Jammin' Gemini

by Aragem

First published 23rd of May, 2012

Ponyville prepares for Winter Welcome, but two guest arrive who aren't what they seem.

Book 2

Now that Applebloom has returned home safe and sound, Ponyville moves forward with preparation for a seasonal celebration. However, it's never that simple. The Cakes are worried about strange creatures called Mites, Rainbow Dash has been grounded, and Applejack refuses to let Applebloom out of her sight. And to make things more complicated, guests arrive that aren't what they seem . . .

Being edited by Jigoku Luna

Mites and Eyes

Twilight Sparkle felt a sense of pride when she stepped in to the bright day. Her teacher had brought this day to Equestria as she had each morning for thousands of years. Her day began with her running small errands before joining her friends for a picnic. It would be the last picnic they could enjoy before Winter since they were each wrapped up in Winter Welcome preparations. And Twilight Sparkle was responsible for organizing it all.

The first visit on her list was Sugarcube Corner to make sure the Cakes received the order for a winter themed cake and cupcakes. So with Spike mounted on her back with a scroll and quill in hand to assist in planning Twilight trotted down Street.

“Spike, can you go over the roles my friends will be taking in Winter Welcome?” Twilight Sparkle felt that you could never go over your checklist too often.

“Let's see.” Spike unrolled the scroll carefully while maintaining his balance on her back. “Pinkie Pie is arranging the the games, Fluttershy is in charge of helping the animals find burrows for the winter and getting the Spring Chicks ready, Applejack will provide cider and take care of the food, and Rarity is overseeing decorations.”

Twilight rolled her eyes as she recognized the lilt in his voice as he spoke Rarity’s name. “We’ll discuss how they are doing at the picnic today. Oh, Rainbow Dash was released from the hospital today. We may see her at the picnic."

“Oh great, then we’ll have to deal with her whining about the doctor’s no flying order,” Spike groaned leaning forward across her back as if the thought of it exhausted him.

“He said that she was lucky that the fall twisted her wing, but it was the same wing that she twisted before. He’s concern that she might cause some really bad damage if she doesn’t at least give it a week’s rest.” Twilight trotted across the street toward the bakery.

As she approached the front steps, she noticed a plate of cookies with a tall glass of milk on the bottom step at the corner. “What is this?”

“Who are these for?” Spike scooted off her back, eyeing the milk and cookies.

“I don’t know. Don’t touch them!” Twilight cried out as Spike grabbed a cookie and sniffed at it.

“They’re just gonna get stale out there.” Spike popped it into his mouth and spoke between chews.“They’re not gonna miss one.”

“Don’t blame me if you make the Cakes mad,” Twilight muttered as she entered the bakery.

“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!” Both Cakes greeted from behind the counter. On the far side of the bakery front, the twins were in a playpen with a lid to keep the foals inside.

Smokey was standing at the bar with his son, Ember, near his hooves. “Hello, Miss Sparkle.”

“Hello, Smokey, Cakes, and Ember.” Twilight noticed that Smokey had lines on his face and she wondered if he was sleeping well.

“Ember and I came in for a treat before we went home.” Ember hid behind his father's legs shyly peeking at Twilight between them. “Ember, say hello.”

“H’lo,” an endearing voice spoke.

Behind Twilight, the door swung open and Spike walked in with an incriminating milk mustache and brown crumbs dotting his chin.

“Oh no! Spike, those were for the mites!” Cup Cake bemoaned putting a hoof to her forehead.

Twilight facehoofed and shook her head, “Spike!”

“Mites? Who are the mites?” Spike furiously wiped his mouth on the back of a hand. “Did we know them?”

“Mites aren’t ponies,” Carrot Cake explained as he scooped more cookies onto a plate while his wife went to the small fridge for the milk. “These are little creatures that like to play pranks. The other day, they swapped the sugar bag with the salt bag.”

“If you set a treat outside for them, they’ll be so excited; they’ll forget about the prank they planned on pulling.” Mrs. Cake finished up the explanation as she poured a glass of milk.

“So you give them a treat instead of getting a trick?” Twilight Sparkle wrinkled her nose. “Sounds like extortion.”

“Oh, when I was a foal, you had to be careful when mites came around.” Smokey shuddered as foalhood memories came to him. “My nan told me stories of them. They can pull some pretty funny pranks, but you had to be careful because when they get mad, they get nasty and pull some tricks that can hurt a pony, like putting glass in a shoe or weakening the top step on the stairs.”

“My grandmother took a spill down the stairs when I was foal!” Cup Cake exclaimed in horror. “My father didn’t put out any treats for the mites after they put liquid soap in my mother’s eye drops.”

“Didn’t you tell me that your mother had very bad eyesight? Couldn’t she have mistakenly used liquid soap instead of her eye drops?” Twilight spoke up injecting reason and logic into the conversation. “And didn’t you tell me of how your mother kept complaining about that loose step for years and it took your grandmother falling down the stairs before he would fix it?”

The Cakes look at her as if she sprouted a second head. Twilight was used to this response from the Ponyville ponies since her arrival. But she already opened up the door of reason and she had to propel them through it, “Maybe because you worked so late the other night, you might have accidentally switched the bags?”

“I can tell the difference between salt and sugar. I’ve been a baker for years.” Carrot Cake almost looked offended.

“But that doesn’t exempt you from making mistakes. There is no such thing as mites. They’re imaginary things that ponies can blame whenever they make a mistake.”

“Regardless, I’m certain imaginary things wouldn’t mind a treat,” Cup Cake said sweetly as she set the plate of cookies and glass of milk on the counter. “Spike, be a dear and put these on the front step without eating them.”

“Uh, yes ma’am.” Spike complied picking up the tray and carrying it outside.

Twilight felt that it would be a good idea to change the subject to her purpose in coming, “I came by to see if you have everything for Winter Welcome?”

“Oh yes, we’re thinking large chocolate cake with marshmallow top covered in blue icing, to give it a sort of hot cocoa taste,” Carrot Cake spoke firmly as if he had been issued a challenge by Twilight. “It will be the center piece of the Winter Dance.”

Twilight regretted that she indirectly insulted his baking skill, and decided to end her visit as soon as possible. When Spike stepped back inside, she grinned, “I also came to pick up the cupcakes I ordered for a picnic.”

After paying for the cupcakes, she carried them out with magic and beat a hasty retreat from the story. Why was it that whenever she offered simple logic, the ponies act as it she made a nasty mess on the floor?

“Whoa!” Spike yelped as he pointed at the first step.

Twilight paused and glanced where he was pointing. It was the same tray that he had carried out but the cookies were gone and the glass of milk empty save for a few drops at the bottom. “Spike! Did you eat the cookies after Mrs. Cake asked you not to!”

“No! I swear Twilight, I didn’t!” Spike gripped at the mane, his teeth chattering with fright. “It was the mites....”

“Not you too!” Twilight huffed as she trotted off so suddenly, he nearly fell off.

Her next stop was the train station to make sure that the substitute teacher from the north had arrived yet. She should be coming any day now to take over for Cheerilee. So far the letters she received from Cheerile reported that her mother was stable and there have been signs of improvement, but the doctors were still cynical toward any recovery. Twilight sent her best wishes and promised that everything was fine in Ponyville. She didn’t tell her about Applebloom going missing or about closing the school down for a week. Those were worries that the schoolmare didn’t need during this time of stress.

After seeing that the northern teacher hasn’t made it yet, she resume her other errands. She checked in with the mayor to make sure the town would be clean and available for the Winter Dance and that the meadow and market would be ready for the festival. She also checked with the liaison from Cloudsdale to make certain the pegasi would be ready to create Ponyville’s first snowfall of the year.

By the time she finished the rounds, it was nearing noon and she hurried to meet up for the picnic lunch. Despite her best efforts, she was the last one to arrive. The others have already laid out a blanket and spread out the foot. Rarity was in good shape sitting on a thick cushion sipping from a tall class of herbal tea while the others passed around a tray of sandwiches.

“Hey guys.” Twilight Sparkle greeted laying the box of cupcakes at the edge of the blanket. Then she noticed an extra picnicker. “Hello, Applebloom, I didn’t know you were coming.”

The filly was sitting on her haunches with front legs crossed and a pout on her face. “Hmph.”

“Applebloom! You be polite and say hello.” Applejack delivered a sharp cuff on the foal’s head while looking at her with severe disapproval.

“Hello,” Applebloom grumbled, her face not relenting from her pout.

“Sorry, ya’ll. Big Macintosh had work to do and Granny Smith is off visitin’ her old friends. So Ah brought Applebloom along.” Applejack glanced apologetically at Twilight Sparkle.

“May Ah please go play now?” Applebloom’s orange eyes glanced at the meadow.

“We haven’t eaten yet.” Applejack set a plate with a sandwich in front of Applebloom. “What do you want to drink? Rarity brought herbal tea and Pinkie Pie brought soda.”

“Ah’m not hungry.” Applebloom said through gritted teeth.

“You ain’t had anythin’ since breakfast. Now eat up.” Applejack gave her a pat on the back before turning to Twilight, “There’s somethin’ I wanna ask you later, ya don’t mind.”

“Oh, certainly. We can talk later. By the way, how is Winter Welcome preparations?”

“We’re all set for Winter Welcome. We’ll bring plenty of apple cider for everypony and apples for roastin’.”

“Excellent.” Twilight floated a quill and scroll from her saddle bag to take notes. “How about the rest of you?”

“Games and surprises are good to go!” Pinkie Pie said with such infectious glee. “With giggles, spiggles, and biggles alike!”

“When I'm done with the town hall, it’ll be as glorious as Canterlot’s Moonlight Ball. Of which I still don’t have an invitation, but I will carry forth brave and beautiful.” Rarity put on a brave face. The Canterlot Moonlight was an annual dance for the elite, but tickets were purchasable, but quite expensive.

“Sorry, Rarity, I would hate to ask the Princess for tickets.” Twilight understood that her friend dreamed of the elitist lifestyle that Canterlot had to offer and the Moonlight Ball was almost as prestigious gathering as the Galloping Gala. “But remember how the Gala was?”

All the ponies shivered as each recalled her personal humiliation. Neither of them was in a hurry to repeat that fiasco.

“I’m stuck doin’ nothing this year,” Rainbow Dash groused. Her wing was still bandaged tightly, as if the doctor had decided to take matters into his own hoof to prevent her from flying. “I can’t fly or do anything!”

“You can help Pinkie Pie,” Twilight offered. “Or you can lend a hoof to Rarity in decorating the Town Hall or help out the Apple Family. There’s a lot that can be done without flying.”

Rainbow Dash buried her face into her hooves as she grunted something indistinguishable and rocked back off her haunches and onto her back. “This is gonna be the worst Winter Welcome ever....”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“That has got to be the worst idea ever.” Trevor eyed the soda suspiciously. “Chocolate soda? Seriously? I heard of vanilla soda and that's good, but chocolate? C’mon!”

“Hey, my sister swears by it.” Belgard sat in the chair backwards with the back against her chest. “Don’t take my word for it, try it yourself.”

“Ugh.” Trevor popped open the lid and took a cautious sip. “Blah, tastes like ass.”

“My sis always had bad tastes in food and in men.” Belgard smirked as he set the can aside.

“Seeing you is always great, but I gotta be ready. Laotaner is on her way.” Trevor turned to check his console. “If she thinks I’ve been hanging out in here with you instead of working she’ll....”

“Grind your bones to make her bread,” Belgard finished as she reached forward to play with his glasses. She grinned devilishly as she noticed his cheeks blushing. “Careful, you should be more worried about me dipping you in chocolate and taking a bite for myself.”

“I wouldn’t bother.” A cold voice spoke up behind them. “He looks as if he’d be too lean and chewy. You’d likely choke on him.”

“Commander!” Trevor surged from his chair, nearly toppling it as he saluted. Belgard rolled her eyes and stood slowly, pushing the chair back under the work table. She took her time and stood at attention after giving a small salute.

Noa Laotaner looked between them, displeasure apparent in her eyes. “Belgard, what are your current duties?”

“I’m on a break, ma’am,” Belgard replied casually as if Laotaner inquired about her health.

“Hm, then perhaps you should spend it elsewhere right now. Trevor has some work to do.”

“Yes ma’am.” Belgard sauntered toward the doorway. After she passed Laotaner she turned and blew a kiss at Trevor before walking out.

Trevor prayed that he wasn’t blushing right now. “I’ve compiled a report on the sociology of the ponies, just the things on the surface we could determine from what the drones collected for us.”
Laotaner took the chair Belgard had occupied and sat down. Trevor took his seat and as he brought up the archives, he noticed that where Belgard had sat beside him it had been pleasant and warm, but now with the commander he felt nervous and code. Not to mention that he felt he was being scrutinized under a microscope by her icy blue eyes. He flung himself into his lecture mode which he brandished as a shield when he was nervous.

“There are three breeds of ponies. The first and most numerous breed is what I call the norm.” Several pictures of ponies appeared on screen. They held the appearance of normal equines save for their large eyes and pastel coloring. Also, they each had a tattoo or mark on their flanks. “These ponies are usually seen performing agricultural jobs such as farming, animal husbandry, or even mining. However, there have been exceptions. Such as the female ponies working the local bath house and one pony I’ve dubbed the First Lady.” An image of a gray mane pony with a scroll tied with blue ribbon. “I’ve determined she’s the leader of this town seeing that most of the ponies obey her instruction.”

The monitor switched to ponies with spiral horns. “These are the unicorn breed. These ponies have shown telekinetic abilities.” One image had a pony floating a jar surrounded by a glow that matches the one around her horn. “From observation I’ve determined that the horn is a source of their psychic ability. The horn is maybe attached to the brain, but I can’t say so for certain without a cranial dissection.”

Laotaner listened silently, her eyes studying each image that came up on the monitor.

“And lastly we have the pegasus. These ponies are able to fly as shown by the wings. They can fly at very high speeds and altitudes. Also, strangely enough, they have weather controlling capabilities. How this is possible has yet to be determined.”

“Has the language been translated yet?” Laotaner glanced at her nails checking them for dirt or grime. She was already getting bored with the images.

“Yes ma’am and ready to be distributed to the brain via an eye injection whenever you’re ready.” Trevor turned off the console seeing that Laotaner wasn’t interested in it anymore.

“I’m ready now.” Laotaner rose and moved to the chair against the far wall. It was the sort that could recline back to any angle for any procedures.

Tervor scooted his chair to a cabinet where he drew a long tubular device with a long thin needle. He took a prepared data chip and inserted it into a slot at the top. The device would send a surge of electricity through the back of the eye and along the optical nerves directly into the brain. The data carried with the current would inscribed information into the brain allowing the patient to learn a subject in seconds what would have taken months of study to master.

“I can give you a light sedative to help relax you,” Trevor offered. He had seen even the toughest soldiers squirm like nervous school girls during this procedure.

“Just do it already,” Laotaner replied lazily as if he was just going to take out a splinter. “Also, prepare a second injection for Briggs.”

“Briggs?” He rolled the chair over to her side, surprise written on his face. “Why her?”

“She’ll be joining me on this mission.” Laotaner tilted her face upward, blinking her eyes.

“How does Briggs feel about that?” He set the tub over her right eye and stood up to easier look through an eyepiece. He could see a close up of her eye looking back at him.

“She doesn’t know yet. I really should tell her before I put a needle in her eye.”

He pushed the tip of the needle toward her eye. “You’ll feel a slight pinch.”

The tip indented at the iris and then puncture through.

Memories and Machines

When Apple Bloom returned home, she was in one piece save for the scarring on her flank. Zecora provided a special salve that applied each day would allow the scars to fade away. The filly was happy that she wouldn’t walk around forever with scars. She had been fearful that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would jeer that the scars were her cutie mark.

But any knowledge of what she endured through the three days she was missing was gone. It was just a black image when she tried to remember. It was like remembering a dream. She would think she remembered something, but the darkness would cover it up before she could visualize it. At first her sister didn’t believe her that she couldn’t remember.

”Now Apple Bloom, sweetie, Ah love ya with all muh heart and Ah promise Ah won’t be mad. Jest tell me where ya were.”

But no matter how hard she tried, the memory just wouldn’t come. If it wasn’t for her family, her friends, and the well-wishers that came in troves with food and treats, she’d never have believed that she had been gone for three days. For her, she had slept for a night in the apple orchard. The last thing she remembered was the small row she had with Applejack in the orchard.

Though she was fine save for her memory, Applejack insisted on treating her as if she had been reduced to a toddler foal. She was not allowed to be anywhere by herself. She did chores with Applejack or Big Macintosh which wasn’t anything new as she had performed chores with them in the past, but she wasn’t allowed to go off and play. And worst of all, that broke her heart, was no more Cutie Mark Crusaders adventures or activities. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were welcome to come over and play while supervised.

The whole thing made Apple Bloom look forward to school. At least there, she won’t have Applejack breathing down her neck. Until then, she had to endure being dragged around to all of her sister’s errands and engagements with her friends such as this picnic.

Apple Bloom didn’t have much of an appetite, but she made herself eat the sandwich set before her. She barely listened to the adults discuss the upcoming Winter Welcome celebration which Apple Bloom would have been looking forward to, but now dreaded if Applejack was going to keep her under hoof the whole time. After what seemed like forever to the filly, the picnic ended with the friends bidding each other goodbye and then it was just her, her sister, and Twilight Sparkle with Spike sitting on her back rubbing a full stomach.

“What was it you wanted to speak to me about, Applejack?” Twilight tilted her head in her usual curious way.

“Well, Ah was wonderin’ if ya could help Apple Bloom with her memory.”

Apple Bloom popped her head up surprised. “What?”

“Didn’t the doctor say that it could come back on its own?” Twilight inquired concerned.

“Yeah, but he also said it may never come back,” Applejack replied looking dissatisfied with the doctor’s words. “Ah wanna know what happened to her during those three days.”

Yes, Apple Bloom found that she wanted to know too. She wanted to know how she got the scars on her flank and why her memory was gone. And maybe, if she remembered something, anything, then maybe she can get back the freedom she lost. “And Ah wanna know too.”

Twilight glanced between the sisters, sensing their need for answers. “I..... memory spells can be tricky after a trauma. I advise that you wait a few days and see if it comes back on its own. If it doesn’t come back, then I promise, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Okay, Twilight, we’ll wait and see what happens. C’mon, Apple Bloom, we gotta get back. Big Macintosh will need our help.”

“But all he’s doing is feeding the cows! He never needed help for that,” Apple Bloom bemoaned as her sister led her away.

“Well, today he does, now hush and c’mon.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mikala Briggs hated her life. She had spent the last three hours decrypting and hacking into files and all she managed to find out was that Noa Laotaner enlisted on planet Haven. She and a million other soldiers enlisted from the Home Planet. Nothing stood out there.

Laotaner was a ghost. Literally, a sheet and chains ghost. There was her service career which was vague and didn’t offer any detail of how and why she won her ranks and medals. There was no information about what her life was before she enlisted. There was nothing about parents, background, family, or any siblings. All Mikala got for her time was just where Noa Laotaner enlisted.

Her console chimed and IRIS, the ship’s computer, spoke to her, “Yeoman Briggs, please report to the Commander’s Office.”

“No.” Mikala covered her face with both hands. “No, no, no, no, I don’t think my heart will handle another meeting with her.”

Alas, when the commander called you, you went. Period. Mikala collected her jacket from where she hung it on the back of her chair and pulled it on. A spy program she installed on the computer would alter the logs showing that she had been playing games instead.

She ran through a list of things that the commander would summon her for. Maybe she wanted to test her again, have her write a letter, or drilled her about the pony she cared for. Or maybe she found out?

She felt a shudder crawl through her arms and back. If she found out would she be angry or, hopefully, happy?

When she entered the office, Noa Laotaner was behind her desk, but with Dr. Tibbs in the room.

Laotaner glanced at her with her usual disdainful stare, but there was something behind it. There was a wicked glee that Mikala could imagine in a wicked boy who was enjoying pulling wings off flies.

“You wanted to see me, ma’am.” Mikala could only brace herself.

“I wanted to inform you that this morning I had a meeting with my, as I affectionately call them, my Think Tank.” Laotaner’s voice was thick and sweet, like poison. “I’m going on a mission and I need a partner. You’re it.”

Mikala’s face lost all feeling save for the tingling in her lips. “Ma’am. . .what?”

“Oh, don’t piss yourself.” Mikala leaned back, her teeth flashing in a rare smile. Pluck; there went the fly’s wing. “There will be a low possibility of combat involved, but we will be going behind enemy lines.”

“I. . . I don’t know. Isn’t that still dangerous?” Mikala’s brain was nothing more than mush.

“We’ll be using the TIGGER.” Pluck, there went the other wing.

Mikala felt the dire need to sit down before she fainted. Dr. Tibbs must have noticed for she came around the desk drawing a chair with her. She helped Mikala sit down, with a hand on her forehead.

Dr. Tibbs spoke to her, but she couldn’t hear her. She just wanted to go somewhere and lie down or just escape from this horror.

Laotaner has a wisp of a smile on her now stoic face. “Trevor has been performing tests and assures me that it will operate perfectly, but I will go first to make sure that it operates as he promises before it is used on you.”

Her words did little to calm Mikala’s pounding hard. The distraught yeoman managed to croak, “Why me? I don’t have any training.”

“Cortez pointed out a lot of things about you that makes you a worthy candidate. You have firsthand experienced with one of the natives and you are you green, you’re practically still a civilian which will be of some help.”

“That doesn’t make me qualified!” Mikala blurted out in a choke that made her eyes water.

“The fact that you don’t have the extensive training of a ‘real’ soldier is off putting, but Cortez also said that my skills make me worth two soldiers, so it’s pretty much even.”

Dr. Tibbs arched a sharp eyebrow. “Are you sure he wasn’t kissing your ass?”

“No, remember back on Palimo? When he was drunk he said that anyone that bothered kissing my ass would need to get a tetanus shot.”

She may remember to laugh at that later, but right now she needed to get through this meeting without passing out. “So, is there anything I should do in preparation?”

“Yes, you’ll need to go to the lab. Trevor has the native language translated and has it recorded in a chip that’ll send the information to your brain via an eye injection.” Now the wicked boy was frying the hapless fly with a magnifying glass.

Mikala had been fearful of needles when she was a child. Going to the doctor always carried a sense of dread due to fear of shots or blood tests. When she was older, she no longer had to be held down for an injection, but she still cringed as she felt the needle touch her flesh. Now she was looking at having a needle going into her eye. Now she was feeling sick.

Dr. Tibbs was speaking to her now. “It’s not as bad as everyone thinks. Trevor can give you something to help you relax.” Mikala noticed the cold look the CMO was giving the commander. It made her feel better that there was at least one person on her side.

“When will the mission start? And what are our goals?” Mikala figured she might as well have a countdown to her doom.

“Depending on how well it goes with me, tomorrow before noon.” Laotaner’s voice carried as poisonous cloud. “Our goals is to determine the social structures and if there is any military prowess, and some other things I’ll go over tomorrow if the TIGGER works. Don’t look so glum. This way, we can take the planet with minimum casualties. You’ll be helping me prevent another Shraxi.”

“Ohhhhh, god. . . .” Mikala rubbed her face. “May I have permission to go to the lab and get my procedure over with?” And throw up.

“Permission granted. You’ve been breathing up too much of my air already.”

The doors barely hissed shut behind Mikala who had swayed out the door before Dr. Tibbs turned flashing a heated glare at Laotaner. “What is your deal with her?”

Laotaner reclined back in her chair, taking on a relaxed pose. She hiked her feet up onto the corner of her desk as she regarded the doctor with a small tilt of the head. “There’s something about her that rubs me wrong. I never really liked her.”

“Try not to be ‘you’ around her, okay? She’s a good kid, she really is. She doesn’t deserve the Laotaner treatment.” Dr. Tibbs raked long fingers through her white hair, “She isn’t like the. . . others.”

“What others are you referring to?” Laotaner lazily asked as she eyed the doctor.

“Don’t you dare play that game with me, Noa. We’ve served the Havensguard together for over thirty years, and we know stuff about each other that’s turning our hair white. Like for example, back when we were fresh recruits and were on our first stint on Grova’s swamps, our bunk leader tried to sexually assault you after lights out. I told you to report him to our drill sergeant, but you wouldn’t do it. I didn’t know very well back then, I thought you were too afraid or embarrassed, but then we found the bastard’s corpse out in the bayou half eaten by the wildlife.”

Laotaner studied her nails, running a thumb over them. “It’s dangerous to walk alone at night in a swamp.”

“Yeah, I would be willing to give you that, but then we come to the reporter that traveled with our unit out on the desert planet of Tansa. The journalist who kept giving away our location and mission plans live on her camera drone to up her ratings. She got some our guys killed doing that. Our CO tried to get her to stop, but she raved on and on about freedom of the press and how she had his superior’s permission to be there, yada yada. She was found dead outside of the camp with a bullet in the head.”

Laotaner scratched an itch by her nose. “We were behind enemy lines.”

Then we come to Terrence Butler. He was a real asshole that joined just so he could hold a gun and swing his dick around. The last we saw of him was when he went with you to secure a relay tower then he fell to his death from the top of the tower.”

Laotaner yawned stretching her arms above her head. “It was raining. It was slick up on that tower.”
“Noa he had contusions on his face and shoulders that didn’t result from him hitting the ground.”
“He hit every rung on the ladder on the way down.”

Dr. Tibbs rolled her eyes as she unclipped the bag she had earlier set on the desk earlier. “Those are just the few that I know of. I don’t know many bones paved the way for your career. And how many more it’ll take to get you where you want to be. Was rank climbing what you had in mind when you enlisted?”

“Moira,” Loataner’s voice was as sharp as a blade of ice. Dr. Tibbs could feel the weight of that cold glare. Ah, she had touched on a raw nerve. “You don’t have fucking clue of where I want to be, or what was going through my head when I enlisted.”

“Sorry, I broke your cardinal rule of getting too personal. Let me just take your blood so I can get out of here.”

Though Dr. Tibbs had known Noa Laotaner for thirty years, she didn’t know any more about her than the day they first met. What she did understand that Laotaner was very private about her life before enlisting and would aggressively lash out when it was prodded.

She never asked Noa why she enlisted. Everyone enlisted for their own reasons, for good or bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That evening, a visitor came to Sweet Apple Acres bearing a gift.

“Oh, Smokey, ya shouldn’t have,” Applejack told him over the cake he bought from Sugarcube Corner.

“Well, I still feel guilty for not being able to help in the search.” Smokey was sitting at the family dinner table with a coffee cup between his hooves. “And I had to pay you back for the apple slices and stopping me from getting myself banned from the market the other day. So I brought Ember by for a visit.”

Big Macintosh was out by the barn gathering barrels for storing apple cider while Granny Smith was giving the cider press a firm talking to about its performance for tomorrow. And on the floor nosing a ball across the floor was Ember. The small colt lifted his head upon hearing his name. Smokey nickered softly at him and the little foal whinnied back to him in a high pitch wiggling his small dark tail excitedly.

“How is his ear infection? He looks a lot better,” Applejack inquired, pleased to see the colt playing with Apple Bloom’s old baby toys.

“Oh yes, he’s fine now,” Smokey replied.

Applejack noticed that he still looked tired and his mane looked stringy as if it hasn’t been washed for a few days. “If ya don’t mind muh sayin’, ya look pretty tired.”

Smokey nursed from his coffee cup, his eyes disappearing behind the tilted mug. When he set the mug down, his eyes look wet, but he managed a broad smile. “I’ve been busy with the fire station and training the recruits. I plan on having training drills all this next week then they can enjoy Winter Welcome and then it’s back to work.”

“Same here for us. We gotta lotta work to do to get ready for Winter Welcome and a lotta work after.” Applejack beamed at him, hoping that being cheerful will help cheer him up. She wasn’t fooled by his forced smile; he was being chewed up by stress and having recently endured her share of stress over Apple Bloom’s disappearance. “Now don’t read anythin’ into this, but I was wonderin’ if ya gonna go to the Winter Dance.”

“I wasn’t planning on it. I think Ember will be too tired after Winter Welcome that I’ll probably just take him home after the festival.”

“Yeah, Ah may not go dependin’ on how tired Apple Bloom will be afterwards.” Applejack stole a quick glance at the stairs. When they finished feeding the cows, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle arrived to play. The fillies retreated upstairs to Apple Bloom’s room where they had remained.

“How is she doing?”

“She’s fine. She doesn’t have any memory of where she was, but we’re hopin’ it’ll come back to her. Twilight said she may help us out if it doesn’t.”

Smokey finished his coffee and stood. “Ember and I have to go. I have to get ready for that training I was talking about. C’mon, Ember.”

Ember had learned to bounce the ball off the floor with his front hooves. He was rearing back on his hind legs when his father called him and he ended up lying on the ball staring at his father. Smokey genuinely smiled for the first time that night and lifted his son by the scruff and placed him on his back. “Say goodbye, Ember.”

“Bi bi.” Ember burrowed his face into his father’s mane shyly peeking at Applejack through it.
“He can keep the toys. Apple Bloom is too old to play with them.” Applejack grinned at Ember. “Oh, and ya gotta take one of Granny Smith’s pies with ya.”

“Ah, that reminds me. The Cakes say they’ve been pranked by Mites,” Smokey said glancing around as if he might spot one.

Applejack’s eyes grew wide. “Oh lands sake! That ain’t good, not around Winter Welcome! Last time they came around here, they threw rotten eggs into the apple cider press and seven ponies got food poisoning. Ah best take this pie outside by the fence. And mebbe put one by the barn also.”

Meanwhile upstairs, Apple Bloom was lying across her bed with her face burrowed into a pillow. Sweetie Belle was patting her back with a hoof while Scootaloo paced the floor.

“It’s not fair! It’s not like ya ran away from home,” Scootaloo muttered under her breath, her brow furrowed. Then she looked at Apple Bloom’s prone body with an arched eyebrow. “Or did you?”

“No! Ah don’t think I did!” Apple Bloom bemoaned as she rolled onto her side. “Ah can’t remember.”

“Maybe you hit your head,” Sweetie Belle offered.

“The doctor said Ah’m fine and that Ah might remember one day. Applejack asked Twilight ta help me out. Mebbe if Ah remember, then Applejack will leave me alone.” Apple Bloom rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. It had been suffocating to have her sister constantly on her tail.

“I hope she lays off before school starts again.” Scootaloo reminded her of something she had been trying to forget.

Apple Bloom groaned as she covered her eyes with both hooves. She could imagine the taunts and jeers from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon when she showed up with Applejack walking her to school and back. And worst of all, Applejack was planning on walking around with her at the Winter Welcome festival. She’d rather just stay in her room for the rest of the week, or the month.

“Just try to remember.” Scootaloo approached the bed, placing her hooves on the edge. “Try really really hard.”

Apple Bloom groaned, “I tried. I’ve been trying since I got back from wherever it was I went to.”

“Everyone thinks you went into the Everfree Forest. Is that where you were?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Apple Bloom closed her eyes and concentrated, “Ah . . . Ah think so. It’s always dark when Ah try to remember.”

“It was dark because it was nighttime. You disappeared just before sunset.”

Then Applebloom saw it. It was only for a second, but she saw the Evergreen forest at night. At first glance, she believed it was when they had a sleepover at Fluttershy’s house and had crossed paths with the Cockatrice. However, for a moment, for one heartbeat, she heard the bubble of a river. She snapped her eyes open, sitting up suddenly as if she had waken from a bad dream.

“What is it, Apple Bloom? Did you remember something?” Scootaloo was looking eagerly at her.

“No. . . no, Ah don’t remember.” She crossed her forelegs over her chest, her heart thrumming. When the image crossed her mind, she felt the sense of being chased. If she didn’t run fast enough, then her life was over. And a chill crawled over her flesh making her want to wrap a blanket around herself.

She quickly changed the subject to the newest Daring Do book which they discussed in great length before her friends had to go home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight Sparkle wanted to make one last stop before calling it a day. Rarity had gotten a head start in decoration which was wise since she was likely to change her mind about the decoration a dozen times before the day of the festival.

She had been expecting to see Rarity hard at work matching fabrics and using her magic to put then in place to see how they complimented the great hall. Instead, Rarity was sitting dejected on a deep cushion chair with the decorations laying forgotten over a clothing rack which she used to wheel the fabric in.

“Rarity, what’s wrong?” Twilight trotted to her friend who looked as if she was near tears.

“The fashion world has suffered a great lost,” Rarity moaned with a foreleg cover her eyes in a swoon. “A truly inspiring asset of the world of beauty and elegance has been taken long before her time!”

“What happened?” Twilight wasn’t certain if she should be concerned or not. With Rarity it was really hard to say since she would consider a stain to be as grievous as an open wound.

“Little Sweet Hearts has disappeared!” Rarity pointed at a newspaper that had fallen on the floor, likely from when Rarity had seen the front page. On the front page was a picture the most adorable little unicorn filly Twilight had ever seen. The filly was too young to get a cutie mark and had a long wavy purple mane and tail with large blue eyes with a coat of seashell pink. She was sitting on an embroidered cushion wearing a silky little dress for fillies.

Twilight had seen her image numerous times. She was the cover child for Cutie Markz magazine that catered to fashions for foals. Twilight’s eyes scanned the article and learned that Sweet Hearts parents had stated that when they checked on her in her nursery she was missing. There was no sign of breaking and entering and so far there have been no leads.

“This is horrible.” Twilight laid her ears back. She didn’t have a foal of her own, but she could imagine the horror of finding your child missing. “They have no idea of who took her?”

“None at all.” Rarity drew a silken cloth from her bag and dabbed at her eyes with it. “She was a small little gem who promised to grow into a fashion star.”

“Didn’t days ago the zebra ambassador’s daughter went missing? And she was the same age as Sweet Hearts?”

Rarity stopped short of blowing her nose. “I. . . I believe so. And I don’t think they found that poor darling either.”

First Apple Bloom goes missing, then the zebra filly, and then the fashion star foal. Was it connected somehow? But the problem is that it didn’t fit. The zebra and the filly were of the same age and where upper crusts of society with the zebra’s father an ambassador and the filly a star. And they both disappeared in Canterlot.

However, Apple Bloom was older and disappeared from Ponyville and came back. Twilight felt in her heart that the missing foals in Canterlot was connected, but what happened to Apple Bloom was a separate issue. But was it a coincidence that both issues started after that Red Comet.

A chill crawled over her back as she remembered it. She had read that Red Comets were signs of terrible things to come, but Apple Bloom’s situation ended happily. Did it mean the missing foals? Will more foals go missing?

