to make out individual people again. They followed a somewhat smaller avenue with lights briefly, before turning off onto a side street. They took several more turns before Jason finally set himself down in the front yard of a house carefully, looking up at the little two story thing.
"Wow." He said, staring. "Fancy this."
"You own this?" Dash asked. "Looks pretty good for six months away." She noted, stepping across the short grass towards the door. It had been cut by something at least somewhat recently.
"Oh yeah…" Jason replied, putting a hoof to his chin. "I really hope I still own it."
"Yeah, me too." Dash replied, watching him fly up to the gutter and pull down a key that was apparently taped to the side.
"Still got my well hidden backup there." He said triumphantly, landing in front of the door. He levitated the thing into the lock, watching the door creak open shortly after. "Hello?" No answer. He took a few steps inside. "Yeah, if the housing market's still kinda bad I doubt it would get sold." Jason said, closing the door after Dash walked in.
"These are high ceilings." She said, looking around. "They might even be higher than mine, and those are supposed to let me fly around to some degree."
"Humans are taller than I thought they were." Jason added with a nod. "It doesn't really sink in until you have to look up at one."
"Jason, what about those guys at the train station?" Dash asked. "Should we be worried?"
Jason shrugged. "I mean, I don't think it's cause for worry, no. But I bet if I turn on the news, they'll have something about it on nationally in the following hour block." He looked at the clock. It read three-thirty. "I'm hungry."
"Well I mean there's probably food... wait, since when do you get hungry?"
Jason huffed. "I crave food. Happy?" He turned, angrily mumbling as he limped into a kitchen. He exited through the back, pulling open a door to several mostly empty shelves.
"Can't say there's much selection." Dash noted.
"Frankly I'm surprised there's any at all." Jason responded, leaning heavily against the wall so that he could scratch a broken feather out of his wing. He grabbed a bag of chips, turning them over to look for an expiration date. There were a few cans, but canned food didn't exactly feel like a 'welcome back' sort of thing. He wasn't even sure if this was a welcome.
"Doesn't that mean nopony lives here?" Dash asked, picking up a can. "Either that or this guy has a strong diet of beans and chips."
"Well I guess, but I'm not sure why any stuff is left." Jason found the expiration date. "This was from June. I disappeared mid Ma-" He stopped, staring at the bag. The house was completely silent, only broken by the sound of Jason shaking his head. "Whatever." His voice cracked. "It was stuck here after." Jason tossed it into the air and let it float in his magic. It was then that he realized how much love it had taken to move them. As if he wasn't physically wary enough already. "Oh my god."
"What?" Dash asked, eyeing the bag as he closed the door to the pantry.
"That inadvertent teleport that brought us here? It was a little more costly than I thought."
"How's the damage?" Dash asked, walking behind her husband into the kitchen proper.
"I dunno exactly, but it took a lot out of me. I'm not tired, really, from the sheer amount of love I have at the moment, and I have enough to get us back even without Hercules' help, but it's not going to leave me well off."
"Well we still have to wait until Twilight gets back. She might have a tip or two." Dash responded hopefully. "And I mean, let's look at the bright side. You're finally back here."
Jason stared for a moment. "Wish it would have been on better terms." He pulled off his saddlebag, riot shield and gun, tossing them onto the island and pulling up a chair. He sat down, ripping off a shred of his armor that was barely attached. His chest and the front of his legs were in tatters, but both sections still had enough fabric intact to hold together. Dash pulled out the pad of paper as she took a seat next to him, laying it on the table along with her things.
'I'm on it. We'll have you back before you know it. See if the humans can help. -Twilight' Were the only sentences displayed.
"Well that was anticlimactic." Dash muttered. "Speaking of news, weren't you saying something about it?"
Jason paused his efforts of trying to open the bag of chips and nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if we're on it." He got up to leave, thumping onto the floor in a heap as he got out of his chair. "Fuuuuuuck."
Dash hopped off her chair, helping him to his hooves. "We really need to get you some help."
"I'm fine. I heal fast, remember?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't really apply when you have a bullet inside your shoulder!"
That seemed to stop him short. "Well... We'll figure it out, alright? We don't have a whole lot of options." Jason took a few steps forwards and climbed a flight of stairs. They were slippery hardwood, and bigger than the ones they had back home to boot. It wasn't easy on three legs.
"God, human deathtraps." Dash muttered, almost slipping. Jason got to the top of the stairs, realizing how cleared out the house really was. Hopefully the television was still around. With some sort of cable plan or something…
It was, sitting where it always did. Huh. He grabbed the remote from the coffee table a few steps away, and pushed himself carefully onto his couch. The TV made a noise to signal the fact that it was on. "Wow, this is weird. Like, I sat here six months ago, but I was human. Also, still not sure why stuff is running around here."
"I wish I could relate." Dash said with a laugh. Jason chuckled back, looking increasingly worn out. She leaned against his shoulder, watching as a commercial played for something or other. A muscular guy was lifting a weight or something. "So what're we watching?"
"The news." He replied, "I sorta want to see what happened while I was away. But of course, it might just be stuff about us, which unlike everyone else on this planet we actually know about. But I guess at the very least you can see some actual television."
A news jingle played, as the camera focused on a talking head. "We're back, and we cut to Special Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin at the Pentagon, and disturbing news about returning veterans of The War on Terror. Good evening Jennifer."
"Good evening Bret. New intelligence about recidivism among Guantanimo detainees is cementing fears that the US military is again encountering militants once taken off the battlefield." The camera cut to footage presumably taken from the prison, as a new voice took over.
"The US intelligence and defense community suspect as many as twenty to thirty former Guantanamo bay detainees have joined forces with ISIS, and other militant groups inside Syria," she said as a map appeared, showing Syria. "Some of the former detainees are fighting with ISIS, some are supporting the Al Qaeda linked Nusra Front."
The camera cut once again to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. "We know that some of the detainees that have come out of Guantanimo have gone back to the fight, to the battlefield. We're aware of that."
"The chairman of the house armed services committee called for an immediate suspension of detainee releases in a letter to the defense secretary today. Quote, 'The US government must not release terrorist detainees at the same time we have committed US service members to fight ISIL. To continue to do so just as we have had to open a new front in the war on terror is unthinkable.'"
"One of the first policy decisions President Obama made," the voice continued, "when he became president was to announce he was closing Gitmo."
"Let me repeat," the president said, "I am not going to release individuals who endanger the American People."
"He reiterated his desire to do so at the state of the union this year."
"This needs to be the year congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at Guantanimo bay." Obama continued.
The narrator picked back up. "The Pentagon has cleared eighty current detainees for transfer out of Guantanimo bay. President Bush also authorized the release of five hundred and thirty detainees, but defense sources say that the recent releases have included more hardcore fighters. One example, in April of this year, Ibraham Binge Jakaren, a Moroccan who has spent more than three years at Gitmo, was reported killed while leading a known Jihadist group in Syria fighting President Bashar al-Assad's forces. The Moroccan fighting unit was formed by three former Gitmo detainees. Former US Ambassador to Iraq from 2010 to 2012 says he would advise against releasing more detainees from Gitmo."
"These people are very ideologically and essentially religiously committed to their evil cause, and it is very hard to sort out who is going to stay at home and who is going to return to the battlefield."
"Of the six hundred and twenty detainees released during the Bush and Obama Administrations, US defense officials estimate one hundred and eighty have returned to the fight Bret."
"Jennifer Griffin live from the Pentagon, Jennifer thank you." He paused, as the dual screen became one. "No political grapevine tonight, in order to focus the story developing across The Bay Area of California."
Scootaloo burst into the command center, out of breath. She wiped away any tears that may have still been on her face, and gestured at the staring ponies with the notepad. "I-" She took a deep breath, her heart thudding in her chest from a mixture of excitement and worry. "They're alive!" She said, getting her breathing under control.
"What?" Dust asked. "Why'd it take them so long to tell you? You sure it's actually them?"
"Yeah, I'm sure!" The filly responded, annoyed. "I guess it was just... travel time or something."
"Travel time to where?" Twilight asked, suddenly becoming a lot more interested, which considering the circumstances must've meant she was somewhere around the maximum level of interest possible. "Teleporting has a tiny travel time, even over long distances." There was silence. "Scootaloo, where did they end up?"
"Earth." She squeaked out.
"Huh?"
"Where Jason came from before everything around here happened." She took another breath. "It's like, you remember that time when he tried to move a storm and teleported himself accidentally when lightning overloaded the spell and stuff? Well the guy they were fighting apparently had a lot more energy to contribute."
Twilight seemed to think the ramifications of the foal's words over for a moment, scratching her head. "How far away is that?" She sighed. "I would assume we could bring them back the same way, but..." The lavender mare paused. "You know, it'd be a lot easier to figure these things out if Jason didn't have enough magical energy from Dash to basically make up spells and try things like this. Look, this'd make more sense if knowledge on teleportation was sizable, but there just aren't that many unicorns capable or willing to do it, and it's near-impossible to study..."
"We could always see if Jason could ask someone."
"How would humans know about teleportation?" Twilight asked.
"Well they know how to make a metal plane fly faster than Rainbow Dash." Scoots paused. "And fire missiles. Jason said they have bombs that can wipe out most everything in like an eight mile radius with guys named adam or something. So if they have those things that seem sorta impossible, they might know how to teleport even if they don't have the ability?"
"I'll get in contact with Celestia." Twilight responded. "Feel free to have Jason do some searching of his own." She put her forehead to the flat of one of her hooves. "This mission's a headache already."
"We have Tracy Goldburg on the scene. What's going on there, Tracy?"
"Well Brit, it was less than an hour ago that what some can only describe as aliens graced this BART station with their presence. You can see forensics behind me, checking for anything that they can find useful. We know that one of the creatures was injured, leaving blood behind before it made its escape." The screen transitioned over to a video that someone had taken. Jason was watching himself and Dash, neither looking particularly photogenic as they stared at the people. It skipped forwards to the guy on the ground as Jason stood over him, his horn giving off a slight glow. Dash pulled her gun, and all hell broke loose in the crowd. A final cut was made to them flying away.