She itched to return to her library and study on the subject intensely. And there was something else she wanted to look into also and she might as well get Rarity’s opinion regarding the issue.

“Mr. and Mrs. Cake are concerned about little things called Mites,” Twilight began, but was cut off as Rarity sat up shrieking.

“Those dreadful things are back! Goodness, I have to get back to the shop and set out bon bons! Last time they led a skunk into my shop while I had autumn line set up and . . . it was horrible!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“There is still the chance that this could go horribly wrong.” Cortez knew he didn’t have a snowman’s chance in hell of changing his commander’s mind, he still had to bring up that important point.

She was sitting on the edge of the exam table wearing only an examination gown. It was made of a fine, but durable white paper and it tied together at her spine. Though she was half naked, her hair loose at her shoulders, and feet and legs bare, she still held herself as the commander that she was.

“If it goes horribly wrong, then shoot Trevor,” Laotaner replied casually. Trevor who was checking the settings on the TIGGER gulped and began double checking his calculations.

Mikala leaned against the far wall looking as miserable as she felt. If the machine fails horribly, then the mission as off and she wouldn’t have her with the TIGGER. But if it does go horribly wrong . . . Mikala sincerely hoped that it didn’t go wrong.

Standing beside her was Dr. Tibbs who had her lips purse and her eyes filled with disapproval of this sordid affair. “Commander, I just want to remind you that I may be skilled at extracting bullets and shrapnel and I am handy when it comes to stitching soldiers back together, but I don’t think my skills are up to par with sorting you out if that machine turns you into a mutated abomination of science. I’m just going to advise we put you down.”

“Noted.” Laotaner craned her head toward Trevor. “Is that thing ready? I’m freezing.”

“Just need two more minutes.” Trevor’s fingers moved over a holographic keyboard that levitated near the TIGGER.

“I thought the TIGGERS were destroyed after the Kova Embarassment,” Mikala inquired.

“They were, but when the order was issued, we didn’t receive it because we were keeping communications with command off due to our location,” Cortez replied.

“Can you tell me what exactly the Kova Embarassment was? That’s what it’s called by the military, but no exact details of what happened were released to the public.” Mikala felt nervous for asking. She feared what the answer would be. Was it because the TIGGER failed and what was left was only mutated soldiers with a thirst for human blood?

“It’s pretty stupid. Basically what happened was one of the soldiers fell in love with a native woman and switched sides. He fed the enemy sensitive information about our defenses and attack strategies that we lost the ground war.” Dr. Tibbs adjusted her glasses giving Mikala a quick glance. “That’s why Kova was won by a bombardment from orbital strikers. It may be a while before the planet is inhabitable again, but we got a dutiful little workforce out of the Kovians that are willing to do anything for clean food and water.”

“What happened to the traitor?” She asked chewing on her lip.

“Not sure. Some say that he was captured and rotting away in prison or he was killed in the bombardment,” Dr. Tibbs replied.

“It’s ready.” Trevor stepped away from the machine. The center of the wide cylinder cracked down the center and spread opened revealing a white inside that glinted silver. “Just step inside and we’ll get started.”

Noa Laotaner slid off the table and walked without hesitation toward the white cavern. If there were any fears or doubts, they couldn’t be read from by her confident walk.

Mikala hugged herself, her fingers digging into the sleeves of her uniform. She wanted to speak up, to stop this and point out how insane this plan was and how dangerous. Yet, she knew that if she spoke up, any argument she offered would be shot down with cutting words. So she kept her silence and prayed while Laotaner stepped into the machine and it closed around her.

Her heart leapt as it hummed to life and the light flowed along the line where the doors came together. Mikala swallowed, noticing for the first time that she was shaking.

Then the sounds came that made her blood curdle. It was the sounds of flesh twisting, bones snapping, and organs adjusting. In the background of this symphony of body rips a long wail echoed through the lab. Mikala could decide whether it was coming from the machine or from its occupant. Then the machine switched off.

“What does TIGGER stand for?” Mikala heard herself ask.

“Tran Ionic Genetic Gene Rewrite,” Tibbs replied as they watched Trevor stepped up to the TIGGER.

“What does that mean?” Mikala held her breath as Trevor checked the TIGGER’s results and pulled a release lever on the side of the cylinder to open it.

“It means that whoever built this was bad with acronyms.”

The machine open and out stepped a pony. It had a light blue coat with a teal colored mane with a silver streak. From its forehead was a tall horn with a sharp end. And as it walked unsteadily from the TIGGER, they saw a teardrop on its flank.

Dr. Tibbs moved forward, drawing a small flashlight from her coat pocket. “How do you feel? Can you speak?”

The pony spoke with Noa Laotaner’s voice. “I feel nausea.”

“You might dry heave. You didn’t eat anything all day, right?” Dr. Tibbs held the light in the pony’s eyes. “Follow the light with just your eyes. Good, good. So far reactions are normal. If you need to lie down, then feel free to do so. Is there any pain?”

“There is soreness, but it’s tolerable.” Noa Laotaner, the pony replied as she saw on her haunches, her hospital gown wrinkle around her.

“From the records, soreness is normal and will likely go away over time. I want to run some scans and blood tests and if it all looks alright, then Briggs can go through next.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Within the next two hours, there was a second pony lying across a gurney groaning as she felt sore in places she didn’t know she had. Mikala’s pony version was shorter than Noa’s with a name and tail a solid teal color without a streak and her coat was aqua colored. She too had a horn though with a rounder end without a sharp point that caused a bead of blood to form on Cortez’s finger when it touched it.

Noa was already poring over an overhead photo of the native town, using it as a map. She pointed a hoof at spot on the map. “We’ll enter here; I believe it may be the main road. Trevor reports that the ponies are preparing for some sort of festival which is good as we’ll play the part of tourists. Our cover will be we’re aunt and niece.”

Mikala consented with a weak nicker which startled her. And that caused her insides to hurt more. She moaned, wishing that Tibbs would hurry with that pain killer.

“Trevor says that our bodies may go through a transition where they’ll change back every six to nine hours. We’ll have special watches that’ll monitor our blood and gives us ten minute warning when we’re about to change back to our human selves. So we have to get somewhere private when that occurs and take a shot of nanonites that’ll change us back to ponies.”

“How long will this mission take?”

“Hopefully, twenty-four hours. If not forty-eight hours.” Noa shut down the datapad with a curvature of her hoof and settled onto her hospital bed. She threw Mikala a wicked smile. “Nervous?”

“Well, the worst is over so I can safely say I’m no longer terrified.” Mikala rolled onto her side and winced. It was so strange moving and feeling with a different body.

“We’ll stay in communication with the ship through hidden microphones. They’re adjusting our tools for easier use since we no longer have hands.” Noa sounded almost excited about the mission.

Mikala also noticed that this was the longest conversation that she had with Noa Laotaner without being humiliated or horrified which was a nice change she had to say. “I have a question. Why don’t I have a mark on my body like yours?” She pointed at the teardrop on Noa’s flank.

“I don’t know. It’s likely not important.”

Stories and Jams

Noa Laotaner stared at the glass on the bedside stand. It was empty save for a straw that helped her drink without having to lift the glass. However, since she was a unicorn type pony, lifting things shouldn’t be a problem. She had studied the footage of unicorns lifting various items with their telekinesis. If she was to pass herself off as one of them, it would be something she would need to master.

Shockingly, it was far easier than she ever anticipated. Her horn glowed silver and the glass risen off the surface. She was able to move it as easily as if she was holding it in her hand. She experimented, holding the glass with her ability and levitating the straw out and twirling it. Then she was able to lift the datapad, the pillow, various medical tools around the medbay, and then Mikala. The aqua pony hovered in the air still asleep while Noa raised her eyebrows genuinely surprised at how easy this was. One less worry for her. She let gravity carry Mikala back to bed.

The yeoman pony jerked, her limbs failing as she suffered a great shock of falling in her dream and then waking up to discover she was actually falling. She sat up, her chest heaving with wide eyes, “What the hell happened!?”

“Just an experiment.” Noa turned her face away to hide her grin. She waved the tools around above their heads which Mikala watched with stunned eyes. Noa neatly put the items back where they belong, setting the glass on her bed stand. “Come over here and try to lift this glass with your mind.”

“What?” Mikala rolled onto her stomach, and noticed that she was no longer sore. She was able to easily scoot off the bed, her hooves clopping on the smooth floor. “How?”

“Just look at it and concentrate. It's like moving a hand to grasp an item. Just think it and it'll happen.” Noa watched the glass, waiting for it to be lifted. It didn’t move. “Well?”

“I... I'm trying.” Mikala focused hard on the glass, imagining it moving. “I don’t know how you did it.”

“Watch. It’s really simple.” Noa demonstrated by lifting the glass and setting it upside down. “Now turn it right side.”

Mikala tried. She furrowed her brow and concentrated with her hooves braced on the floor and her body taut. Beads of sweat appeared on her brow and finally, the glass twitched. Mikala was so happy she stomped her hooves on the floor in delight. “I did it!”

“You did nothing,” Noa said with aggravated heat in her tone. “You didn’t even move it, just rocked it. Now try again!”

The excitement and pride at her small accomplishment died as quickly as it came. She shied back, her ears flat against her mane. “S...sure. I can do it.”

For the next hour, she tried until she developed a migraine and had to summon Dr. Tibbs for more painkillers. By the time she had to stop, lest she start bleeding out of the eyes, she was able to slide the glass on the table. She was able to lift the straw, but it wobbled in mid-air as she struggled to maintain it. Noa snorted something under her breath that Mikala was certain it was better that she couldn’t hear. She returned to bed with a throbbing in her temples and her spirit stamped on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mikala felt certain that they could have done with a bit more sleep before heading off. Unfortunately, Noa Laotaner had this idea that whatever she could do, anyone else can do also. So she doubtlessly believed that Mikala could get by with as little sleep as she received and had them packed off in the side car of a speeder manned by Winter and carried half a mile to the road where they will walk the rest of the way. When he dropped them off, he took the time to remove his helmet and wink at them. “Good luck my little ponies.”

That wink and that face came together in a way which made her stomach perform flips and rolls. And unknowingly to her, her blush glowed hotly on her cheeks.

It was a surreal feeling moving, speaking, eating, and breathing with a different body. Her human habits were nulled by her new body. When she wanted to touch her face, and moved to do so instead of fingers and nails, a smooth hard hoof touched her furry face. By God, how was she going to do anything without her hands and fingers? She was very surprised by how flexible her limbs were. She had expected them to have the mobility of horses, but she was able to touch her face and hair with her fore legs and was even able to stretch and move her legs in angles that no horse could easily do without breaking a limb.

Their things and supplies were packed in bags that hung around their necks to rest against their right shoulders. Laotaner was given a taser that could easily be fitted in her mouth which with a single bite would through an electrical current strong enough to bring down an elephant. It would be their only weapon to use if things went wrong.

It was mid-morning by the time they found the road and along it toward the town. The road was dry and dust kicked up from their hooves as they traveled in the quick pace set by Noa. They didn’t say much, Laotaner leading the way and Mikala following her lead. She welcomed the silence as it gave her time to process her new body and the situation.

The soreness of her change had long since passed, but had made it hard to sleep. She was still tired and wanted nothing more than to lie down and get more sleep. As they plodded along, she let her mind wonder and she smiled as she remembered her favorite story when she was a little girl.

“Hey, commander,” she spoke up.

“Yes, Briggs.” The commander's voice held a note of surprise that Briggs was speaking up after acting demure since the change.

“We’re like Amalthea, except opposite. We're not unicorns changed into women, but women changed into unicorns.” Mikala trotted forward, moving up beside Noa. The older woman, or unicorn mare, stared back at her, slowing her brisk pace to a slow walk. Mikala slowed her pace as well, suddenly feeling silly for bringing it up. “Ya know? The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagel.”

Noa paused, staring at her with hard eyes. The eyes were larger than a humans and held more expression, which made her actually feel the stare. Mikala wished the ground would open and swallow her whole. What the hell was she thinking bring up something so ridiculous and childish to a celebrated commander with three decade career in military? She braced herself for the oncoming chew out.

“I am full of tears and hunger and the fear of death, though I cannot weep, and I want nothing, and I cannot die. I am not like the others now, for no unicorn was ever born who could regret, but I do. I regret.” The words of Peter S. Beagel’s unicorn flowed from the pony commander's mouth causing Mikala's jaw to drop.

“Wow, so did you read it or study it in school?” Mikala clung to this bit of similarity between them.

“I read it.” Noa's voice wasn't edged with anger or annoyance, it sounded far as if her mouth was working on auto-pilot. She wasn’t looking at Mikala, but away, toward the sky.

“When you were a kid? A lot of girls I know say it's their favorite novel from the Old World. I've read it five times when I was in middle school. And uh, two more times in high school.”

“Did you bring the book with you onto the ship?” Noa asked turning her head to give Mikala a sour glance.

The smaller unicorn was silent for a moment then, “Yes ma’am.”

“And is it in your bag?”

“No ma’am.”

Noa arched an eyebrow. “You have it on your datapad, don’t you?”

“....yes....”

Noa looked as if she would have faced palmed if she had her hands.

Mikala wanted to change the subject quick before the fragile camaraderie was broken, “So what story would you recommend?”

“I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.” Noa continued along the road, her hooves plodding along.

“Oh, by Harlan Ellison. I’ve read that as part of a literature course for science fiction history.” Mikala had to trot a bit to catch up. For some reason “I remember it was pretty dark.”

“It was supposed to be dark,” Noa replied, her eyes on the road ahead. “It reflects mankind’s mistakes coming back to bite it in the ass.”

“I just lean toward more optimistic stuff.” Mikala shuddered when she remembered reading I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. It was a dark tale of the super powered AI, calling itself AM, destroying the world and killing mankind save for five souls which it kept to torture and punish for over a century. AM kept the humans from killing themselves to escape their agony, but at the end of the story, the humans discovered that they could kill each other and kill each other they did. AM was able to stop one, the narrator of the story, and changed him to into a jelly like creature all soft with no limbs so he was not able to kill himself. He ended the story with the title about his predicament, ‘I have no mouth and I must scream.’

“I can see a bit of myself in that story. Just as you see a bit of yourself in your story.” Noa strayed to the right, away from Mikala to avoid a large stone in the road. The walked on opposite sides of the stone which may have well been a great wall between them.

“If we’re going to talk, let’s speak of the mission.” Noa slowed down again to look Mikala in the eye.

“I do the talking. You can speak if one of them talk to you, but keep it short, preferably to one syllable words. Our cover is that I’m your aunt and you are my nieces and we are on a trip to visit relatives.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Check your watch. It should reach 9:33.”

“It does.”

“If something goes wrong and we separate, we meet at where Winter dropped us off.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“So basically follow my lead and keep your mouth shut.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Better yet, don’t breath and try not to exist.”

“Yes ma’am.” Oh, this bitch was actually enjoying this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Further up the road, a large cart was traveling along the road, rocking as it hit a bump or ditch.

Applejack held the reins by looping them over her fetlocks and sat with her tail curled around curled against her flank and leg. The tied end bobbed over the buckboard’s edge as the cart rolled along.

Sitting beside her with her forelegs crossed over her chest, orange eyes narrowed, and lip pouty was Apple Bloom.

“Apple Bloom, cheer up, in a few days will be the Winter Welcome and ya get to help out.” Applejack nudged his sister, hoping to draw a smile from her.

“But Ah wanna play the games and see the shows,” Apple Bloom muttered.

“And ya will. Once things slow down, Ah’ll go with ya around the festival.”

“But I wanna go with my friends! You didn’t mind me goin’ by myself durin’ Winter Wrap Up or Nightmare Night last year!” Apple Bloom threw her hooves up, her voice rising in volume.

“That was before all the trouble we had,” Applejack said firmly. “Until Ah am sure that ya ain’t gonna go missin’ again, then ya ain’t goin’ outta my sight.”

“But it wasn’t muh fault!”

“How do Ah know that? Ya can’t even tell me where ya been.”

“That’s not muh fault either! Ah miss muh friends!” Apple Bloom felt her eyes start to water. She struggled against them. The last thing she wanted was to cry like a foal around her sister.

“Ya saw ‘em last night.”

“Ah wanna do Cutie Mark Crusaders stuff again. Ah’ll never get my cutie mark at this rate!”

Applejack adjusted her hat to hide her eye roll. With Apple Bloom the subject always came around to her desire for a cutie mark. “Apple Bloom, you’ll get yer cutie mark, Ah promise. Everyone gets theirs when it’s time.” Then an idea dawned on her, “Apple Bloom, have ya ever saw an adult pony without a cutie mark?”

“N-no,” Apple Bloom murmured thoughtfully. It was true, she had never seen an adult pony without a cutie mark, all the adult ponies she had seen all had cutie marks.

“So you’ll get yers before you grow up.”

“Ah guess so,” Apple Bloom muttered conceding the argument. But she was still miserable about her constant supervision.

Applejack resumed directing Big Macintosh, who was towing the card behind him away from a large stone in the road. Someone really ought to tend to this road. Then she saw two figures standing in the road up ahead. As Big Machintosh drew the cart along, she could see that it was two unicorns she hadn’t seen before.

One was taller with a pale blue coat, with a brighter blue colored mane with a single silver street through her mane and tail. She had a rather sharp looking horn and at her flank was a cutie mark of a drop of water. The mare was older, not quick as old as Granny Smith, but a quite a bit older than Applejack herself.

Her companion was a younger aqua colored unicorn mare with a teal male and tail. And . . .oh no . . . . there was no cutie mark on her flank. The orange farm mare kept her eyes firmly on their faces, refusing to stare. But at her side her sister was staring in horror at an adult pony without a cutie mark. So much for Applejack’s argument.

Applejack gave the filly a firm poke to stop her staring and warmly greeted the newcomers, “Howdy, ya’ll headin’ ta Ponyville.”

The unicorns looked at her as if she was coming at them with a club. They were silent and Applejack began to believe that maybe they were dead and why the younger one looked as if she was trying not to breath. The elder spoke up rather loudly.

“Yes, we are going to the town.”

There was. . something about the way she spoke. It was an accent, but it wasn’t one that she recognized. It wasn’t the cultured Canterlot speech nor was it Appleloosa drawl. “Where are ya from if ya don’t mind mah askin’.”

Noa froze and Mikala eyes widen. They didn’t think this through enough. They were going to get caught before the mission had even begun. Oh god.

“North,” Noa managed to pull out of her ass.

“Well, how be! Ah suppose school might start tomorrow then,” the overly friendly pony beamed at them.

Noa paused wondering what the hell school had to do with this. “I s-suppose so.”

“Ah’m Applejack and this is Apple Bloom, my little sis. She’ll be going to school tomorrow. Say hello, Apple Bloom.” The orange pony cajoled a small yellow one that kept stealing glances at Mikala.

“Hey,” the pony said sullenly.

Mikala recognized her little pony and had finally learned her name. She was so excited that she stomped her hooves in delight startling them all. “Apple Bloom! That is a beautiful name!”

So many questions bored through her mind as she just now recognized the orange mare from the drawings left behind. They were sisters, that is so cute and was the big red pony their brother or father? Did she remember their time together?

Then she noticed that dirty look she was getting from Noa and drew back. Crap, she broke a rule and spoke. She supposed it shouldn’t be too bad since she was just being polite and friendly. They were supposed to blend in after all.

“Oh and that is Big Macintosh.” The orange mare called Applejack pointed at the big red hitched to the cart. “We’re on our way to Ponyville to get ready for Winter Welcome. Ya wanna lift Mrs. . .”
Names, oh shit bricks. Mikala laid her ears back in panic. Of all the plans, scheming, plotting, and lectures, they forgot something so simple and important. Their pony names. Oh shit. Oh shit. Think of something Noa. Think, think, think.

“My name is. . . Victory . . . AM. Victory AM,” Noa muttered, her eyes switching back and forth as she pulled the name out of the air. She was naming herself after a maniacal sadistic AI from a science fiction story. This did not bode well for the mission at all. Noa held a hoof awkwardly toward Mikala. “And this is. . . is my. . . “

“Daughter,” Mikala blurted out and instantly regretted it when Noa gave her a searing glare that could melt paint.

“Her name is . . . Jelly.” Noa nearly growled the name.

Ah yes, AM the terrible AI turned the narrator, the last survivor who defied AM by killing his fellow prisoners to let them escape the torture, into a jelly like creature with no way of committing suicide. It was a promise of a severe and dire punishment to follow when Noa had the chance. Well, since Mikala stepped into it, she might as well go in all the way. “Jelly Jam. We’re Victory Jam and Jelly Jam.”

“Well, Victory Jam and Jelly Jam, welcome to Ponyville.”

Apples and Treats

*** From now on Mikala Briggs will be called Jelly Jam. And Noa Laotaner will be called Victory Jam, just to avoid any confusion. Thanks for reading and be sure to review or critique in the comments. Also with any dialogue ending and beginning with a * will indicate that the character is speaking another language. ****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Noa Laotaner, now Victory Jam, found Applejack to be a bit tiring. The pony prattled on and on about the town, Ponyville. She chatted about her friends, the citizens, and above all this Winter Welcome celebration.

“We’re goin’ to set up our stand so Rarity can decorate the market.” Applejack beamed at her silent rider who was wedged in the cart next to her. “She’s very particular about how things look, so it’s better ta humor her less it becomes another fight. Nearly broke up our friendship one time.”

Whereas Victory wanted nothing more than for Applejack to shut up, Mikala Briggs, now Jelly Jam, would give anything for Apple Bloom to speak to her.

“So, what’s your favorite subject at school?” Jelly asked the yellow filly she had shared her food, clothes, and bed with.

“Art, I guess,” Apple Bloom muttered keeping her eyes on the road ahead.

“I like art too. I do some sketching. . .” She stopped talking when a hoof nailed her leg that nearly cause her to yelp. Jelly turned to see the cold eyes of Victory staring into her very soul. She shrank away and stayed silent until Noa took her freezing glare off her. Oh, she would have flashed Noa, while she was looking away of course, a rude sign then if she had fingers.

As the cart reached the summit, they caught their first view of their destination. It reminded Jelly of the towns she read in story books when she was a littl girl. The houses look like cottages and she could faintly see the citizens walking to and from along the streets. There was no hover-cars dashing in colorful lights and the sky above it wasn’t tinted with pollution. It was bright and held no secrets in dark allies or hidden dangers in avoided streets. Jelly felt warmth when she beheld the town, and felt a sense of peace. Victory on the other hand was mentally mapping out strategic hit locations for missiles.

“Thar she is.” Applejack waved a hoof toward the distant town. “About the best town in Equestria.”

“It certainly looks splendid.” Jelly leaned forward to get a better look. Victory said nothing and tried to predict how wide spread the damage may be from a ballistic missile bombardment.

Big Macintosh continued along, his large hooves leaving tufts of upturned dirt behind him. It was a short ride before the cart rolled into the town. Applejack waved at nearly only pony on the streets wishing everyone a good day and asking how their preparations for Winter Welcome were coming. Jelly itched to inquire about what Winter Welcome was about, but knew better. Likely it was widely known by all the ponies and since she and her commander were playing the part of ponies, they had to nod their heads as if they understood what it was.

“How did yer Winter Welcome go?” Applejack asked Victory as she urged Big Macintosh to slow down. They had arrived at a lineup of stalls that ponies were busy setting up or decorating. “Ah heard ya had yours earlier.”

“It went well...” Victory replied uneasily.

“How did the first snow go? Ah head tha pegasi in Caneighda are pretty good when it comes ta snow.”

“It was very lovely.” Victory quickly changed the subject before she said something that raised suspicion. “My... daughter.. “ her voice took a harsh tone when she said the word, “ . . .and I are hungry. Where might we find food?”

“Sugarcube Corner is just down the street and my friend, Pinkie Pie, works there. She likes meetin’ new ponies and she’ll treat ya well.”

“Thank you.” Victory climbed out of the cart, using the large wheel as hoof holds to keep from falling clumsily on the ground.

Jelly leaned forward, putting a tentative hoof on Apple Bloom’s shoulder, “I look forward to see you again, Apple Bloom.”

“Yeah,” the young filly replied, not looking at her at all.

Jelly felt a sense of loss as she climbed out of the cart. She remembered holding Apple Bloom in her arms while they slept together, feeding her, and watching her draw. She treasured the drawing the filly drew for her and now her dear pony wanted nothing to do with her. Jelly blinked her eyes several times to keep the tears at bay.

As they two visitors left, Applejack regarded the unicorn pair curiously. “Mrs. Jam seems to be a mare of few words.”

“Yup.” Big Macintosh shrugged out of the reins and hitch.

Applejack drew the reins over the edge of the cart. She noticed that her sister was still in her pouting position: arms crossed, head bowed with angry orange eyes. “Apple Bloom, what is it?”

“You said that all adult ponies had cutie marks.” Apple Bloom looked at her sister with tearful eyes.

“Ah know, darlin’, Ah can’t explain that. But it seems that Miss Jam took a likin’ to ya. It’s just ashamed that ya were rude to her after she was tryin’ so hard to be friendly.”

Apple Bloom didn’t know why she said what she said next. It could be chalked up to irritation of being constantly supervised, the loss of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the fresh new fear of never getting her cutie mark as apparent by Jelly, a new target of her dislike. “I didn’t wanna talk to that blank flank.”

“Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom recognized that tone. That tone told her that Applejack’s patience had ended and a certain filly was in serious trouble. She slowly turned to face her sister; her ears lying back as she instantly regretted her error. Applejack’s green eyes were narrowed as she fixed Applebloom with a harsh glare. She put a hoof under the filly’s chin and tilted it up till they were eye to eye. The yellow foal swallowed and her heart pounded frantically, she may not come out of this unscathed.

“That mare was tryin’ to be kind and ya were not only rude to her, but ya call her a blank flank too? You remember how much it hurt ya when the foals at school call you that?”

Tears brimmed in Apple Bloom’s eyes as shame ate at her. Hot tears rolled down her face and she would have bowed her head if Applejack wasn’t holding it up with a single hoof.

“Ah never took a switch to ya, but Ah will if Ah hear ya showin’ disrespect like this again. You stay in this cart and don’t leave it until we’re done here.” With that said, Applejack released Apple Blooms chin and hopped down from the cart.

The yellow filly wiped at her eyes while Applejack and Big Macintosh unloaded the cart. The last thing she needed was for someone from school to see her crying. Helpless anger and shame made her feel sick and she wanted to go home and stay in her room for the rest of her life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“*Boo hoo hoo.*”

Jelly snapped her head up when Victory quipped in their own language. Her eyes shot daggers at the elder unicorn who returned her glare with one of her own. “*She doesn’t remember. The chemical cocktail burned away any memorie of you and also, you don’t look as you did before. So quit moping about not having an emotional happy reunion before someone notices.*”

So many things went unsaid because Jelly was too frightened of the consequences. She picked her head up and tried to show a more positive demeanor. Victory led the way and she was more than willing to let her. She hoped that Victory was leading her to get something to eat because now that she noticed it that she was hungry. She didn’t get a chance to eat this morning due to the quick change back to her human self. Her stomach was too sick for food and her morning appetite was gone.

As they past shops and passing ponies, Jelly failed to notice the quick glances in her direction or how eyes followed her flank. Ponies halted and whispered to their companion and pointed with a hoof toward the mare with no cutie mark. If she had noticed, it would have ruined her appetite.

What came into view as they reached the end of street could only be Sugarcube Corner. They both stared at the building that proclaimed itself a sweets bakery with the gingerbread roof lined with swirls of icing, the cupcake shaped chimney with three candles atop of it with pink frosting. And if there was even a shadow of a doubt of its purpose, there was a small sign with a pink frosted cupcake hanging from post. It looked like something straight out of a children’s picture book and the smells that drifted from it brought forth memories of excitement at receiving a freshly baked sweetie when Jelly was a child.

And the smell only served to make her hungrier. She drew forward, to urge Victory forward lest she changed her mind and want to shop for food at the smaller stalls. They had gold coins provided by the drones’ scavenging. Not much, but enough to purchase one meal.

“*I swear to god, if they got cutesy elves manning the register, I’m burning the place down,*” Victory muttered as she allowed Jelly to lead them forward.

With a curious glance at the plate of cookies and milk on the bottom step, they entered the bakery. The delicious smells wafted around them, making Jelly’s mouth water so much she had to swallow to keep from drooling. The counter display had rows of baked treats. Muffins, cupcakes, tarts, pastries, and even small cakes were artfully decorated with glazes, frosting, icing, and sprinkles. Some cupcakes even had a glazed apple slice set into the frosting.

Behind the counter was no one. As they drew toward the counter, Jelly craned her head to see if the owner was in the back. Victory stepped up to the counter and rang the bell. She switched to native,“Hello? Anyone here?”

There was no response and Jelly felt a sense of wrongness as if they shouldn’t be here. *”Maybe they’re closed.”* She tried not to look too disappointed, but the food smelled so good.

“*Let’s go. We’re wasting time.*” Victory stomped from the counter, ready to lead them out.

“SURPRISE!!!” A pink pony with voluminous curls burst from behind a large potted plant. A noise maker unfurled from her mouth like a wipe and the tip entered Victory’s ear. Confetti and streams shot from the planet and then fell slowly toward the floor around them.

Victory, aka Noa Laotaner, thirty years of military service under her belt, who had spent more time behind enemy lines than on the other side of the line, captain and commander of her own ship, the dutiful Heller, the woman whom the Havensguard military dared not cross shrieked in a high pitch siren. Her legs flounder as she attempted to skip sideways, tripping over her legs and falling into a roll across the floor. She shot to her feet, standing on her legs straight and looked as if she would flee or lunge for a fight. If Jelly wasn’t so horrified, she would have been seized with a laughing fit. The pink pony gave them both a huge grin that spread over her whole face.

“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! You guys are new! I haven’t seen you here before!” She looked truly delighted to meet them.

Victory’s sides were heaving for air and Jelly found that yet again, it was up to her to be the speaker of them. “Hello, Applejack told us we could get something to eat here.”

“Help yourself! It’s free since you’re friends with Applejack.” The pink pony, Pinkie Pie climbed out from behind the potted plant and bounced, literally bounced, toward the counter. On her flank were three balloons. “We have Chocolate Chip muffins, Cotton Candy cupcakes, Lemon tarts, Strawberry Mango cheesecake, Glazed Apple Pastries, Snicker Doodle cookies! Why do you think they’re called Snicker Doodle? Snick snick snicky snick, snicker doodle. I just don’t get it!”

Jelly had never seen anyone speak with such energy and animation before. Her hair bounced and swayed with the bobs of her head and her blue eyes were bright and friendly. Victory had recovered, but her face was venomous. Jelly made a point of positioning herself between her and the counter. “I’d like to get one of the apple cupcakes with the apple slice and I’d like to try the muffin. Vic-Mom, what would you like?”

“Cheesecake,” Victoria replied dryly.

“Okie dokie!” Pinkie nearly glowed as she packed their orders in two separate paper bags and all the while, she sang a little ditty.

I met two unicorn mares today, today!
We’re going to be the bestest friends, hurrah, hurrah!
I’m singing this song to celebrate, tadaa, tadaa!

Jelly and Victory blinked as they watched her sing. The singing pony put the bags on the counter and beamed at them both. The aqua pony couldn’t decide whether she was supposed to join in singing or was she supposed to thank her for the song. She offered her a nervous grin and would have said thank you when she heard Victory make a shocked noise behind her and a tugging at her tail. She turned and looked down at her tail.

The end of her tail was grasped between the long jaws of an alligator who stared up at her with blank purple eyes. The scream that tore from Jelly’s throat was long and ragged. Her hooves stomped the floor as she charged off in a panicked gallop. She heard Victory holler and cursed at her to stop running. Pinkie Pie’s voice tittered something, but Jelly was too busy colliding with the far wall to hear.

When she came to, she was on her back with her legs in the air with both Victory and Pinkie Pie staring down at her. A giggle glowed in Pinkie’s eyes while dark amusement floated in Victory’s. Perched on Pinkie’s back was the alligator who still had the same blank stare in his eyes.

“This is Gummy! He’s my pet alligator, but don’t worry, he doesn’t have any teeth, see?” She held up a hoof and the alligator instantly latched onto it with toothless jaws. “Sorry that he scared ya.”

“How much longer are you going to dirty up the floor?” Victory grinned broadly, but it did little to cheer Jelly’s heart.

The aqua unicorn slowly got to her hooves and checked herself over. Since she was craning her head to see fi the alligator had let go, the side of her face took the blow. It hurt, and likely would bruise beneath her coat. But all in all, she was in one piece. But she was with Victory in hurrying out of there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After much waving and smiles, the pink pony waved them out looking as if she would burst into song again. With their snacks packed into their bags, they continued along the street, their mishaps banishing their appetites for now.

*“She was a quite a character,”* Jelly stated, *“I think she was nice . . . even if her alligator tried to bite me.”*

Victory grunted something incoherent under her breath and plodded forward. They came to the towns care where there was even more activity abound. Ponies carried boxes and various items to and fro. Many were putting up streamers and decorations while others were cleaning the area collecting litter such as rocks, sticks, and occasionally paper or cups. They gave a wide berth to the working ponies and walked around, along the buildings.

*”What do you think Winter Welcome is about?”* Jelly asked her “mother”.

*”No clue. Might be their Christmas. You know how the Javians have Snow Fall or the Colosars have their Fire Bringing ceremonies in the deep of winter.”*

*”But their winter hasn’t started. It’s still warm,”* Jelly trotted forward, bringing herself alongside the elder mare.

*”They’re aliens. What they do doesn’t have to make sense,”* Victory muttered as she glanced at the milling ponies, then she stopped her wears slanting. *”One of them is coming this way.”*

Jelly looked where Victory was glaring and saw a lavender unicorn trotting toward them. The unicorn pony had a deep blue mane with purple streaks through it. On her flank was pink star surrounded by smaller stars. ”Hello! I’m Twilight Sparkle, and you must be Victory Jam and Jelly Jam. AppleJack told me that you arrived earlier and I just wanted to welcome you. I waited for you at the train station, but you didn’t arrive this morning.”

There was a period of silence. “We flew.”

“Oh! Of course! The Princess must have arranged for pegasi carriage.”

Uh oh, Noa, back up. Jelly desperately wanted to intervene before Victory dug them in deeper. This was a simple case of mistaken identity and it was better to set the record straight before they end up in a position that they can’t get out of.

“Uh, yes.” Victory had a thick grin on her face, but her eyes were screaming. Jelly front hooves tapped the cobbled street in a sign of panic, but she dared not intervene lest she suffer Victory’s wrath later.