"We're still waiting for more information on what the creatures are, but I wouldn't yet dismiss this completely as some sort of hoax. When forensics comes back with tests, we'll know for sure."
"Any word on the young man that was injured?"
"He has been taken to the hospital for observation, but we have some footage of him before he got in the ambulance." The screen split into two as the video ran in its entirety on one side the man showing the paramedics his arm, flailing it around to show them it was fine as they attempted to restrain him. It looked fairly comical. "According to the videos and accounts from eyewitnesses including this man's father, they saw the man's arm appear to get healed from a definite break, saying that it snapped back into position. The man reported no injuries, including any bruises. No outward injuries were clear. His father reportedly talked to a creature briefly, as he attempted to recover his son from whatever it is they may have done. I honestly don't know what we're dealing with here, Brit."
"Thank you, Tracy." He turned back to the camera. "We've got our panel in here a little early tonight, to discuss and analyze the clips that continue to get posted on social media and elsewhere. Joining us tonight are Charles Krauthammer, syndicated columnist for the Washington post, Juan Williams, journalist and writer for the New York Times, and Fred Barnes, editor for the Weekly Standard." He paused for a moment, addressing the three. "A lot has happened in the last few minutes, gentlemen, including all of what you've just seen."
A few quotes showed up on the screen against a different background. Nearly everything Dash and Jason had said in their few filmed minutes was recorded.
"Now let me remind you all, none of this is final. But it seems clear that these creatures, were capable of speaking English as if they were fluent. This is, of course, is what brings up fears of a hoax. Charles?"
The other man paused, blinking. "Over the two minutes that those creatures were in the station, there was a total of fifty four minutes of footage. With all the different angles and witnesses, I doubt a hoax. While it is possible with modern robotics to create similar looking quadrupeds, every movement seems fluid, and we still have the discrepancies between the healed man and the ability that they have to fly, even if it is for short distances. There aren't a whole lot of robots that can fly with bird like wings. But obviously, it's too early to know for sure. I would like to draw attention, however, to a few points of their appearance. Those guns on their backs, what I assume is a riot shield, these are all weapons that countries on Earth have made. And normally, the assumption with alien life corresponds to the availability of technology better then our own to get them here."
"Fred?"
The man did a half shrug. "What baffles me is the guy that said he'd been healed. It's hard to understand how that could be possible, especially because his arm is clearly broken in the video, and now paramedics are saying it's fine. So lets assume that some of the technology, I'm assuming it's technology, maybe some implant or a similar device that we just can't see, got them here. That it's nothing we can see." He paused. "But that's military stuff on their back, and while admittedly they could get those sorts of things illegally, the riot shield seems to be the odd one out. Realistically, those are also weapons you don't see a whole lot in the black market either. I hope a lot of this becomes more clear in the ensuing investigation, because there's a lot that just doesn't add up."
Juan cleared his throat. "These videos make me wonder more about the existence of sexes in the same way that they exist here on Earth, and parallels to humans. When I was first briefed on this, I assumed the less colorful one was male. Whether or not that's true remains to be seen, of course, especially considering the tendency for males to have brighter colors in some species." Dash started laughing. "It's also interesting how much they resemble tiny horses with more human faces. There is irony in the fact that the first life we may encounter looks far different from us, yet still like some of humans' earlier mythology. It's probably also why the videos seem so fake to the eye, because of the sheer number of similarities to life on earth."
"We could be looking at this from the wrong point of view." Charles chimed in, "let's just assume from this moment forwards that this is definitely not a hoax, partially because no one watching actually wants to hear about that. Isn't it strange that our only contact is with two life forms, one injured previously? You'd think that contact with an entirely new race would be a show of might, or at the very least more than two dilapidated messengers. This brings me to my next point, that these creatures might not actually be aliens. Unless the US government is secretly decades ahead on robotics, which they clearly are not, this could be a form of probe, a drone sent to search our planet for something or other. Tactically, that would make more sense. These beings are maneuverable, fast and apparently hardy, and the idea that robotics could be combined with biological tissues for one reason or another isn't very far off in some ways for us."
"Now let's not forget everything else that's happened today," Fred started, "A little over an hour ago, the blanket of fog over San Francisco just fell out of the air. If there's any connection to be drawn there, I'd say it's to these guys and their appearance. That's not something you can hoax, and it really only backs up the idea that these things are in fact aliens, or, as Charles mentioned, the messengers of them. Either way, it sure explains this whole ordeal a lot better than anything else I can think of, and something like that almost seems to make sense when you realize that the larger one healed a snapped arm in fifteen seconds flat."
"It really leads us to wonder what exactly this race is capable of, especially when that individual didn't seem to break much of a sweat."
"I'll stop you there, Juan." Brit said, turning towards the camera. "We'll be back with our All-Star panel in a few moments to further dig into the details as they come out. Stay tuned." A little jingle played, the screen switched to a robot discussing the power of deodorants and shampoos to make him appear as a real man. So someone had a sense of humor at least.
"Well then." Jason said, blinking. He was feeling more and more sleepy by the minute. "I guess it didn't take long to go for the assumption of alien."
"They seemed pretty excited." Dash noted. "But I mean, it'd be hard to hoax that, right?"
Jason shrugged. "Unless we've discovered a ridiculous amount of things in the last six months, yeah." He paused. "And I would be excited too, considering there hasn't ever been so much information supporting the existence of aliens before. I mean, they're right, so congrats to investigative journalism. Plus, people are probably hoping that we are aliens. They're going to be disappointed that we don't have technology, but still. Intelligent life... Not being alone in the universe is a big deal."
"What does this mean for us?" The blue mare asked, as Jason let himself slump against her.
"I dunno. They don't seem overly worried, which is good I guess. The fact that it's pretty obvious we have the same weaknesses as they do probably helps. Let's be honest, when it comes to entries that really make it clear we don't pose a whole lot of a threat, that was perfect."
"Yeah?"
"I mean, we're also sorta cute, not like big reptile things with fangs. And let's be honest, no one would just go after us to kill us that isn't crazy. They're going to think we're members of a race far more advanced than they are, and the fact that they don't know everything we can do generally puts a damper on aggression at the very least. Which lets be honest, people won't be aggressive anyway." He paused. "You know, despite the fact that a war would be over in a day."
"It's always nice to hear your expectations of a matchup." Dash giggled, and Jason laughed back. The front door made a quiet thump, a key manipulating the lock awkwardly for a minute before it opened. Dash and Jason both froze, looking between themselves and the still playing television.
"I see you locked the door well." Came a voice. "This is what happens when I give you jobs."
"Oh, screw you." Another replied. Someone dropped a rather heavy sounding bag to the floor as Jason and Dash broke carefully for cover, the latter dragging the former most of the way.
"Oh shit, our stuff!" Jason exclaimed, realizing they'd left it downstairs.
"And you left the TV on too, nice one." The first voice said.
"Woah, wait!" The other guy yelled. "What the hell is this stuff?!"
"What are you- What?" There was a pause, then everything got decidedly quiet. A pistol slide slid into position, and some other noises that Jason assumed were from a gun filtered upstairs.
"Jason what do we do?" Dash asked, her ears twitching as they picked up the echoes of a few steps below.
"I'm thinking! Shh!" He whispered back. He shifted to get some weight off his shoulder, only to get his hoof to dig right into the wound.
Dash didn't cover his mouth fast enough to cover up the hiss of pain, and someone stopped mid step. Dash peered out from underneath the low table, seeing no one at the door. There were a few windows which either didn't have latches in the first place or were closed, and a door that she assumed ran into a dead end other room. She didn't exactly feel like making a break for it anyway, sure they were just around the corner.
There was a whisper downstairs, and the sound of a step on the stairs. Dash watched the door, her heart in her throat as her eyes got ever wider. It'd been quite a while since she'd been this scared. A shotgun barrel pointed past the doorframe and she pulled her head back, keeping her breathing down so much she could almost see spots. She felt Jason's heartbeat against her, fast and strong. Now she could only see legs, first one set then two moving across the room and looking around.
They'd probably never been so quiet in their lives, just watching the guys move slowly and deliberately. One seemed less coordinated, and occasionally made one noise or another as he scuffed a shoe or bumped a piece of furniture. He moved another step, standing right in front of them, so close either of them could reach out without trouble.
Then he bent down, and his face came into view.
"Aah!" All three yelled in unison, as Dash and Jason pushed themselves out the opposite side of the table. Jason looked to his left just in time to see the other one let out a sort of gargle of choked fear and surprise, and a heavy boot collided with the shoulder that happened to be facing that way. With the way the day was going, it was just a little farther onto his chest than the bullet wound. He flew across the room, hitting a wall and then the floor.
"Jason!" Dash exclaimed, running over to the crumpled heap of limbs. Any second they'd shoot. Any second. Dash hugged around his neck, propping him up against the wall and turning to look at the guys a moment later. A thin line of blood ran from Jason's mouth to his chin, as he tried to get his breath back.
All that came out initially was a pained chuckle. "What are you doing in my house, Ben?"
Inevitable, lengthy silence ensued. Dash looked between Jason and who she assumed was Ben, if Jason was in a stable enough state of mind to correctly recognize him, anyway. Or in fact remembered what Ben looked like. She held back a shiver, figuring she may as well say something eventually. She looked over the two guys, sizing them up. They were both in suits, with those little hanging things from their necks. Ben was muscular, while the other one seemed smaller and less menacing. Either way, the other guy had recovered and they had two guns pointed at her.
"Is your name actually Ben?" She asked, his eyes flicking from Jason to her. Jason coughed, little spots of blood appearing on the floor in front of them as his bullet wound continued to bleed. Dash put a hoof against it and pushed despite a groan from Jason that sounded noticeably more pain filled.
Ben sighed, shaking his head angrily. "Take my gun, Makin." He said, thrusting the gun at his comrade with a name she recognized. He grabbed it awkwardly, watching Ben go into another room. He returned a few moments later with a few rags and a little bottle. "Hold this." He handed the bottle to Makin, pulling a pistol from his hip and pointing it at them. "Get some cornstarch from downstairs, if you can find it." Makin glared at him for a moment before walking off, his arms dangerously full.
Ben took a few steps towards them, gesturing with his gun that Dash move off of Jason. "Suggest you move, miss."
"Hey, how about no?"
"Your boyfriend there'll bleed out, how's about that?" He paused. "I'm trying to help you, whoever you are." He looked at Jason. "And however many coincidences her calling you Jason brings up, or why you think I'm in your house, it changes nothing for the time being."
Jason took a ragged breath, pushing himself into more of a sitting position against the wall. "But-"
"Shh. When we're done with this, then we'll talk." He pushed a rag against the bullet wound, pulling it away as Makin ran in and tossed him some cornstarch. He brought out a second rag, holding it in front of Jason's mouth. "You may want to bite this." He said, pushing the cloth between Jason's teeth as the changeling opened his mouth.
Liquid hit his chest, becoming fire as it entered his wound. He screamed into the rag, pushing at the bottle with a hoof. A hand shoved against his other shoulder, pinning him against the wall. Ben sprinkled some of the powder onto the bullet hole after he'd wiped some of the alcohol away, following up with the bandage.
"Makin, take over!" He paused, applying more pressure. They switched, Ben taking back his pistol that he must've handed over at some point. "I gotta make a call!"
"What do I do?"
"Just push down, Makin! I'm going to see if I can get a hold of Kyra."
"You're really going to pull her away from work just for this?"
"You heard what they said? Well, this is already so weird I'm not ruling anything out." He paused. "Hey, it's me. No, I'm fine. What? Knee's fine I said. I've got something else, actually." He ran a hand through his short hair, shaking his head. "Yeah, I know you're busy, look- I know- I understand what you do at the hospital- Kyra! Is there a guy with his chest open in front of you?!" Another pause. "Tell them you'll be on call, make up some bullshit about me or whatever, I don't care. Just hurry, alright? Oh! We're at my friend Jason's old house." A moment passed, before Ben took his phone away from his ear and mashed the end button with a thumb. He was still as a statue, stuck in thought until he turned towards Jason suddenly.
"If you can last fifteen minutes or so, I'll have some more qualified help for you. Until then, we're a little bit on the low supplies, low skill side." He sighed, walking over and pushing Makin's hand out of the way to apply pressure himself. The rag had begun to soak through a few seconds prior, contributed to by occasional drips from Jason's chin. "So it just comes down to who you are."
Dash took a quick breath. "We're-"
"I know who you are." Ben replied sharply. Dash quieted down, a combination of confusion and anger on her face.
"We're talking about the fact that that one got called Jason, and claimed this was his house." Makin filled in.
"You see, we had a friend by the same name," Ben began, "who lived here about half a year ago, as you may have guessed. You know, smart, middle-class guy. Just starting his career. So of course, Makin was shocked to see a news story with him in it, killed in some car crash on 680. It's interesting that someone with the same name shows up to the same house in a different body, like the one he used to have isn't buried six feet under."
A sort of shocked choking noise came from Jason, and a tear ran down his cheek before he could stop it. Ben raised an eyebrow. "So it's true." Jason muttered, feeling Dash's hoof brush against his arm in what little comforting motion she could provide at the moment. "God dammit."
"What did he say?" Makin asked.
"I dunno, but it wasn't any sort of response that made sense to me." Ben replied.
"He's your damn friend, okay?!" Dash yelled, putting an arm all the way around Jason's back to pull him closer to her. "It seems like it'd be a pretty easy thing to accept. Like, 'oh hey, he actually is alive! How nice of fate to award me with such a gift'." She huffed. "But no, it's just we don't know who you are this, can't trust you that."
"Well," Ben began, putting her hoof on the bandage and pushing it down to have her take over so he could stand up, "look at it from my point of view for a moment. We check up on this place once every couple weeks. Imagine our confusion when the two intruders not only didn't take anything and decided to watch Special Report for some reason, but were also miniature horses capable of complex thought. Then, one of them turns out to maybe be our friend in horse mode, who brought an alien and also survived his own death."
"You're sure I was dead?" Jason asked desperately.
Ben crossed his arms, letting out an angry sigh as he paced to one side. "Sure, friend Jason." He snapped sarcastically. "If it'll tie up a loose end for you."
Jason only sighed back. "That's what I figured." Makin whispered something to Ben, who seemed to calm down slightly.
"Why's it important, anyway?" Makin asked. "If that is in fact you, Jason, surviving a car crash or dying in one doesn't change anything."
"It does to me, alright?!" He yelled, the room becoming silent. "I didn't pick this," Jason began, gesturing to himself, "I just woke up after the crash like this, with no idea what'd happened! I had to start a new life, try to blend into a society that I'd never known. And just before I end up here, I learn that it's because of some evil bastard screwing with my soul as it leaves my body." He stopped, his breath catching. "Do you know how much that sucks to find out?! That six months of your life happened just because of the whim of someone trying to play god?!" Tears joined his blood as they streamed down his face, staining his fur.
Ben shared a glance with Makin, though neither tried to interrupt.
"And I know you want me to do some test with the times we shared or whatever, but he said my memory'd be patchy and it is. I couldn't remember places I knew by heart when I was coming here, and I had trouble even remembering where I worked or more than a couple of my coworkers. Some of it's still so vivid, and other parts aren't just hazy-" He choked back tears. "They're just gone, and I never really realized it until I ended up back here and had to try to remember the things I'd never wanted to try too hard for before." He shook his head, growing quiet. "Completely gone."
Several tense moments passed.
"So, Harding..." Makin began.
"Yeah?" Jason responded, a bit of a grin spreading on his face as he realized what his plan was.
"There you go, Ben." Makin said to the other man, continuing to stare at the aliens. "He responded like that was his name, and we've never said that so far. And I mean we can just ask him stuff later. Honestly, this seems far fetched, but at this point I'm not going to question it." Makin took a couple steps forward, kneeling down to Jason's level and offering his hand, which Jason placed his hoof against with gritted teeth. His shoulder was getting worse. A second passed before Makin grabbed and shook it, grinning.
"This is too weird." Ben muttered.
"You want to lay on the couch?" Makin asked, "May be a little more comfortable than against the wall."
"I'm fine." Jason responded, shaking his head.
"Jason, don't be dumb!" Dash interjected, poking his good shoulder. "Go!"
"Fine, Dash." He replied, pushing himself off the wall with a grunt as he tried to get to his feet. Immediately he felt dizziness wash over his mind, and felt a dull thump on his good side a second later.
"Oh, hey Kyra." Ben started, turning to the door exiting from the stairs. "I didn't know how to explain this one."
"Well I suggest you start." Her voice sounded quiet, with a hint of what Jason thought was a southern drawl, but he couldn't be sure. "These are the guys from the news, huh? You know, the possibly dangerous, definitely armed aliens?"
"Yeah. Well anyway, that one there's been shot, so I mean it'd be nice if you could suspend your disbelief and help him out. He lost enough blood to pass out, and we've just now revived him."
"Yo." Jason said, gripping at his shoulder. It didn't really help his coolness factor when his voice shook like it did.
Kyra stared at Jason, unmoving. "Why is this important to you? You don't know this thing."
"Well, normally I'd agree with you, but we're pretty sure it's actually Jason. You know, the guy that used to own this house. Then events went on beyond his control and he ended up back here." He went silent for a moment. "So since there's a chance of that being the case, I'd sure like it if you stitched him up, as crazy as it sounds."
"Wait... huh?"
"Just fix him!"
"Fine, Ben. You owe me one for having to leave work for this."
Jason thumped onto the island in the kitchen, a folded towel sliding underneath his head as something else moved under his legs, holding them up. Ben ripped apart the tattered mess of fabric on his chest the rest of the way, leaving the area completely free of obstacles.
His head shook as a hand moved it about. "...I asked, can you hear me?"
"What? Yeah."
"How much blood did he lose?" The doctor asked, looking at Ben briefly before she realized that Dash would be the better source. "Do you know?"
"I don't really know, I mean there was some when he actually got shot but it wasn't that bad, but then we crashed and he bled some more, and then Ben kicked him and now I think there's some internal stuff too."
"Ben, you did what?"
"He came out from under a table and it scared me! I didn't know what it was, I thought the house was getting robbed or something!" Ben replied quickly.
"Well, that explains why you want to fix him up so badly." She opened a bag of tools, laying a few out. "The good news is, there's no blood out here and his pulse feels somewhat strong. Now, how many days ago did you get shot?"
"What?" Jason asked, trying to sit up before he was pushed back down. "It's only been like an hour and a half to two hours!"
Kyra thought for a moment before she turned to Dash. "How long?"
"He heals fast." She replied, rearing up and putting her fore hooves onto the counter for a better look. "It's one of the reasons we want the bullet out of there sooner rather than later."
"You're kidding." Kyra muttered sarcastically, gesturing with her hand as she tried to think of a word. "Need a razor. I've got to clear the hair around the wound." There was a slight delay before her request was fulfilled, and the hair went off, revealing a few criss-crossed old scars that raised an eyebrow or two. The wound itself didn't exactly look great either. "Oof. Alright. Are you on any drugs that I should know about? I mean, come to think about it I can't really use things used for humans because they might do more harm then good." She chewed her lip. "Unless you have some of your own, I think we'll need to go in without them. I mean, the other thing is, it's usually better to just leave a bullet in. They don't usually cause complications."
"Well it nicked something, so I want it the hell out! It hurts a million times more than it did an hour ago!"
Kyra took a sideways glance at Ben, who shrugged. "Well then this just takes us back to the issue of painkillers."