“The Mayor was relieved when she heard that you arrived! School can start back before the foals miss any more days. I received a letter from Cheerilee, the school mare you are filling for, and she thinks she’ll be away for a few weeks. But don’t worry, we have a room set up for you at the inn.”

The ground fell out from beneath Jelly. They thought that Victory was the substitute teacher. This mission was going to hell. There was no way, no way Victory, aka Noa Laotaner, could handle a school full of children or baby ponies anything less than a soldier without killing one of them. Images of little ponies standing in a row while Victory marched up and down along tossing insults at them and promising the worst time of their lives rolled through Jelly’s head. Then it ended with Victory stopping and berating a little pony into tears.

“I see. . . that’s very kind.” The words crawled slowly from Victory’s mouth as if the word kind was an unknown foreign verb.

“Let me show you where you’ll be staying, I can see that you were looking around at Ponyville. The ponies here can be a bit overwhelming, but they are very welcoming to new ponies.” Twilight Sparkle motioned for them to follow her. They followed with Victory have a plastered grin while Jelly looked as if she may cry from terror. Twilight continued to speak to them without noticing their distress.“You’ll be neighbors with my friend Rainbow Dash. She’s a pegasi who hurt her wing, so she’s grounded until it heals. Since she can’t return to her home easily and help out with the festivals, she’s renting out a room at the inn. If you have any questions about Ponyville, you can talk to her.”

Jelly edged closer till she was next to Victory and hissed under her breath in their language, *”What the hell are you doing?”*

*”If I denied what they think, they’ll ask more questions. This way information is more readily provided to us,”* Victory whispered back so harshly it was a snarl. *”Shut up and stand back.”*

Fortunately, it didn’t take long to arrive at the inn. Twilight led them inside where an aging pony stood behind the counter with a large book. The pony squinted at them from behind a pair of thick glasses which he adjusted with a withered hoof, “Miss Sparkle, is this the substitute teacher?”

“Yes, Mr. Inns Keep. This is Victory Jam and her daughter, Jelly Jam. They’re here for room 205.” Twilight Sparkle held a hoof at them, taking pride in introducing them.

The elder pushed the book forward along with a inkpot and quill. “Just sign your name and describe your cutie mark.”

Cutie mark? Jelly’s eyes unconsciously looked at Victory’s teardrop mark and at Twilight star mark. And even on the innkeeper’s flank was the mark of a book and quill. And on her flank, was . . . nothing.
The innkeeper twitched his glasses as he noticed the same thing that Jelly noticed. “If you don’t have a cutie mark, then you’ll have to mark down as a foal.”

“Oh!” Twilight’s eyes alighted on Jelly’s empty flank. It was a small sound of surprise, but it was enough to tell Jelly that for her not to have a cutie mark was something . . . wrong. “It’s . . . ah . . . okay . . .” She switched tactics by changing subject, “Maybe after you get settled, you can help out with Winter Welcome. I know that Fluttershy needs as many helping hooves as she can to color the chicks. And you can meet some of the students before tomorrow.”

For a talkative pony such as Twilight Sparkle to stutter like that, then something was very wrong. Jelly felt her cheeks turn hot as she remembered that her pony didn’t have a mark, but that was likely because she was a child. She glared at Victory’s back as she stepped up to sign the book, Not very important, my ass!

Using her telekinesis Victory signed her name in loopy cursive along with the word teardrop beside it. When it was her turn, Jelly stepped up and concentrated on the quill. The feather twitched as it rose slightly with a dim blue glow, and then dropped. The aqua unicorn felt beads of sweat appear on her brow as all three ponies watched her. She tried again, and again. The quill twitched and then rolled off the book and counter and landed at her hooves.

“Sorry, about that. I’ll get it.”

Before she could bend down to pick up with her teeth, a silver glow captured it and lifted. Victory nudged her aside, “We don’t have all day, so I’ll write your name for you . . . honey.”

Jelly moved back, her head heavy, but she caught Twilight’s pitying glance. She looked away and kept her silence while Victory wrote her name in the book and went upstairs to their room.

Chicks and Decorations

Twilight gave them directions to Fluttershy’s cottage where they would help out with Winter Welcome once they were rested. The room was a single room with one bathroom with a shower and toilet. There was a single large window that gave them a view over the side street.

When the door shut, Jelly tossed herself onto the nearest bed and groaned with her hooves covering her head. *”What the fuck, commander!? Why didn’t intel pick up that these marks were important? And where the hell is mine?”*

”That’s something to take up with Trevor when we get back.”* Victory shrugged off her pack tossing it onto the table.

*”And you teaching!? Oh. My. God!”* Jelly rolled onto her back, her fetlocks over her eyes. *”What the hell is going through your mind!? You can’t teach kids.”*

*”I’ll do what I can. If I’m a substitute, then there’s a lesson plan left behind by the actual teacher. We just follow the lesson plan, give them lots of study periods, maybe a longer recess.”* Victory climbed onto her bed, and sat on her haunches.

*”But what if we have to teach history? We have no clue about their local history.”*

*”We’ll leave early and study the lesson material so we can act like we know what we are talking about.”*

*”We?”* Jelly peeked at her from under a fetlock.

*”I need you there to keep me from losing it and stomping one of those kids out. I’ll just say you’re a teacher’s aide.”*

*”But what if the real substitute shows up?”*

*”Then we’ll either make a big stink of there being a mistake or get the hell out of town. I’ve been in worse scrapes then this.”*

*”So, what’s the plan?”* Jelly rolled onto side, facing her commander.

*”We stay here and eat and rest until we change which should be in a few hours. Then after we change back, we’ll go out and mingle at this Fluttershy’s home. Maybe find out what Winter Welcome is about without having to ask about it.”* Victory wriggled under the covers and laid her head down, closing her eyes. *”So do whatever you want without waking me up.”*

Jelly tried to follow Victory’s example and sleep, but her stomach started to growl and she remembered her snacks were in her bag. She dug through her bag and pulled out the sack they received from the bakery. Without hands or fingers, it was very difficult to pull the sack from her pack. Even then, she had to put the sack on the table and wear it open with her teeth to get at the treats inside.

The chocolate muffin was delicious. The chocolate chips were sweet and the muffin was still warm. She cherished every bite as she ate, even smiling through every mouthful. Then it was time for the apple cupcake. The glazed apple slice was sweet on her tongue and the cupcake itself actually tasted like apples. Not apple preservatives or artificial flavor. They actually used real apples to bake in this cupcake. When Jelly finished, she was very sorry that she ate so quickly and had no more to eat.

The sweets invigorated her and made her feel restless. She didn’t dare go outside without Victory’s permission nor was there any video or any net for her to play with.

That just left one thing. Tilting the pack onto the bed, her datapad fell onto the covers face up. With a whisper, she activated it via her voice and directed it to open up an electronic book file. She gleefully read the first chapter of the Last Unicorn, but this time she was able to easily imagine herself as the lead heroine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight Sparkle made a mental note to send Princess Celestia a letter that night informing her that the substitute arrived. However, it was likely that the Princess was too busy what with the missing zebra ambassador’s daughter gone missing and now the little unicorn foal was gone. Not to mention the nobility still insist on there being a Winter Ball despite the disappearances.

So many things were happening that it was almost too much to keep up with. As much as she knew she would enjoy Winter Welcome, it would be a relief when it was over and done with. Hopefully, if preparations wer completed tomorrow, they could have it in two days. So much had been put on delay due to Apple Bloom going missing.

This reminded her that she had to look into memory spells. She promised Rainbow that she would perform one to help her remember what made her fall and she knew that if Apple Bloom didn’t regain her memory, and then Applejack would expect her to fulfill her promise of memory spell as well. She might as well be prepared for that as well, but whatever happens, it will have to wait until after Winter Welcome.

At least, one worry was off her mind. The substitute teacher had finally arrived and school would resume tomorrow. The substitute, Victory Jam, seems quite capable, but confused. It must be her first time leaving Caneighda and the citizens of Ponyville could be a bit overwhelming. And her daughter looked almost frightened. It must be difficult to be an adult without a cutie mark and a unicorn with hardly any talent for magic. Fortunately, in Ponyville it was easy to make friends so she should feel at home soon.

Now she just had to make her rounds on Winter Welcome preparations and make sure that the word had spread that school would start back tomorrow. Oh, and she would need to give Cheerilee’s lesson plan to Victory so she would be prepared for tomorrow. Now where was Spike? She needed him to write all of this down. Oh, now she remembered, he was helping Rarity decorate.

Twilight trotted past Sugarcube Corner. On the bottom step was plate full of brown crumbs and an empty glass.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The change wasn’t too bad as she had feared. There was no pain, but it the feel of her bones and organs shifting and changing was frightening enough. Her fingers unfurled from her hooves and her horn withdrew into her brow. Her blue hair darkened into it's natural brown. When the change finished, she was sitting naked on the bed with a human body. On the other bed, Victory had returned to her human form and thankfully, she had covered up before sleeping.

Mikala Briggs took this moment to stretch out her legs and enjoyed being a biped once again. She flexed her fingers fully appreciating the evolution or divine plan that granted them to her and her race. One never truly understood how useful they were until they were gone. She used her restored hands to toss away the torn bag, brush her hair and her teeth in the small bathroom. She was tempted to try out the shower, but decided she would give it a try tonight.

When she left the bathroom, it seemed that her commander had awakened and already administered the nanonites to return to being a pony. The unicorn gave the human woman a casual glance, *”Why are you still human?”*

*”Unlike you, my telekinesis is screwed up. I need hands to brush my teeth and hair.”* Mikala went to her bag to draw out the small hypo gun loaded with a capsule of nanonites. A small sting on her arm, and slowly she reverted back to being a pony named Jelly Jam.

It was only a short time before they left the inn, with a short nod to Inns Keep, and followed the directions provided to them by Twilight. This time, Jelly saw the glances at her flank and the surprised, concern, and even amused looks that followed her. And it was true; every pony had a mark on its flank. One pony running a flower stall had a rose for a mark and another pony with vegatables on her flank was carrying a basket of produce.

Did the mark indicate what they would do with their lives? If that was the case, then what did Victory’s tear drop stood for? And why didn’t she get a mark?

Maybe she should use her money to wear a skirt that hid her unmarked flank, she saw ponies wearing bards and skirts in town, and maybe she could wear one herself. They had to reach the other side of Ponyville, thus it was a long walk, but there was a lot to see.

Jelly nearly tripped off the curb watching pegasi cross the sky on their wings. The ponies were amazing to watch, even if they performed mundane things such as cleaning windows, stacking crates, and hammering a nail. The unicorns used their telekinesis to manipulate items and the norm ponies used their mouths and hooves. One pony was setting up a game booth by putting pieces on the wooden surface with her mouth and hooves. Another pony was carrying a bundle of cloth against her chest with one foreleg while walking on three legs.

Despite not having arms and hands, they made do with what they had and their reward was a town and society as functional as any human one. They soon came to a path that led them away from the town. Jelly looked this way and that, taking note of how fertile and clean the outside was. There was no pollution to harm her lungs, no litter dotted the grass, and the plant life was luscious and green. A cool breeze tousled their manes and tails carrying the honeyed scent of flowers and trees.

It wasn’t long before came to the small arch bridge that led up to a cottage. It set atop of a small hill with a cobbled path way to the front red door. The roof was of grass and leaves that looked healthy and green as if growing from the thatched roof. There were trees around the cottage and hanging from multiple branches were birdhouses of all shapes and sizes and the air was filled with birdsong.

There were two foals, a white unicorn and an orange pegasus, were watching rabbits hop around in small pen. As they approached, the foals notice them and waved.

“Are you here to help color the chicks?” The little unicorn spoke to them in a cute voice that Jelly instantly adored. The unicorn’s pink and purple mane curled at the ends and her large green eyes looked at up them excited. Her companion had an orange coat with a deep purple mane and tail.

“Oh, yes,” Jelly replied smiling as she recognized them. They were in the drawings left behind by Apple Bloom. “My name is Mi-Jelly Jam and this is my. . . mother, Victory Jam.”

“I’m the new teacher,” Victory’s deadpan voice carried over them.

“Oh, um, hi,” the orange pegasus foal looking awkward. “I’m Scootaloo and this is Sweetie Belle. Is school starting back tomorrow?”

“Yes, school will start back tomorrow,” Victory replied in the same deadpan tone.

What the hell was wrong with Victory? Jelly quickly tried to cover for her, “We’re looking forward to tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll have a good time.” She moved forward to block Victory from view, but in doing so, she brought her flank into view.

“Hey! You don’t have a cutie mark!” Scootaloo piped up.

All the warm feelings and joy turned to ice. “Uh, no. I don’t.”

“It’s alright!” Sweetie Belle offered a warm smile, her face almost glowing. “We don’t have cutie marks either, but we’re trying to get ours.”

“Oh, ah, how do you get one?” Jelly asked very interested.

“You have to find that special talent that makes you special. Then your cutie mark will appear on your flank,” Sweetie Belle explained. “But if you don’t have yours, then that means you can be anything, a doctor, a farmer, a scientist . . . “

“So it’ll just appear. Just like that? When I find something that I’m good at?” If that was the case, then why didn’t she have drawing pencil and pad as a cutie mark?

“It has to be a special talent,” Scootaloo announced, wanting to prove she had knowledge also.
Before Jelly could inquire further into what constituted as a special talent, a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane and tail landed on the grass near them. Jelly took note that on her flank was three butterflies. She stared at the newcomers with large bluish green eyes and then she glanced away, nearly hiding behind her long mane. “Um . . . hello . . .”

Jelly stepped forward, dipping her head as she introduced them, “Hey. Twilight sent us. I’m Jelly Jam and this is my . . . mother . . . Victory Jam. She’s the substitute teacher for the school.”

“Oh, uh . . .welcome to Ponyville.” She spoke so softly and timidly that Jelly had to lean forward to hear her properly.

“They’re going to help us color the chicks!” Scootaloo’s wings fluttered in excitement.

“That’s great. The chicks are waiting behind the cottage. They’re very excited to be in the parade.” Fluttershy began to relax in discussion of the small animals. “Follow me.”

The foals ran ahead on their small legs and tails flying behind them. Jelly felt her grin stretched and she knew if she was able to, she would have picked them both up and hugged them. She should have held Apple Bloom more when she believed the pony to be just an animal.

Victory appeared at her side, her eyes slanting as she fixed Jelly with a hard look. And with the same venom as one would accuse a pedophile of molesting children, she said, *“You love little cute things.”*

And that the absolute truth, Jelly mentally admitted. Back when she was Mikala living on a colony with her grandparents, she fell in love with anything small and cute. Kittens, puppies, hamsters, gerbils, and rabbits, she had adored them all when she was a child. *“What’s wrong with loving them?”*

*”Why you joined the military, I’ll never know.”* Victory looked away, her hooves almost stomping the grass as she followed the foals and pegasus.

Up ahead, the foals halted as they approached the worktable. Sweetie Belle leaned over to Scootaloo and whisper, “Why are they talking weird?”

“I don’t know. Is that how they talk in Caneighda?” Scootaloo whispered back.

Behind the cottage, Fluttershy had arranged a long wooden table on which set large bowls of different colored dyes. On the ground were several crates of beeping chicks. Jelly trotted to stand next to the foals to look in the crate. The chicks were so cute with small yellow fuzzy bodies.

Oh, she longed to hold one with two hands and stroked their fuzz with fingertips. “Dying them won’t hurt them will it?”

“Oh no!” Fluttershy exclaimed, her eyes wide. “We won’t really put them in dye. The colors are actually berry juices that stain. And we’ll be very careful when we dye them so they don’t get too wet or cold.” She motioned a hoof toward the small dishes with paper towels, eye droppers, and spoons. “We’ll each take a chick and carefully covered them in dye and then let them dry in the sun there.” She pointed at newspapers laid out on the grass.

“Awww, they are so cute!” Sweetie Belle reached in and held one in her hooves.

Jelly followed her sample and carefully picked one up. It balanced easily on her hooves, with its tiny prehensile feet clinging to the edges. She sat back on her haunches and held it to her cheek. It’s heart beat was a small patter and its body felt warm, soft, and just so alive. The little beeps in her ear made her ‘squee’ inside.

Victory stepped up, looking down at the crate, “I count over thirty chicks in this box. And there are six boxes.”

“Yes and they are all excited about Winter Welcome.” Fluttershy held a loving gaze at the chicks.
“And we’re to color each one individually? Won’t that take a while with only five of us?” Victory raising an arch brow as she mentally calculated the length of time of coloring each chick.

“It may take a while, but it’ll be worth it for Winter Welcome.” Fluttershy offered a small smile.
Jelly mentally prayed that Victory wouldn’t say anything that would offend the ponies. So far all the ponies they met had been kind and the last thing they needed for Victory’s attitude to turn them into pariahs, especially if she’s to be the school teacher.

“We should get started,” Fluttershy said. “Girls, you can bring the crate over to the work table.”

“I’ll do it.” Victory’s magic surrounded the crate and it rose above the foals’ heads. The contents beeped loudly disturbed as they were carried over to the work table. Fluttershy followed close by, speaking softly to them, promising it would be alright that the nice unicorn mare won’t drop them.
Instead of setting the box on the worktable, the crate hovered above the large bowl filled with red juice and it tilted. Eyes widen in horror as small yellow bodies fell into the red juice dye. The ponies were frozen as Victory rear back, putting her hooves on the table, dropping the now empty box and grabbing a large spoon that was in the box and began stirring. She stirred as if she was baking a cake.
Then she set the spoon aside, picked up the bowl magically and carried it to the newspapers where it was dumped it. Now red, wet, frighten, little chicks beeped miserably on the newspaper. Victory set the bowl on the counter, pulled the bowl full of green liquid to her. “Okay, next batch.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jelly and Victory took the path back to Ponyville. The younger unicorn walked with her shoulders haunch and her head bowed in shame as Victory walked with a confident swagger that deeply contrasted Jelly’s walk of shame.

*”I cannot believe you did that,”* Jelly moaned. *”I just cannot freakin’ believe that you did that. I thought that poor pegasus was going to go into hysterics.”*

*”She was too busy asking those chicks if they could breathe properly.”* Victory flicked her tail.
Jelly thought it a good idea that they left before Jelly brought anymore bodily harm to Fluttershy’s animals. She turned to the foals and asked if there was anywhere else that would need help. Sweetie Belle told her that her sister Rarity was decorated the town hall for Winter Dance. Jelly halted Victory before she could tilt the second box of chicks into the green punch and encouraged her to return to Ponyville.

*”Hopefully decorated the town hall will not offend or harm anyone,”* Jelly muttered.

*”That remains to be seen,”* Victory replied with a small shrug.

When they arrived at the town hall, it was late afternoon and the sun was casting long shadows across the streets. It looked as if the ponies were putting up the last of the decorations as directed by a white unicorn with a rich purple mane and tail elegantly styled.

Her cultured voice carried over head as she gave directions, “No, not there! It’s going to overshadow the white. That won’t do at all.”

This had to be Rarity and Jelly could see the sisterly resemblance in their bodies and faces. She was directing pegasi in putting up snowflake shaped crystals when they approached her. Again, Jelly did the introductions, “Hello, my name is Jelly Jam and this is my mother, Victory Jam.”

“I’ve heard that the substitute teacher has arrived.” As the others, she greeted them cheerfully, but carried herself regally. “I’m sure you’ll find our Winter Welcome celebration as exquisite as Canterlot’s festivities. My name is Rarity and I am . . . Derpy! No! Not there! Over there with the others! Oh, bother.”

“We’re here to help.”

“Excellent! You can help levitate these banners across the buildings.”

Jelly’s kept her cheerful smile, but her cheer faded. “O-okay. . . “

She turned back to Victory who had a smile teasing her mouth. “We’ll . . .we’ll just get started . . . .”
The next hour was terrible. As much as she tried, she couldn’t get the end of the banner to movie, not one inch. It was a long blue banner with Winter Welcome printed in white across the blue plastic and painted snowflakes about the words. Victory was able to lift the whole thing off the ground and hang it up herself without assistance.

She spent the rest of the time helping set up decorum for the Town Hall, something that unicorns and earth ponies could do. However, this brought another conundrum with there were other ponies around; she kept noticing the stares in her direction. An adult pony without a cutie mark was a spectacle it would seem. She needed a skirt to hide it. She made a point to ask Rarity after they called it a day.

“Oh, then you must come to my boutique!” Rarity’s eyes flashed with pride. “I have the latest fashion from Canterlot. Do you have a dress for the Winter Dance?”

“No,” Jelly heard herself respond in reflex. Then she regretted it.

“Oh my! Winter Welcome is days away and you don’t have a dress! We’ll have to fix that right away.”
No matter how much Jelly assure Rarity it was alright, the white unicorn could not be dissuaded. Jelly was corralled into going. She made arrangements with Victory to meet back at the hotel.

*”What are you doing?”* Victory gave her one of her hard looks that made Jelly squirm. Victory had finished setting up the banner and had been waiting for Jelly to disengage from Rarity.

*”Just to try on a dresses.”* Jelly waited for the cold look and the potential tongue lashing.

Victory’s gaze turned cold. Jelly couldn’t meet her look, her ears slanted and she wanted the ground to open and swallow her. Then Victory spoke, *“Fine. Go get a dress. I’ll be at the inn.”*

Parties and Schools

When Jelly was Mikala, she lived on a colony planet. On a colony, basic needs were provided by corporation supporting the colony. Food, water, and power were provided, even clothes. But the clothes were coveralls and they came in different colors designating what your job was. When Mikala was young, she mostly wore blue coveralls for being a student. Clothes from the Haven retail stores were luxuries that came from the colonist’s own pocket. When she graduated high school, she attended the local college where a uniform was provided, and when she quit college and joined the military, another uniform was provided.

Now she had tried on clothes before, but only to see if they fit. Never before had she tried clothes just to see how they look, if they went with her eyes, or complimented her figure. And the accessories! Would this tiara look good with this dress? If it did, the dress didn’t bring out the color of her eyes, and how about that ribbon? Would her hair look good worn down or pulled back or braided?

“Hmm, the pink makes you look foalish.”

Her heart fell. Did Rarity referred to her as foalish because of her markless flank? At least the long skirts she had her try covered her flank. “I really don’t need anything too fancy.”

“Nonsense, dear. It may not be Canterlot, but that is no reason not to be glamorous. Let’s try yellow.” Rarity had a pair of glasses perched on her nose and her horn glowed blue as she removed the pink frilly dress from Jelly’s body and replaced it with a yellow dress.

As the ribbon tied into place, Jelly glanced at Rarity’s bald headed cat. It wore a little cat with an oversize bow. She knew it was bald when it leapt down from a shelf, its hat flew off. Rarity quickly slapped it back on with her magic before Jelly could get a really good look. “Uh, Opal had an accident,” she had said quickly before throwing a dress onto her torso.

“I know! Purple!” Rarity turned to trot to the back. “I have just the thing in the back. Don’t move, I’ll be right back.”

“Uh, okay.” Jelly was left alone on a dress shop full of dressed and undressed pony mannequins and a bald cat with a ridiculous hat glared at her. She shifted her legs careful, not wanting to wrinkle the dress. She wondered what Victory was doing now? Maybe planning the siege she was certain to visit upon this planet. No, she tried not to think about it. They were here to do things peacefully.

The dress shop door open and a stallion walked in carrying a basket of decorations in his mouth and on his back was a grey color foal. The foal was the smallest that Jelly had seen yet, and she realized that it was because it was very young, almost an infant.

The stallion set the basket down and looked around, likely looking for Rarity. He spotted her, “Uh, sorry, I’m looking for Rarity?”

“She’s in the back getting a dress.” Jelly motioned toward the door. “I don’t think she’ll be long.”

“Just tell her that Smokey brought these for her. They are left overs for the street decorations.”

“I will,” Jelly promised.

Smokey looked at for a moment and Jelly became to fill uncomfortable. “Um, I’m new here, but I haven’t seen you...“

“Jelly Jam. I’m new too. We...my mother and I...came in today. To cover the school.” Jelly shifted her hooves nervously, “I’m just here to get a dress for... the dance.”

“Oh, yes, a lot of the mares are, uh, interested in the dance. I wasn’t planning on going. I have my son. This is Ember by the way. Say hello, Ember.”

“Bi bi?” Ember glanced from his father’s back at Jelly.

“No, no, the other one, son,” Smokey gently corrected his son.

“H’lo.”

“Hello, Ember.” Jelly smiled at the foal having the heartfelt desire to give Ember a cuddle. “Are you looking forward to Winter Welcome?”

Ember gave her a blank look, and then ducked his head into his father’s mane. Smokey chuckled, “He doesn’t understand about Winter Welcome. But I think he’ll enjoy the games tomorrow.”

“Uh, if you were explaining it to him... what would you tell him?” Jelly inquired, hoping that her question wasn’t too strange. They really needed to know what Winter Welcome was before the day comes.

“Well, I’d say that Winter Welcome is when we welcome winter.” Smokey looked amused by her question. “It’s the first day that the pegasi create the snow.”

His answer brought forth even more questions. Almost all societies and cultures dreaded the winter and had welcoming festivals for spring. Also, the pegasis making it snow? What did that mean?

“I uh, need to go. Ember is getting tired and I’ve got training in the morning.” Smokey turned to the door, giving Jelly a view of his cutie mark of a smoking fire. “I’ll see you later, Jelly.”

Jelly watched him leave feeling awkward for some reason. At least she had a better understanding of Winter Welcome. Rarity returned with a levitating dress, “Did something come in?”

“It was Smokey. He brought over the left over decorations.” Jelly held a hoof toward the basket.

“That was very kind of him. He’s the new fire station chief and he has a small son with him. His wife passed away and he moved from Fillydelphia to take over the fire station.” Rarity floated the dress toward her. “Now this isn’t finished yet, but if it looks wonderful, I’ll have it ready before the dance.”

The violet dress fitted perfectly. It was simply, lacking any of the frills, lace, or décor that most of the other dresses she had tried on. It laced up the back though, creating a pattern on her back. Rarity walked around her taking her at every angle. “I could put frills in the skirt and ribbon there. The collar is a bit tall, but I can tuck that in.”

Jelly glanced at herself in the mirror. The dress was fetching, as fetching as it could look on a pony. Being that she was used to seeing dresses on human bodies, she couldn’t give an opinion on how well it looked on her. She could say that she looked cute. “It’s good.”

“It’ll look marvelous tomorrow. Come back tomorrow and I’ll have it finished.” Rarity removed the dress and placed it on a mannequin.

“You really don’t have to do this. I don’t have much money.” Jelly stepped off the dais. Between her and Victory, they had five bits between them.

“No, no, don’t mention payment. You’re here to help out the town,” Rarity said firmly. “I’ll have the dress ready after school tomorrow. Is there anything else you need?”

“Uh, yes. A skirt. For school tomorrow.” Jelly dearly hoped that she didn’t have to explain why it was important for her to wear a skirt to school.

Rarity’s eyes passed over Jelly’s flank without losing her smile. “Of course, step over this way. I have some on the rack. I would recommend the light blue one with the white star at the hem.”

Again, Rarity wouldn’t accept any money for the skirt. It fitted her well and definitely hdt her flank. The skirt was simple and with a zipper along the side. As she left the store, she noticed a plate of bon bons near the front step. She had noticed the same thing at the bakery, the plate of cookies and milk. She wondered if this was a cultural practice for them.

Sweetie Belle galloped up, “Miss Jam! Pinkie Pie said that you left something at the bakery.”

“What? What did I leave?” It wasn’t her datapad, she used it since they left. Her sketch pad? No, she saw that since then also. Oh god, what if she left something behind that incriminated that they aren’t what they seem.

“I don’t know. Pinkie said to tell you.”

“Could you show me where the bakery is? I’m not sure where it is from here.”

“Sure follow me.” Sweetie Belle led her away with a trot. Jelly noticed the excited skip in her step and she kept glancing back at her with a bright smile on her face. She began to become suspicious that she may be lured into a prank.

Just as they arrived at the bakery, Victory was galloping up with Scootaloo barely keeping up with her long strides. The elder unicorn spotted her and her brow furrowed as was the usual habit whenever Victory saw her. Her hooves clopped on the cobblestones so hard that Jelly wondered why sparks didn’t spring from them.

*“Did you lose something?”* Victory hissed at her, her ears laid back in anger.

“No! *I mean no,”* Jelly quickly slipped into their tongue. *”At least, I don’t think so.”*

*”I swear to every deity recognized by every major religion, that if you left something containing sensitive information in that kiddie sweetie fantasy dump, I will break you in half.”*

Jelly shrank back from her commander’s vehemence, her own ears laying back in fright. The foals giggled and galloped inside, again stirring Jelly’s suspicions, but couldn’t announce due to the glaring unicorn before her.

Victory tore her flare from her face and stalked up the steps. Jelly followed close behind her, her ears still laid back. Her commander shoved the door opened, and just as the yeoman pony noticed the lights were off, they were flashed on and screams of surprise rang from within.

Victory stomped her hooves in her effort to push herself backward right into Jelly. The younger unicorn felt her hooves skid across the hard floor from her commander’s weight. She looked over the startled unicorn to see the bakery filled with ponies and the air filled with fluttering confetti and streamers. There were cupcakes and treats stacked on a table around a huge punch bowl filled with pink punch. And hanging from the ceiling was a large banner reading “Welcome!”

And in the middle of this merriment was the pink pony, Pinkie Pie blowing on a noisemaker wearing a pointy party hat. The noisemaker unfurled with the tassel in flicking in their direction before it was dropped and the bakery pony said cheerfully, “Welcome to Ponyville, teach!”

“Sorry that we startled you, but Pinkie just couldn’t wait.” Twilight Sparkle appeared at their side. “She did the same thing for me when I first came to Ponyville. I hope she didn’t startle you too much.”

“No, no, we’re fine. We were told we forgot something here.” Jelly gave Victory a nudge forward and was rewarded with a sharp kick to a foreleg. Her grin tightened to hide the grimace of pain.

“Oh, we asked Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to tell you that so you’ll come. Come and meet everypony.”

Then unicorn spies absorbed into the party. Jelly tried to stay with Victory, but she was pulled away by other ponies. Questions were heaped upon her. How did she like Ponyville? What was Caneighda like? Did she plan on becoming a teacher like her mother? Did she have a special somepony back home? Did she have any relatives in Canterlot?

She tried to answer each one vaguely. Ponyville was nice. Caneighda was cold. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to be. No, she didn’t have anyone...anypony special. No, she didn’t have any relatives in Canterlot.

She was able to break away by excusing herself to the little pony’s room. Thank God, the toilets on this planet were easy to figure out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight Sparkle knew it was coming, but she found no way around it. She saw the brilliant colors moving among the crowd heading towards her. The lavender unicorn took her chance to gobble up a cupcake before a cyan head poked through the crowd, “Twilight! Didn’t you hear me calling you?”

“Yes, Rainbow, I wanted to eat a cupcake before we start. I’ll meet you in the back.” Twilight knew that she would get no peace unless she attempted the memory spell for Rainbow Dash.

Maybe if Rainbow Dash understood why she fell, it would help her find some closure or peace with her situation. The doctor said the bandage could come off next week, possibly this week of the x-ray results permitted.

She hastily ate her cupcake and after making sure that her mouth was free of icing or crumbs she weaved through the crowd to the backroom of the bakery. Rainbow was pacing, her head bowed and her eyes narrowed. Her bandaged wing flicked within the restraint of the bandage. She popped her head up when Twilight entered, “C’mon, let’s get started.”

“Okay, but you have to relax first. The spell will be easier if your mind is calm.”

“But Twilight, it’s been killing me not knowing,” Rainbow waved her hooves in the air. “I don’t fall. I crash, but I don’t just fall.”

“Alright, I understand. Just sit there and take deep breaths and relax.” Twilight recalled the spell, going over each magical shift she would make with her horn. Rainbow perched atop of a crate, giving Twilight a painful beseeching look. The unicorn sighed, “I guess I don’t have to ask if you are ready. Close your eyes and think back to that day when you were flying.”

As the magic touched the small piece of Rainbow Dash that was her memory, her vision gave way to the light blue of a morning sky. Cloud groups solidify, but was swept past as Rainbow Dash remembered her speedy flight. Then more sensations followed the visuals. Twilight experienced air rushing along her body, the exhilaration of speed, and wind whistling in her ears. Her stomach swam as she experienced Rainbow perform a loop and something round and metal flashed before her. And then her world exploded with pain and darkness.

Twilight let go of the memory and receded from Rainbow Dash’s mind with her mouth set in a thoughtful line. The pegasus opened her eyes wide, “What was that!?”

It was round and metal... like a giant metal eyeball. Twilight blinked as she realized that Pinkie Pie’s story may not have been her imagination at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They decided it was best not to mention it to anypony. Rainbow Dash agreed to protect her reputation and Twilight to keep other ponies from worrying. Right now, she wanted to find Pinkie Pie and speak with her about the metal eye. As she waded through the party, she noticed that the substitute teacher’s daughter was nervously answer questions. Twilight felt a wave of sympathy for the mare as she noticed the skirt and instantly realized that it was hiding her empty flank. How could a pony go through her life and not find that talent that made her special? And her magic wasn’t any better than a foal from Magic Kindergarten.

And it mustn’t have been easy with such a mother. Twilight had only met Victory one time, but from that one meeting and what she heard transpired at Fluttershy’s place, she didn’t seem the patient type and was strict. But if Princess Celestia recommended her, then there had to be something more to her. She really should give her another chance. Twilight weaved through the party until she noticed Victory ducking through a crowd toward the door. And she would have to pass Twilight Sparkle to reach the door.

“You’re not planning on leaving early, are you?” Twilight asked just as the taller unicorn drew close.

Victory looked almost startled. “I’m not much for social gatherings. If I’m not working, then I’m not living.”

“Well, you must have a pretty good work ethic. What made you decide to be a teacher?”

There was that strange pause again that she seemed to get from these foreign unicorns. It might be a Caneighda thing. Victory glanced toward her left as if expecting to see Jelly, but seeing that the younger mare wasn’t there she turn her gaze back to Twilight. “I love cute things.”

“Huh?” Twilight flicked her ears confused.

Victory coughed behind a hoof and then replied, “I mean... I love looking into the sweet faces of children eager to learn and knowing I was the one who gave them knowledge. It’s like I’m controlling, manip... influencing their beliefs, their thoughts, and their lives. What they take from me, they will deliver unto others. Good or bad. Therefore, in retrospect, I’m also influencing extensions of their lives.”