"Oh shit." Jason muttered, searching his mind for anything they might have. "Wait, there're a few morphine shots in the bags-umph!" He exclaimed, putting his hoof to his shoulder. "Dammit!"
Makin pulled out a couple after he ruffled through the saddlebag for a few moments, tossing them to Kyra. She looked them over for a moment, confusion flashing across her face. "These are US military issue. How did you even get these?"
"Stuff from this place just poofs over." Dash said, looking away from Jason for a moment.
"It does?" The doctor queried, looking at them again. "Well, have you used one before?"
"No."
"Well then, I can't really use these in good faith anyway." She handed them back to Makin, who put them away. "We don't need to discover a new and interesting adverse reaction to morphine with all the blood you've lost." Jason winced as she carefully cleaned the wound again. "Ben, Makin, hold him down."
Ben's hands tightened around Jason's hooves, as Makin's hands found their way to his chest. It was marginally calming to have human contact, but that was easily erased by the glint of light that flashed off of Kyra's scalpel as she dawned a surgical mask and gloves. It neared his chest and Jason jerked, making the drawers in the island rattle beneath him.
"What are you doing with that thing?! Can't you just use tweezers?!" Jason yelled, his vision becoming foggy as his heart rate rose. Just how much blood has he lost? He coughed, making little red dots appear across the three humans. He spluttered, some more blood dripping down his chin.
"You're going to do yourself more harm than good!" Kyra yelled back. "Hold him down better than that, you morons!"
"This isn't exactly something I've had to do before! We didn't really have to remove a lot of bullets in Afghanistan!" Ben yelled back, applying more pressure.
"Look..." She paused. "Jason. I'm just going to attempt to re-open the wound, and then I'll move on to tweezers. If we're lucky and you don't move too much, we could be done in just a couple minutes. Sound like a plan?"
Jason stared at her angrily, before nodding his head slightly. "I'll be watching the damn clock."
He only received an annoyed shake of the head before his head got pulled to the side. Dash looked at him, offering a goofy smile. She pushed a rag into his mouth, putting her hooves on each of his cheeks to force him to look at her.
Pain lanced through Jason's chest, rivaling the bullet itself. He tried to look, but Dash jerked him back. She was whispering something but he hardly cared enough to listen. He couldn't even seem to hear the words in the first place. He tried counting seconds, but he kept forgetting to move on to two. Then the pain stopped as quickly as it had began, replaced moments later by what he assumed were tweezers or something. It didn't feel like tweezers exactly, but as long as it got the damned thing out he didn't care.
"Mmph!" He yelled, trying to arch his back. It felt like they'd just lit him on fire. But try as he might he couldn't move his head and Dash's hooves kept him firmly in place. He looked into her eyes, trying to plead with her for anything. To get them to stop, or let him look, or anything really. He heard muffled, annoyed words above him, and as another wave of pain seared through his shoulder like none he'd ever felt any attempt to remain docile faded. He kicked and struggled, but the few connections he managed to make didn't get anyone to move or stop what they were doing.
Shapes swam in front of his eyes, as colors faded towards the grayscale in his bad eye. Was it possible to die from pain? He tried to think about it but couldn't get the thought to develop. Dash didn't look worried. Her face looked warm and inviting. It was the opposite of the hell he couldn't see.
Just as he felt himself slipping out of consciousness and into blissful sleep the pain lessened. He felt tools slither out of the wound with pressure to follow, and nothing had ever felt so nice. He felt his breathing slow, his nerves slowly cool. Dash let his head go, but he found he didn't feel like moving it anymore.
"I'm pretty sure it was poking at a nerve." Kyra said to the others, taking her gloves off in the corner of his eye. "At least, judging by the reaction when I finally got a grip on it and pulled it out. Sometimes we see it in people with old bullet wounds, when they move into stuff like that. Usually it takes a few years though." The tweezers went back in a couple times to pull out smaller bits, but the pain was hardly noticeable at this point.
The pressure let up slightly as Jason let his eyes close. He fell asleep almost immediately.
"So he'll be okay?" Dash asked, watching Ben carefully move Jason onto a couch after they'd stopped the bleeding.
"He should be." Kyra replied over the sound of running water. "Only issues he's got to worry about are an infection or nerve damage. Both of those are unlikely."
Dash watched Jason sleep for a moment, his chest rising and falling slowly. She felt a little better knowing that he wasn't feeling any pain for a change. It always seemed to be him that got hurt, and she never liked it. She couldn't heal him the way he did her, and the inability to influence his health outside of the usual love thing sucked.
"So how do you know him?" Ben asked, sitting down in a chair across from her and pointing at Jason. Makin followed suit a moment later.
"Don't ask him anything yet!" Kyra yelled. "I want to hear it!"
"Alright!" Ben offered Dash a glass of water, which she gratefully drank down and handed back. She hopped onto the spacious couch next to Jason and laid down against him. He felt cold. She felt cold. This was a long day. Kyra finished cleaning up after a few minutes and walked over, grabbing a quilt and throwing it over the ponies before she took a seat.
"So Ben, why don't we start with the easy ones." Kyra said. "What sequence of events led to this? The bullet, appearing here... everything."
Dash cleared her throat, tucking the blanket under Jason's chin. "We were fighting a guy, and he basically said that when Jason died over here, he managed to grab his soul enough to take it over there, but then it slipped away. He ended up like this, lost some of his memory, and met me. Then six months went by, and upon our escape, Jason got shot as he was trying to teleport us away. He didn't pick a destination and we ended up here by accident. I would guess that's the reason we have a lot of stuff come through is because Bob started moving souls and caused some sort of connection."
"Bob?" Ben asked.
"We just call him that because we don't know the guy's real name." She stared off into space, her dialogue continuing only in her thoughts. Jason shifted on the couch, a hoof sticking out from under the blanket and making a slight motion of walking with it. "Guess he's dreaming." Dash mumbled.
"Must be vivid." Kyra said, looking a little nervous. "I can tell you I've never seen a patient do that before. Don't let his arm move."
"I just hope it's not a nightmare. He had a few weeks of those and just about went insane." Dash went silent again, remembering what she always felt was their most trying time, both as a couple and as ponies in general.
"Alright, so then how did you two end up fighting as a team against this dangerous guy? He's only been there six months, right?"
"Yeah. I mean, we've just been stuck with fighting the whole time. We started when Canterlot, which is the capitol, got invaded by Griffins, and by the end of that we'd sort of established names for ourselves. Then there was the rest of the war, Bob, Chrysalis, who's a shapeshifter, and everything else the universe could throw at us. So yeah, it's not surprising that we wanted to tie up a loose end or two, is it?"
"So you two have been fighting alongside each other for months against these... bad guys or whatever?" Makin questioned, squinting his eyes in partial confusion.
"Yeah. I mean, it's not just us, but we're usually a pair. We care about each other too much to go into this stuff separately."
"Gotcha." Ben said, shaking a finger at her affirmatively. "Got the bond from the trials of war. Want to stick with the brethren."
"Well, yeah." Dash replied. "But, I mean, I'd probably say the main reason's because I'm his wife." Silence.
Sounds of confusion graced the air. "Huh?" Makin said, scratching his head. He looked at the others. "I mean... what?"
"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to respond to any of this." Dash confessed, before lapsing back into a short lived silence. "I mean, it makes a lot of sense, given everything we've been through. It, well, we didn't just click or anything. I guess we did right at the beginning in a sort of friends way cuz our personalities mesh and stuff, but then it was necessity that we stick together, and I actually saw him for who he was. Getting along well turned into more than that when it was just us against the world, and maybe the stress of the situation played into it, I dunno, but it wasn't a thing that just fizzled afterwards. So think whatever you want, but nothing happened on a whim."
"Just what exactly happened in the last six months?" Ben asked. "Like, specifically?"
Dash grinned. "I'm sure this guy here'd be annoyed if I gave everything away. Plus, let's be honest, I'm not going to be able to describe some things well when I hardly know about society here. It'll just be a questionfest after I say something that doesn't make sense to you, whether it's magic or something with another species or something. Not to say it wouldn't make sense eventually, but..."
"Yeah, can't keep a concise story going when you don't know what we do and don't know." Ben replied. "I'm sure there are about a million things we can answer anyway, and I've got a lot of time today. Makin's going to get a phone call about some stock movement any second and go back to the Makin lifestyle though."
"I turned it off." He replied, poking angrily at a blood spot on his suit. "Anyway, I don't run everything anymore. I have people that can cover for me."
"What's this about stocks?" Dash asked, her ears perking up. "I mean don't get me wrong I know what they are from Jason, sort of, but what's that got to do with you?"
Makin scratched at the stubble on his chin, thinking. "Well... Basically I've made my living on the stock market buying and selling options. I still do that to a degree, but El Capitan--that's what I named the business by the way--turned into a bunch of guys working for a similar goal in options under me, but now we have people that manage options for businessmen abroad and to be honest it's gone way past my expectations."
"Don't forget the exchange." Ben reminded.
"Yeah, and there's a stock exchange on the bottom. It's not the bustling center of capitalism it would've been ten years ago when the internet wasn't as much of a thing, but it's definitely not empty. It's probably cheaper for some people than a seven hundred dollar computer and stable internet connection, and probably easier as well. But I also know some guys that just like the stock exchange feel." There was a pause. "Anyway, enough about me."
Ben looked from Makin to her. "You guys came in through San Francisco, right? I'm assuming the freak storm was your doing?"
"Well, Jason's but yeah. We don't have buildings that tall or that numerous where I'm from. Or bridges like those. To be honest, we aren't as advanced as humans are, or even close really. But we make up for some of that with magic and flight."
"So those wings actually support your weight?" Kyra asked, raising an eyebrow.
Dash stretched one out over Jason, watching it reach its full span. "The air's a little thinner here, so it's not as easy, but with the kind of updrafts over the city we easily managed. By the way, it's a lot cooler looking at buildings rather than the usual nature stuff."