“Wow. It sounds as if you take your job very seriously. No wonder Princess Celestia recommended you.” Twilight offered a friendly grin.

“Princess Celestia... how is she doing? Well, I hope?” Victory who looked as if had been ready to flee out the door, sidled next to her with a unique grin of her own.

“She’s doing fine, I think. But she’s been so busy what with Winter Welcome and the Winter Ball coming up. Also, there’s been the disappearance of the zebra ambassador’s daughter, but at least she has her sister Luna back.”

“Oh and how is Luna?”

They rest of the party discussing the royal princesses, Canterlot, her brother’s position as Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard, and how the Changelings that threatened the Royal Wedding. Then the discussion swung to the Elements of Harmony; of how they trapped Discord, and redeemed Nightmare Moon. She seemed especially interested in the Elements of Harmony.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jelly was taking a big bite out of a delicious pink frosted cupcake with bits of cherry sprinkled when Smokey appeared at her shoulder. “Hello, Jelly was it?”

She turned to him with frosting around her mouth and on her nose. She chewed so quickly she nearly bit her tongue. “Mr. Smokey, I...” She could feel the frosting around her mouth and feared licking it away would look ridiculous, but she had to no hands to grab a napkin to wipe her mouth clean. She could wipe her mouth on a fetlock, but wouldn’t that be just as bad?

“Here.” He easily scooped up napkin from the tabletop and held it out to her over his hoof.

She carefully accepted the napkin, fearful that it would fall onto the floor. Jelly wiped her mouth, not realizing that her cheeks were almost as pink as the frosting. “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. I know what it’s like is to be bombarded by a party. Pinkie Pie did the same for me and Ember when we arrived. It was awkward at first, but it certainly help break the ice.”

“She certainly seems... pretty friendly for someone that owns a pet alligator.” Jelly glanced at her tell, fearful that she would have another alligator encounter.

“It frightened me too, but it’s harmless without any teeth.” Smokey gave her a reassuring smile.

“So, are you going to stay in Ponyville long?”

She was beginning to feel uncomfortable right now. “We’re staying at least until the school’s teacher comes back from leave.”

“But you’ll be here through Winter Welcome and the Dance,” Smokey inquired.

I don’t know. Jelly looked at the floor, and shifted her hooves nervously. “Yes, likely so.”

“Then, I’ll see you there.” She could see how pleased he was at the prospect, which made her even more comfortable.

She felt a weight on her and it was gradually getting heavier and heavier. It was like the beginning of a headache or the sickly throes of having the flu. Why was she feeling this way? Was the nanonites in her body turning against her or... oh shit. She saw the source of her discomfort.

Victory Jam, aka Noa Laotaner, was glaring at her from across the room. Jelly felt that familiar dread of doom furled in her chest like burning petals. “I have to go... I think my mother wants to speak to me.”

“Oh, of course, I . . .I’ll see you later then.”

Might as well get it over with, Jelly thought to herself as she forced herself to cross the room to her impending peril. What did she do now? Was she too friendly with the natives? Yeah, that was it. Victory wouldn’t know etiquette if it kicked her in the teeth.

*”What did I do now?”* Jelly murmured taking up their own language.

*”You better not turn this into another Kova Embarassment,”* Victory nearly snarled at her.

Jelly blinked as her jaw dropped in the face of Victory’s accusation. *”What? We were just talking! He was being nice!”*

*”He’s interested in you,”* Victory snapped, glaring fiercely. *”We’re women. We not stupid dick slinging men who get a chubby around alien females, we’re smarter than that, or we should be. It’s disgusting. He’s not even a humanoid.”*

*”There is nothing going on!”* Jelly’s face was bright red and it was all she could do to keep from stomping a hoof and drawing attention.

*”See that it doesn’t.”* Victory turned away from her, *”I’m returning to the inn, I expect to see you there shortly.”*

*”Fine, I’ll see you there too.”* Jelly sincerely hoped that no one else saw there exchange.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Did ya see the talkin’ to, Jelly Jam got from her mama?” Applejack whispered to Rarity over a cup of bunch. “I thought she was gonna give her a spankin’ in the middle of the party.”

“I think her mother is being overprotective.” Rarity sipped her punch with a gentle tilt of her magically levitated cup. “She should really let the filly expand her horizons. There’s a reason why she doesn’t have a cutie mark.”

“Rarity, shhhh, that’s the reason of why she’s wearing a skirt.” Applejack deeply hoped that Jelly would have a good day at school tomorrow. If the foals were willing to give Apple Bloom a hard time about not having her cutie mark, then they would likely be merciless toward an adult pony without a cutie mark.

“At least her mother is becoming more open. She and Twilight spoke for almost an hour about Canterlot. I believe she’s uptight because of the travel and preparing for tomorrow’s lessons.”

Rarity mused thoughtfully, “I wonder if she’ll come by to order a dress for the Winter Dance. That is coming up in a few days.”

“I don’t think Victory is into dances.” Applejack didn’t mention it, but she didn’t think that Victory was into much of anything.

Smokey walked up to them, his attention on unicorn seamstress, “Miss Rarity, I don’t mean to bother you, but I was wondering if it was too late to order a tuxedo.”

“Of course, there is plenty of time! Come in tomorrow for a fitting and I’ll have you set for the dance.”

“Waitaminute, I thought you weren’t goin’ to the dance.” Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t planning to... but I think I will.” He looked away, a blush apparent on his face.

Both ponies noticed where he was glancing and both took on excited grins which faded as soon as he looked back. Rarity cleared her throat, keeping her excitement at attaining a juicy bit of gossip.

“Then we’re going to have you looking fabulous for that dance so you can catch the eye of a certain young mare.”

“Uh, thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Smokey beat a hasty retreat, his hooves clopping on the floor in his haste.

Rarity had a gleam in her eye as she watched him leave. “Did you seem him look at Jelly? He’s absolutely besotted!”

“I think it’s great that he might find some happiness.” Applejack took another swig from her punch. “I just hope they’ll have time to get to know each other.”

“It’s like a story from a romance novel.” Rarity’s eyes were flashing. “A lonely widower with a young son and a young mare with an overbearing mother and it’s happening in Ponyville right before the Winter Welcome Dance! Oh, if only it would happen at the Winter Ball. She’s coming over tomorrow to see the dress, I’ll tell Smokey to come around sometime after school for his fitting.”

“Hold on there!” Applejack furrowed her brow, giving Rarity a stern look. “If something’s gonna come of it, it’ll happen on its own. They don’t need ya playin’ matchmaker.”

“Oh, Applejack, some things like romance, could use a helping hoof.” She saw Applejack’s eyes narrow more and she backed down, “But I will step back and see how it turns out.” Rarity decided to change the subject of discussion distract her friend. “I take it that Apple Bloom is happy to return to school tomorrow.”

Applejack shifted her weight on her hooves, not comfortable with this change in topic, “Yeah, she’s excited about tomorrow, but Ah’m nervous about it.”

“Darling, Apple Bloom will be safe at school. The teacher will be there and so will the other students.” Rarity placed a comforting hoof on the farm mare’s shoulder.

“Ah know that and Ah thought Ah’d be fine with it, but Ah can’t help it. The thought of her disappearing again jest brings chills to muh spine. Ah thought she was dead, Rarity. Ah was plannin’ her funeral and Ah...ah...shucks, Ah can’t even talk about it.” Applejack’s eyes were shivering as tears threatening to spill.

Rarity instantly regretted changing the subject. “Shhh, dear, it’s alright. That horrid mess is over and done with. Apple Bloom is safe and sound and it’ll never happen again.”

“Ah know, Ah know, but Ah jest need some closure. Where was she? What happened that kept her away from us for three days? And why can’t she remember? Mebbe she remembers and jest don’t wanna tell me.” A tear spilled freely down her cheek.

“Give Apple Bloom more credit than that. If she knew what happened to her, you would have been the first pony to know. And Twilight can help her with a memory spell if her memory doesn’t return and above all, she’s fine and she’s home safe.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours later, Jelly returned to the inn just in time for her change to take place. She couldn’t believe that it had only been one day. They had done so much, met so many ponies, and learned so much. It was no wonder that she was so exhausted and her bed looked so inviting.

Victory had already changed back to her human self, Noa Laotaner. The commander had a blanket wrapped around her and her datapad perched on her knees and fingers moving machinelike over the holographic keyboard. Seeing a human in the room likely brought her own change forth.

She felt her skin ripple as the coat withdrew and her limbs and spin stretch and strengthen. Her hind legs straighten, bearing her upward and within seconds she was a woman wearing only a skirt which surprisingly still fit her.

Laotaner glanced up at her from her datapad, *“Yeah, yeah, you have nice tits. Now change back.”*

*“Well, I was thinking it’d be more comfortable to sleep like this.”* Mikala undid the skirt and folded it neatly over a chair.

“Not a chance. The last thing I want is for one of the natives to walk in here and see us as we truly are. I’m only like this because I need my fingers to type up this report.”

*“Fine.”* She noticed that without a coat, the room felt cooler to her bare skin. She crawled under the blankets and wondered at how two incredibly different species from across the huge expanse of space could come up with the same concept as a bed with blankets and pillows. It was a comfortable bed with a deep mattress and thick blankets, unlike the hard military bunk in her room.

She injected herself and then curled up in the blanket for warmth as her body changed back. Her fingers lost their grip on the blanket as they rolled back into hooves and her tail tickled her legs as it grew. She took a small peek under the blanket to see if a cutie mark had appeared, but sadly her flank was still naked.

*“I’m sorta looking forward to tomorrow. We get to teach baby ponies,”* Jelly said.

Again, she felt that oh so familiar brunt of dislike and irritation. Laotaner’s voice carried harshly, *”You go native and I’ll have to take you down.”*

*”I’m not going native. I like Chinese food and Russian Ballet, but that doesn’t I want to become Chinese or Russian. I thought we were here to make a peace accord with them.”*

*”You’re flirting with the men of the species and you keep going ‘squee’ whenever you see something cute.”*

*”I have not.”*

*”Bullshit. You wanted to adopt all the foals you’ve seen today. And you nearly had a seizure when you saw the chicks.”*

*”Before you nearly drown them.”*

Laotaner rolled her eyes and turned her head toward the unicorn, *”Are you going to start bitching about that again?”*

Jelly sat up, forelegs crossed. *”That’s the problem with you. You’re not gentle or courteous, and your social etiquette is barely any better than a rapid rat’s. You’re mean spirited, rude, and belligerent. When we go into that classroom tomorrow, you can’t act like a commanding officer, you have to act like an elementary school teacher. You have to smile, be patient, and above all be kind!”*

She expected a lot of things to follow. To be cursed, reprimanded, or even attacked, but what followed was a long silence which was followed, by a soft, “I forgot how to be those things.”*

*”How do you forget kindness?”* Jelly would regret asking.

*”Killing and torturing civilians for information or to prove a point to enemy commanders bleeds any humanity or kindness out of you.”*

Another silence followed. Jelly felt as if cold water was flowing through her veins. *”Shraxi?”*

*”There and other places,”* Laotaner replied as she set aside the datapad. *”The government condones interrogation, but ignores the methods used by the interrogators.”*

*”So you... tortured people?”* Jelly’s voice was so small and weak, she barely recognized it as her own.

*”When it was necessary. A soldier who knew something we needed to know or an informant who was asking for a price I considered too high. I've broken some bones, put out a few eyes, and even cut off one or two fingers.”

Even with the blanket hugging her body, Jelly felt cold as if she was outside wearing nothing. She was seeing a different Laotaner, or maybe it was a Laotaner with fewer layers. How in the hell had she not found any of this information during her investigation into Laotaner? Did the government cover it up?

*”And I get to try my hand at teaching children tomorrow.”* Laotaner offered grin which was cast into deep shadows from the light of the datapad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Military Report

Government: Monarchy, led by a Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Center of power is Canterlot to the north of the town ( Ponyville ). Close enough to be viewable. City is attached to side of a mountain. Strategic missile strikes should bring down the capital taking out national leaders and decimating native morale as well.

Notes of Interest: Elements of Harmony. Potential weapon. Will investigate further if possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Applejack, ya really really don’t’ hafta walk me all the way to school.” Apple Bloom cast her eyes side to side in dire hopes of maybe Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon wouldn’t see her sister walking her to school as if she were a preschooler.

“We talked about this last night and this morning. And ten minutes ago. I’m just gonna see ya to the door and I’ll come back for ya before school ends.”

“But Ah’ve always walked to school by muhself!” Apple Bloom ducked her head behind Applejack. Two foals walking side by side walked by too engross in their chat to notice them. When they were gone, Apple Bloom relaxed, but looked beseechingly at Applejack, “Please! Ah’ll be a laughin’ stock!”

“Apple Bloom, I’m sure they’ll understand,” Applejack murmured, and Apple Bloom could hear the lack of certainty in her tone.

Further ahead, at the school, in contrast to Applebloom’s despair, Jelly was feeling jubilant at seeing the small foals arriving at the school. They were so adorable with their large heads and short legs. And they wore saddle bags with images embroidered on the bags. Some of the images were of pegasi in mid-flight wearing blue suits fringed in gold. Another had a pegasus with black mane and tail wearing an explorer outfit.

She greeted each one as they came inside. Some were shyer than others while others were willing to speak with her. A lot of them asked about Cheerilee wondering when she would come back. Jelly assured them they their teacher would come back as soon as possible. To change the topic, she asked if they were excited about Winter Welcome.

“I am!” A young filly nearly pushed off her front legs in her excitement. “My mommy bought a new dress for me!”

“I’m getting a new dress too.” Jelly’s grin stretched across her face. “What color is yours?”

“Pink!”

“My dress is blue!”

“I don’t wanna wear a dress. Dresses stink!” A scowling colt announced, irritated by feminine wiles

.

“You stink! Dresses are for fillies!” A pink haired filly with blossoms on her flank rounded on him.

“You stink more, stinky!”

“You stink and you got cooties too!”

“Okay, okay, okay, let’s not fight. Let’s go inside and sit down.” Jelly intervened before the exchange came to blows. As the verbal combatants entered the school, they had one last exchange that Jelly caught.

“I’ll stick gum in your mane and your mom will have to cut it all off.” The colt whispered to his female counterpart.

“You do that and I’ll buck you till you can’t walk no more,” the filly hissed back.

Jelly will definitely have to keep an eye on them to prevent further altercations. In fact, she hoped there would be no altercation between Victory and the students. When she arose that morning, she had already undergone her morning change and took the chance to write up a small welcome speech for Victory to give to the class. She stifled a yawn, feeling the fatigue from coming to the school hours ago to go over the school schedule and give them a chance to study over the text books. She beamed happily as Apple Bloom and Applejack showed up, though the filly was cringing as her eyes looked about as if expecting an attack. Applejack greeted her warmly, “Good morning, Miss Jam. Apple Bloom, say good morning.”

Both Jelly and Apple Bloom noticed the warning look that crossed Applejack’s eyes. The young filly bowed her head dejectedly, “Good morning, Miss Jam.”

Jelly lowered her head still she was nearly on level with Apple Bloom’s face, “I’m sure we’ll have a good time today.”

The yellow filly couldn’t meet her eyes. She glanced away and then cringed in horror. Plodding along was the fillies she did not want to see. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon sashayed side by side and when the pink filly caught Apple Bloom’s eyes, she flashed a nasty grin. The yellow filly wondered if she could fake a stomach ache and convince Applejack that she needed to go home.

“Ah’ll see ya later, Apple Bloom. Remember, ya wait by this door for me in case Ah’m a bit late,” Applejack said. “Ah’ll try not to be late. Then we can walk home together.”

“Ah know, Ah know!” Apple Bloom hissed, but it was too late. Diamond Tiara had come within earshot and the titter of her shared giggled with Silver Spoon told her that she was damned to their taunting for the foreseeable future.

Jelly noticed the new arrivals. “Hello there.”

“Uh.... hello.” The pink filly with the tiara looked offended that Jelly would greet her.

“My name is Jelly Jam and I’ll be assisting your substitute for today.” Jelly extended the hand or in this case hoof of friendship.

“Yeah, we know who you are.” Diamond Tiara eyed Jelly’s skirt with an arched brow and shared a conspiratorial look with her grey friend.

“Go inside and have a seat. Class will be starting soon.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apple Bloom took a seat, groaning in misery with her face planted on the surface of her desk. She had managed to duck out before Applejack humiliated her further. Thankfully, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle arrived to act as buffers from any taunts that were sure to come.

And here they were.

“Did you go looking for a cutie mark and went missing?” Diamond Tiara’s voice carried like a rail road spike. Sharp and resounding.

“Good morning to you too, Diamond Tiara,” Apple Bloom grumbled.

“Just leave her alone.” Scootaloo appeared at her side, her legs apart as if she was ready to lunge.

“We were just asking a question,” Silver Spoon said from Diamond Tiara’s side, her usual position. “No need to ruffle your blank flank.”

“Speaking of which, I heard that the teacher assistant doesn’t have a cutie mark, is that true?” Diamond Tiara inquired again glancing conspiratorially at Silver Spoon. “Is that why she is wearing that ugly skirt? To hide her blank flank?”

Apple Bloom believed that was the likely reason, but she didn’t owe Diamond Tiara any answers. “It’s none of our business.”

“Yeah, leave her alone. She seems nice.” Scootaloo shook a hoof at them.

The topic of their conversation was across the room inquiring about the pegasus in the explorer outfit printed on a saddle bag.

“It’s Daring Do! She’s an explorer and has lots of adventures,” the colt owning said the bag explained.

“Is she a real person or make believe?” they heard Jelly ask.

“She’s from a book. I got all of them. Dad said if I do good on my grades he’ll buy the newest one.”

“I got the Wonderbolts on my bag!” a filly piped up showing off her bag of the aerial acrobatics team.

“So are they from a book too?” Jelly asked.

“No! They’re real life! They live in Canterlot with the Princess.”

Diamond Tiara snorted, “She doesn’t know anything about Daring Do or the Wonderbolts? Who doesn’t know anything about them?”

“Person? What cave did she crawl out of? Who talks like that?” Silver Spoon cocked an eyebrow.

“Okay, everyone. Sit down and shu . . . be quiet.” Victory Jam stood behind the desk neutral eyes passing over the glass.

As the students sat at their desks, Jelly dug into her back she had hung around her neck before coming to school. She pulled out a folded piece of paper with her teeth and carried it to Victory Jam. She lay the paper on the desk and whispered, *”Just read this.”*

Victory scanned the words and her face twisted in displeasure. *”Seriously?”*

*”Yes. It’ll help make things go smoothly.”* Jelly hoped that Victory would take her seriously. *”Just trust me on this.”*

*”Fine.”*

Sweetie Belle leaned over to Apple Bloom and whispered, “They’re talking funny again.”

“I know. Why don’t they speak pony?” Apple Bloom replied quietly.

Victory reared back on her hind legs and read over the page again and then cleared her throat. “Good Morning. My name is Victory Jam and I will be your substitute teacher. This is my da-daughter Jelly Jam. She will be assisting me. She and I are delighted to be here today. I hope that we will all become close friends before we sadly have to return home.”

The words were warm and kindly, but none of it reached her eyes as they pored over the prepared speech. Victory brushed the speech aside and drew a prepared folder to her. She flipped it open and her eyes widen when she saw the attendance sheet. Instead of names, there were small drawings of each student with a line beside each one for a check mark.

“Jelly, come here.” Victory stared at the page in growing annoyance. When Jelly was leaning over her shoulder she tapped the page with a hoof, *”What the hell is this!?”*

“Here we go again.” Scootaloo whispered from her desk rolling her eyes.

Jelly stared at the sheet. *”I guess it’s easy if you know each student.”*

*”This is some fucked up shit. What am I supposed to do? Is the little fat pony with chubby cheeks here? Is the pony that looks like a chicken here?”* Victory shoved the sheet away from her in disgust causing a titter of amusement from the students.

Jelly forced a smile to show that all was well for the foals and then hissed at Victory, *”Don’t make a scene. I’ll pass the sheet around and they can sign themselves in.” *

*”Do that. I’m already feeling my last nerve getting stepped on.”*

Jelly quickly snagged the paper with her teeth and carried it to the far right front desk and laid it on the desk. “Here, put a check beside your . . . face and pass it up the row. I’ll collect it once every checks their picture.”

Thankfully, that morning went smoothly. The first lesson was for reading which the students were given a reading assignment for a short story called “To Shoot a Phoenix” and there were study questions they had to answer upon completion. Next was math, and the good Cheerilee had arranged for the foals to complete two pages of arithmetic and were allowed to use their math books to assist them.

Then it was lunch time. The students were allowed outside to eat their lunches and Jelly went outside with them while Victory remained behind the desk reading through a history text book. The foals dug through lunch bags and opened pails. Foals squealed in delight and groaned in dismay at the contents then came the negotiations and trades for preferred food.

Jelly traded a muffin for an apple and pastry tart for a cucumber sandwich. The meal conversation consisted of plans for Winter Welcome, complaints about younger or older siblings, and hopes for Cheerilee’s quick return. Jelly sat on the grass with a group of foals.

She spotted the colt from earlier chewing on a thick wad of gum with a determine look at the mane of the filly he had argued with earlier. She quickly thrust a hoof under his chin and said severely, “Don’t you spit that gum in her hair. Either swallow it or put in my ha-hoof.”

He distastefully chose to put it on her hoof. She grimaced and wrapped the gum up in paper to throw away later. Fortunately, no further mishaps happened for the rest of the lunch period.

The ex-Cutie Mark Crusaders sat away to eat by themselves. Apple Bloom found she didn’t have much of an appetite and gave her apple pudding to Scootaloo while she munched miserably on an apple slice.

“It isn’t too bad, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle tried to comfort her friend. “At least we get to hang out at school.”

“It’s not fair. It’s like Ah did somethin’ wrong, but Ah can’t remember if Ah did or not.” She blinked her eyes, trying hard not to start crying. She didn’t want to give Diamond Tiara anymore fodder. The last thing she needed was to be called a cry foal too.

“It’ll be alright. Eventually your sister will lay offa ya,” Scootaloo assured her as she dug her nose into the pudding cup.

“Um, guys, I think the Gruesome Twosome is up to something.” Sweetie Belle pointed at where the seesaws. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were talking quietly near them and then they both giggled. Diamond Tiara lay down on the grass near a seesaw and Silver Spoon trotted away, and then broke into a gallop.

“Miss Jam! Miss Jam! Diamond Tiara fell off the seesaw! I think she hurt her leg.” Silver Spoon’s voice carried across the playground.

Apple Bloom felt a lurch in her stomach as she recognized a prank. She didn’t care for Jelly, she was a symbol of what she feared would happen to her: becoming an adult without a cutie mark.

“Shouldn’t we do something? I know Jelly Jam doesn’t have a cutie mark, but that doesn’t mean that she deserves to be pranked.” Scootaloo was on her hooves.

By this time, Jelly had followed Silver Spoon to the seesaws where she was standing over Diamond Tiara likely inquiring where it hurt.

“Let’s go.” Apple Bloom got to her hooves, but she knew it was too late.

Silver Spoon had snagged Jelly’s skirt onto the seesaw’s handle bars and was gallop around to hop onto the other side. And as the grey fillies’s weight dropped one end, the other end jumped up, taking Jelly’s skirt with it. As the skirt was ripped from her, it offset Jelly’s balance and her bag slung out spilling out several items. There was a gasp from the foals that followed as the skirt was ruined, then an exclamation of shock at seeing Jelly’s bare flank.

“She’s a blank flank!” Silver Spoon sneered pointing.

“She should have been eating with the other blank flanks.” An unhurt Diamond Tiara stood to join in the taunting.

There were some giggles, but other foals were confused or shocked. Jelly sat down on her in an unconscious need to hide her flank, but it was still there bare and empty as a fresh sheet of paper. Apple Bloom and her friends began collecting Jelly’s fallen items, but she paused when she came across a sketch pad.

“Why don’t you have a cutie mark, Miss Jam?” Diamond Tiara stood in exuberance of having something an adult didn’t have. “You never found anything special about yourself?”

“Oh, she had a cutie mark one time.” A heavy voice struck like a stab of lightning. All eyes save for Apple Bloom turned to see Victory standing nearby. For some reason, the wind at that moment decided to pick up, blowing strands of her mane and a cloud covered the sun casting the world in a dim shadow. She was the image of an angry god. “But she was a mouthy little thing. She mouthed off to me and I slapped her so hard, it fell off.”

The foals stared in terror at the substitute as she pointed at the school. “Lunch is over. Inside.”

“But lunch isn’t over!” Diamond Tiara stamped her hoof.

A chill crawled over every foal as Victory’s eyes turned into orbs of ice as they were directed to the pink filly. Only then did Diamond Tiara realized that she made a mistake and for the first time in her life regretted drawing attention to herself. Victory strode over the grass until she was towering over Diamond Tiara. She leaned forward, her nose inches from the filly’s. “Was that you mouthing off to me or was it just the wind?”

Diamond Tiara gulped. She glanced to Silver Spoon who was hiding behind the seesaw, as if to hide her involvement in the bullying. The other foals were backing away, eyes wide to see if Diamond Tiara would get her cutie mark slapped off. Seeing that there was no back up to be had from her supposed best friend or classmates, she offered a nervous grin and said, “The wind.”

As the foals collected their half-eaten lunches, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo collected Jelly’s fallen items and were tucking them into the bag.

“We’re really sorry,” Sweetie Belle said, “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are always giving us a hard time about not having cutie marks.”

“It’s . . . it’s okay, girls, really.” Jelly gave a concerned look at Victory. “Lets go inside before Victory gets ma-worried about us.”

“She uh, really didn’t slap off your cutie mark, did she?” Scootaloo asked.

“Oh no, no. I just never got mine.”

“Um, why did you never get one?” Sweetie Belle asked feeling ashamed that she should ask.

The adult unicorn was quiet for a moment and replied, “I don’t know.”

Apple Bloom shoved the sketch pad into the bag, “Well, we gotta go get our lunches. We’ll see ya inside.”

She took off toward the hill were they had been eating lunch. Her friends followed after her, leaving Jelly alone to pull her ruined skirt off the seesaw and go back inside with her bare flank.

“Look at this.” Apple Bloom pulled a folded page from the curve of her bow and unfolded it. It was a drawing of her standing in an apple orchard with Applejack and another strange blue creature with a peach colored head and standing on two legs. Apple Bloom held it unfolded with her hooves on either side of it.

“Nice picture, what’s that blue thing?” Scootaloo asked as she studied the picture.

“Ah don’t know, Ah drew this! Ah know Ah did. See, Ah wrote muh name in muh handwriting. Ah just don’t remember drawin’ it!” Apple Bloom recognized her own work and a revelation swept over her. “It was in her sketch book with some other drawin’s Ah did. She knows! She knows what happened ta me those three days!”

Closets and Tumbles

“I apologize. I believe it’s my fault that we got off on the wrong foot because I allowed another to convince me that giving you a flowery greeting would entitle us to get along, but it looks like she was wrong. Let me properly introduce myself. My name is Victory Jam and I can be an easy person to get along with or I can be your worst nightmare. While I am here, I am not your substitute. I am your teacher. And you are my students. When I order you to do something, you do it without any question. When I say jump, don’t waste my time asking me how high, you just jump.”

The class didn’t move nor made any sound. They all sat at their desks and stared at the icy figure standing at the head of the class. Jelly, their only advocate in the room was sitting dejected at the desk.

It had been a stupid prank that shouldn't mean anything, but why was it that she wanted nothing more than to flee from the class, and run all the way back to the ship. What had promised to be a good day was ruined for her and she felt ashamed that it bothered her so much.

“Next is history and social studies and she had you reading a two chapters and answering the questions in your textbooks, but you know, I don’t think we’ll follow this assignment. Instead I want you to write a report on something about your world that you like and how you would improve it. I want the report to be ten pages long.” Victory walked before the class studying the faces as she spoke.

Jaws dropped at the lengthy assignment. They had written reports before, but usually they were two to three pages long.

“And if you don’t finish, that’s fine. You can spend recess finishing it. You won’t be having recess today.”

A collective gasped burst from the class and Diamond Tiara smacked a hoof on her desk, “You can’t do that!”

Big mistake. Victory smiled, taking pleasure in putting an insubordinate in its place. “Make that a fifteen page report. No, twenty pages.”

“Shut up, Diamond!” Silver Spoon hissed.

“Yeah! Diamond, just shut up before she makes it thirty pages!” Another filly echoed.

There were more calls for Diamond Tiara to shut her mouth and the pink filly sunk into her desk with a crimson face. Victory nearly beamed with pride as her students took care of the insurrection themselves. “Take out your paper and pencils and get to work.”

Apple Bloom stared hard at the mare behind the desk. She knew something. She was sure of it. She had other sketches in her book and Apple Bloom wanted it, but how to get it? Apple Bloom tore her eyes off the mare just enough time to pull out her leaflet of papers and a pencil.

Victory walked among the rows sending shivers down the back of any foal she passed. Then she spotted a foal standing at the back of the classroom. “Why aren’t you at your desk?”

The little foal laid its ears against its head as it shrank back. Victory noticed that it was a very small foal, smaller compared to the others. “Jelly, get over here. I think we got an extra.”

The class halted in their assignment to look over their shoulders at the newcomer with a creak of chairs and pencils rolling across desktops.

“He’s not in our class.” One colt pointed out.

“He’s the fire station chief’s foal,” a filly said.

“Ember?” Jelly trotted to the back. At the mention of his name, the foal lifted its ears as he recognized her. “I know his father. You know, from the party.”

“Oh, you mean that guy that you were chatting with?” Severe disapproval carried heavily in her tone.

“Yes, him. He’s probably looking for him right now.” Jelly gave Victory an even look. “Does anyone know where the fire station is?”

“Ah do!” Apple Bloom thrust her hoof up so fast she nearly toppled off her seat.

“We’ll take Ember back to his father.” Jelly was eager to get out of the school for a while.

“Just hurry.”

It took some cajoling and gentle words, but the foal calmed and followed Jelly outside. They had to walk slowly for his smaller strides to keep up with theirs. Apple Bloom eyed the satchel hanging at Jelly’s side as they walked across the schoolyard and toward the street.

“Ah saw your sketch book,” Apple Bloom said.

“My sketch book?” Jelly had to raise a leg to keep from stepping on Ember who had stopped to look at a yellow flower.

“It fell out of your bag.” Apple Bloom pointed her hoof toward it. “May Ah look at it?”

“What? Oh no, it’s not a sketch book. It’s just a notebook, nothing special.” Jelly put a hoof on Ember’s back, “No, no, don’t put that in your mouth. Nasty.” Ember looked up at her with the flower in his mouth. Despite Jelly’s protests, he drew the flower into his mouth and ate the petals. “No, no, nasty! You’re going to get sick.”

“Ya don’t get sick eatin’ flowers,” Apple Bloom muttered frustrated. She contemplated reaching up and digging into the bag for the sketch book herself.

Jelly nudged Ember along with a foreleg, “Well, we don’t have many flowers up north.”

“What else do ya have up north?” Apple Bloom asked, her eyes slanting suspiciously.

“Uh . . .rocks and snow.”

“And?”

“More rocks and snow?”

“And what else?”

“Not much else, it’s pretty boring up north.” Jelly was curious about where all this attention was coming from. Apple Bloom had so far shown no interest in her, so why the twenty questions game? “Why don’t you tell me about Ponyville? It’s pretty interested with friendly people.”

“Why do you talk weird? You keep saying words like people and person. Is that how they talk in Caneighda?”

“Yes. Yes, that’s how we talk.” Up ahead, she caught a glimpse of a brick building with a large red fireman hat set atop of the building. “That must be it.”

As they headed toward the station, a frantic stallion galloped down the street. He swung his head as he looked around, even taking a moment to glance behind a row of trash cans set against the fire station. “Ember!”

“He’s over here!” Jelly called waving a hoof toward him.

Smokey froze, his head swinging towards them. When he saw the colt at her hooves, he galloped to them. He galloped so hard, his hooves kicked up dust and dirt behind him. He nearly skidded to a halt, his hooves leaving grooves in the path.

“Ember!” He shouted so hard, his back hooves left the ground. “You do not leave the station without daddy!”

Ember lay on the front, his chin on his fetlocks. His ears lay back against skull if he was trying to make himself as small as possible with his large eyes peered fearfully up at his father whom towered over him.

“Do you have any idea of what I went through for the last twenty minutes? I thought you were hurt or lost for good! Bad colt! Bad!” Smokey’s voice strained as if the effort of yelling was making him angrier.

“It’s alright.” Jelly stepped forward as the sight of Ember frightfully prostrating before his father was breaking her heart. “He must have seen the school kids and wanted to join them. He’s not hurt.”

“It doesn’t matter. You don’t understand, you don’t have any foals.” Smokey shook his head, looking more exhausted and strained.

Jelly began to worry about him, “Yelling at him won’t help. He doesn’t understand why you’re upset with him. You’re only scaring him.”

“Look, I don’t need parenting advice from someone who doesn’t have a foal . . .” his eyes passed over her bare flank for the first time and the information went from his eyes to his mouth completely bypassing his brain where his common sense is kept. “ . . . and no cutie mark.”

Apple Bloom would later swear she heard a snap before Jelly’s anxiety, humiliation, and anger exploded.

“I am 23 years old. I’ve finished high school, attended a university before I transferred to the mil . . . to here. I’m not a saint, but I do try to be kind and considerate as my grandparents taught me. I’m not gorgeous, but I like to think I’m pretty.” With the foals at their hooves forgotten, Jelly stepped closer; bringing her face close to Smokey’s who was trying to stammer out an apology.

“I’m s-sorry. I-I didn’t mean to . . .” Apple Bloom could see that Smokey deeply regretted his words, but she could also see that it was too late.

“I don’t need a brand on my ass to define me.” Jelly felt the warm wetness pricking at her eyes. “I know who I am and what I want in my life. What I want is respect and not to be ridiculed for something I’m not or don’t have.”

Jelly spun on her hooves and trotted away. Apple Bloom stayed back glancing between Jelly’s retreating tail and Smokey’s bright red face, and then she galloped after the unicorn, her smaller legs churning to keep up with the long strides of the elder pony.

Jelly didn’t go back to the school. She drifted a small ways from the street along away from the path to school. The unicorn couldn’t return to the school with her eyes wet and her face distraught. Victory will want to know what happened and then ream her for being sensitive. She noticed Apple Bloom following her, “You can go back to class.”