"How many of you guys are there?" She followed up. "Ten million?"
Dash shook her head. "They usually say it's around a million, but I have a hard time believing it's that small. It's probably higher by a sizable amount, but not that much. With all the griffin territory annexed, we added a lot more citizens, but nopony's really sure how many griffins there were, exactly. That'll probably be counted eventually."
"So I take it there's not a lot of military going on?" Ben queried, glancing at their guns, leaning against the wall in the kitchen.
"You'd be surprised how many enlisted for a while there, but it's back to lower levels. Higher than it was originally, Jason made sure of that, but definitely smaller. He had them building a central defense sort of building and called it the Hexagon." There were a few chuckles. "He seemed to think you guys would find that funnier than I did." Dash finished with a slight grin. "But that's really just a shell last time I checked. Looked pretty imposing already but that was about it." She looked down at Jason, stroking a hoof through his mane affectionately. He's warmed up pretty well, and out of all the times he'd passed out, this was definitely the time she had the least to worry about. There was a doctor ten feet away that could do a hell of a lot more than they could themselves, and when Jason did wake up he was among friends. Friends he had wanted to see again for the entire time he'd known her.
"You know, Jason talked about you guys a lot." She said, continuing to pet at him slowly. "He wanted to come back here basically as soon as he ended up over there, but these last few days the usual rhetoric picked up a lot. He said he had a dream with you in it, Ben."
Ben opened his mouth to respond, then shut it and paused. He stood up abruptly, pacing to one side. "Where was it set?"
"I dunno, Jason figured it was in the Middle East or something."
"How's that even possible?"
"I guess he was right about it really being you then." Dash replied, to the complete confusion of everyone present.
"So you're saying that he saw me in the dream." Ben replied, deadpan. "This isn't some sort of sarcasm you guys have developed where a straight face is necessary?"
"No. I mean, the only really confusing part is that it was you specifically, from another dimension or planet or whatever. I've been in a lot of Jason's dreams with him. I mean, that's one of the ways I knew he was mentally going downhill for a while when he didn't say anything. Repeatedly getting killed in vivid dreams does that to you I guess."
Before Ben could formulate an attempt at a response, Jason shifted, pushing against her slightly with a hoof. He mumbled her name, moving again a moment later before he twisted his head to one side.
"Well." The mare said, looking at him with concern. "I guess saying that his nightmares were clumped together into one time period is kind of an overstatement. I mean, I guess he could be having a good dream too, but-" She shook his head, trying to get him to wake up. He slackened somewhat, possibly subconsciously recognizing her touch. But then again, she wouldn't know. The number of times Jason was asleep and she wasn't were limited to say the least.
"This is probably a good time to mention that if he doesn't wake up in fifteen minutes or so, I want to move him so that we have the ability to give him fluids through an IV."
"I'm sure he'll be up by then." No she wasn't. "Well, soon anyway. He's had worse than this."
Kyra ran her hand down her face, letting out a sigh. "I could see. There was even scarring from what I assume is either lightning or something else that's high voltage. Then there's the criss-crossed scars of various other deep gashes and wounds, mixed with less serious ones. I mean, was there even a single day either of you left the hospital?"
"We took the weekends off." She said, getting a grin out of Makin. "Besides, a lot of those were from months ago when we were fighting more with close quarters knives and stuff. Like before we had automatic weapons."
"So when you say he's had worse... How much worse has he had exactly?" Ben asked.
"Well, the first big thing was that he got stabbed. Then he broke a leg one time, and there was the lightning which is a long story. He got tortured by the guy we're trying to fight once. Got the bottom of his hoof sawed off." Dash lifted the blanket off of Jason, peeling back some fabric from the hoof so the others could sort of see around the metal slipper thing he usually wore to make up the height. "That was most of the life threatening stuff, I think."
"And you?"
Dash shrugged. "I mean, most of the time Jason just healed me up. He's got magic for that. But I guess one time I died." She scratched her head, moving some hair out of her eyes. "But then again, it didn't really happen because Jason just went back in time to fix it. That's the only second chance I've got anyway, seeing as he can only do that once."
"Should I even ask why?" Ben inquired, by this point looking unenthused.
"It's something about the stress on your body when you screw with that. It's too dangerous the second time, so the chances of anything changing or the pony coming back are sort of low. That's what Twilight says, anyway."
"Who?"
"She's just a friend of mine that knows a lot about magic, to put it shortly. She's a pony like me."
There was some silence for a time, and Makin sighed. "This is going to take quite a while."
"You know, it was somewhat hard getting here today. You're kind of faint on my radar."
Jason jumped, barely holding in a yelp of surprise, and turned around quickly. He didn't know where he was, or recognize the small room he appeared to be trapped in. He did, however, recognize the changeling across the room.
He sighed. "Chrysalis."
"Hey, don't sound so disinterested." She paused. "Actually, I get it. I'm not really the villain around here that's done a whole lot, and I can't assume that you're scared of me. The other one tortured you, so it's not hard to wonder why you hate him. But I like to think I take care of all my changelings, no matter how they act towards me."
"Minus the horrible headaches you give me."
"A slight inconsistency in your mind that took some getting used to. It's a lot easier to talk when you aren't all over the ground writhing in pain. And all I want to do is talk."
"Well shoot."
A look of slight surprise crossed her face. "I can give you information on the one you seek."
"Yeah? You want my soul or something as trade?"
"Free of charge. Out of the goodness of my heart."
Jason stared at the changeling queen. "I can't trust anything you say."
"That may be true, but we share a common goal. We both know that this guy is trouble, and his resurfacing can only be a bad omen. The sooner he's gone, the sooner we can both get on with our lives."
"What's to say you don't just ambush us? And why can't you just take him out yourself if you know where he is."
"I've lost many changelings to him, all due to that wretched magic he has. Something about changelings or the hive mind... I'm not sure what it is, but I'm not much help. In any case, all I'm sure of right now is that I managed to scare him out of town about a month ago. I assume the attack that's in the paper was at a phony base he'd set up to act like he was in Manehattan."
"So then you're just going to let me take up my time fighting this guy while whatever plan you have after this goes together?"
"No. I can promise that because my plan's already in place. We'll do battle one day soon, but I have honor. It won't be because I told you incorrect information or waited for you to kill a common enemy before I kill you immediately afterwards. You'll know what's happening and you'll know it long before it happens." She started to fade, the texture of the wall showing through her increasingly translucent skin. Five more seconds and she was gone completely, leaving Jason alone.
He had barely begun to think about the ramifications of everything he'd just heard before the walls closed in suddenly. He let out a yelp of surprise, but they were moving too quickly for him to have time to react.
Jason's eyes snapped awake, but instead of the familiar environment of his house, they focused on clouds. He sat up, rubbing at his head. Was this a dream? He couldn't even tell. He usually never made it past one collapse of the dream without waking up. In fact, it'd never happened before. But if he had woken up and was in fact back in his cloud house, that would mean that any number of other things had been a dream.
So either he'd been in a coma on his own couch or this was a dream.
"Jason! Help me with this!" Dash yelled from the kitchen. "Get off your lazy ass!" She emerged looking tired, her mane a little more messy than normal.
"What?"
"Don't 'what' me." She replied, gesturing for him to follow her back inside. He followed her in and she produced a baby, asleep in her arms. "I told you that I'm going to be gone for a few hours, and I'll need you to make sure he doesn't go crazy."
"Dash, I know what I'm doing. It's been several months." The words came from nowhere.
"I know." She sighed. "But I get worried."
Dash handed the foal over to Jason and he took the little fuzzball in his arms, sitting down in one of their chairs. The kid opened his big blue eyes lazily and grinned, laughing up at him.
"He always did like being in your arms." Dash said, smiling at him. She leaned in and tickled his belly with a hoof, making the baby giggle some more. "Makes me a little jealous."
Jason could feel a slight pull on his love, and he let it flow. Guess it really was his kid. "He's only like this while you're around. As soon as you're gone, he's never well behaved." He replied. The unicorn foal kicked off the blanket that was wrapped around him, his miniature wings spreading out from his back. So he was an alicorn too, huh.
"Yeah, well it's probably because he wants to walk around so badly. It's basically all he wants to do."
Jason grinned, obliging Dash and setting the kid down on his four hooves to totter around. Then he was bowled over by orange.
"I'm home!" Scoots yelled, standing up before Jason could. She was just at his chin now, easily to the size of an adult mare.
"How'd camping go?" Dash asked, packing stuff into saddlebags.
"Oh, it was so cool! We explored all over the place, and we found all these old ruins, and then there were these meteors at night!" She bounced around excitedly, ignoring the heavy packs over her back. God, she was as big as Dash now...
The scene went blurry for a moment, and Jason checked his eyes.
"You alright, Jason?" Dash asked, stopping her packing.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that-" There it was again. "My eyes are acting up." He blinked hard, opening them again.
"Wha- What the hell?" Now he was looking up at Dash's triumphant face, and turned to see Ben looking at him from a chair a few feet away.
"What's wrong, Jason?" Dash asked. He shifted, and his shoulder protested.
"So that was basically it." Jason finished, poking at Dash to make sure that she was real. "And hopefully I'm not going insane."
"I don't think it would be surprising..." Makin mumbled, shaking his head. "This one told us a lot about the kinds of things you do, even if it was a bit vague. And as if your scars didn't tell us enough."
Jason shrugged. "If you weren't privy to the mental breakdown I had when I got here, I've just been along for the ride more than I care to admit." He chewed his lip. "So yeah, we fought griffins and other ponies and got our fair share of cuts and stuff. Dash is surely more coordinated than I am, and even with the programming from this body I don't entirely stack up to the way she flings knives around. But I healed up a lot of her scars, so don't look at me and think that I came out way worse. Only a little bit."
"Yeah, but why?" Ben asked. "Why fight any of these guys?"