“Ah . . . Ah’m sorry. Ah know how ya feel. Ah don’t have a cutie mark either and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon give me a hard time too.”

“Eh, it’s okay. It’s just stress. Go ahead and tell Victory that Ember is back with his father and I’ll be there shortly.”

Apple Bloom lingered quietly before she retreated back to the school. Jelly glanced to make sure she was gone before she dropped onto her haunches her head dipping low as tears rolled down her face.

“You were right, Grandma,” Jelly whispered in a hush prayer. “The military wasn’t for me and I went into it for all the wrong reasons. She wasn’t what I thought or wanted her to be. She’s horrible. God, I wish I was home now.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Jelly returned to the school, Victory gave her a look, but said nothing. The students wrote their reports in misery. Jelly passed the time by glancing through a pony literature text book while Victory flipped through a social studies book. When they felt the change coming on, they retreated into a broom closet with a story of looking for cleaning supplies.

“This is like a scene from a horny high school teen’s fantasy: two naked women in a closet at school.” Mikala held up an old poster announcing a talent show between them for modesty reasons.

“Bad news, Mikala does Ponyville, this is the last of it.” Laotaner held up her syringe. “Six to eight hours and we’ll change back to our natural selves and stay that way.”

“Do we have everything that we need?” Mikala sat on a stack of mats. She was relieved that the mission was almost over, but she was also sad to see it end.

“Yes, I’ll send what we have back to the brains in HQ and let them decide the best course of action to take, then follow that. And I’ll sign your discharge request once we dock back in Havens space.” Laotaner was leaning against a shelf with clay pottery molded by small hooves.

“Whoa.” It was dimmed inside the closet, but it didn’t take much to see how wide Mikala’s eyes were. “How did you know of that?”

“Nothing happens on my ship without my knowing it.” Laotaner picked up a clay sculptor of a pony and studied. It was crudely made, but it held the basic shape of an equine. It was no different than one a human child would make. “I think it’s a very wise decision on your part to leave. The military life isn’t for everyone.”

“Yeah. It was a mistake, I see that now.” Mikala rubbed the spot on her leg where she injected herself. “May I ask you a personal question?”

“You may, but I can choose whether or not I answer it.” Laotaner set the clay figure back.

“What were you before you enlisted?” Mikala felt her body starting its change. “I mean, did you have a job or did you enlist straight out of school?”

Even though a fine coat was spreading over her body, she felt a chill stir in the room. She knew Laotaner was staring at her, but it was heavier and icier compared to her previous stares. Mikala had touched on something sensitive and taboo for the elder woman. Maybe this time, she had gone too far.

“Social worker.” Laotaner’s horn threaded through her hair. “I worked for a little district called Winslip.”

Mikala, now Jelly, sat in stunned silence. She had just received more information from that one sentience than her hours of research and hacking had collected. And Noa Laotaner was a social worker? The most evil bitch commander held such a compassionate job?

“Why did you leave it?” Jelly asked, standing on her four hooves.

“I had this stupid notion that people needed help, but then I realized that what they needed was something else.”

Winslip burned thirty years ago. Jelly felt as if chunks of ice were being dropped into her stomach. 600 people died. Thousands injured.

There was a tentative knock on the door. “Mrs. Jam? Did you find the surface cleaner? It was on the right shelf on the third row, like Bandy Legs said.”

“We found it.” Victory opened the door just as a filly was hurrying back to her desk. They both stepped before Jelly remembered to reach back in for the cleaner. She forgot what they were supposed to clean and consigned to clean the desk top.

Apple Bloom eyed them over her paper. They were in that closet for twenty minutes looking for that spray bottle. Why did it take two of them to look for an item that they were given detail instructions of its location? She had brief hoped that Jelly would leave behind the bag, but alas she took it with her into the closet. In afterthought, Apple Bloom realized that she couldn’t go through a bag while the whole class looked on.

She glanced at over at Sweetie Belle and an idea sparked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

School ended, and the foals practically fled through the front doors. Victory stacked the papers into a folder and used her magic to tie it with string. Jelly stood by the door feeling sadden that the smiling happy foals looked distressed at the prospect of having to come back to Victory’s tutelage tomorrow. As she watched them hurry away under the afternoon sun, she was tempted to ease their fears by telling them that they will never see Victory after today.

Sweetie Belle stopped by the door and said, “Are you going to go pick up your new dress from Rarity?”

“Dress? Oh, you mean the one I tried on yesterday?” She had completely forgotten about her appointment. It wasn’t necessary now, since today would be their last day in Ponyville and they would certainly miss the dance altogether.

“Rarity is really looking forward to show you the dress.” Sweetie Belle leaned forward with a tilt of her head. “I saw it this morning and it looks great. You gotta see!”

“I don’t think I’ll able to do that today.” Jelly felt too tired to go through another fitting and Victory seemed anxious for them to return to the inn.

“You gotta come! Please!” The adorable filly sat back, her eyes large, with a slight tremor to her bottom lip.

Why was it so important for her to go to a fitting? “Okay, I’ll meet you there. I have to speak with my mother right now.”

“Alright!” Sweetie Belle galloped off, her little legs carrying her off toward her friends. She came to a near screeching halt between Apple Bloom and Scootaloo and plopped her rear on the dirt path. “She said she was going to the boutique. Why was it so important for her to go?”

“Because she can’t wear that bag and try on a dress at the same time,” Apple Bloom explained. “She gotta take it off and then we can grab that book.”

“No way! We can’t do that!” Sweetie Belle blurted as she jumped to her hooves. “Rarity never lets me inside her workroom when she has a client and if she catches me stealing . . . she’ll ground me till I’m older than Granny Smith!”

“It ain’t stealin’!” Apple Bloom stomped a hoof so hard she left a deep imprint in the dirt. “Those are muh pictures she got and I want ‘em back.”

“Are you sure those drawings are yours? Do you think you made a mistake?” Scootaloo asked.

“If this is the first time that Jelly Jam has come to Ponyville, then how does she know what me and muh sister look like? It has muh name in muh mouth writing!” Apple Bloom marched away from the school. “Ah gotta get that book or Ah’ll never find out what happened to me.”

“Wait, Apple Bloom, you can’t leave the school. I thought your sister told you to stay.” Sweetie Belle followed her friend.

“This is too important! She’ll understand when Ah show her. Ya’ll see.”

As the fillies trotted off, Jelly found herself yet again under the searing glare of Victory. * “I really hate it when you look at me like that.” *

*”Like what?” * Victory inquired casually, though her eyes were as hard as granite.

*”Like you are contemplating how I would look with my head twisted off.”* Jelly looked away, feeling the weight of that look. * “If you don’t want me to go, I won’t.” *

*”No, no, go ahead and go. Just be back at the inn by 7:00. We’ll wait until 8:00 and then return in the night. Our cover is that we are going out to eat and we’ll really go into the Everfree forest.” *

*”I’ll be there, promise.” *

*”Remember, we don’t’ have any more nanites. If we change here, we can’t change back into ponies and that would be very very bad.” * Victory shoved the folder with the reports into her satchel. Then she shot Jelly another look and said again, * “Very bad.” *

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Jelly trotted up the front steps of the boutique, she wondered why there was a plate of chocolate truffles on the bottom step. She had been seeing this everywhere in Ponyville, but she didn’t understand what it was for and inquiring about it may give herself away as not being what she seemed. As she entered the shop, she failed to notice the shifted of the bush leaves near the edge of the bottom step.

To Jelly’s dismay, she wasn’t the only one coming in for a fitting. Smokey was there on the dais where Rarity was using a measuring tape to see the length of his legs and body. “I believe that I may have the right bard tux in stock. Some adjustments may be necessary, but it’ll certainly be ready by Winter Welcome.”

She turned when Jelly stepped inside, “Ah, Miss Jam, what a pleasant surprised. I have your dress in the back. Let me make sure it’s ready while you have a nice chat with Mr. Smokey.”

Jelly noticed that the seamstress pony was batting her lashes a lot as she gave them a knowing smile. What she knew, the human turned unicorn had no idea.

After Rarity disappeared into the back room, slipped the bag off her neck and laid it across a nearby table. She tried to not look at him, as if he wasn’t there. If he wanted to look at her bare flank, then he was free to do so as much as he wanted.

“Miss Jam.”

Jelly considered ignoring him completely, but doing so would only make her look childish. She turned around and replied neutrally, “Yes?”

“I’m sorry. It was wrong, rude, and terrible of me to yell and insult you. I can’t do anything right in my life.” Smokey stepped off the dais, but stayed away, respecting her space. “I can’t do anything right. I couldn’t keep my wife healthy, I couldn’t handle doing my job, keeping our home, and raising my son alone. I just hope that you don’t allow my slip in judgment influence how you feel about me.”

Again, she had to look away. It was a good apology and it did ease her hurt heart. “It’s alright. I shouldn’t have reacted that way. Today hasn’t been a good day for either of us, I supposed.”

“So, are we okay?” Smokey inquired hopefully.

“Yes, we’re fine.” She surprised herself by meaning it.

In the next room, Rarity was humming delightfully to herself as she gave the magic of romance time to bloom in the next room. The dress was clothing a mannequin ready to be viewed. Rarity had already selected accessories that she believed would look marvelous with the dress gown and had them in a small box on a small table. She busied herself with recording Smokey’s measurements in a client book in case she needed to make some adjustments.

She caught movement from the corner of her eye, “Sweetie Belle, what are you and your friends doing here?”

The foals were looking through the doorway that led into her fitting room. All three of them looked at her with guilt and anxiety behind their eyes. Sweetie Belle spoke up, “Nothing. We wanted to see who was out there.”

“Don’t bother them. Isn’t there something you can do elsewhere? I have a lot of work to do with the Winter Dance coming up.” Rarity arched an eyebrow smelling something ahoofed. “Apple Bloom, does Applejack know you are here?”

“Uh, yes, she does. She said it was alright for me to come over.” Apple Bloom certainly wasn’t the bearer for the Element of Honesty.

Rarity gave her a hard suspicious look and Apple Bloom silent prayed to both Celestia and Luna that her face was neutral and didn’t betray the panic that was causing her heart to flutter like a panic bird. For what seemed like forever to the nervour fillies, Rarity relented, “Very well. Just stay out of the way and don’t bother Jelly or Smokey in there.”

“We won’t,” all three fillies said in unison.

“Good. Now you’ll have to leave this room while I’m working.” Rarity shooed them out before she called out to the adults in the next room, “I have the clothing ready if you want to see.”

The fillies tried to look as innocent as newborns as they trailed into the fitting room while Smokey and Jelly walked past them. And Apple Bloom’s eyes landed on the bag sitting on a table. She looked back at the doorway and saw that the curtain cover it had fell into place, blocking them from view.

She trotted to the bag, keeping herself from galloping in fear that galloping hooves would be heard and rouse suspicious. Sweetie Belle stayed near the doorway, watching and motioned for Apple Bloom to hurry.

“So what do you think, Jelly Jam? I may have brought up the collar too much, so I’ll need you to try it on so I can see.”

Their voices carried easily through the curtain.

Apple Bloom opened the bag with Scootaloo standing nearby nearly pacing frantically.

“I . . . I mean . . . it’s beautiful, you really shouldn’t have. . .” Jelly’s voice was cracking.

Apple Bloom drew out the items. A few of the items were strange: rectangle book like item that didn’t open at all, a watch too small for any adult pony’s foreleg, and a syringe with a cap on it. Did Jelly have an illness?

“What’s the matter, darling? You don’t like it?”

“Apple Bloom, hurry up!” Scootaloo hissed as her hooves rocked on the floor. Apple Bloom found the sketch book and flipped it opened.

“I never had a dress like this before,” Jelly’s voice chocked.

The yellow filly flipped through the pages. A lot of them were of landscapes, a large city like Canterlot but of dark colors instead of gold and white, and some animals on a farm.

“Just take the book.” Scootaloo whined.

“Ah can’t, she’ll know if it’s missin’. This way it’ll be a while before she realizes.” Apple Bloom found what she was look for at the end and saw more of her drawings. She began pulling them out with her teeth, “Quick, hold out my bag.”

“There there, it’s alright.”

“I’m sorry. It’s been an emotional day for me. I’ll need to lie down once we’re done here.”

“Alright, you go ahead to the fitting room and I’ll bring the dress along. Mr. Smokey, please feel free to browse through the tuxedos. I’ll be in the next room if you need me.”

“Apple Bloom, grab it and go.” Scootaloo edged toward the door while Sweetie Belle frantically waved her hooves at them.

Apple Bloom barely looked at the last page she shoved into her bag. She swung it onto her back and galloped to the door. Sweetie Belle followed close, her own legs churning to carry her through the door.

Jelly push past the curtain in time to see Sweetie Belle dart across the room. Her eyes landed on the open sketch book on the table next to her bag and the realization of what had happened cut into her gut. “Apple Bloom!”

She galloped across the floor leaving a surprised Rarity behind her. The fillies clopped down the steps, but then froze in sheer terror at what was coming toward them.

Applejack was storming along the path with her ears laid back and air whistling through her nose as she snorted. She spotted Apple Bloom and electricity crackled through her eyes. “Apple Bloom! Ah told ya to wait at the school!”

Behind them a wire which had been laying slack across the top step was pulled taut and stretched across the doorway and in front of the bottom step a blue blur swooshed by leaving behind a large rock the size of a pony’s head. A second later, Jelly’s front legs caught on the wire and the speed of her gallop threw her forward off the top step. She banged her back legs against the steps and her head plummeted toward the rock.

All the ponies heard the sickening thunk as her head collided with the hard rock. Jelly lay still as a streamer of blood rolled down the side of her face and down her neck.

Silence as heavy as a grave followed, broken by a chirruping sound that could have been crickets or the sound of tiny wicked laughter.

Drawings and Hospitals

Apple Bloom never thought her small body could carry so much misery and guilt.

After Jelly had fallen, Sweetie Belle had begun calling for Rarity while Applejack galloped to them so hard her hooves kicked up clouds of dust behind her. Rarity appeared at the doorway nearly tripping over the wire herself.

She spotted the prone before with scarlet ribbon leading down from her mane, “Oh my. Smokey! Smokey, Jelly has fallen and she looks injured!”

Applejack brushed the fillies aside who were standing in numb shock. “She ain’t movin’, Rarity.”

Then Smokey appeared beside Rarity, and not one second went by before he was down the stairs giving orders, “Applejack, go to the fire station. There is an emergency wagon there and some ponies that’ll help you bring it here. Fillies, I need one of you to go the hospital and tell them we have a head injury coming in. Rarity, is there any strips of cloth we can use to stop the bleeding and a blanket. Also, we’ll need your magic to place her in the wagon. There aren’t any unicorns in the station.”

Ten minutes past, but it might as well be an eternity to Apple Bloom, and then Jelly’s unconscious body was placed in the emergency wagon towed by Applejack and Cinnamon Sugar, a fire station volunteer. Scootaloo had run ahead to the hospital and Sweetie Belle had been sent to find Victory to tell her of what happened to her daughter.

The doctor and nurses had been waiting for them with a gurney. When the wagon stopped, the staff went into action. Jelly was carefully placed on the gurney while the doctor checked her injury. “She’ll need stitches, and definitely get her in for x-rays. Likely she’s alright, but you can never be too careful with a head injury.”

“I don’t think there’s been damage to the neck or spine, but we moved her carefully all the same,” Smokey reported as he gurney was wheeled away with the new patient.

“Does she have any family in town?” the doctor asked taking a writing pen between his lips from his coat pocket.

“Her mother is the substitute for the school while Cheerilee is away. We sent a filly to tell her so we expect her to be here soon,” Smokey told him.

“And how did she fall? Did she faint or have a seizure?” The doctor wagged the pen between his lips as he made notations.

“I wasn’t present when she fell.” Smokey looked to Applejack who had been standing nearby listening to the exchange. “What happened?”

“Well, Ah wasn’t close enough to see exactly what happened. But she did fell from the top step of the Carousel Boutique,” Applejack glanced at Rarity.

“I’ll tell you want happened. Somepony vile and devoid of morals tied a wire across the doorway and poor Jelly tripped over it.” Rarity was seething as she spoke; deeply offended that someone would pull such an awful trick at her shop.

“Waitaminute, I saw the fillies come out of the shop and none of them tripped . . .”

All eyes went to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo who had been sitting on the sofas in the lobby, hoping to remain out of sight and mind. Their jaws drop at the heavy implications in Applejack’s voice.

“NO!” Apple Bloom cried out so loud it hurt her throat. “We would never do somethin’ like that. Never ever!”

“There wasn’t a wire when we went out. Honest!” Scootaloo pleaded for the adult to believe them.

“Settle down, fillies. Ah know ya wouldn’t do anythin’ like that,” Applejack said soothingly.

“It’s possible for someone to be hiding in the bushes that held the wire tight right before Jelly appeared,” Smokey said thoughtfully. “Did you notice or heard anything while you were leaving?”

“No, we were too much in a hurry to run out,” Scootaloo shook her head.

“Why were ya in a hurry to run out?” Applejack arched an eyebrow and Apple Bloom gulp so hard it nearly hurt.

“We wanted to play,” Scootaloo groped for a good lie.

“Jelly ran out after you.” Rarity stepped forward, joining the line of adults giving the foals hard looks. “She called Apple Bloom’s name and ran out after them.”

“Apple Bloom,” Applejack said gravely as she fixed her sister with a firm look, “did you do something that would cause Jelly Jam to run after you?”

Apple Bloom’s ears lay back against her head as the pressure mounted. “We didn’t put the wire there . . .”

“Ah know ya didn’t, but that’s not what Ah’m askin’ ya. Is there a reason why Jelly Jam would run after you?” Applejack took a step forward bring her close enough to cast her shadow over the fillies. “And omittin’ is the same as tellin’ a lie.”

“We didn’t do anythin’ wrong . . .” Even her voice sounded weak to her and she knew that she would inevitably break under the pressure.

“They were Apple Bloom’s drawings.” Scootaloo was caving before her.

Fortunately, the doors slung opened and Victory stomped inside. Floating above her head, surrounded in blue magic was Sweetie Belle who was looking greenish as she swirled and twirl in mid-air. When she had told Victory what had happened, the elder unicorn didn’t have time to memorize directions to the hospital nor did she have the patience to meet her strides to a foal’s. She grabbed the filly with her magic and galloped while Sweetie Belle gave directions.

“What happened? Is she dead? Did she say something? Where is she?” Victory approached the adults, casually tossing Sweetie Belle onto the couch next to her friends. Sweetie Belle bounced on the cushioned and lay still while she tried to make the world stop spinning. “If she says anything strange or awkward, it’s due to her head injury and should be ignored.”

“Please, it’s alright, Mrs. Jam. Your daughter is unconscious, and I don’t think there’s any serious damage, but I want to keep her in overnight for observation.” The doctor gave her his most reassuring smile. He had dealt with panic mothers before.

Victory shook her head. “Unacceptable. If she’s not seriously hurt then she can return to the inn with me.”

“I’m afraid that we can’t allow you to take her anywhere. She’s undergoing a few tests right now and she certainly can’t leave when she unconscious,” the doctor said soothingly.

“Yes, I can. I can levitate her ass back to the inn.”

“Mrs. Jam, doing that may cause further injury. She has taken a hard fall and she may have spine or neck damage. We’ll know more when she comes out of x-ray.” Okay, time to take a firmer stance. He could tell this was a controlling mother and different tactics would need to be taken. “And we cannot release her to you. She was brought to the hospital under emergency circumstances. We can’t release her until we’ve properly treated her and that requires a twenty-four hour observation period.”

“You can’t keep her here. I’m her com-mother. I can take her out of here.” Victory took a step forward, bringing her nose to nose with the doctor who was leveling his eyes with hers.

“Madame, let me assure you that your daughter is under our finest care. We may be a small town hospital, but our medicine and equipment come straight from Canterlot and our staff are well trained professionals who have had years of experience.” His voice had taken on an edge, but his words were professional and friendly. “Allow me to explain hospital policy that was provided by the Canterlot Board of Health. Whenever a pony is admitted to the emergency room, we cannot release the patient until after we’ve performed the necessary tests and treatments. With a head injury, a 24 hour observation is required. By noon tomorrow, she has good signs, then I’ll be more than happen to check her out, but until then, she has to stay and I apologize if that makes you unhappy. If you wish to file a complaint, one of the nurses will provide you a form at the counter right there and we will send it to Canterlot for you.”

Victory took a breath to calm her urge to smash this doctor in the face. She knew when she was stone walled and it angered her further that he was using simple logic that undercut her will. If she pushed the issue any further it would make her look a fool and not to mention bring unwanted attention upon herself. “When may I see her?”

“As soon as the tests are finished and we’ll keep you up to date on her progress,” the doctor assured her before he turned away

Victory had spent a lot of time in crisis before. Ammo was running low during a shootout, ship’s shield was almost gone, or most of her squad was injured or dead. Circumstances like that she took responsibility for because the course of the mission was led by the decisions she made. But not this. This was not her responsibility, how the hell could she foresee that the partner she brought on this mission was some green little civilian daisy that can’t walk straight.

“How exactly did she fall?” She turned to the ponies that were standing nearby. She recognized Applejack and the male pony Jelly had enticed at the party.

With them was a white unicorn with an elegantly styled purple mane. “She was at my establishment viewing the finish touches on her dress when she fell down the front steps.”

“Basically, what happened, and anypony is free to correct me.” Applejack gave her sister and her friends a severe look. “While Jelly Jam was looking at her new dress, Apple Bloom was going through her things.”

“What?” It just kept getting worse. What did the foal find? The datapad? The syringe?

“Scootaloo say they were getting drawings . . . “ Applejack continued, but then her sister surge forward with a flustered face.

“They were my drawings!” Apple Bloom shouted as she stomped her hooves.

“Her drawings, Ah supposed,” Applejack replied coolly. “Anyway, Jelly saw her takin’ ‘em and ran after her. That was when she tripped over the wire and fell.”

“What drawings?” Victory looked down at the filly and recognized it as Mikala Brigg’s pet pony. Shit. “May I see these drawings?”

“Apple Bloom.” Applejack didn’t bother giving the order.

Both Smokey and Rarity decided this was a good time to depart. Smokey excused himself, explaining that he left his son alone for too long with a foalsitter and needed to get back and Rarity carefully placed her green face sister on her back and carried her home, but not before urging Scootaloo that it was time for her to go home. The pegasus foal gave Apple Bloom an apologetic look as she was led out by the white unicorn.

The yellow filly collected her bag from the lobby seats and in deep despair took out the pages. Applejack and Victory watched as she unfolded each page and showed them the foalish drawings.

“They’re drawings of you on the farm and in a gray house. Ah don’t see why this is worth going through a pony’s belongings.” Applejack gave her sister a stern look.

“But . . . I don’t remember drawin’ ‘em. These are from when I was missin’.” Apple Bloom hoped her sister would listen to her for once.

“Then why were they in Jelly’s bag? She wasn’t around for when ya went missin’.”

“Ah don’t know, but it may mean she knows why Ah went missin’.”

If anypony had looked at Victory’s face, they would see the beads of sweat clinging to her coat and that her coat had taken a pale pallor, nearly making her coat the same shade of the silver streak in her mane. I should have taken a damn hammer to her head. And to Briggs’ temple as well.

Victory summoned up a hefty smile which stretched across her face. “I know what these are. My daughter told me about the drawings.”

“Oh?” Applejack turned to substitute teacher while Apple Bloom stared.

“Why yes, Jelly told me that she allowed Apple Bloom to sketch in her book and was going to give them back to her after school, but must have forgotten in her haste to see her new dress.”

“No! That’s not true.” Apple Bloom grappled desperately for her sister’s trust. “Ah don’t remember drawin’ the pictures . . .”

“Yet, ya say they are yours.” Applejack cocked an eyebrow.

“Yes, they are. But they were done while I was missin’!”

“Then how do ya know these are yours?” Applejack tapped a hoof on the floor. It was a sign of her losing her patience.

“They-they look like mine.” Apple Bloom’s eyes were becoming wet as she realized that Victory had won her sister over with the lie.

“Okay, so ya drew ‘em today in Jelly’s sketch book after all. Don’t play mind games with me, little sis. Ya’re in enough trouble as it is.” Applejack stomped a hoof, putting an end to the discussion. She turned to Victory her face lapsing into for an apology, “Ah am so sorry. Apple Bloom doesn’t act like this normally.”

“That’s quite alright. Children will be children after all.” Victory waved away the apology.

“You mean foals will be foals,” Apple Bloom mutter sourly.

“Apple Bloom!” The farm mare rounded on the filly, “Ya makin’ Papa Apple Core’s switch look better an’ better. Don’t open your mouth again unless it’s to eat or yawn.”

“I have some things to take care of,” Victory said as she stepped away, “She can keep the drawings, but she really ought to not spread stories.”

“Ah promise it won’t happen again.” Applejack looked down at the dejected filly. “Get your things, we’re goin’ home.”

As Apple Bloom shoved the drawings into her bag, the last page fell to the floor. The yellow filly looked down and gasped in stunned amazement. It wasn’t a drawing done by her, it was too beautiful. It was of herself wearing a long white dress curled up asleep. The lines were sketch with expertly with shadowing telling her that where she slept it was dark. And something warm and wonderful welled inside her breast that banished the despairing anger from her heart. Whoever drew this drew it out of love.

An image flicker across her mental eye. It was of a flat round face with a warm smile and brown mane. Then it was gone.

“Apple Bloom, let’s go.”

The filly carefully folded the page and tucked it away inside the bag before grabbing it and followed Applejack home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Victory didn’t have love in her heart. Hatred and anger fester in her heart like maggots on a rotten piece of meat.

If Jelly changed into her human self in that hospital or they find something with their tests . . . the mission might as well go into the toilet. The change wouldn’t occur until night and the sun was slowly beginning its descent downward. She didn’t have much time.

Inside the pony bathroom, locked from inside Victory dug the comm-link from her satchel and using her tongue, pressed the switch that would contact the ship.

The link cracked and Cortez’s voice came online, “SSV Heller reporting. State code.”

“345690BGH,” Victory rattled off the code. “Cortez, we have a problem. Mikala was injured and she is in their pony hospital unconscious. They won’t release for 24 hours and we are out of nanonites and she is due to change back tonight.”

“Understood. Trevor has a fresh batch prepared, so we just need to get it out to you.”

“Send via drone,” Victory ordered feeling her anxiety loosen its teeth.

There was a moment of silence, and then Cortez replied, “Trevor has been experimenting with the TIGGER while you were away . . .”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mrs. Cake was tending the counter of her family’s bakery when the door opened. She raised her head to give a greeting, and then was struck speechless.

“Hello, madame, I am looking for the local inn.” The newcomer stepped inside, jet black wings folding against his sides.

“Oh my, the inn?” Mrs. Cake suddenly found it hard to bring up the details of the town she had been born and raised in. “You’re looking for the inn?”

“Yes ma’am. I have to deliver something to a friend who is living at the inn.” He glanced about the bakery, his nose raise enjoying the delicious smell of baked treats. His snow white mane splayed across his neck as he turned his head toward the display of cupcakes. “It smells wonderful in here; it sorta makes me regret not taking up baking when I was in school.”

“Take a free sample.” She held a hoof toward a tray of cupcakes that she had just frosted. They were sitting on the edge of the counter

The stranger walked on silvery hooves to the tray, bringing him closer. She was able to see the cutie mark on his flank was a sword made of ice and at his ear a silvery hoop glinted at her. He made a movement as if he was going to raise his front hooves, but then halted as confusion crossed his face. Then he carefully took one cupcake in his mouth and ate it. It was clumsy and some frosting fell on the floor and crumbs dotted his mouth after he swallowed, but the pleasured look on his face made it all forgivable.

“That was wonderful, ma’am. That has to be the best cupcake I ever had.” His tongue began licking at the crumbs at his lips.

Mrs. Cake’s cheeks were a bright pink at being complimented by such a handsome stallion. “You’re free to take another.”

“Oh, no. As much as I would like, I have to get going. My friend is waiting for me.”

She managed to give him directions, though it did take several moments of recollection while he watched her with intense amber eyes.

“Thank you ma’am.” And to top everything off, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. Mrs. Cake felt her face go as hot as the bakery ovens as the stranger left leaving with a swish of his white tail.

The jet black stallion pegasus trotted down the street of Ponyville leaving behind amazed mares and envious stallions.

Winter knew he was a handsome human man. He saw in the eyes of every woman he had ever been with. When he had volunteer and underwent the change as his commander and yeoman did, he was now seeing it in the eyes of the natives of this planet.

And the wings had been unforeseen. He had expected to come out as a unicorn as Laotaner and Briggs did, but instead large ebony wings spread from his body. The experience had been awkward and he had comically kept knocking items off tables and tipping over furniture. Fortunately, he was always a quick to adapt and soon learned to manage his wings as he would his arms and legs.

Then the call came and he was able to put them into good use. Flight was exhilarating. It was better than going top speed on a speed cycle or being with a woman. Almost better than being with a woman.

He found the inn and told the bored looking innkeeper he was visiting one of the residents and was told the room number without being asked for identification. This race was certainly trusting. He didn’t see any of the caution his race had toward strangers. But then, it likely helped that he appeared to be one of them and he was attractive too.

What greeted him in the room didn’t have open arms for him, but cold glare as he walked inside. “Explain,” was the terse order.

“Trevor wanted to run some tests and I said I’d do it. You guys seem less for wear after the procedure.” Winter craned his head and tugged the bag off his shoulder. With a toss of his head and held it out. “I brob yoo dis.”

“Set it on the table. How many dosages are there?”

After he set it on the table he replied, “Enough for a week. What’s the plan?”

“Jelly hasn’t regained consciousness yet and those nurses watch me like a damn hawk since I got into it with their doctor.”

Winter grinned showing off white teeth, “Is he in one piece?”

“For now.” Victory walked to the window and glanced out, “What’s your impression of the ponies?”

“Very open. Friendly, warm, bright.” Winter sat on the ground and raised a back leg to scratch an itch behind his head like a dog.

Victory turned back to speak, but stared at his behavior instead. “Winter, what the hell?”

“What? It itches.” Winter stopped scratching and stood up giving his wings a flick. “Oh, guess what. I made it rain.”

“What are you talking about?” Victory was feeling her patience start to creep away.

“On the flight over where, I found out that I can stand on the clouds.” Winter recalled how he wanted to fly through a cloud, just for the experience, and found that it was solid to his touch. “I stomped on it and the cloud started raining.”

“So that’s what they mean when the pegasi will make the first snow. They have control of the planet’s weather. Now a lot of things are making sense.” Victory paced across the room toward a set of books she ‘borrowed’ from the school. “I’ve read their history and there is very rarely any report of any deaths from natural disasters. Also, their planet hasn’t had a war for over a thousand years.”

“Then taking this place will be as easy as taking a prom date’s virginity.” Winter had a wicked grin on his face.

“It may not be as easy as it appears.” Victory used her magic to open a book. “It looks like there is a fourth breed, but rare.”

She flipped the pages until she found the one she wanted. Her magic levitated it for him to see. It was an image of a tall pony with a white coat and an amazing mane and tail. It was an array of soft colors that flowed from her body, but as lovely as the mane was, what caught his eye was that she had both a horn and a pair of wings. Around her neck was a golden collar with a matching crown atop her head.

“This is Princess Celestia. She’s the ruler of this place. They say she has the power to bring up the sun. And her sister, Princess Luna can bring the night.”

“That’s surely just native superstition. The Kovanians believed that their trees summon the sun each morning with their hunger.”

“True, but that can be disproved with basic science. There are some clues that starting to loan some credit to this. For one thing, unicorns are able to perform . . .magic.”

“Magic? That’s just superstition and fairytales. They have advance telekinesis, that’s for sure. It’s rare, but it has been proven with science.”

“No, I’ve read of it. I’ve spoken with the local librarian. She’s a student of the princess and she’s told me some stories. Also, something about this place is . . . just off. I’m not talking about the weather control either. I can’t really explain it, but it’s enough to make me cautious.” Victory glanced out the window at the waning sun. “They worship their leaders. If we try to attack this place, it may mean holy war.”

“Shit. It’ll make Shraxi look like a tea party if this becomes a crusade.” Winter grimaced.

“So it looks like I’m going to extend my stay by a few days. I want you to stick around. Briggs is becoming a liability and I need you to take up the slack.”

“Oh, there’s something about Briggs you should know. Our computer tech guy found something by chance.” Winter shoved his face into the bag. He grabbed the case with the medicine in his mouth and set it aside, out of the way and then he pulled out a file. He spat it on the table top and said, “She’s been playing a lot of games. Like solitaire, black gammon, and chess. So tech guy is a gamer too, so he tried to see what her scores are and discovered that she has no scores. In fact, she doesn’t even have a gamer profile which you need to play any of the games. So he did some more digging and found traces of a cover program.”

A tremor started beneath Victory’s right eye. Her lips tighten and her ears only gave the slightest of flicks. “Does he have any idea of what she’s been doing?”

“Not much. But he was able to determine that your name was brought up several times in the search engines.”

“So it’s safe to assume that she’s been investigating me?” The voice that spoke the words was smooth and calm as the surface of a knife.

“Yes.” Winter was glad that he wasn’t the cause of that cold voice.

“I see.” Victory pawed at the floor, a soft purr as her hoof slide across the wood. “Her room is on the second story and has a window. Last time I was there, she had the room to herself. Fly up to the window and give her the nanonites, but say nothing of what we talked about.”

“Yes ma’am.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apple Bloom had been sent to her room when they returned to the farm. She was more than happy to seclude herself away. She spread the drawing of her wearing a white dress on the bed and stared at it. She had seen it before, she was certain of it.

She had to light a lamp as the sun was giving way to the night brought by Princess Luna. She wondered if she would be called down for dinner or it be brought up to her since she was grounded. She would have to wait and see.

She wondered if Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were in trouble and it made her feel all the worse. She should have done the deed herself and left them out of it. Her friends shouldn’t have to go through what she was enduring.

There was a tentative knock at the door and Apple Bloom’s heart filled with dread. “Come in. . .”

Applejack stepped inside. She smiled at Apple Bloom and said, “Sugarcube, tomorrow you and Ah are going to see Twilight in the mornin’. She’s gonna cast her memory spell and we’ll know once and for all what’s goin’ on.”

Her smile was so tender and gentle, the anger and depression melt away. She flung herself off the bed and hugged her sister tightly. Her sobs wracked her body as Applejack returned the hug and kissed her head.

“Now it doesn’t mean ya ain’t in trouble. Yer still in trouble, but Ah can understand and Ah think the sooner we get this mess settled, the sooner things can go back to normal.”

“O-okay.” Apple Bloom sniffle, trying to inhale the snot that threatened to leak from her nose.

“Now don’t cry anymore. Come on downstairs and let’s get some food in ya.”

As she followed her sister downstairs, she felt good again. She felt as good as she did when she first beheld the white dress picture.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Jelly woke up, her head was killing her. When she opened her eyes, she thought she had gone blind. She sat up in a panic, but too fast, much too fast. Nausea assaulted her stomach and she lurched over the side of the bed and vomited. When she finished, she spat the sour taste of vomit from her lips and swept a hand through her hair.

Hand.

She stared at her open hand and stared down at her body. She was human wearing a green hospital gown and a bandage that was lopsided on her head. What the hell happened?

She was at Rarity’s viewing her dress, then . . . she was running after the fillies and she was falling. Damn, she must have hit her head and they took her to the hospital. Laotaner was going to be pissed.

She slowly got out of bed once her head stopped swimming. The green gown was long enough to properly cover her, but she felt as if she was wearing a too short skirt.

She stepped over the puddle of vomit as she looked out the window. She was on the second story with no leverage for climbing. She would certainly break a limb or her neck if she chanced it.

Maybe she could sneak out. Oh damn, that was risky. Shit, shit, shit.

She couldn’t stay here. A nurse doing rounds would see her sooner or later. On bare feet, she was able to walk silently. She stayed against the wall, peeking into each room to make sure that she wouldn’t be seen in passing. Each room was empty or had a sleeping patient.

Where were the stairs? She wished she had been conscious when she was brought in so she would know the layout of the floor.

Up ahead, she saw the stairs leading down, but it was right beside the nurse’s station. If she was quiet, she could make it.

The bathroom door up ahead beyond the nursing station opened and a blue colt walked out. He too was wearing a green gown. Before she had a chance to hide, the colt saw her and screamed. His scream reverberated throughout the hall scraping along her skull and making her teeth hurt.

He fled down the hall and into a nearby room. The door to the nursing station was opening.

There was no time to think. Mikala slung open the nearest door and went inside. It was a supply closet filled with towels, blankets, and medical equipment. She crouched behind a stack of blankets, trying to calm her frantic breathing, her heart throbbing in her temples.

She heard hooves clopping on the floor and female voice talking followed by the higher pitch of a foal’s whine. She scooted as far back as possible drawing the blanket stack with her. Horrified, she heard hoofsteps coming this way.

She grabbed the top blanket and pulled it over her. The blanket had just settled when the door opened.

“Now where are the pillows? I certainly know that we put some in here.” The voice was sweet as honey.

Mikala held her breath.

“Oh, who’s there? I see you under that blanket. Come out.”

Mikala didn’t move.

The voice took on a stern edge. “I mean it now. This is a hospital, not a place for games.”

Slowly, the blanket was pulled off.

“Hello there, why are you in the closet?” The owner of the voice was a plump purple mare wearing a nurse’s hat.

“I . . . I threw up and I wanted to clean it.”

“Oh dear. You should have called one of us and we would have cleaned it up for you. Come out before you hurt yourself. You’ve suffered a head injury after all.”

Mikala rose to her hooves.

Hooves.

She was a pony again without the nanonites.

The nurse walked her back to her room, clucked at her again for not calling a nurse to clean up earlier. Without complaint, the nurse moped up the mess and said that she will send for the doctor.

The doctor came minutes later and examined her. His magic held a small flashlight which he shone in her eyes, he checked her pulse, and asked how she felt. She felt fine now, though she did feel nausea when she woke up. He explained that she should be fine and not to be too worried about the nausea and vomiting. It was a normal symptom of a concussion and that she would be released by morning.

“You have three stitches, but it won’t leave a scar. We’ll have you out of here and in one piece for Winter Welcome.” He gave her an encouraging smile and turned to leave, “If you need anything, call the nurse staff. They’re there to make your stay comfortable. Please, go back to sleep. You’ll be fine.”

“Thank you,” Jelly replied, as she lay on her side. “Um, did my mother come by?”

“Oh, yes. While you were asleep, she did. She was very worried. Do you want me to send somepony for her?”

“No! No, no, it’s fine. I’m sure she’ll come by in the morning.” She was not looking forward to the dressing down she was going to get for being injured and causing problems.

The doctor left, but she didn’t sleep as he instructed. She lay awake worried about what was happening with her body. Trevor said that there rarely any side effects and he certainly didn’t mention that her body might change back of its own accord. What did it mean? Would she change back to human?

She didn’t sleep. She was too afraid that she would change back into a human while she slept making her vulnerable to being seen.

It was a long night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Minutes before . . . .

Where the hell was she? Winter’s wings held aloft while he looked in the door. Was this the right window? It was, he had checked the others and Laotaner never gave wrong directions. This had to be the right one and she wasn’t in her room. Where could she have gone? Did her condition become complicated and they were treating her elsewhere?

He didn’t have much time left before his own change. He needed to give Briggs her dosage and then get back to the inn. He was grateful that his pony self had a dark coat that made it easy to hide in the darkness.

Then he felt his skin beginning to shift as his coat was slowly stripping away. Shit, the change was taking place earlier than Trevor estimated. He had to land lest he changed in midair and fall to his death. Sorry, Briggs. You are on your own in there.

He landed and hid himself behind the bushes. He pulled the satchel around in front of him and began looking through it for the medicine case, but did not find it. Did he forget to put the case back in the bag before he left? He took another look around inside the bag. Yes, he did forget.

“Shit,” he hissed under his breath. At least he brought his pants.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An aqua colored unicorn carrying a round case strapped to her back walked home alone. It had been a long practice for Lyra Heartstrings who was a member of the ensemble hired to perform for the Winter Dance. The band leader was a brutal mare who kept them practicing the pieces until she was satisfied with progress and she was hardly ever satisfied. Thus, the reason she was walking home so late at night.

She yawned, her mouth opening wide. She was more than ready to fall into bed and just sleep in late tomorrow morning. Practice didn’t start until noon tomorrow and she intended to sleep until that time.

As she neared the bridge, she glimpsed movement from her peripheral vision. She turned her head, stopping in mid stride, and watched the bushes and trees. Nothing else moved. It must have been her imagination or she was seeing things due to her fatigue. She continued onward, her hooves clopping onto the bridge. She stopped when she heard the splash.

“Okay, who is out there? Stop trying to scare me!” Lyra called out. She raised herself to set her front hooves on the bridge railing. She looked up and down the river trying to see the source.

Below, she saw bubbles rising to the surface. She stared as the bubbles continue and then a shadow moved in the water. The shadow became lighter and the shape was hard to determine from the wavering water. Then a head broke the surface followed by a thick body with long arms.

The creature below her had long dark hair that touched its shoulders a wide frame and long waist. His body was a series of smooth crevices and muscle. She knew he was a male since his body was too blocky to be feminine. He wiped the water from his face with a long fingered hand.

“H-h-hello?”

At her voice, he looked up and saw her. They stared at each for several heartbeats before he sloshed out of the stream, and fled. He scooped a bag that she saw for the first time from the grass and disappeared behind a building.

Lyra sat back on her haunches in mute shock

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh God, he was seen. He had been part of the mission for not even half a day and he fucked up. Since it was just one pony, it shouldn’t matter. He’d investigate it later and deal with it himself. Laotaner need not know.

He just thank god he had enough sense to bring a pair of black shorts so at least the pony didn’t see his thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Victory showed up early for school. All the students save for Apple Bloom arrived and sat quietly at their desks while their substitute teacher watched them from behind the desk. Her face was blank with a ghost of a smile on her lips. More than one foal wished that Jelly Jam was there so at least they had a buffer between them and teacher from pony hell.

Once all the students were at their desks, Victory flashed a grin at them. It was wide and showed off her teeth, but instead of making her look friendly, it made her look ravenous like a predator.

“We’re going to do a project today. We’re going to have so much fun.”

The class doubted it very much.

Victory stood up and walked around her desk, “We going to do a time capsule. You’ll write letters to your adult selves, we’ll put them in the time capsule which Jelly and I will bury, and twenty years from now, you’ll dig it up and retrieve your letters.”

The class looked surprised that the project actually sounds exciting. In fact, several of them were already mentally writing up their letters to their future selves.

“But first, we to outside of town and dig a hole,” Victory said through her sharp grin, “A very deep hole.”

Holes and Memories

WARNING: Some sexual situations, but nothing that would put it in the adult genre. Also some dark themes.

“Mrs. Jam, Mrs. Jam.” The incessant whining of Diamond Tiara pricked the ears of all the foals. Her pink hoof waved frantically in the air, desperate to gain her attention.

Victory mentally went over the reasons why she shouldn’t include Diamond Tiara as another future occupant of the hole. She was overseeing the hole being enthusiastically dug by three colts with small shoves that fit in their mouths. They were collecting the sod into little pails that were hefted out when full by twine pulled by foals outside of the hole.

Victory told them that the hole had to be six feet deep . . . in order to better preserve the time capsule she had told them. Several foals were excited to dig, while others like Diamond Tiara were not.

“Mrs. Jam, I took a bath this morning so if I dig I’ll get all dirty.” Her prior excuses were she wasn’t meant to dig, she wasn’t strong enough to dig, and simply she didn’t like to dig.

“Diamond . . . Crown . . .Hat? What was your name?” Victory knew the filly’s name, but she chose not to call her by name lest it let her assume she was on the same level with her.

“Diamond Tiara!” The pink filly shouted so hard her hooves left the grass for a second.

“I would imagine that a little exercise wouldn’t hurt you. In fact, it may help you out.”

“What?’ Diamond Tiara stood with gaping mouth.

“The digging can get ya thin legs.” Victory managed to keep her face straight while the filly looked at her legs. “Okay, Snips, your digging turn is over. Who’s next?”

“Me!” Diamond Tiara lunged into the hole snatched the shovel from Snips and began hastily digging.

Victory looked into the hole and judged it its width and length. Jelly was smaller than her, but it was better to be bigger than necessary before smaller than needed. And it didn’t really need to be a comfortable fit anyway; she won’t be any state to care.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Victory came that morning before she was allowed to check out. Jelly cringed beneath the blankets expecting to be berated if not assaulted, but Victory just smiled at her and asked her how she felt.

*“I’m feeling better,” * Jelly was replied as she searched Victory’s face for any sneers or nasty looks.

Her face was as blank as a sheet of paper. * “Good, good. Tell me what happened last night. Winter tried to bring you nanonites last night, but he couldn’t find you and here you are as a pony.”*

*”Winter? He’s here? As a pony too?” * Jelly sat up with wide eyes.

*”Yes, he came to bring more nanonites so instances like this won’t happen.” * Victory’s tone took a hard edge which made Jelly feel relieve. This was the Victory she knew.

Jelly recalled the story of her waking up human, her attempt to leave the hospital, and then hiding in the closet.

*”I swear, I didn’t notice anything when it happened. When I pulled off the blanket, I was like this.” * She waved her hooves along her body. * “Do you think something is wrong with me?” *

* “Yes. I think there is a lot wrong with you. Medically, I don’t know. You’ll have to see Trevor and Tibbs when we returned.” * Victory turned away, * “Take the day off. I think I have it under control at the school.” *

* “You’re sure? I feel fine, really.” *

* “I’m sure. Go back to the inn and see Winter.” *

An hour later, Jelly was leaving the hospital just as Fluttershy walked in. She had a satchel around her neck with the flap open. A bouquet of flowers with pink petals gathered together with a white ribbon. The yellow pegasus was glancing nervously about before her eyes saw Jelly signing out.

It was a very odd experience holding a pencil in her mouth and writing. But she managed it, though her signature looked very loopy. She spat out the pencil and offered Fluttershy an apologetic smile. She remembered how panic and near tears the animal lover was when Victory nearly drowned her chicks.

“Hey, Fluttershy,” she greeted.

“Oh, um, hello.” The pegasus looked away, allowing her long pink mane to hide her face. “I’m very sorry . . .that you got hurt. Twilight wanted to come, but she’s very busy with Winter Welcome.”

“When is Winter Welcome? Have they set a date yet?”

“Oh, no one told you? I’m sorry . . .its tomorrow.”

“Really? No wonder.”

“But mama, I did see a monster!” Jelly turned her head to see the colt from last night whining to an adult pony that shared his coloring. “It was big and walked on two legs!”

“It was just a bad dream, Rocky. Just be glad that you’re getting out of the hospital in time for Winter Welcome.” His mother told him with a kind tone as she led him outside.

Jelly knew the colt couldn’t recognize her, but she still turned her face away so he wouldn’t see it. Once the mother and foal were outside, she turned her face around to see Fluttershy holding out the flowers with her mouth.

“Are those for me?” Jelly felt foolish for asking. Of course they were for here.

After a small head bob from Fluttershy, Jelly reached forward and took the bouquet between her own teeth. She sat back on her haunches and curled her forelegs around the bouquet. “Thanks. This is really nice.”

“Twilight really wanted to come, but there’s so much to do.” Fluttershy apologized for her friend again. “She asked me to bring the flowers since I was on my way to buy medicine.”

“Medicine? Are you sick?”

“Oh no. I’m fine. A little raccoon had a bad fall from a tree and I’m taking care of him.”

“You take care of animals?” Jelly remembered seeing the dozens of birdhouses dangling from tree branches around Fluttershy’s home.

“Yes, animals need care too. Just as much as ponies.”

“Fluttershy, I’m . . . I’m really sorry about what my mother did to your chicks. If I had known she was going to do something like that, I wouldn’t have brought her with me.”

“Oh, please it’s alright. The chicks are fine now and it did save some time . . .”

“No, no, there’s no excuse. She could have really hurt one of them and that would have been bad.”

“Fluttershy?” A nurse called from the desk. “Did you come for more medicine?”

“Uh . . .yes, I need . . .” Fluttershy hid behind her mane shyly. “I came for antibiotics and gauze.”

“Come with me and I’ll get you what you need.”

“Thanks again for the flowers, Fluttershy.” Jelly waved a hoof at her.

“It’s no problem. They’re the best because they are really tasty.” The shy pony left with the nurse leaving Jelly to stare oddly at the flowers.

Ember ate a flower and Apple Bloom did say that no one got sick eating flowers. And now that she thought about it, if the ponies were equine and equine did eat plants . . .

Jelly plucked a petal with her teeth and her tongue drew it inside her mouth. She chewed carefully on the petal and her eyes widen. She snatched another petal into her mouth and then another chewing in amazement. Soon she was eating whole flowers from their stems. It had a chocolate taste, but held the sweetness of candy.

She stopped eating when there was one flower left. She wanted to if a flower would taste just as good when she was human later . . . if she changed back that is.

She pushed the thought out of her mind. It was too soon to worry about what ifs. She just needed to get back to the inn and see what Winter was up to and see what sort of pony he became.

She only had to ask for directions once from a hospital visitor and then minutes later she trotted into the inn. It was a clear morning, and she noticed that more ponies were frantically putting the finishing touches. It impressed her that they put so much effort and care into a public celebration than humans would for any holiday.

She trotted upstairs and nearly bumping into the brilliant hair pegasus. “Rainbow, hey, how are you?” She remembered the pony’s name since her hair so matched her mane and tail.

“Awesome! I’m getting the bandage off today.” The pegasus was almost dancing on the steps she was so happy.

“That’s great. Will you be able to fly?”

“Naaaaa-ot right away. Doc says I gotta take it easy, but I should be able to help out during First Snow tomorrow.”

“That’s wonderful. I’m really happy for you.”

“Hey, do you know that black pegasus? He’s staying in your room.”

“Oh, he’s . . . from the north too.” Jelly wondered what his relation to them was or if Jelly had made something up. And he’s a pegasus? Why wasn’t he a unicorn like them? And did he have a cutie mark?

“He looks like a pretty good flyer, like the Wonderbolts.” Rainbow’s wings quivered as if imagining flight.

“I haven’t really seen him fly that much.” Which was true in a way.

“Well, tell him that if he’s up to it, he can help out with the First Snow tomorrow.” Rainbow extended the invitation as if it was a brilliant honor.

“I will, and good luck with your wing.”

“I don’t know luck. I’m too awesome for luck to make any difference.” Rainbow dash placed a hoof against her chest and spread her wings, but it result in her cringing in pain and then sheepishly head downstairs.

Jelly resumed her trip upstairs and entered their room. * “Winter?” *

*“In here.” * The door to the bathroom was edged open and she could hear water running.

She walked to the door she found herself peering through the crack. At first she could see rushing water from the shower, and then a line of flesh stepped into view. She inhaled through her nose as she saw that he was still in his exquisite human form and enjoyed a momentary view of his muscular back, firm buttocks, and fine legs before she guiltily torn her gaze away.

*“So I heard you became a pegasus,” * she spoke through the door as she set the single flower that she saved on the table. She kept it tucked behind an ear in her hair.

*“Yeah, it was awesome.” * She could hear the water gushing and could even see the steam seeping from the crack. It was all she could do to keep herself from stealing another peek.

*“Uh, I wanted to ask. Did you get a mark on your rear?” * She hopped onto the bed, trying to ignore the apparent heat in her stomach.

*“Yeah, it was of a sword made of ice, go figure.” * She heard the squeak of a facet knob as he adjusted the temperature.

*“I don’t know why, but I don’t have one. It’s some sort of coming of age thing for the ponies when they are foals. It’s supposed to represent a special talent or something that makes them unique.” *

* “So I guess my special talent is sword fighting. Sorry sweets, but I don’t handle ice swords.” * The water stopped and gurgle of draining water came from the door crack.

* “I think the marks are symbolic. Rarity makes dresses, but her cutie mark is three diamonds, but she’s really fancy so I guess they could mean a love of beauty or elegance.” *

* “Who’s Rarity?” *

* “She’s a friend that made a dress for me. She runs the local dress shop.” * Just as the heat in her stomach died, it flared back to life when Winter opened the door and stood with only a towel to hide what lay below his waist.

* “Look at you, makin’ friends with the native and playing dress up with them. Don’t forget why we’re here.” * He walked across the room with three long strides and grabbed a pair of black shorts from the bed.

* “I know why we’re here. I thought making friends would help when we contact their government and create a peace accord.”

Winter’s back was to her when he cracked smile and he dropped his towel. Jelly looked away, intensely focusing her eyes on her forehooves struggling not to take a look. She wondered if he was so use to showering and changing in the public showers that he didn’t think anything of changing in front of her or was he just doing this to fuck with her.

Winter let the elastic band popped his waist before he stretched out on the bed. *“Have you met a green unicorn with white streak in her hair?” *

*“Um, no. But then we met so many ponies, I can’t really remember.” *

*“Her coat is the same shade of green as yours and she has a harp as a cutie mark.” *

*“I don’t think so . . . if she has a harp as a cutie mark, then you want to check with musical groups. I know, they’re having a Winter Dance tomorrow night and what’s a dance without music? Check out the town hall and I bet someone will know her. Why do ask?” *

*“No reason.” * He rolled onto his side and looked at her. His wet dark hair clung to his neck and shoulders and his silver earring glinted at her bright against his dark tresses.

He was in the position that she imagined he would be in after her fantasy sex with him. She knew she was blushing beneath and she only hoped that it couldn’t be seen through her green coat. She realized that this was the longest conversation that she ever had with him.

*“You want to go out and eat?” * Winter asked her as she struggled not to stare at his washboard abs.

*“Wha-uh yeah, we can.” * Jelly snapped her head up. * “I think there’s a café nearby. We can go once you change.” *

* “Any explanation of why you didn’t need the nanonites?” * Winter rose from the bed reaching for a bag he set in the corner. She noticed her bag right beside his and she remembered the reasoning behind her fall down the stairs.

* “I needed them last night, that’s for sure, but . . . I think I need to see Trevor or Tibbs soon because I changed back without them. It was lucky thing too or I would have been found as a human. It was very close.” *

Perhaps he heard the tremor of worry in her voice because he then said, * “Don’t worry about it. This is new science after all. It may be a residual affect from the nanonites from earlier injections or maybe it was your body reacting to your panic. Pumping adrenaline can work miracles with your body when shit gets real.” *

She slid off the bed and trotted to her own bag while Winter rifled through his satchel for his medicine case. She opened her bag and went through hers. The sketch book was inside and looked untouched, however she couldn’t relax until she looked through it.

Ice seemed to coil along her spine and fill her stomach. The sketches Apple Bloom had drawn were gone as was the single sketch Jelly drew back on the ship. The foals took them, that was the only explanation for why the fled from her in the shop. How would they know the drawings were there? Apple Bloom did keep asking about seeing the book while they were returning Ember to his father . . . shit, shit, shit, the seesaw incident. That was when she saw them. The book had fallen out of her bag and it had been Apple Bloom who returned it to her bag.

Should she tell Victory? Images of Victory stomping Apple Bloom into a stain on the floor crossed her mind. No, for Apple Bloom’s sake, she would have to keep this to herself.

*”Don’t sweat the foal stealing those pictures, Laotaner took care of it.”* A ponified Winter stepped up behind her startling her.

*”Oh my god . . . did she kill her?” * Jelly felt sick.

*”No, no, she said that she smoothed it over. The story is that you allowed the kid to draw in your sketchbook.” *

*”I guess that’s true . . . back on the ship . . . but Apple Bloom would know . . .” *

*”Kids get confused and they make mistakes. Let’s go.” *

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Now Apple Bloom, let’s not be too disappointed if this doesn’t work.” Applejack tried to sound calm, but she could feel the butterflies in her stomach.

“C’mon, let’s go!” Apple Bloom was literally prancing by the library tree, her little hooves tapping a ditty.

Applejack knocked a hoof on the door. It was only moments before Spike opened the door. The baby dragon’s eyes looked heavy and he looked as if he was ready to fall over and go to sleep at any moment. He yawned first, his mouth wide revealing the small sharp teeth within. “Hey, Applejack, Twilight is kinda busy right now. You know how she gets right before deadline.”

“Ah know and if it wasn’t important, we wouldn’t bother her, but the sooner this is taken care of the better for both of us.” Applejack put a hoof on Apple Bloom’s shoulder.

“Alright, I’ll go get her. It’ll take a while to pull her away from her lists.” Spike headed up the stairs to the upper level.

“Ya alright, sis?” Applejack sat on her haunches and turned Apple Bloom to face her. “It’s alright if ya don’t wanna go through with this.”

“Ah got to. It’ll be alright.” Apple Bloom looked up into her sister’s face and offered an encouraging smile.

“Jest remember, no matter what, I’ll be here for ya.” Applejack smiled back before she drew the yellow foal into a warm hug.

The sisters held each other until Twilight Sparkle appeared at the stairs. Her mane looked unkempt and there were bags under her eyes. “Applejack, I take it that you want me to cast a memory spell for Apple Bloom?”

“Yeah, the not knowin’ has been gettin’ to us. Ah know we’re comin’ in at a bad time, but if ya don’t mind we’d like to try the spell. . .”

“Sure, it worked with Rainbow Dash and I have some time to spare.” She descended the stairs and yawned. “Winter Welcome is tomorrow, are you guys ready for it?”

“As ready as we’ll ever be.” Applejack slid a foreleg around Apple Bloom’s shoulders. “The Apple Family will be there with apple pies, apple fritters, and apple tarts along with fresh Apple Family Cider.”

“Great.” Twilight could only hope her relief could reach her tired eyes. “Let’s get started. Apple Bloom, it may help if you sit on a cushion and relax.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is a good day.

Victory rarely had these thoughts. She never took the time to determine whether it was a bad or good day. The students were at their desks scribbling away writing letters to themselves in twenty years while she pondered this behind the desk.

Her mission would be complete soon. Winter was around so there would be no more screw ups and soon Jelly Jam would be out of her hair.

Victory couldn’t really understand why the woman irked her so much. There was something about her that infuriated her when she looked at the yeoman. Even during that first day when the yeoman came on board. The girl had stutter whenever she spoke and her handshake felt loose and weak. Victory never respected anyone that would show such weakness.

She used to respect everyone. Even the weak. Now weakness just infuriated her.

That was why Jelly infuriated her. She was a weak little bitch and tonight Victory will be doing her a favor.

Firstly, Victory would need to find out what information Jelly shared and whom she shared the information with. They always talk to Victory after a while. Sometimes it takes minutes, sometimes hours or sometimes it takes a few cuts and burns and other times it takes a bit more ‘effort’ but they always talk to her in the end.

How to do it though? They would be ponies tonight so she wouldn’t have full use of her human body. She wouldn’t have hands to break bones or wield a tool to cut flesh. Nor would she have the full use of her body to restrain or grapple. She had her levitation. She could left and throw objects easily and how could she forget. She had a weapon sharp atop of her head. Her horn was sharped and long.

“Mrs. Jam.” A bright blue filly had laid a piece of paper on the corner of her desk.

She blinked, yanked from her thoughts. “Yes, uh . . . Blue Button?”

“I finished with my letter. Are we going to go bury the time capsule?” Her mane was still damp from the hosing down she received when they returned to the school. Victory found a garden hose and gave each colt and filly a rinse when they returned from digging the grave . . . the hole.

“Jelly and I will be doing that tonight, dear. You got Winter Welcome to wake up for tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay. Are you looking forward to Winter Welcome tomorrow? Was that why you were smiling?”

“Yes, dear. I am looking forward to tomorrow. Go back to get some crayons and color for a bit. Go on.”

She watched the foal go to the small tin that held the crayons before she turned her attention back to the book on her desk. It was a pony biology book and on it was a mapping image of a pony’s skeleton and internal organs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The café served meals outside at small tables. Instead of chairs, piles of hay had been placed at the tables for seating. They chose a table at the edge of the café and a waiter pony that had a tidy mustache and groomed mane took their drink order.

When the waiter left, Winter leaned forward and spoke in a low voice, * “Is it me? Or does he have a serving platter for a cutie mark?” *

*“He does. But, shhhh, don’t make fun of it. Cutie marks are very important around here.” * Jelly whispered back in a low voice. * “Just be lucky that your name is so ponylike and you got a cutie mark. You have no idea the grief I’ve had because I don’t have one at my age.” *

Winter glanced down at the menu propped open against the salt and pepper shakers. * “A dandelion sandwich? Oatmeal milkshake? Tulip salad? Where’s the hamburgers and steak?” *

*“I don’t think I ever really seen any meat product here. I guess it’s safe to assume that the natives are vegetarian.” * Jelly studied her menu. * “The flowers really aren’t that bad.” *

*”Gross. I’ll take salad without the tulips.” *

Jelly selected the Power Flower platter. When the waiter returned with their drinks, tea and soda ( much to Winter’s disappointment no alcoholic drinks were offered ), and took their orders. As waiter wrote down Winter’s order with a pencil in his mouth and a note back in hoof, Jelly realized that this could be considered a date between them.

*“So tell me, when you aren’t writing letters or prancing around as a pony, what do you do?” * Winter leaned forward, hooves propped against the table, either truly interested or feigning.

* “I like to read or write to my grandparents.”* Jelly took a sip of tea through a straw.

* “Grandparents? Not parents?”*

* “I was raised by my grandparents. My parents died serving the Havensguard.”*

* “So what did they do?” *

Why this sudden interest in her background? It was flattering, but for Winter who had hardly glanced at her in the past to inquire so much was strange. * “They rain a power windmill farm. It provided power to the entire colony and every day I drove my grandfather from windmill to windmill for maintenance.”*

*”Hmm, didn’t know you had a mechanical hand.”* Winter took a casual sip from his soda bottle.

* “Not really. I’m mechanically illiterate. I drove, Grandpa fixed. The windmills were too high up for me and I had an issue with heights. Grandma pretty much ran the household.”*

* “Are they proud of their granddaughter for enlisting?”*

* “N-not really. They think I went into it for the wrong reason and I’m beginning to think they’re right. After this mission, I’m going home. Laotaner said she’d sign my discharge request.”*

The waiter arrived with their food. The flowers were stacked in a circular mound on her plate and she could tell that some of them had been steamed and seasoned. Flavors danced along her tongue as she ate heartily. She kept her eyes downward because Winter was giving her strange look watching her eat flowers.

*”So tell me. Were your parents proud when you enlisted?”* Jelly licked her lips, that tulip had a bit too much season on it.

* “They’re not around to be proud. Mom was killed and Dad was sent to prison for killing her.”*

Jelly froze in the middle of snagging a flower with her teeth. * “Oh god.” *

Winter shook his head, waving a hoof. * “Don’t worry about it. It happened more than twenty years ago when I was a kid. Dad was a bit drunker than usual and he kept slamming her head on the kitchen floor one too many times.”*

Jelly felt all the food she had eaten preparing to exit the way it enter. * “You were there . . .”*

Winter inclined his head, his eyes glancing to the side as if recalling a casual time. * “Yeah, I was one of the usual families in Winslip slums. Drunken father, weepy mother, and too many kids to feed.” *

*”Were you there when it . . .burned down?” *

* “No. I was being bounced around in foster care outside of that district. The fire happened after dad killed mom.” *

Laotaner had been a social worker for Winslip. Coincidence? *”This must be hard to talk about.”*

*”Not really. You either deal with shit or it deals with you.”* He spoke with a small shrug of the shoulders.

Jelly felt her mouth go dry, but she sucked on her tongue to wet her mouth enough to speak, * “Did . . . did your mother ever . . . try to get help?”*

Winter leaned forward, as if noticing her discomfort and taking pleasure in it. * “Yeah, she did. Whenever it got bad, which was often, she’d call this social worker who would call the cops. Mom was too afraid to call them herself. The last time . . . mom called, but . . . the social worker did nothing.”*

*”That’s terrible. What was her name?”*

* “Why do you want to know her name?” * This time Winter looked uncomfortable.

“Jelly?”

The aqua unicorn looked over to see Smokey with his son perched on his back. He was glancing between her and Winter and she noticed the hard line his brows made as if he was seeing something he didn’t like. “Hello, Smokey. This is Winter, he’s from the north like me.”

“Pleasetameetcha.” Winter waved a hoof at him.

Smokey nodded, “It’s nice to meet you too.”

Ember hopped off his father’s back with surprising dexterity for his size and age. He trotted with a short whinny to Jelly. She found herself collecting the foal into her forelegs as she would hold a child.

“Hey, Ember.” She touched her nose to his as her forelegs drew him into a hug. “Do you remember me from school?”

“Cute little squirt,” Winter commented.

“So, Winter Welcome is tomorrow. . . .” Smokey started as he approached their table.

*“Eh, they made a holiday welcoming me.”* Winter the pony/human joked.

Ember wriggled away from her and trotted on small legs around the table to Winter’s side where he nosed through the grass. Winter craned his head around to watch the foal, his attention away from them.

“Yeah, I heard. I suppose Ember is excited.”

“I don’t think Ember understands, but I know he’ll have a good time tomorrow.” Smokey stared into her face so hard it made her look away.

She saw Winter sprawled on his stomach on the grass with legs spread into a star shape. Inches from his nose, Ember was in a similar position with little legs stretched from his body which was completely dwarfed by Winter’s. The black pegasus rolled onto his side which Ember mimicked.

“Is he your . . .friend?” Smokey cast his eyes to Winter. Jelly noticed that the word friend was spoken sharper than necessary.

He doesn’t like Winter. Jelly looked again at Winter who was on his back his head laid back so he was looking at Ember who was on his back as well. “He’s . . .”

“Her step-brother.” Winter rolled onto his other side and then onto his stomach and was followed by Ember.

Smokey stared at him surprise written on his face as was Jelly’s. “But you’re a pegasus.”

“Dad was a pegasus. Heard sis was in the hospital so I flew on down to check on her.”

“Oh . . . I went by to you, but you had already checked out,” Smokey said.

“I didn’t want to spend too long there anyway. It was nice of you to come by regardless.”

“Are you going to the Winter Dance alone?”

“I’ll likely be going with my mother.”

“Uh-I . . . I’ll see you there.” He wanted to ask her something, she could hear it in his voice, but he collected Ember who was at the moment was playing a game of tug of war with Winter using a cloth napkin.

Winter watched him go with bemusement. * “He likes you.” *

*He’s a very nice pony and his son is cute too.”* Jelly resumed eating, her snout dipping into the petals.

* “No, I mean he’s got a thing for you. He thought we were on a date, did you see him give me the stink eye?” *

* “Nothing is going on. But then again as my “brother” you would be concerned about that.” * Smokey was a nice pony, but he wasn’t a human man.

It did sting a little when he labeled himself as her brother. So this wasn’t a date after all. She should have known better, she supposed. They were ponies right now. Maybe once the mission was over and they were both human, maybe . . . maybe she’d ask Winter out. Maybe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Apple Bloom. Close your eyes. I want you to think back to right before you went missing. Back to when you were with Applejack on the farm. Then we’re going to follow your memory to the point when you returned. It may become scary, but I want you to remember that no matter what, you are safe in the library with Applejack and me. Whatever happened, you made it out okay and returned home. Okay, just nod your head when you are ready.”

Twilight Sparkle saw the small head bob and performed the spell. As gentle as a feather alighting on a surface, she touched the filly’s mind with magic. It started out easily enough as the darkness behind her eyes gave way to light of day. She could see through the filly’s eyes and it brought back nostalgia as she remembered being small and young. She was looking up at Applejack and speaking. They were having a small sisterly argument that resulted in Apple Bloom storming off.

Twilight could see the shadows of the dappling leaves from above, and then felt the sharp pain of Apple Bloom’s mane being pulled. Then she viewed the chase through the filly’s eyes. The filly chased the shade through the orchard toward the Everfree forest.

The darkness of the forest brought a dark feeling to her breast, but she continued the spell, feeling apprehension of what may follow. Time sped up; Apple Bloom wondered the forest for hours after losing pursuit of the specter. Then came the wild cat.

The terror raked icy claws through Twilight’s heart and she had to remind herself that Apple Bloom was safe in her home. The danger had past and couldn’t hurt the filly anymore.

The memory continued until they came to the river. Apple Bloom clung for dear life to the rocks. Death was certain, either by drowning, the cold, or by the hungry animal that waited at the river’s edge.

Then something happened.

Something happened that Twilight Sparkle had never experienced.

The magic recoiled back onto her.

She was pulled downward into a darkness that consumed all light. If she had a voice, she would scream.

Then her body was given physicality. Her hooves pounded on the smooth ebony darkness as she galloped. Her ears were flat, and her legs moved with speed that edged on panic. It was behind her. It was behind her and it was coming for her. Her breathing labor from the exertion of her need to flee and it hissed from her open mouth in desperate whistles.