"I dunno." Jason replied. "It's not some cliché reason like 'it was the right thing to do' or anything, because it didn't feel like that. I don't have trouble remembering what happened, but I do have trouble remembering the motives I had." Jason scrunched up his forehead. He'd never really thought too hard about what had happened before. There wasn't a lot of time to, and he didn't have a lot of remorse for the decisions he made so he didn't revisit them. There was a long list of watching soldiers die in his dreams, followed by an equally long list of things he could've done to fix it.
"Dash, how did I know the griffins would invade?" Jason let the question hang in the air. "I remember really knowing, but I don't remember a lot of reasoning behind it."
Dash laughed, punching him in the shoulder. "It doesn't matter, you were right!" Jason's face didn't change, and Dash sighed internally at the realization that he'd begun to question everything he'd ever done in an effort to check for tampering.
"Do you think she- could she do that?" Jason whispered to her worriedly, chewing on his lip some more. If she could, then the questions coming to mind would get their answers. But as far as he knew, Chrysalis didn't have power over him. But she was smart and crafty, and at this point he could second guess anything that had ever happened and blame it on her meddling. He just couldn't know. He never knew anything about his enemies until it was revealed to him. All he had was efficient reaction time, or so he'd thought up until now.
"Wha- no, Jason, I mean-" Dash was struggling to come up with a reason otherwise, but Jason could tell she was considering a very real possibility.
Jason found himself longing for the feeling of the dream that had followed his talk with Chrysalis. Everything was so simple, and it represented the happy ending he often found himself daydreaming about. All he wanted was some time to rest, a few simple odd jobs now and again to keep things interesting, and to watch Scoots grow. Maybe even have a kid of his own. But every time he got close--after Canterlot, just before coming here--something popped up, usually boasting insurmountable odds and a guarantee to stab him somewhere new.
He couldn't believe the thought crossed his head, but he was getting too old for this. And he hadn't even gotten into the second half of his twenties. He couldn't ignore the aches and pains he felt in the background, and the lacking energy in every part of his life. His relationship with Dash had picked back up in their month long break, but had immediately gotten pushed to the back burner with the start of this mission. He sighed, realizing the silence of the room around him.
"So..." Ben said, drawing out the word. "What?"
Dash took a short breath. "It's a long story, and I can't say we're one hundred percent on the details. Suffice to say we've been at this whole thing a little too long and we still aren't sure how dangerous the ponies are that we're dealing with."
"Well if you find a way back without too much trouble, I'll extend the offer of help, within reason. If you need an extra gun or whatever, that's sort of my thing." Kyra shot Ben a glare, but he just shrugged. "It doesn't sound like you've really been having fun over there in cartoon land."
"Well, at least when all of this is over I'll have a lot of great friends." Jason replied, wrapping an arm around Dash and pulling her against him. "And you and Scoots." There was a moment of silence, broken as Jason yawned. "You know, that bit of sleep didn't exactly help anything."
Ben chewed at his lip for a moment before getting up and moving into the kitchen, coming back with Jason's AUG. "So remind me how this works again? Because from what I've seen of your other things you guys aren't exactly into the technology of recent models of assault rifles."
"Oh yeah." Jason began, dismissing Ben's confusion. "You know the guy that grabbed my soul? Well, he's sort of messed up the bordering line between this world and ours. Stuff moves at random. I would show you the millions of socks that keep getting sucked through but I don't exactly have them on hand."
"So you're saying that when we lose stuff, it may not have grown legs but instead teleported away?" Kyra asked, confirming Jason's words.
"That's what I assume, and I don't have a better explanation."
"But what stops it from creating a portal somewhere, or focusing on the things in just one area at least?" Kyra followed up. "It can't just be random."
Jason thought for a moment, before his eyes widened slightly. "Well I've got one idea. As far as I can tell, the geography of my world--the country's called Equestria by the way so I'll use that name from now on--matches up pretty well to the land here. I woke up several miles west of a town there, and died..." He made air quotes with his hooves to attempt to make light of it not only to them but to himself. It was just something he had to get over, and he knew that it at least wasn't tampered with. Everything after that was disputable. "down south a few miles on 680. Right before the interchange, you know. So we come back through in San Francisco, which was west of the crash site and my waking up by about the same amount." He paused. "To end this rambling point I think it's only this area that's affected." His eyes drooped a little, exhaustion from the healing process beginning to set in again.
"Well that brings up another subject." Ben replied. "How does that dream thing work?"
Jason's head drooped and he started to pass out before jerking back up. Damn, he was tired. "What?"
"Nevermind." Ben waved him off dismissively. "You need sleep, and it can't be that fun having us grill you for information after everything that's happened." Jason nodded, giving him a slight grin as he stretched out and laid his head on his hooves. He perused the room and his friends, watching them return to normal activities as he passed out. Dash was still warming him from one side, a dynamic that usually went the other way. Outside of everything that had happened, all the doubts and grief that he'd gone through in just the last twenty four hours, he had a hard time feeling sad. He was in his house, with his wife and his friends he thought he might never see again. Maybe the dream he'd had wasn't better after all. Jason let his eyes close, the smoothness of sleep beginning to sweep over his body.
"You know, they look pretty cute like that." Ben noted, wiping some sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand before he went back to cleaning Jason's blood from the counter. "All this weirdness aside, they have a nice dynamic going on there."
Makin shrugged. "If you can tell that already, I guess. What's sort of interesting to me is what it was like when he first woke up, you know?"
"Oh, as in, did he scream or just sit there with a dumbfounded look on his face?" Ben replied with a grin.
"I'd call him a 'pinching myself' kinda guy, actually." Kyra interjected. "But at the same time I'm pretty sure we'd all try to make sure it wasn't a dream."
"I bet Jason's doing that all the time, if his dreams are as vivid as his, uh... wife says they are." Makin shook his head at the end of the sentence, still feeling weird using those words in a sentence with Jason. "But you said that one thing, that dream you had, Ben... you said that was like you were really in Afghanistan, right?"
"Yeah. It was so correct it was scary, and what really gets me is that Jason's mind could create that. He hasn't even been to Afghanistan, let alone fought there. Then it gets weirder, because that would mean the info was pulled from my head and put into an environment created by Jason." Ben took a long breath. "We're entering the full disclosure part of this conversation."
"Huh?" Makin replied shortly. "Did you have another dream since then?"
"Wha- no, that's not it. Look, this fucks with my brain as much as the rest of this but look, there's still the elephant in the room that no one's mentioning. Kyra, you totally know what I'm talking about, with all those kids in the hospital watching TV." Kyra paused in the cleaning of her equipment, letting out a huff before continuing.
"And what if I do? It's not like coincidence matters."
Ben struggled with his phone, pulling up a picture of Dash on the internet and showing it to Makin. "Well, it's not like it's the weirdest thing anymore, and we've believed weirder so far."
"How could a lackluster kids show predict intelligent life?" She asked.
"How did any of this happen?" Ben retorted. "I would assume it's just probability, with a universe as large as ours."
Kyra rolled her eyes, sighing. "So what. We know generalities from that show that clearly can't be true down to the letter because of the brutality in their world. The fact that they have injuries at all, even ignoring all the fighting means it's not the show."
"Hey, I'm a fan." Makin said, shocking the other two. "I'd watch a show about ponies if it was Dash and Jason's life. That'd be cool, and I'd be emotionally invested. There'd be character development lasting an entire season, and even better, explosions." Ben and Kyra just stared. "Come on, you can't admit that wouldn't be cool. It'd win awards."
"I don't mean the show, I mean in terms of making light of this. We might never know the answers to our questions because they might not know. But no matter what they do know, there's no point grilling them for information. They'll tell us eventually if they want." Kyra paused. "I know you weren't all about telling me things about Afghanistan for a long time either. And if Jason's under the impression that he isn't the one pulling the strings on his own fate, I would imagine that'll keep him a little quieter than the boisterous, sarcastic guy you remember."
"You're right." Ben conceded, looking back towards the pair, still passed out on the couch. He stayed stuck in thought for a moment, before standing up straight and taking a step towards them. "Hey Makin, help me out with something." He said quietly, walking into the living room. "If he's going to be with us a few days, he may as well be in his own bed." With that Ben slid an arm under Jason's shoulders, his watch pulling a thin tatter of his once menacing armor with it as his other arm slid into place under Jason's lower back.
Ben accidentally jerked Jason upwards a little too fast, surprised at his weight. He was lighter than ben had expected, but not by too much. Exposed fur tickled his arm, and Ben was caught once again thinking in the back of his head that none of this could possibly be real. It was just too weird. He needed to find more original thoughts.
"Man their fur is soft." Makin said, following Ben with Dash in his arms. She had an eye open, watching Makin warily.
"Just don't drop me." Dash mumbled, closing her eye again and shifting slightly in his arms. She'd slid her armor off her arms and pushed it down to her waist, but had decided it wasn't worth more effort at that point. That was when she joined Jason in slumber.
Ben rolled Jason onto the bed pulling back the covers that had remained on it more to make the house feel less empty than to serve a purpose. They weren't warm, but it was a hot day and the house was loosing its cool air as the day droned on. Makin laid Dash down next to Jason, and she pulled the thin blanket over the both of them, taking the time to kiss him on the cheek before snuggling up to his shoulder.
Neither man could hold back a slight grin, and neither could keep themselves from starting when Kyra spoke.
"I'm waiting for the first thing they do that isn't cute." She chuckled. "I've never seen a cute murder but I think I can still hold out faith."
"Yeah, I'll tell them to get right on that."
Kyra just chuckled in response. "You know, when there isn't all the stress of keeping them alive, they're nice to talk to."
Ben shrugged. "By the time I get used to all of this, they'll be gone again. Maybe months from now, when they're done taking out the last of their enemies, they can stay under better terms. I hope Jason's as happy to see us as I am him, but there's no way that isn't overshadowed by the fact that his kid's still back there and at risk, along with everyone else."