She wasn’t alone. Her friends were fleeing. Applejack galloped with her head bent and determined, Rarity’s styled curls flew behind her, Pinkie Pie’s teeth were gritted in a grimace, and Rainbow Dash cried out.

Twilight looked behind her and saw what was giving chase. It was darker than their surrounds and moved in a cloud as ink dripped into water. With the depths of that cloud, something brew and festered with hatred.

This wasn’t the envy of Nightmare Moon, the mad glee of Discord, or the greed of the Changeling Queen. This was pure, unbridled, rage and hatred entangled into a web of desire for agony and destruction.

Run run little pony. For if I catch you. I will surely kill you.

The voice was black charcoal across white satin. It’s voice was hatred with sound. The hunger to sink sharp metals into flesh, to pull and break.

Fluttershy was lagging behind, her pumping hooves failing her, allowing the darkness to draw closer and closer. Tears stream down her cheeks and in her eyes, Twilight could see that she knew her death had come.

Black webbing snared the yellow mare’s legs and snapped taunt. Fluttershy’s bones broke as she was pitched forward. Twilight barely cried her name before the being of hatred and rage swept over her shivering form.

The sounds that follow pressed her heart in her throat. Tears blurred her vision, but the terror kept her running for even taking Fluttershy, the hatred didn’t slow.

One by one, they fell.

Rarity was hauled into the Hatred by her beautiful mane. Her hooves kicked and struggled to gain purchase, but she too was taken.

Pinkie Pie fell, she rolled once and the Hatred had her. Her convulsing pink body was consumed.

Rainbow Dash, oh brave Rainbow Dash. She turned and fought. She flew into the darkness with hooves swinging, but the snapping of bone and her short shriek announced her failure.

And still it came. Still hungry, still angry, still hating.

Why? Why did it hate them? What crime did they commit that such hatred should be directed toward them?

Nothing. You exist and I exist. Therefore I hate you. HATE. HATE. HATE.

“Go, Twilight, go.” Applejack’s tears poured down her face and with a smile, the only light in that void.

The hatred snuffed that light as Applejack gave up. She stood still, head bowed and the Hatred swarmed.

Twilight Sparkle wailed, her heart in physical and emotional pain, and still her legs carried her.

A wall, dark, solid as a tombstone blocked her. She stopped, her hooves slamming on the black surface as she keened in desperation.

The Hatred stopped. It stood behind her, watching and enjoying her despair. It drew closer and she could see a shape covered in smears of hue. The eyes were red and dark and below them was a grin, wide as Pinkie Pie’s when she’s about devour a cupcake.

I am going to beat, rape, mutilate, and kill you. And not necessarily in that same order.

It went for her.

“TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT SPARKLE, STOP! PLEASE STOP!”

She flung open her eyes. She was in the library and in Applejack’s embrace. Spike was at her side, fear and concern written on his face and across the room Apple Bloom huddle on the cushion shaking.

Twilight felt tears rolling down her face and her body would not stop shaking. Applejack held her close and said, “Sugar, it’s alright now. Ya started screamin’ and would not stop. The ponies outside heard and they are sendin’ for the doctor. What happened?”

Twilight saw her friend giving her a small smile and she burst into sobs that wracked her body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the school, it was story time.

Victory chose a story called The Fox and the Rabbit. She had the book open and she read out loud for the whole class to ear.

"The rabbit saw how sharp the fox’s teeth were and became afraid. He ran away as fast as he could and the fox said, ‘Run run little rabbit.” Victory looked up and smiled as she said, “For if I catch you, I will surely kill you.”

Cafes and Hints

Applejack offered to stay with her, but Twilight Sparkle insisted that she was fine and that Applejack should take Apple Bloom home.

“It’s alright. Really, I am. I was careless and the spell backfired. It happens all the time.” She only hoped that her voice wasn’t shaking as much as her hooves. “I just need to rest. I’ll go upstairs and sleep for a few hours and I’ll be alright.”

The only reason Applejack agreed to leave her was because Apple Bloom was trembling herself. The filly had been spared viewing the dark vision, but the memory of her run in with the Wild Cat had hit with fresh trauma. The filly had tear stains on her face and she kept looking behind her as if fearful the Wildcat was still after her.

Applejack left with the promise of returning to check on her. After she left, then Twilight had to contend with Spike’s flustering over her.

“Twilight, do you want some tea? Or warm milk? I can get the doctor to come back.”

“There’s no need, Spike. I’m fine. The doctor said I was fine.” She was sitting on the cushion where she was set when she had calmed down enough to offer assurances of her wellbeing.

“He wasn’t here to see ya earlier when you were screaming. What happened? I’ve seen you cast spells a bazillion times and spells have backfired before, but not like this.” He threw his arms open towards her. “I thought you were havin’ a seizure.”

“I wasn’t having a seizure. It was just a reaction to the spell. I’m going upstairs to write my report to the Princess . . .”

“You’re going to tell her what happened because you’re worried.” Spike crossed his arms, his large eyes slanted.

“Spike,” Twilight warned.

He tossed up his arms in frustration. “Alright, if ya don’t wanna talk about it with me then that’s fine, but at least you’re letting the Princess know about it.”

He finally left her alone to take up his chores and she was able to retire to her room. She glanced out the window, her thoughts heavy with the memory of the vision. Was a really a reaction from the misfired spell or was it a warning? Regardless, this was something she should share with the Princess.

It took nearly two full scrolls to convey the circumstances of the event and describe what she experienced. She also noted that the substitute teacher from the north had arrived and was doing well. Twilight considered writing about Jelly’s injury, but decided to forgo that for now. Right now, the important thing was sharing with the princess the terrible vision she had.

When she finished, she rolled up the scrolls into a single roll and sealed them. She had Spike send the letter which he did so, but not without another round of inquiries about her state of mind and health and more insisting that she see a doctor.

She was able to placate him by allowing him to brew a calming tea for her. And while he was busy, she took this time to meditate on the events of the past. So much has happened. The red comet, Apple Bloom going missing with no memory of it, the metal eye that grounded Rainbow Dash and attacked Pinkie Pie, and now this horrid vision, deep in her heart she knew that all of this was linked together somehow. But how did they connect? And what did it mean for her, her friends, Ponyville, or Equestria?

When Spike returned with tea, he came with the Princess’s response. Twilight hastily broke the seal and unrolled it for her hungry eyes.

Dearest Student,

The vision you had was likely a harsh magical backlash from the memory spell which is common since you were sharing a memory with a filly that had experienced a life threatening situation. Such backlashes can be very frightening and traumatic both physically and mentally. The backlash was likely due to stress and fatigue from Winter Welcome preparations. Memory or any spell of the mind can be difficult and should only be performed by a well-rested mind.

However, I will concede that magic has been known to cause visions or premonitions of future events or give warnings of impending disasters to the caster, but these are very rare events and there is no need for concern. I urge you to put the vision out of your mind and enjoy Winter Welcome because I know how hard you’ve worked to make it a grand event. And if you are still concerned about it after the celebration, then you and I can discuss it when you come to the Winter Ball with the tickets I’ve enclosed. There is one for each of your friends and two extras for the teacher and her daughter.

The Winter Ball usually turns out better than the Galloping Gala.

Your eternal teacher,

Princess Celestia

Twilight unrolled the scroll to see the tickets held together with a paperclip.

When she showed Spike, he smacked a hand to his brow, “Ugh, I hope this dance doesn’t end like the Galloping Gala.”

“Rarity and Rainbow Dash will likely go, but I don’t know about the others. They may want to sit this one out.” Twilight handed the tickets to Spike for safekeeping. “I’ll hand them out during the Winter Welcome tomorrow.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Princess Celestia gazed out the window toward the royal gardens. They were being decorated by the staff for the Winter Ball with white and blue streamers and starlets hung in the tall bushes. Then she lifted her gaze to the solid blue sky, bright and inviting from the warmth of the sun she had brought forth for Equestria.

Despite the cheery view, her heart was heavy with a deep worry. Signs had been cropping up that gripped her suspicion and concern. Luckily, she had postponed any regal proceedings for that day due to the eve of Winter Welcome. It gave her time to consider the future. “Luna, change is coming.”

Her sister, the Night Goddess raised her head from the sofa with a straw between her lips from where she had been sipping Sun Tea. The Royal Sisters spent their time together whenever possible. It wasn’t as often as they would have liked since one took charge of the day and the other night. “Why do you say that, Celestia?”

“I feel it. I recognize this feeling. I felt it before we overthrew Discord’s rule and then back when I took over the duty of calling forth the sun.”

“You’re just upset because of the missing zebra foal.” Luna rose to her hooves and moved to Celestia’s side. Their constantly flowing tails entangled for a moment as she took her place beside her sister. The hair slowly parted, almost unwillingly. “The guards haven’t stopped looking and they’ll keep looking until she is found.”

“Until then, her father will continue to claim that this is a pony plot against the Zebra Kingdom. And there is the matter of the missing unicorn foal, Sweet Hearts. Both gone. What kind of kingdom is this that innocents could disappear and not be found?”

“This is not your fault. You’ve done everything in your power to find them and they will be found. I promise.” It was a promise that the Goddess of Stars and the Moon dearly hoped could be kept.

“Twilight Sparkle had a vision.” Celestia turned away from the window, using her magic to let the drapes fall back into place. “A memory spell recoiled against her and she saw something that terrified her.”

“Recoiled magic can do that sometimes, especially if it’s a spell of the mind. It’s surely nothing to worry about.” Luna turned and followed her sister into their private parlor.

“If it was any other student from my school, I would agree, but this is Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia’s wings folded against her sides before lowering herself onto a cushion. “She is the most talented and promising student I have had in the last thousand years and she is the bearer for the Element of Magic. When a pony such as her gets a vision, then there is meaning behind it.”

“Then if you fear this vision, what must be done?” Luna claimed the cushion beside her, looking up at her sister from her smaller stature.

“Wait and hope. If destiny is in play, then there is nothing we can do to hinder or aid it. There is no need to worry her during Winter Welcome. I don’t believe the danger is impending at this time.” Celestia rolled a hoof along the edge of an empty cup provided by the servants. On the small table before them was a bottle of Petal Juice, a favored drink for the Princesses. “Also, the teacher who took over in Ponyville isn’t from the north. I believe she and her daughter aren’t who they say they are.”

Luna blinked. “How do you know that?”

“Because I received a letter from Yogurt Cream stating that she wouldn’t be able to take over Cheerilee’s teaching position due to a broken leg.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing. Ponyville needed a teacher, somepony stepped up, and Twilight says that she’s doing very well. It may be that a pony just needs a chance to prove herself and you and I both know how much it can pay off to give a pony a chance.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Applejack could feel her young sister trembling on her back. The filly had uttered a word since their departure from the library. The farm mare had planned on taking Apple Bloom to school after the memory spell, but now she felt it was better to take her home for the rest of the day.

“Apple Bloom, how ‘bout we get sugar and eggs and make some Apple Family Pancakes for dinner.”

“Pancakes for dinner?” That caught her attention.

“Yeah, I think Rainbow Dash called it Brinner. Sounds like fun ta me.”

“O-okay.”

“Do ya wanna talk ‘bout it, hun?” Applejack asked gently.

“Ah almost died.”

Applejack stopped walking, “But ya didn’t. Ya safe now.”

“Ah was so scared.”

Applejack sat down, sliding Apple Bloom off her back and drawing her around. “Sugar, Ah’m so sorry you went through that. Ah’d walk through fire ‘fore I let anythin’ ‘appen to ya.”

“Ya weren’t there. Ah was all by muhself and that Wildcat was gonna kill me.” Unshed tears glistened in the filly’s eyes. “And we still don’t know how Ah got back. How did Ah get out of the water without that thing eatin’ me?”

Applejack drew a hoof along her sister’s cheek in a physical attempt to take away her pain. “Please, believe me when Ah say it’s alright. Ya ain’t alone now and Ah believe that for you to git outta mess like that, ya had some help so ya wasn’t alone then.”

“But then who saved me?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jelly stood on the dais and for the first time really looked at herself as a pony. Her eyes were larger and so blue. Her mane and tail were the same blue brilliance and appeared sharply in contrast with her soft green coat. Her mane was being held away from her face while Rarity discussed possible hair accessories with her.

“The tiara with amethysts looks perfect with the dress, but then we can try flowers instead.”

“I like the tiara.” Jelly turned her head, enjoying seeing the precious stones catch the light. “I could wear my hair back in a braid.”

“Oh no. Your mane is too lovely to be hidden away. It should be curled at the ends and worn loose.”

After they had left the café, Winter had taken leave to see City Hall for himself. He claimed that he wanted to see the sights and enjoy himself; also that he wasn’t much good in female territory in dresses. They parted ways and Jelly decided to go to her dress fitting since it seemed likely they were going to stay longer after all.

Rarity did most of the talking, occasionally inquiring upon Jelly’s comments on her appearance. She spoke about town gossip about who was taking who the dance, and then she went on about Canterlot fashion and members of the elite. The names of course meant nothing to Jelly, but she enjoyed hearing their names.

“Then Fancy Pants showed up wearing a blue bard and for the rest of the season blue was the new black,” Rarity chatted away.

“Fancy Pants. . .” Jelly could see her reflection’s mouth tighten as she struggled not to laugh.

“Oh, he’s just the most popular unicorn in Canterlot. I was personally invited to one of his gatherings during my stay in Canterlot.” Rarity magically carried three boxes from nearby case and then set them on the floor while lifting the lids off. Inside were round slippers, one pair looked as it was made of glass, another pair had ribbons, and the last pair looked like small boots.

“Shoes?” Jelly was surprised when she saw them. She had believed that ponies didn’t have any footwear at all since they had hooves.

“Slippers,” Rarity corrected. “Let’s try on each pair until we find the pair you like and looks fabulous.”

The door swung open and Applejack and Apple Bloom came inside. Jelly drew in a quick breath when she saw the filly and when the filly saw her, she shrank back. The green unicorn offered a cheerful smile, “It’s good to see you, Apple Bloom.”

“Hello, Miss Jam,” Apple Bloom said weakly.

“Apple Bloom, Ah think ya got sumthin’ ta say ta Miss Jam.” Applejack prodded the filly with a hoof.

“Um . . . Ah’m sorry,” Apple Bloom whispered. “It was wrong of me ta go through yer stuff and take things.”

“It’s alright, Apple Bloom. You can keep the pictures. They’re yours anyways.”

Apple Bloom raised her face with wide eyes. She and Jelly looked into each other’s eyes from across the boutique and understanding crossed between them. Jelly gave the filly a small wink which could mean anything.

“We jest came by ta see if ya got my duds ready for tomorrow.”

“It’s ready. I have it in the back if you want to see it.”

“Sure, I’ll come back and see. Apple Bloom, ya stay here and stay outta trouble, ya hear?”

“Yes.” Apple Bloom sat on her haunches with eyes doe like, looking the image of innocence.

Applejack followed Rarity into the back and the curtain hadn’t fallen into place before Apple Bloom charged across the room to the dais. She lifted her front hooves onto the edge and looked with pleading eyes at her. “Ya know somethin’. Ya know what ‘appened ta me.”

Jelly glanced at the closed curtain and leaned forward folding her front legs beneath her. The dress rustled and she worried that she was wrinkling it. Despite it, she leaned close and whispered, “Yes, but I can’t tell you right now. I promise that soon I will tell you everything that happened.”

“Were ya the one that save me from the Wildcat?”

“Not me, someone else, but he brought you to me and I did take care of you.” Jelly wanted so much to tell her more, but she dared not. Apple Bloom’s memory was erased to save her life. She didn’t know what would happen if she regained it.

“Did ya take away muh memory?”

“No, no, not me. It was someone else who ordered that and it was done for your own protection or I would never have allowed them to do that.” Jelly glanced away at the curtain and said, “Please, don’t ask me any more questions because I really can’t. I wish I could, but there’ll be trouble if I do. And you have to promise me that you won’t speak of this to anyone. Please, promise me.”

Apple Bloom looked as if she would protect, but a determine look filled her eyes and said, “Ah’ll promise if ya make a Pinkie Promise ta tell me what’s what later on.”

“O-okay, but I don’t know how.” Ponies didn’t have pinky fingers.

“It’s easy. ‘Cross muh heart, hope ta fly, stick a cupcake in muh eye.” Apple Bloom demonstrated by crossing a hoof over her heart, waved it above her head, and then pressed it against her right eye.

“Uh, okay. ‘Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a c-c-cupcake in my eye.” Jelly copied the hoof motion and ended with her hoof against her eye.

The filly looked satisfied and nodded, “Fine, Ah’ll stop askin’, but ya gotta tell me soon ‘bout what’s goin’ on.”

“I will soon.”

“Oh! Ah know Ah promised not ta ask no more, but Ah got one more. Did ya draw the picture of me in the white dress?”

Jelly smiled, her eyes threatening to well with tears, “I did, beautiful. I did draw that for you.”

“Hey, beautiful. Sorry, I woke you. I just had a bad time.”

Apple Bloom’s tail swung as the memory flowed like spring water on a hot day through her mind. The curtain brushed aside and Applejack walked through with a package string between her teeth. “A’ple Boom, ‘et’s go.”

Jelly stood up as Apple Bloom stepped away from the dais. Before they could leave, the door swung open and Sweetie Belle bounded inside, “Apple Bloom! Guess what! We’re doing a time capsule at school. We got to dig a big hole and Mrs. Jam was really really nice and happy today. She read us stories, let us write letters to ourselves twenty years from now for the time capsule, and let us have an extra-long recess. And then she let us leave early for Winter Welcome!”

“Wait, ya mean that . . .Victory was . . . nice?” Apple Bloom stared amazed. She was no more astounded than Jelly whose jaw dropped in shocked.

“Yeah! I asked her if you could write your letter and I could take it back and she said, yes. But she and Miss Jam are going to bury the letters tonight so she’s gotta get it before then.”

“Apple Bloom, how about you go ahead and write your letter and I can take it with me to the school. I was planning on going by there once we finished anyway,” Jelly offered.

“Applejack, can Ah stay here with Sweetie Belle and then meet ya home later?” Apple Bloom turned to her sister.

At first, Jelly believed the mare would say no, but then her eyes soften. She set the parcel on the floor and said, “Ya come straight home when ya get done. Before dark, ya hear?”

“Yes ma’am!”

As Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom scampered upstairs, the white unicorn foal said, “Mrs. Jam wanted the hole pretty deep. She even jumped in and laid down in it to make sure that it was just the right size.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I can’t find my glasses!” May looked under the seats with her blue rear with a mirror cutie mark and green tail in the air.

“I found them.” A green pony walked over on three legs while a forehoof held the thin rimmed glasses. “Honestly, May, this is the third time . . . third time today that you lost these. Either not wear them or just get a glasses chain.”

“No, glasses chains get tangled in my mane.” May retrieved her glasses from her sister, Truth. “Thanks though.”

She set the glasses on her nose in time to see a very good looking stallion enter the auditorium. He was jet black with white mane and tail with an ice sword for a cutie mark. He was looking about with amber eyes as if searching for someone.

“Wow.” Truth turned to see what her sister was staring at and got an eyeful of the handsome stallion. “Who is that?”

“I don’t know, but I would love to know.”

“Oh, hay! He’s coming this way.”

“Hey, ladies. I’m looking for a green unicorn with a white streak in her hair. I heard that she may be a musician.” The pegasus stallion gave them a bright smile that made their hearts melt.

“You mean Lyra Heartstrings? She left after practice. She said something about looking for something around the bridge,” Truth replied.

“Oh, she’s at the bridge. Okay, I know where that is, thanks.” He turned away and they watched him leave the auditorium the way he came in.

“Lyra Heartstrings is one lucky mare. . . .”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Winter found the unicorn mare at the same bridge from last night. She was standing on her hind hooves, looking over the edge into the water. He glanced at her hip and confirmed that on it was the right mare by the cutie mark harp.

He assumed that she was looking for him again. Not him as a stallion, but the human him. He approached her, tucking his wings against his side. He found that he rather walk with wings spread whereas with folded wings made him feel like he’s wearing a vest.

“Hello, lost something?” he asked casually as reared onto his back legs beside her. He placed his hooves on the bridge rail and looked to see if recognition would cross her eyes.

It didn’t. “No, I didn’t lose anything. I saw something strange last night and I’m hoping it’ll come back.”

“Was it an animal?” He made sure to make his voice curious and intrigued.

“No, I don’t think it was an animal, but it wasn’t a pony either. It was much too big to be one and it walked on two legs.”

“It may have been a big bird.”

“No, it wasn’t a bird. It didn’t have any fur or feathers. It had a dark mane though.” Lyra turned to Winter and said, “And it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw.”

Winter blinked. “Oh.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was near dark by the time Jelly left Rarity’s boutique. All the details were discussed and tried before Rarity was satisfied enough to allow her to leave. Mane and tail design, slippers, makeup, jewelry, and even perfume were covered for tomorrow. She even booked Jelly an appointment for a spa treatment tomorrow afternoon before the dance would take place. When she was human, she had gone to hair salons and even had her nails done a few times, but nothing to the degree Rarity was spoke of. Massage, hoofincure, steam bath, mud mask, and hair style was the order for tomorrow. When Jelly admitted that there was no way she could pay for this, Rarity dismissed it and stated that it was free since her mother was helping Ponyville out with the foals.

And that was a reminder for errand. In her mouth, she carried Apple Bloom’s letter sealed in an envelope. The filly had written her letter, played with Sweetie Belle, and then hurried toward home once it looked the sun was setting.

Along the way, she took enjoyment in seeing the decoration and the stalls and games along the streets. Ponies were also admiring the decorations and up above, the pegasi were moving clouds together to create an overcast sky. For the first time, she realized that air was cooler than it was this morning. It was almost chilly enough to warrant a coat.

When she arrived at the school, the sun was just a half disc on the horizon. Before she reached the door, Victory appeared at the door way and looked toward the setting sun. * “Looks like Luna is taking over.” *

*“Who?” * Jelly said through the envelope.

*“Princess Luna, this world’s goddess of the night. I’m surprised that you haven’t learned who the rulers of this world are. The ponies practice ruler worship. Two princesses, one can bring up the sun and the other brings the night. They recently had a thousand year old spat that has just been reconciled due to ponies from this town.” *

*“I’be ‘een issy.” * Jelly held out the letter. *“A’ple Boom’s ‘etter.” *

Victory’s magic took the letter from Jelly’s mouth. * “Ah, just in time. I’m about to bury the letters.” *

Victory took it inside and Jelly followed her. Victory carried it to plastic tubberware sitting on the edge of the desk. * “I’ll need you to come with me . . .to bury it.” *

*“Okay, I can do that.” * Jelly noticed that Victory wasn’t her usual self. She was actually smiling, not a mean snarky smile, but a genuine pleasant smile. * “You’re happy.” *

*“Really? I look happy?” * She popped open the tub with magic and laid the letter inside. * “I guess I am happy. Weird, I’m not usually so happy.” *

* “I think everyone deserves to be happy every once in a while,” * Jelly said.

* “Yeah, I think so too. Isn’t that strange.” * Victory snapped the lid shut.

* “I heard you did very well with the foals today. Sweetie Belle said that she had a lot of fun today.” *

* “Yeah, I didn’t terrorize them or punish them in any way. I was actually nice to them today.” *

* “Are you dying?” * Jelly had to ask.

* “Oh, everyone is always dying. I’m not going to be the one that die today.” * Victory wrapped the tub with a roll of tape.

* “That’s good.” *

* “That’s very good.” * Victory’s back was to Jelly. If she had been facing Jelly, then the yeoman pony would have seen her smile turn predatory>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*“Goodness, it certainly had turned cold.” * Jelly shivered as Victory led her toward the burial site for the time capsule.

* “It’s the pegasi. They are getting everything ready for First Snow tomorrow.” * Victory answered without looking back. * “May I ask you a personal question, since you asked me one yesterday?” *

* “Sure. I don’t mind.”

* “Why did you enlist? Just curious.” * Victory paused for a moment, giving her a quick glance over the shoulder.

* “Uh . . .well . . .it’s personal.” *

* “That’s why I said that it was a personal question.” * Victory usual venom edged the words as her impatience filtered through.

* “Oh . . . um . . . well, I found out something about myself that wasn’t true.” *

* “Such as?” *

Jelly paused and looked down at her hooves. * “Uhhh . . . I think . . . that. Look, let me ask you this . . .and this may be a shitty way of asking . . .but do you remember where you were or what you were doing on Oro 21 4308?” *

*”How the hell am I supposed to remember something that happened more than twenty years ago?” * Victory stopped to glare impatiently at her. * “I don’t like guessing games.” *

* “I’m not surprised, but please. I think it would be easier for both of us if you remember. Oro 21 4308 . . . what were you doing?” * Jelly felt herself trembling inside.

* “Give me a second to think, dammit.” *

They continued while Victory’s cheery mood slipped away. The hole was a deep black wound in the earth. It was deep, deeper than Victory had wanted, but the foals just enjoyed digging so much she allowed them dig the hole another three feet deeper.

Nice and deep. A perfect burial place for Jelly’s body.

The sun had gone, leaving the stars as an audience for the happenings on Equestria. Victory dropped the tub into the hole where it bounced along the sod before it rested at the bottom. Jelly peered into the hole, barely able to see the rub in the darkness. * “Wow, did it really have to be so deep?” *

*”Foals like to dig. Especially the earth ones. I ended up having to levitate them in and out of that hole before we finished.” *

* “It’s going to be a bitch to fill in.” * Jelly grimaced as she looked at the mountain of soil and sod with a single shovel stuck in it.

* “Yeah . . .it will be.” * Especially since I’ll be filling it in myself. Victory cast her gaze to Jelly. * “So if I guess what’s important about that date, Oro 21 4380, then I have a better understanding of why you enlisted and why you are on my ship?” *

Jelly nodded, exhaling a long breath. * “Yeah.” *

*”Okay, I’ll play along. I’ll consider it a last request.” * Victory stomped a hoof near the edge of the hole. At Jelly’s confused look, Victory leaned forward bringing her snout close to the aqua unicorn’s. * “I know about how you’ve been investigating me . . . I don’t like that. I don’t like it at all.” *

Jelly’s coloring drained to a near sickly grey. She glanced at the hole and then back at Victory. * “You had those foals . . . dig a grave for me . . .” *

*“Yes, yes, I am very terrible person. Okay. Oro 21 4308. What was I doing? Was I killing someone? Was I blowing something up? Come on . . . give me a little hint.” * She stepped closer to Jelly, causing the younger unicorn to stumble onto her haunches, sitting on the upturned soil.

Jelly could hardly speak, but through trembling lips she whispered, * “You were in a hospital.” *

*”So I was injured. Big deal. My job is dangerous, I’ve been hospitals and medical ward countless times.” *

* “You weren’t injured.” *

* “There was that time when I had an infection . . .” *

* “No, you weren’t sick either . . .” *

Victory narrowed her eyes as her patience was reaching its end. *”Okay, give me another hint. Why is this date so important to you?” *

The aqua unicorn straightened her shoulders as if she was bracing herself for pain. * “It’s the day I was born.” *

*”And what the hell does that have to do . . . . with me. . . .” Victory’s body which had been tense with potential violence recoiled as if she had been burned. She stared at Jelly with new eyes. * “Shit . . . shit shit shit shit . . . . .shit.” *

* “My father was a medical officer on the Zanburst while it was involved in the Salva conflict. His name was Stuart Briggs . . .” * Jelly looked down at the grass between her hooves, not wishing to see Victory’s face. * “You guys met . . .and I was born nine months later . . .” *

*”Fuck me . . . .”* Victory sat heavily on her haunches as if all the spirit had been sucked from her. Her hooves planted on her head as she stared in horror at the aqua unicorn.

* “Yeah, that’s kinda how I came around.” * Jelly looked up at Victory, her eyes shining with unshed tears. * “ . . . .Mom . . .”

Bottles and Burps

*“Don’t call me that. . . .don’t call me that.” * Victory pressed her hooves over her eyes. * “Don’t you ever fucking call me that again. . .” *

* “S-sorry . . . this isn’t how I wanted to tell you.” *

* “Stop talking . . . just stop talking right now . . .” *

Jelly sat in silence as Victory slowly absorbed the information. Inside, she felt as if a hungry dog was gnawing at her organs. She wanted Victory to say something to her, anything at all. Then she heard herself start talking, * “Dad sent me to live with my grandparents . . .he died when the Zanburst went down above Salvo. I . . never had the chance to meet him . . .I thought for so long believed that my mother had died. It wasn’t until two years ago, I found out. My college fund was running out and I was looking for a scholarship I could apply for. There was one for students whose had a parent die in one of the wars . . .I figured that since I had both parents killed in action, then I would certainly qualify. I found my father’s death certificate, but I never found yours. When I asked my grandparents, they told me the truth. I wanted . . . to find you.” *

*“Why?” * Victory still covered her eyes and was rocking. Jelly feared that she may fall into the hole by accident, but she dared not move.

* “I . . .wanted to . . .to know you. You’re my mother . . .” *

* “And do you like what you found?” *

Anything that Jelly would have said next died before it even left her lips.

*“I kill people.” * Victory dropped her hooves and Jelly was able to see her eyes. There was anger and disgust, but it wasn’t only directed towards her. * “Back on Shraxi, I killed this Shraxian’s whole family for information. I asked him where his leader was hidden; he refused to speak so I bashed his youngest’s head against a tree until it was dead. Again, I asked the same question, he said he didn’t know. So I shot his second youngest in the head. Again, I asked. He said he didn’t know. So I slit his eldest’s throat. I ended up killing his wife, his mother, and even his goddamn thing they used as cows. And you know something . . .I knew he didn’t know anything. He was just grunt, they don’t tell grunts shit, but I did it because not only to put the fear of me in his associates, but because it felt fucking good. It felt so goddamn good, I had a cigarette afterwards. And don’t think that was the only time.” *

Jelly learned that sometimes emotions can be so intense and confused that it was possible to feel nothing. To have emotions cored away until you were empty inside as a hollowed shell, because if you were able to experience each of them, you would go insane.

Victory closed her eyes and then rose to her hooves. She moved slowly as if greatly fatigued. * “You don’t want me for a mother . . . in fact, I didn’t want you. Seriously, why the hell would you look for a mother that popped you out and left. And not call, write, or even send you a fucking card on your birthday? That has got to be the stupidest shit I ever heard of.” *

Jelly couldn’t speak. If she did . . .she didn’t know what sound would come out.

*“Okay, here is what you are going to do. You get to walk. Understand? You get to walk, me Noa Laotaner is giving you a chance to walk out of this unscathed and trust me when I say this, it doesn’t happen very often.” * Victory glared at her as she stepped closer, her hooves crushing the soil as she crushed a unicorn’s heart. * “Go back to the inn, get your shit and go back to the ship. Go to your quarters and stay there for the duration of the mission. I’ll sign your resignation and when we dock back on Haven territory, you’ll leave. Go home. Don’t try to contact me, don’t think about me, and don’t even try to remember me. Because I will not be giving you the same inclination either.” *

The aqua unicorn could barely get to her hooves with her body trembling as if she had suffered a crippling injury. She walked with head lowered, and tail limp. Victory didn’t watch her leave, she kept her eyes forward as the unicorn past and it wasn’t until the unicorn had gone that she sat on the grass and dipped her head bowed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy didn’t like the dark. It kept reminding her of scary things and worst of all, it kept her from seeing those scary things that threaten to come out and eat ponies. However, her friend was in trouble and Fluttershy knew that she would need care and it wasn’t that long walk to Ponyville.

Flying would be much faster, but she didn’t care much for flying at night. She was a weak flyer and tended to crash into branches at night and Celestia forbid that she should disturb a bird’s nest or sleeping squirrels.

She froze when she heard a twig snapped and uttered a short shriek.

“Uh . . .hello?” A soft voice called to her from the darkness.

Fluttershy uncovered her eyes to see a green unicorn peering at her alongside the path. “Jelly Jam? Hello, I’m sorry if I disturbed you . . .”

“I . . . I think I disturbed you. I . . .I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you . . .” Jelly’s voice was soft and cracked.

Fluttershy knew pain when she saw it. “Jelly, are you alright . . . ?”

“Y-yeah. I’m fine . . .I . . .I just had a fight with my . . .ma-mo- . . .” Her voice broke into a low keen which lapse into harsh sobs.

Fluttershy was there in seconds. She wrapped her forelegs around the unicorn and gave her a much needed shoulder to cry on. The yellow pegasus patiently held the weeping unicorn uttering soothing words and a hoof stroking her blue mane. Minutes past, and then after crying out the worst of her pain, the unicorn held onto the gentle pegasus and breathed heavily into her shoulder.

“Do you want some cocoa?” Fluttershy asked her.

“Cocoa?” Jelly mumbled against her shoulder.

“I have some in my pack.” Hanging down her side was a cylinder shape pack she had filled with hot cocoa. “I was taking some to Twilight Sparkle, but there’s plenty enough for you to have some. But if you don’t want any, that’s okay, we can stay like this.”

They made an awkward appearance. A unicorn and a pegasus hugging alongside the road in the middle of the night. “It’s okay . . .I think I’m better now.”

They released each other. Jelly wiped her eyes on the back of a fetlock, “Sorry about that. I . . . I’m not usually that emotional.”

“Oh, it’s alright. I don’t mind. If it hurts, it’s alright to cry.” Fluttershy smiled.

Jelly loved Fluttershy for that. She loved her even more for not inquiring further about the cause for her tears. There was something about being around this kind pegasus that was a soothing balm to her heart.

Something happened that changed Jelly/Mikala’s life that night. It changed her destiny and fate.

She didn’t return to the ship.

She followed Fluttershy to Twilight Sparkle’s home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they arrived at the library, they weren’t the only visitors. When they were allowed inside, they saw a table laden with muffins, several different types of butter, and ingredients for s’mores.

Pinkie Pie appeared so abruptly before them, both unicorn and pegasus shrieked. Fluttershy scrambled to hide behind Jelly, her hooves over her eyes in fright. Her companion on the other hand recovered enough to recognize the pink pony from the bakery. “Uh . . .Pinkie?” How could anyone forget such a name?

“Welcome to Twilight Sparkle’s Second Slumber Party!” Pinkie drew them both inside with a great big hug that swept them both off their hooves. It should have been impossible for a pony of Pinkie’s size to lift two grown ponies so high off the floor, but she managed it without a gasp for air after she plopped them down onto the floor.

Then Pinkie broke into a song.