"You're such a downer." Kyra stated with a quiet laugh, before pulling him from the room by his sleeve. "Come on, we should actually let them sleep." She took a few steps before pausing. "That means you too, Makin."
"Yeah, I know." He replied angrily, leaving the doorway. "It's not like aliens come around every day."
Jason opened his eyes to clouds once again, and started to such a degree that he almost fell off the bed. He looked around. This was his bedroom, alright. But why was he back in it?
"Are you going to start having nightmares again?" Dash asked, a tired smile sticking on her face as she sat up. It was only then that Jason noticed the other tiny head next to hers. "Because I think one pony in this house might be enough."
He was actually going insane. That was the only explanation. "No, just something really vivid."
"Oh... well I guess that's alright then?" She asked, unsure. "I remember being in it, because your friends were there, and..."
"What?"
"Which part?"
"No, heh, Dash. I see what you're doing here, alright?" Jason said, trying to put a twinge of humor into his speech. It just sounded empty.
"Jason, it's three in the morning. Can't we do this in the morning?" She gestured to the kid.
"No, because we won't make it to the morning. This is the dream, and what you supposedly saw? That was my life. It's not perfect like it is here, with you and Scoots and our kid." He barely stopped himself from adding a question to the end of his last sentence. He would like to think they could have kids, and he didn't want to worry about that now. "And frankly, seeing my friends again is the best thing that's happened in a while."
"They aren't your friends, Jason. It was a dream." She sighed. "A dream."
Jason cradled his head in his hooves, letting out a groan of frustration. "I need to wake up."
Dash rolled her eyes. "If you want to go back, you need to fall asleep." There was a brief pause. "Jason, I know you don't want to dig up anything from the past, but maybe if we saw Chrysalis? She's not moving from the Canterlot Dungeons, and she does know a thing or two about changeling stuff."
"Fine then, maybe I will."
"Maybe you should." The annoyance in Dash's voice was gone, replaced with the sound of concern.
Jason was silent for a few moments, trying to keep his frustration and fear from turning him into a teary mess. "Are you coming?" The question came out dry, and Dash shook her head.
"I can't leave these goobers." She replied with a grin, pointing to the one in the bed. "But you could take Archer if you wanted."
Jason just stared, before turning to leave the room. "And where might he be?"
"A couple doors down from the Rarity's boutique. It looks like a little castle, you can't miss it."
Bullshit. "Okay, but won't he be sleeping?"
"Him?" Dash asked, as if surprised at the question. "I mean, no."
Jason decided to cut his losses before he asked another question that turned out to be stupid, hopping out the window and going into a dive. He flattened out his trajectory, gliding along several feet about street level before he saw the castle and landed. He took a couple steps forward before pain lit up his forehead and he passed out before he even hit the ground.
Jason woke up slowly, looking around the room warily.
"Fuuuuuuuck." He moaned, the pain in his head now a dull pain. But he wasn't complaining about the headache. The room had changed. It was some royal looking room that he figured had to be in Canterlot. Dash brushed up against him, giving him a tired kiss on the cheek. She looked several years younger, and there was no third lump in the bed.
"You were talking in your sleep again." Dash said. "Something about a dream and Archer."
Jason let his head fall back into the pillow. "Remind me why we're in Canterlot, exactly?"
"To see Chrysalis, remember?"
"Oh, about the dreams?" Jason asked. Now Dash looked confused.
"No, about the other Changelings?" She paused. "Because we don't know what to do with them?"
"Oh yeah, of course." At least this one made some sense.
"It's a good thing you woke up on your own, because we're supposed to be going down there anyway."
Jason furrowed his brow. "Dash, it's like three in the-" Seven thirty. The fuck. "Must've been one of those things were I just felt like I slept for two seconds." Maybe if he played it a little cooler in this dream?
"Oh, you don't remember the dream?"
"No." He lied. At this point he was so confused that there was no way he could even begin to explain the situation he was in right now.
"Well then, up and at 'em!" Dash exclaimed, bouncing out of the bed. "Come on, let's go!"
"How come you're so excited?"
"It's not every day you get to see a bunch of friendly changelings." Dash paused. "Even if they do turn out to be a little weird after being under Chrysalis' control for so long. Which reminds me, we're talking to her first. Then the other changelings."
"Hopefully they know how to speak and stuff on their own. I assumed Chrysalis dictated the words, rather than every individual motion, but I guess we'll see." Jason replied, shrugging.
The trip was short, running through several halls of the castle before dipping into a much less lit basement. The place was cold and seemed out of place compared to the city above their heads. There was a slow wind rushing through the corridors, whistling just audibly against the pillars walls. Huh, he could swear that sounded like- no, that didn't- but this was a dream, so-
"Just one more turn here." Dash said, rounding the corner.
The whistling got louder, discernible whispers separating themselves from the overall flow. Dash seemed unaffected, but with each passing step Jason had trouble not stopping just to cover his ears. But just as he thought his head was about to explode, they arrived and the whispers died down just into the bearable zone.
"Here again?" Chrysalis asked, getting up from the floor. She looked at Jason, and the whispers rose again. "Here to ask something else about my children, huh?" She snickered, pointing at Dash. "It's not something that can be explained, not something that can be taught or even showed off. It's something that you ponies will never understand. The link, the hive mind we all share-- it's something far more powerful than you know, far more flexible than traditional magic." She paused, taking a few steps forwards so that she was right up against the bars.
"But you, Jason. You will understand. You'll understand whether you want to or not. We'll do battle eventually, but by that time, I like to think that you'll have come to your senses. To your real ones."
Jason stared at her. "You're insane." And strikingly real.
"Maybe. Maybe by pony standards. But I like to think I'm ahead of my time. And I like to think that the hive mind may awaken something in you that you've kept repressed. So given your mental fortitude is enough to reject my attempts to pull you into the hivemind, I suggest you dig a little deeper and start learning." A wicked grin spread across her face as she took a step forward and her shoulders fazed through the bars of the cell.
Power started to build up around her, becoming so bright Jason had to cover his eyes. He started to retreat, moving away as fast as his suddenly sluggish body would let him. Something was very, very wrong. "In fact, let's start now."
"Jason! Wake up, you're scaring me!" Dash exclaimed. Jason snapped into consciousness, trying to move his arms and legs to get up but failing.
"Yeah, I'm up- the fuck!" He yelled, pulling his hooves away from his own body. Except they weren't his hooves, they were Dash's. "Ahhhhhh!" He screamed, looking at his hooves in disbelief. He could hear Dash inside his own head, trying to figure out what was going on, and why she was no longer in command of her body. Jason went back to looking at his body, trying his best to take deep breaths and calm down. He tried thinking at Dash, telling her he didn't know how it happened and he was going to fix it. But he didn't know if he could. He didn't even know how he could be inhabiting the same grey matter.
Jason touched his own body, relieved to feel that it was still warm and had a heartbeat. This had to be another dream. It had to be. This didn't make any fucking sense.
Jason willed himself back into his body, concentrating harder and harder until he felt something click. His body opened his eyes, looking at him. Suddenly Jason was treated to a composite image of himself and Dash at the same time. He was seeing through four separate eyes, creating an image that he somehow understood. Thoughts ran through his head at an astounding rate. His brain wouldn't slow down, wouldn't stop calculating everything it could at any time. He was counting the letters and the syllables of every word he thought without trying to, and as far as he could tell, it was correct. Jason rolled out of his bed, still in control of Dash's body, and pulled an old math textbook from the shelf. He flipped it through to something about three dimensional calculus. It was thirty eight. That was the answer? He had hardly even-
"No fucking way!" Jason exclaimed, turning as Ben opened the door and looked in.
"Everything okay?" He asked.
Jason ignored him, flipping to the end of the book for the answer. He got the page on his first try. Oh, fuck. He turned and hopped back onto the bed, pushing his hooves onto his own chest, tears streaming down his cheeks as he tried to push himself back through Dash's hooves. He needed her help. He needed her to give him the push.
Dash responded, fighting with all her might. She had let him stay long enough, and as far as he was concerned, he'd collected enough data on this for the rest of his life. Bitter cold flooded through her hooves and into his chest, a sensation he could feel both sides of, and as he opened his eyes once again they were in the right place. Jason held up his hooves, his tears starting back up on his real face, in his body. His body.
Dash sat up quickly from her slumped over position, turning towards him with a look of shock. "What was-"
Jason didn't let her finish, cutting her off as he tipped her over with a heavy hug. "I'm sorry, I just-" Jason sobbed. "I was in this dream, and I just-"
He shifted involuntarily, replicating Dash with only a vague thought of her name. Ben let out a shocked sound, and Dash hugged him to her harder. "What's going on, Jason?"
"I don't- I don't know, Dash!" He replied, licks of flame moving across his back as his wings went away. A horn popped up a moment later on his forehead. Then the wings came back and he shifted again into Rarity. He hadn't even thought of Rarity!
Jason tried to stop his emotions, his very thoughts. He managed to slow the river of emotions, and after one final shift he stuck on Scoots. Then he searched his mind, finding the tendril that stank of Chrysalis. Without warning, it sucked him in.
Jason awoke in his bed in his house on earth. He felt cold. Jason looked around the empty room and found nothing amiss, other than the math book, left on his dresser. He climbed out of bed.
"Dash?" He listened. "Anyone?"
Jason opened his door, stepping off into unexpected abyss. He tumbled from the door, scraping his stomach on the sharp edge of the floating house. His wings flapped and spread, to no avail. Jason fell through the blackness, suddenly hitting a hard barrier flat on his chest. He didn't pass out, for once. He wasn't sure what that would even mean in a dream, unless the other one could be taken as a consistent effect. Maybe that meant the dream had to change.
He stood up in manageable pain, straining to see anything. Blue eyes appeared, glowing in the dark maybe five or six feet from him. Lighting came from somewhere, illuminating the changeling.
He immediately knew who it was. He wasn't sure how, but he did. "So you're the one I share this body with, huh?" Jason asked, watching the changeling stare at him.
"He is, yes." The changeling replied. So, it was Chrysalis.
"And how long have you had a link to him?" Jason asked.
"It's been a while, but always fleeting. You know, it's just a little kernel I left in the changeling. I do it with all of them in case I lose contact, so don't feel special. And it sure seems to be pulling its weight now, wouldn't you agree? Now that it's, you know, working." It replied. Jason tried to think of another question, all while thinking of how he could kick Chrysalis out. He assumed that outright killing the changeling might damage its soul, deep inside his mind as they were. Or, it could do the right thing and remove Chrysalis. But without the changeling's soul, would he even be able to fight? What if he couldn't kill Bob, let alone Chrysalis? "This has been the first time I've been able to do any of this, and it's got something to do with Bob. Honestly, I'm not sure myself, but I heard you recently had a run in with him, and there's no way that isn't related."
Or now that he was on earth, things had changed. It was as good a theory as any. Jason stopped his babbling thoughts, trying to turn them in a productive direction. Maybe he could do that memory thing, like with Scoots. She had wanted to know all the things that happened from between when Dash had died to when they'd made the time loop nonexistent. Or maybe it was still there, keeping everything else in play. Whatever, it didn't matter. He could try that, but attempt to yank Chrysalis out. If the hivemind was like memories in a way, then it might work. It was worth a shot, and if it didn't pan out he still had plan B.
Jason lunged without warning, toppling the changeling onto his back. He pressed his hoof to the changeling's forehead, channeling the vaguely familiar power. This had better work...
"What are you doing?" Chyrsalis asked, annoyed. The changeling pushed at Jason's chest but he held fast. It struggled harder, getting them to roll before Jason could kick his spell into action. "I hope the climax of this conflict is a bit better than rolling." She jibed, laughing. Jason finally got enough footing to replace his hoof, finishing up his spell preparation. The changeling's eyes went wide, as she realized what he was doing. The length of time it had taken for her to think of that was worrying, because it meant that his tactic was definitely not the best choice. She would have prepared for it if it had been. She would have kept this wrestling from ever starting.
But dammit, it was all he had. He felt memories swim into his head, forming into a ball of Chrysalis's influence. He could see the memories, even, pictures moving along in a helix around his arm. The stream stopped, and he found the ball in his mind, focused on it, and started pushing it out. Chrysalis wouldn't give in without a fight, the traditional head pain making his vision blur. But he knew he was stronger than before, and even though this was a harder battle, he felt himself making more and more progress. He started to feel warm, the headache easing slightly he got further and further along. Then much like before, she reached out and pulled him in.
It felt like he had only blinked, and the entire environment had changed. He stood up, the changeling he'd had his hoof on no longer there.
They were in a field, surrounded by amber hills. A breeze blew at Jason's mane, and he watched the gust move along the top of the grass. There was a sort of coughing noise, and Chrysalis rose above the grass, twenty or so feet away. She looked shocked, spinning around to take in the new environment. After she'd had her fill, she turned quickly to face him, a look of anger on her face. "You're messing around with stuff you don't even understand."
"I thought you were supposed to make me learn." Jason replied, wondering how many levels they were into his own mind at this point. Way more than he would have thought existed, that was for sure.
"Maybe about the hive mind and its attributes, but not... this!" Chrysalis retorted. "You do realize where we are, right?"
"You pulled me into another dreamscape. Nothing new."
Chrysalis snorted. "I'm not surprised that I was right." She gestured to the grass, the hills. "This is your soul."
"Bullshit. That's not a thing I can see. It doesn't work like my brain." Jason growled, moving a few steps closer to her. Chrysalis took the same number backwards, surprising Jason.
"No, but it manifests itself as something when you screw with it like you are." Chrysalis stuck a hoof to her forehead, groaning. "At least hear my word of warning in this?"
"Sure." Jason said, rolling his eyes. He looked around, trying to find any reason that she would be lying. But as far as he knew, this could be his soul. Frankly, messing with magic was going to get him into trouble at some point.
"So, say you jump on me, and we do battle, right?" She watched him nod. "If you win, this kernel as I've called it gets absorbed into your soul. You merge with the hivemind in a way not even I can. It'll probably kill you."
At least she made sense. "And if you win?"
"You cease to be in control here, and due to the fact that I don't have enough power over you to take charge, this part of me is lost. Your brain is essentially wiped of your conscience, and an irreplaceable part of mine is gone too. We'll both turn into automatons, to varying degrees."
"But you said it was just a kernel. Why would you make it that important?"
"It's a kernel, yes, until I decide to adhere myself to the connection. Then it's a little more."
"So why don't I just kill you then?" Jason asked. "Either way, you lose."
"You don't want to. What you just experienced? Think of your perception becoming more like an imperceptible brain floating off in space somewhere. You'll cease to be anchored to that body of yours, and will simply control me and every changeling like a part of you. That's if you live. Never again will you experience the joys or drawbacks of possessing a physical form. At least, that's what I think will happen, and I doubt you'll find anypony more knowledgeable."
"So we're stuck here forever?"
"We're at an impasse, yes, but only in the sense that neither of those two options work." She sat down, scratching at the side of her head. But you can break the spell, and I can leave. You'll be free of my influence, and we can go our merry ways."
"What if you don't leave?" Jason asked, doubting his opponent.
"I'd say we'll probably end up back in here. You're stronger than the leverage I can get in here, so with my best card played, I'd say you're not worth the energy. It'll be a meeting on the battlefield after all, I suppose."
Jason nodded, willing the spell to break. The wind picked up, a crack forming between them and spreading out.
"But if you decide to embrace the changeling half of you, I'll leave my business card around." Chrysalis said, her body breaking up into tatters and disappearing on the wind. The world went black, and with a sort of itchy feeling in the back of his head Jason's thoughts stopped.
His brain rebooted, and he found himself back in his cloud house with a dish in one hoof and a towel in the other. His hooves were shaky, and after a couple of seconds of trying to control them the dish dropped into the sink and chipped a bit of the side off.
"Jason?" Dash asked, and he spun around to look at her. "What did she say to you?"
"What?"
"Archer told me you came out looking shaken up, and after the... stuff last night I wasn't sure how you were holding up." She sighed. "I know it's getting harder for you with these dreams, and ever since Tank died..."
"Tank-" He must've swapped places with Archer. "Yeah, I'm not sure. Chrysalis didn't know."
"She must've known something." Dash paused. "You're looking awfully fidgety."
Maybe if he could just wake up. "All I learned about was the hivemind. And the changelings are free now so that's irrelevant."
"Well, you've got me and Scoots. Evening, sorta. If the connection wavers, it could create a lot of inconsistencies with what you think you're seeing."
"Like lag between computers." Jason breathed. This was all starting to make sense. And honestly, that scared him. But he still knew this was a dream. Well... Yeah, he knew. Of course it was.
"Sure, I guess. But the main thing is, you might just need to develop it a little to work out the kinks. You're in the body of a changeling that only knew Chrysalis' hoof on his brain, and now you're the host of a hivemind. You may have been able to pick up flying and magic quickly, but you've done those before. Or, he has at least. He's never done this."
Jason thought it over. "Yeah, but-"
"Just take it to heart." Dash smiled. "You can do what you want, but I like to think that pursuing the changeling side of you is the answer to your problems. And it could explain all the dreams you've been having recently about your friends."
"Dash, they-"
"Jason, remember that one time when you said that in order to kill Bob, you ended up losing a part of yourself?" Jason had never said that, but the memory came to mind nonetheless.
"I didn't mean it like that."
"I know you didn't. But you know as well as I do that something's wrong, and if it's not your half, then..." Dash walked over to him, hugging him tightly. "Just don't lose the rest of yourself in the process, alright?"
Jason patted her on the back, tears making his fur wet where she had her muzzle buried in his shoulder. "Don't worry, I won't."
"You had better not." Jason felt tears come to his eyes, the stress and frustration of the day finally letting itself out. He didn't want to think anymore. He just wanted to sleep without dreaming, and feel rested when he woke up for once in his life. And he knew it wouldn't be this time.
Jason sat up, back on earth in his bedroom. His head throbbed painfully, his entire body flashing with phantom pains. At least he was back, and at some point he had shifted back into his usual form. "So apparently Chrysalis had a bit of a connection to the changeling." He said, his voice dry and raspy. He cleared his throat. "So that was fun." He wanted to cry like he had in the dream, to complain about how unfair the world was and how he didn't deserve any of it.
Dash was only half awake next to him, and suddenly perked up with his words.
"It's gone though?!" Dash asked. "Did she make you...?" Dash gestured to herself. "You know."
"Wait, how long was I asleep?"
Dash glanced at the clock. "Three or four hours?"
"What?! But I-"
"Hey!" Ben exclaimed, standing up from a chair too quickly and wavering on his feet. "I understand that you two know what's going on here, but we don't in the slightest, and it's fucking worrying for a multitude of reasons!" Ben exclaimed. "And you never even told us that you were a changeling!"
Jason ignored Ben for a moment and scratched his head. How had that been hours? He thought back to the first dream he'd had, right after Kyra had taken the bullet out. Everything he did was for that happy ending. The one where at the end of the day, he got to worry about getting food for dinner and a parent-teacher conference rather than his and everyone else's life being on the line. It gave meaning to the goal he'd had all along, and he felt himself perk up a bit. Well, at least he'd have something new to add to the story of his life when he laid it out for Ben and the others.
"Grab a chair. I'll tell you everything." He sighed. "Including what just happened." His stomach growled, and Ben wordlessly got up and left, returning a moment later with a bag of Doritos. Jason gave him a grateful smile, struggling with the bag for a moment before his magic got it open. There wasn't much of a reaction, and Jason couldn't blame them. There were more pressing concerns, and with what had just happened, Jason could assume one of them was their safety and his own.
Ben sat back down, watching Kyra lean against the doorjamb and Makin sit on the desk itself. He nodded. "Whenever you're ready."