Welcome, welcome to slumber party for Twilight!

Food is here to we’ll be sure to eat hearty!

We’ll fluff the pillows for a pillow fight!

Welcome welcome to Twilight’s slumber party!

Jelly blinked several times, again amazed by the vivacious spirit that is Pinkie Pie. “I . . .I didn’t know you were going to a slumber party?” Jelly said to Fluttershy.

“I-I didn’t either.” Flutter glanced nervously about as if expecting an attack.

A sharp slap on their backs caused Jelly to cry out and Fluttershy to take to the air. While hovering the air with flapping cyan wings Rainbow Dash giggled, “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“Rainbow Dash, really!” Rarity’s cultured voice carried over the pegasus’s giggles as the lovely unicorn walked forward. Her large blue eyes slanted with disapproval. “That is not any way to greet guests to a party.”

“I said I was sorry.” Rainbow rolled her eyes as she drifted to the floor with wings unfolded.

“I didn’t know that you were having a party.” Jelly sidled toward the door. “I better leave.”

Jelly was not to leave. Pinkie appeared behind her, throwing a foreleg across her shoulders, “More the sleepier! Wait, that comes later. . .”

Jelly was spun out into the floor and when she came to a stop, she was on a cushion next to Twilight Sparkle. The lavender unicorn at been staring at the floor in deep thought. She caught a glimpse of a piece of parchment that Twilight slipped under the cushion before she turned to her, “Hey, welcome to my second slumber party.”

“I didn’t mean to intrude.” Jelly settled onto her stomach, tucking her forehooves beneath her.

“Oh, no. In fact, I wasn’t planning on having a slumber party. Pinkie Pie just showed up with everything and announced that I was having a party.” Twilight offered a small smile. “I had an . . . incident . . .this morning and a party is her way of cheering me up.”

“I see . . . I haven’t had a good day at all myself.” Jelly closed her eyes and willed herself not to cry. If she broke down here, what would she tell them?

“Fortunately, Winter Welcome will be over tomorrow and we can finally relax.”

“Yeah . . . I might be leaving.”

“Really? Oh no. Why? Cheerilee won’t be back for a while yet.”

“I . . .I ah, had a fight with my mom.”

“It must be pretty bad for you to leave.”

“Yeah, well, mom doesn’t mince words.”

Twilight tilted her head, “I’m not really close to my mother either. Maybe you two could talk . . .”

“Noooo . . . . Mom would tear my head off if I showed my face around her . . .”

“Would you like a muffin?” A small purple lizard walking on biped legs with green fringes that followed from his head down his spine to the tip of his tail. He was holding out a tray of muffins and looking at her with large green eyes.

“No thanks.” Jelly stared at what only her mind could label a dragon.

A dazed look cross the dragon’s face as he drifted toward Rarity with the tray. “Rarity, I have muffins!”

Twilight must have noticed her amazement because she leaned forward, “That’s Spike. He’s my assistant and a baby dragon.”

Jelly started to say she had never seen a dragon before, but she was interrupted by a loud noisemaker that unfurled between them. Pinkie Pie leaned forward between them, her face full of cheer with a bright smile. “Truth or dare! Jelly, you go first!”

“Shame that Applejack isn’t here.” Rarity took up a cushion across from them. “But then she and her sister are finally healing that rift between them.”

“Aw, it was about time she laid off the Cutie Mark Crusader.” Rainbow Dash alighted on the edge of a table, looking down haughtily. “Poor filly couldn’t catch a break.”

“Jelly! Truth or dare or trare or duth?” Pinkie Pie reminded them that a game was going to commence.

“Dare?” Jelly took a risk, not wishing to answer any sensitive questions.

“Burp a nursery rhyme while standing on your head!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Victory filled the hole in. She had expected to use a shovel, but in her haste, she used magic. With one sweep, as if a giant’s hand had slide along the earth, the mound of dirt poured into the hole making it whole.

Then she returned to the inn. Her mind was pulled back to moment of weakness, back on the Zanburst. She had suffered near fatal gunshot wound and had gotten out of surgery. The drugs made her lose all inhibition and during after-hours when a young sexy male nurse came in to check on her medication, well, she took what she wanted. And he had no complaints about making it with a celebrated soldier with what he told her had an amazing rack.

It wasn’t until she was out in the field when signs of pregnancy made themselves known. Vomiting, fatigue, and dizzy spells she had at first chalked up to a common bug that had been going around the soldiers. Then when she realized that her monthly visitor had skipped a few visits, she nearly floored by the revelation.

If her superiors ever found out she was pregnant, there would go her credit and reputation. Any time her name came up for promotion or ranking up, the story of her pregnancy would weight it down. The military had a thing against sending mothers to die for their planet and she did not want to be a mother now.

Getting an abortion wasn’t possible. She was out in the field with only emergency medics who likely wouldn’t know which end a baby came out of. Oh, she tried the doing it herself. She put in extra hours in the gym weight lifting, took various pills, and even tried with a garrote wire, but the little shit in her womb refused to be exterminated.

Hiding it wasn’t too hard the first few months. She toughed it out during the sickness and when her stomach became tight and she was beginning to show, she shot herself in the leg during a shootout and pulled some strings to put her on leave for the last half of the pregnancy.

She gave birth in a small free clinic and provided a false name for their paper work. Laotaner remembered Stuart Briggs name because shortly after their liaison, he had attempted to contact her of which she ignored. Now it seemed that his attempts of continuing their relationship were of aide as she arranged for the caretakers to hand the child over to the father.

She didn’t want the girl.

When arrived at the inn, she planned on falling into bed and dying for a few hours. However, when she opened the door she heard a high feminine giggle. Victory shoved the door opened and stared in mute horror at the scene on the bed.

For the first millisecond, she thought the green unicorn was Jelly, but the hair was shorter and green with a white streak. And lying right next to her, nuzzling her neck with a jet black snow was Winter who had a wing splayed across her back.

Victory’s usual habit of seeing something shockingly distaste was to fly into a barrage of curses, threats, and sometimes fists. But she was still recovering from a heavy gravity of discovery that the woman she had intensely disliked had been a long lost unwanted daughter that she could only stare in mute shock.

Winter lifted his head from the mare’s neck and saw his commander, “Oh . . . uh Mother, this is Lyra Heartstrings. . .”

“Hello.” The green unicorn’s had her ears laid back and lowered her head embarassed.

Beneath her right eye, the skin throbbed visibly. “Winter . . . dear sweet child of mine, ask your friend to leave. It’s late.”

“I have to go anyway.” Lyra hopped off the bed and Victory could see the hue blush on her cheeks. “I have to get early for last minute practice, but you should see me at the dance . . . I’ll be the green one playing the harp.”

Winter stretched his lips in a brilliant smile. “I’ll see ya there, Minty.”

The unicorn mare giggled as she left, giving the slack-jaw Victory a decent berth. As soon as the door closed, Victory uttered the first word that her lips could form. * “Gross.” *

*”What?” *

* “That’s a fucking animal you are boning.”*

* “Nothing happened. She came over to hangout and I got to learn a bit more about the culture.”* He flicked his wings to sharply with a soft snap. * “So, is she dead and buried.” *

* “I sent her back to the ship.” * Victory muttered then arched an eyebrow. * “She didn’t come by?” *

* “Nooo . . .I thought you killed her.” * Winter shrugged.

* “Shit,” * Victory grunted under her breath. * “Let me worry about that. You just take my report back to the ship and send it off and bring back any responses.” *

* “Yes ma’am.” *

* “Also, leave your bottle.” *

* “What bottle?” *

* “Don’t screw with me. You’re Winter. You always have a bottle of booze lying around somewhere.” *

He left after depositing the bottle on the table. Victory waited until her change so she could properly drink. The drink slid down her throat warming her up from within and soon her emotions and senses would dull. What a sight she must make? A naked woman in her 50’s, drinking warm whiskey straight from the bottle, in pony land.

The niggling wave of disappointment bothered her. She had been looking forward to killing Mikala Briggs. Her excitement about the event had brought out her brighter side for the foals. Hell, she had fun watching them dig. She had been anticipating tonight as one would a saucy date or viewing a much anticipated movie.

Damn, did she ever have problems. She’d been to therapists before as a requirement by military policy, but for some reason, they kept transferring her around to different doctors. She didn’t think it was just because of her charming attitude. Maybe they saw something in her that scared them, something that they didn’t want to deal with. Then likely whatever it was, it was what gained her promotions. Military wanted people like her that had no qualms about how they got the job done. And she had gotten a lot of jobs done.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Maaaaarreeeeeee . . . had UHHHHHH leeee tuaaaaaaaa laaaaaaaammb!”

She was dizzy from being upside down and it was hard to remember the nursery rhyme with the peals of laughter from the watching ponies. What had helped with belching was the large bottle of soda she guzzled before taking on this endeavor.

She was leaning against the wall with her legs in the air. She was surprised at how easy it was to send on just her forehooves, but then her hands were palms with sprawling fingers. They were solid round hooves that easily held up her weight.

As she struggled to remember the next line, she lost her balance when she broke into ragged laughter and fell forward, her legs banging on the floor. It hurt, but not enough to ease her side hurting giggles.

“Okay, now you choose who goes next!” Pinkie Pie bounced about the laughing ponies. One thing that Jelly was quick to pick up on is that Pinkie Pie never walks. She bounces.

Jelly rolled onto her back, her forehooves folded at her chest and hind legs splayed to the sides. Her body rocked from the ferocity of her laughter. Where thirty minutes ago, she would have burst into tears if she gave too much thought into Victory, now she couldn’t stop laughing. She hadn’t had such a good laugh in years.

“Uh uh . . . .Rarity! Rarity! Truth or . . .dare!” Jelly rolled shakily onto her legs.

“I have nothing to hide. Truth.” Rarity easily spoke, because she didn’t share in the laughter. She had been shocked at Pinkie’s dare proclaiming that it was unladylike to burp.

“Ummmm, who are you planning to go to the dance with?” Jelly didn’t feel comfortable with asking something personal or embarrassing.

“Oh well, that’s easy. With my friends. Is this the first time you’ve played?” Rarity inquired with a bemused smile.

“Uh, yes. When it’s my turn again, I’ll ask a better one.”

Before it came back to her turn again, Rarity had dared Rainbow Dash to stay on the floor for the duration of the game and not hover or fly at all until the end of the game. Rainbow huffed planted her hooves firmly on the floor and whipped her tail irritated. Then she called on Pinkie Pie and the game continued.

Jelly was surprised by how much she was enjoying herself. She had hung out with previous girlfriends before, but conversations always turned back on what misery their boyfriend or husband was putting them through or anxieties about work and life. Here, in this library home all the ponies were successful women who were happy with their jobs and lives. And they were happily playing a juvenile game and enjoying a slumber party without all the hang ups.

By the time it came around her turn, it was Rarity who called on her. This time she chose truth.

“Hmmmm, oh, have you ever had a special somepony?” Rarity inquire with a sly slant of her eyes.

Mentally, Jelly had to assume by the way Rarity was looking at her so coying that special somepony mean boyfriend. “Yeah, three.”

All eyes stared at her with the intensity of high rifle power lasers. Jelly instantly regretted being so truthful. The fun had made her too lax.

“Three boyfriends? You had three boyfriends?” Rarity was incredulous.

Even Twilight Sparkle looked impressed, “You must have been popular from where you came from.”

“Y-yeah . . . I mean, don’t any of you have boyfriends?”

This was followed by a round of embarrassed guffaws, away glances, and pink cheeks. Fluttershy looked as if Jelly had asked if they had ever shoved red hot pokers in their eyes.

Jelly hid her grimace in an act of scratching her nose. Not every race treated sex and relationships as casually as humans did. Now she must seem like the whore of Babylon to these ponies. She needed to salvage this before it got out of hand.

“Ummmmm, Rainbow Dash . . . truth or dare?” Maybe moving the game along would help.

“Wait, wait, you have to tell us about them.” Rarity held up a hoof.

“What?” Jelly’s eyebrows rose. “I answered the dare question.”

“New rule. You have to explain yourself.”

“Ugh, why don’t we eat s’mores instead.” Rainbow Dash looked bored with the new topic.

“That’s a good idea, Rainbow.” Twilight spoke up as if sensing Jelly’s unease. “I am getting a little hungry. Spike, go get the chocolate ready and Pinkie Pie and I will get the marshmallows and graham crackers.”

Jelly mouthed a silent thank you when she was certain Twilight would see it. The lavender unicorn nodded with a soft smile as followed the bouncing pink pony to the s’more table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Noa Laotaner felt the onset of a headache by the time the bottle emptied. She pressed her brow into her hands as the pain throbbed at her temples. It felt as if her head was full of cotton and pins. She’d might as well go ahead and take a shot before she passed out.

When she stood, her hip hit the table edge and the bottle fell onto its side and rolled off the table.

“Shit!” Laotaner imagined the sharp glass on the floor that she may cut her bare feet on.

But the shatter didn’t come. In fact, the bottle remained intact encased in magical levitating inches above the floor. It rose, slowly rotating, above the table and drew toward an amazed Laotaner who held up a hand that the bottle gentle landed in. She stared at the bottle in utter amazement and then again she levitated it out of her experimentally.

She was performing magic while a human.

The corners of her lips turned up in a smile. Tonight wasn’t so bad after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whenever Jelly would seep into depression, a pony would say or do something that would snatch her from its grip. Whether it was Pinkie Pie’s antics or Rainbow Dash bragging about an acrobatic stunt performed by the Wonderbolts, her spirits was lifted and held high.

The only one that knew about her tears was Fluttershy, and the timid pegasus didn’t utter a word about it. Jelly made certain that she would thank the mare later for being there for her and bringing her to this party, even if it wasn’t her intent.

Even with spirits held so high, eventually, they have to come down. It was getting late and Rarity sternly reminded them about Winter Welcome being tomorrow and that they would all need their beauty rest since they would be staying up late tomorrow night.

Sleeping arrangements were made and Jelly didn’t know how it came to be that she was sharing a bed with Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. The bed was pretty wide even by human standards and they fitted comfortably side by side.

She lay there between them, her fetlocks curled over the edge of the blanket. A lot of things went through her mind. For one thing, she hadn’t changed at all. Not once did she feel the tug at her innards or the stretching and unfurling of her limbs. She had stayed a pony throughout the day and now through the night. Was it possible that she may change later tonight? And if she did, would she change back without the aid of nanonites?

It could blow her cover, but why not? What the hell did she owe Laotaner, the woman who did not want to be a mother to anyone?

Jelly roughly threw herself onto her side, nearly wrenching the blanket from Fluttershy’s sleeping form, and huffed. Silent anger frustrated her. She wanted to get up scream, curse, and hit something. Maybe it was true that she ambushed Laotaner, but did it really give the woman reason to utterly reject her like that.

Deep down, in reflection, had she expected Laotaner to react negatively to the news. The woman didn’t exactly act as if they were bosom friends. And also, Jelly realized that she what she wanted was to talk to her mother, to try again. But she supposed it was better to let everything cool off, likely Laotaner was reacting out of shock.

“Can’t sleep?”

Jelly nearly jumped off the bed in her fright. Twilight was on her side watching her. The green unicorn turned the to lavender unicorn and replied softly, “Not really. . .”

“Thinking about your mother?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sure it’ll be alright. You should try talking to her tomorrow.” Twilight tucked her forehooves under the blankets.

“Yeah, I want to talk to her, but I think I should let a few days pass to let things settle between us before I try to mix it up again.”

“Sure, if you think that’s best.” Twilight offered an encouraging smile. “I’m not able to sleep myself. I have worries too.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s . . . you ever had this feeling of helplessness?” Twilight’s eyes glanced worriedly at her.

“Yes, I think everyone has felt that way at one point.” Jelly had been feeling that way since she enlisted.

“I feel that something is happening, but I can’t see what it is and I think that I knew what was going on, I can stop it. Princess Celestia has told me not to worry about and enjoy Winter Welcome and I have learned my lesson before about worrying about things I can’t help, but . . .” Twilight looked at the pony who lay next to her, face merely inches from hers, “I feel that it’s staring me in the face and I just can’t see it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Derpy Whooves landed on the cool grass and sighed with deep relief that she had managed to work a whole night shift without anything breaking, falling, crashing, or blowing up once. She had to work a double shift in order to get tomorrow off to enjoy Winter Welcome and it would be well worth it. Her manager seemed relieved to let her have time off in order to guarantee that First Snow went off without a hitch tomorrow.

Now just to walk home and give her wings a much needed rest. It wasn’t easy to constantly flap them to cool the air to make it suitable for snow. She could almost see her breath in the air before her nose. And now she was seeing a little foal being carried away on little blue streaks.

What?

It went by so fast her yellow eyes spun unevenly in her sockets and she turned her head to see the blue blurs carry the foal toward the Everfree Forest.

“Uhhhh, that doesn’t seem right.” Derpy wondered if it was because she was tired that she was seeing things. Wasn’t that Smokey’s colt? And then she saw the muffin.

It was a beautiful muffin with berries as blue as the night stares with a glaze of sugar along the perfect mound. It rested on the grass not less than five feet from her. She giggled with delight, the foal forgotten as she trotted to the most wonderful treat in all of Equestria.

Just before she could grab the perfect muffin, each of her hooves were grabbed and then she was carried backwards at such a high speed, the world seemed to blur by her. She shrieked, her eyes spinning, as she too was carried to the Everfree Forest.

And below her, she heard a small high voice.

“Tell Kingie, we got Muffin Queen too!”

Snow and Sycamores

Multiple times she woke up in the night. The deepness of sleep evaded her and she found herself opening her eyes to see the wooden ceiling above her, or the colorful tresses of her sleeping companions. She had to lay more on Twilight’s side due to Fluttershy’s habit of flicking her wings in her sleep and tickling her side. And occasionally Twilight would mutter arcanic knowledge that was gibberish to Jelly.

But each time she managed to shift her position and slipped back into sleep. However, now a throbbing sound was keeping her from sleeping. It was consistent and seemed to drill into her head. She opened her eyes when the movement near her followed. Twilight was rising from bed, her eyes blinking sleepily as she walked to the stairs leading down.

“What’s wrong?” Jelly focused her eyes on the clock. It was 1:05 AM. The other ponies were slowly awakening from the banging themselves.

“Somepony is banging on the door.”

“This late?”

“That’s what I was thinking.” Twilight reached the door and barely turned the latch before it was swung open.

A panic stallion with deep red coat and yellow mane stood at the door. “Miss Sparkle. We got a situation.”

The strain in his tone, frightened Jelly and the other ponies likely heard it as well as they all listened intently.

“What’s wrong, Cinnamon Sugar?”

“Smokey was found wondering the street with a monster of a concussion. He’s bleeding from the head and he keeps talking about Mites taking his foal. We sent some ponies to his place to see what happened and the window to his colt’s nursery is broken and they couldn’t find him anywhere.” Cinnamon’s hooves tapped the doorstep in his anxiety. “We think what happened was that Smokey heard the glass breaking and went up to see what was happening. There was a wire across the top of the stairs so we can guess that when he ran down stairs he tripped and fell down the stairs. It’s by Celestia and Luna’s Grace that he didn’t break his neck.”

“What about his son? They couldn’t find him anywhere?” Twilight eyes were widening as she spoke.

“No, he’s missing.”

Information and memories caved in around her. The zebra ambassador’s daughter and Sweet Hearts . . . now Ember.

On the second level, Jelly whispered to Rarity, “Wasn’t it a wire across the top of the doorstep that sent me to the hospital?”

“Why yes . . .it was.” Understanding dawned in Rarity’s eyes. “ . . . mites. Oh no.”

“Mites?”

Before Jelly could inquire further, Rainbow Dash cried out from the window, “Those featherbrains! I can’t believe this! First Snow is tomorrow night! Not today!”

The ponies turned and looked out the window. Twilight Sparkle glanced around Cinammon Sugar who too was looking skyward. White fluffs of ice dwindled downward collecting on the earth and clinging to the window. Jelly leaned forward, her nose nearly touching the glass. This was the first time she had seen snow for herself due to the colony she grown up on had a climate too warm for any icy weather.

Pinkie Pie shrieked with delight. “Snow cones! I gotta run home and get caramel and chocolate sauce!”

“Pinkie Pie, dear, I think we have bigger things to worry about than wintery treats.” Rarity gently admonished the excited pink Earth Pony.

“Yeah! They’re ruining Winter Welcome.”

“It’s not us!” A new voice called from the doorway. The ponies turned and saw a pale blue pegasus mare with a pink mane standing beside Cinnamon Sugar. “We didn’t do it! I was sent to find all the pegasi that are off duty so we can corral this thing. Have ya seen Derpy?”

“Derpy? No, why?” Rainbow spread her wings and glided down to the first level next to Twilight Sparkle.

“I can’t find her at home.” The pegasus mare held a worried look. “And I’ve been by there twice.”

“Maybe she’s lost. This is Derpy we’re talkin’ about.” Rainbow rolled inclined her head as if in memory of Derpy’s mishaps.

“I don’t think even Derpy would get lost finding her way home.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight spoke up, her eyes flashing with purpose. “Go ahead and help get the snow under control and then come back. I got the feeling that we are going to need you tonight.” Twilight turned to Spike who had just now waddled from his bed dragging a blanket and one small hand rubbing at his tired eyes.

“What’d I miss?” He yawned wide, showing off his small sharp fangs. Jelly decided then and there that he was an adorable baby dragon.

“Spike, write a letter to Princess Celestia. Tell her a foal has gone missing and we think it might be small creatures called Mites that took him.” Twilight cantered to the tall book shelves as she spoke.

“I thought you said there was no such thing as Mites?” Spike dropped the blanket and was trotted to a nearby wooden desk.

“I know, but I’ve been wrong before. This is the third foal to go missing in less than a week. It can’t be a coincidence!” Twilight was glancing along the shelves.

“Twilight, what do you want us to do?” Rarity inquired. “I’d hate for us to stand around doing nothing.”

“We should check on Smokey.” Jelly heard herself speak up. As the ponies turned to look at her, she regretted it, but she pushed forward, “He might have seen something.”

“Good idea, Jelly. You and Rarity do that. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie can help me research them. Rainbow Dash, if you get a chance, go to Sweet Apple Acres and tell Applejack. I want all of us to be ready for whatever may happen.”

“W-what are you going to do, Twilight?” Fluttershy bent her head over the edge of the second floor to see what Twilight was doing.

“What I do best? Study.” Twilight levitated several books from the shelves and lay them open on the floor around her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bits of snow touched her face as she and Rarity trotted to the hospital. Cinnamon Sugar led the way. Jelly was able to see his cutie mark was of sticks of cinnamon which bobbed as he trotted. As they approached the hospital, Jelly realized that it had been a different world for her since she left this place yesterday. She had been happy then, now she was worried and her heart still felt pangs from Victory’s rejection.

No. She shoved that aside. This was important. This was something she had to focus on. Not her disappointment or her hurt feelings.

They heard the commotion just as they approached the hospital doors.

“Sir! Sir! You can’t leave yet. You have a concussion . . .”

“Let go! I have to go find him! They took him!”

“I understand, but I promise you that ponies are looking for him right now.”

“Please, sit down.”

“No!”

There was a crash. Rarity pushed the door open with her magic and they saw a wheelchair roll across the floor and smash into the far wall. Smokey was standing in a circle of nurses and the unicorn doctor with his legs braced on the floor. A ribbon of blood clung to his face and had rolled down his neck and shoulder. Behind him, a security guard pony galloping from the hall with a baton clutched between his teeth.

This was going to get ugly fast.

“Smokey!” Jelly cantered forward past Rarity and Cinnamon Sugar.

The stallion saw her and confusion rolled through his face. “J-Jelly?”

“Yes, it’s me. I heard what happened and I’m going to help. But you have got to calm down and tell us what you saw.” Jelly drew close, but stayed out of reach.

Smokey drew a harsh breath and released it in a low whistle. “Jelly, the Mites took him . . .”

“That’s what I was told, but I want you to tell me what you saw.” The security guard had paused, but he was watching poised, ready to jump in if necessary.

“I woke up. I heard glass breaking in Ember’s room. I went to see. I was scared for him.”

“Right, breaking glass in a foal’s room is never a good thing.” She had to keep him talking. If he was talking, he wasn’t attacking the hospital staff. “When you went upstairs, what was wrong?”

“I . . .I saw one standing on the edge of his crib.” The panic returned and he was glancing around as if he may see one in the lobby. “It looked at me and stuck its tongue at me. They were carrying Ember out the window. I tried to grab him, taking away from them, but they were . . .they were so fast. I was going to go after them, but I fell . . .”

Then he did something that stunned her. He started crying. He bodily collapsed on the floor sobbing, his body rocking from the force of his coughs. The nurses moved forward, one collecting the abused wheelchair while two others helped him to his hooves and coaxed him to sit down. When he was reclining back in the wheel chair, Jelly moved forward and touched his hoof with both of hers. It was such a human gesture, that it felt surreal to her.

“We’ll do everything we can to get him back for you, but you have to let the staff do their part and help you.” Jelly offered him what she hoped was a comforting smile.

He kissed her. It was different than kissing a human man. The smell and taste was different, but the heat from being kissed was all the same. Like a drop of red dye in water, it spread and flowed through her spreading warmth along her skin. When he broke away, she was sitting on her haunches flushed and embarrassed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“He’s a nice pony, you know.” Rarity brought it up on the way back to the hospital.

After the kiss, the nurses carted Smokey away and the doctor assured Jelly that he was in good hooves. As if she was the worried wife or girlfriend.

Great, now her reputation in Ponyville was shot.

“I’m sure he is. He’s been very kind to me since I arrived and his son is adorable . . .” Jelly felt as if she was on trial for not sharing the same feelings for Smokey.

“But he’s not your type.” Rarity glanced away to generously hide her disappointment.

He’s not human. Jelly didn’t voice this aloud. Instead, she said, “No. I feel bad that I should like him back, but I don’t. But don’t let that make you think that I don’t want to help. I do.”

“Oh, I’m not saying that at all,” Rarity assured her. “I’m in this too and so is everypony. Nopony would want anything to happen to a foal.”

“What exactly are mites? They sound like little boogeymen.”

“Boogeymen?”

“You know, um, they like to scare chil-foals?”

“Oh! Boogeyponies!” Understanding dawned on her. “Yes, but they pull such dreadful pranks. They were the ones responsible for your falling down the steps. Last time they came around they ruined my fall collection. But it’s strange.”

It wasn’t already strange for little monsters to pull pranks as it was? “What?”

“Well, the pranks are dreadful enough, but they never been . . .harmful to anypony,” Rarity explained. “They never stole foals before and the most harm they’d do is put a tack on a chair.”

“Really? Then why the change?”

“That is what I’m hoping Twilight Sparkle can find out.” Rarity shivered as a snowflake touched her back. “Let’s hurry and get out of this weather.”

“I don’t mind it. It’s pretty light and I kinda like it.” Jelly did something she had only read in books. She held out her tongue and caught a snowflake with it.

“I don’t trust any weather not provided by pegasi.” Rarity gave the sky a dubious glance. “I know you enjoy the snow because you’re from the north, but we should hurry anyway.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight Sparkle pored over the books, flipping through page after page of stories, legends, and personal pony accounts of close encounters. But the stories all meshed together. She couldn’t determine which was fact or myth. And what would help them.

It was slow going. The images of the scarier legends frightened Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie kept giggling at the records of fairy curses and pranks. What she was able to determine was that the stories did collaborate that mites were small and pranksters who plagued earth pony farmers for years. Cutting loose hitches in the middle of plowing, tossing ants in beds, and even painting rude or erotic images on barns was just the tip of the iceberg of their antics. There was nothing about stealing foals. Why? Where did they make their home? And what did they look like?

“Sycamore tree . . .”

Twilight looked up from the tome spread before her. Applejack was standing at the doorway panting, her sides heaving as she gulped for air. When she was able to speak, “Ah got here as quick lightnin’ when Ah heard. Ah talked to Granny Smith and she told me a story of what ‘appened t’ her when she was muh age.”

“What? Granny Smith knows where the mites live?” Twilight stared incredulous. “Why didn’t she ever say anything?”

“She says that she plum forgot until tonight.” Applejack walked inside, her hat askew on her head from her hard gallop. “It ‘appened years and years ago right after the Apple Family settled here. She had a new dress that she washed and put out to dry, and then she saw some mites take off with it. Dresses were hard to come around back then before there was a Ponyville with shops and stores, so she took off after it. She followed ‘em into the Everfree Forest. She can’t recall how far she followed ‘em, but she says they dragged the dress to a huge sycamore and woulda took the durn thing with ‘em into a burrow, but the skirt caught on a root and Granny was able to grab it from ‘em ‘fore they got it loose.”

“Did she see them?”

“She says all that she could make out was they were blue, but she couldn’t tell anythin’ more ‘n that cuz they were so fast.”

“That’s okay. At least we know where they are. When the others come back we’ll try to find that tree.” From the look that cross Applejack’s face, Twilight tilted her head, “What?”

“Granny said to be careful. She said that they may be small, but they can tear ya up when they set their minds to it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour past, before everypony had gathered in the library. Rarity and Jelly returned to recount Smokey’s story and then Rainbow Dash barreled through the door, slinging ice and water from her mane and tail.

“It’s crazy! Just as when we think we got it under control, more snow clouds keep coming.”

Twilight felt dread touch her heart. “From the direction of the Everfree Forest?”

It took Rainbow a moment to think. “Yeah! They keep rolling in from there. And it’s getting worse! We can barely keep up even with my awesome speed!”

“And if it continues as it is?”

Rainbow settled on her hooves and concern touched her face. “It’ll be bad and not just for Ponyville.”

“We can’t wait.” Twilight turned to the others who were gathered around. “I would have liked to wait for Princess Celestia’s response, but with Ember missing and the snow, we need to act now, but it may be dangerous. I’d understand if somepony doesn’t want . . .”

“Now Twilight, ya know better than t’ ask. We all in it. We’re all in it from now till that little foal is home with his daddy.” Applejack stepped forward with a firm clop.

She was followed by a cheer from Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash’s crow, and Rarity smile. Fluttershy glanced to the side and bowed her head nervously, “I . . . I could go and . . . maybe talk to the mites.”

Jelly felt her stomach fill with fear. She had received basic last year that she had long sense forgotten and her skills have become stale. A part of her told her to stay silent, to stay out of it, but she wanted to join. The green unicorn was deeply touched and impressed by their selflessness and willingness to step into danger to help. How could she do any less?

And she could do more.

“I’m willing to go too, but I think there is someone we should ask to come with us.” The prospect of approaching this person frightened her more than the dire mites. Jelly figured if she overcome this, then she might be ready to take on mites.

“Who?” Twilight asked.

“My mother.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*“Well, well, well, look at what the cat shit on the floor,”* was the greeting Jelly received when she opened the door to their room at the inn.

Victory, the unicorn pony, sat at the small table floating an empty bottle above her head. The unicorn leaned her cheek against a hoof and gave Jelly a tired smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Her smiles hardly ever reached her eyes. * “Ya know somethin’? For disobeying a commander’s order, its grounds for flogging. Me, I’m too busy to flog so the unruly officer has to settle for a bullet.” *

Great, my own mother is threatening to kill me for disobeying just after insulting me for the hundredth time. Jelly pushed forward, she made it this far, she had to go all the way. * “Um . . . Mo. . . Lataoner, we got a situation.” *

*”Oh? Situation for whom? I question your intelligence, but even you aren’t that dumb to go ranting about what we really are to the ponies.” Victory set the bottle on the table top and regarded Jelly with a baneful gaze.

* “The ponies. They think that some little nasty things called mites are stealing foals and causing it to snow.” * Jelly really wanted to turn around and leave, but her hooves were planted on the floor, ready to take on any verbal onslaught Victory could throw at her. * “It sounds strange to me, but I have reasons to believe that there is credit to their worries. Smokey was injured the same way I was and the pegasi are very concerned about the snow.” *

* “Well, look at you in your big girl panties! Reporting to me like you’re a soldier.” * Victory mockingly saluted her.

Jelly ignored it and continued, * “Twilight Sparkle and some others are going to go into the forest to confront them and hopefully get Ember back and stop whatever they are doing to cause this. I volunteered to go and I think that we could really use you.” *

The pale unicorn’s eyebrows rose up in twin arches in genuine surprise. She said nothing and Jelly dared to believe that she might have shocked Victory into silence. She took advantage and quickly said, * “None of the ponies have your skills and your knowledge of . . . of stuff like this.” * Maybe flattery may bend the iron rod up her ass.

Victory lowered her brows as she studied Jelly’s face. * “I have a question. You answer it and I’ll consider your request. When we first met the Apple Family on the road on that first day, you started calling me mother instead of saying I’m your aunt as we had originally planned. The reason why you changed the story was because you wanted to call me mother?” *

There was a long silence before a soft whisper rasp across the room. * “Yes.” *

*”And do you still want to call me mother?” *

Jelly parted her lips to speak, but her voice wouldn’t come. She didn’t know the answer that Victory would want.

Victory scoffed, * “Nevermind, don’t answer that. Tell me about the mites on the way down.” *

Jelly shared everything they learned about the mites on their way down. The snow had picked up, no longer coming in light, but in thicker tufts of white. The snow made her bat her eyes to keep them free of ice, but Victory walked smoothly, her hooves crunching the gathering crystals easily. “So this it?”

Her eyes moved over the six ponies that had patiently stood outside. Victory wasn’t pleased with what she saw, but she got more difficult missions done with less. “What’s the plan?”

“We . . . don’t really have one,” Twilight admitted and then endured the heavy weight of Victory’s disapproving glare. “We . . .we thought that maybe Fluttershy would . . .” Twilight had to break the gaze. This was worse than her magic school entrance exam. “ . . . Fluttershy would speak with them, maybe work out an understanding peacefully.”

“A peaceful understanding?” The words were very foreign to this pony. “We already have an understanding. These things have injured two ponies, and kidnapped a foal . . .”

“Mebbe three foals,” Applejack interjected.

“Three foals?” Victory replied incredulously, but then she recovered, “Kidnapped three foals. These things have already expressed a desire to do harm to us. We’re going to hurt them back.”

Already, Jelly was regretting bringing Victory into this by the looks of surprise and misgivings from the ponies saved for Rainbow Dash who was hovering above them. She cheered thrusting her hooves into the air as her wings flap downward thrusting her further into the air. “Woohoo! Yeah!”

“Jelly said that they live in a tree. Good, that makes it easier for us. Does anyone know where we can get some kerosene?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The kerosene was carried in skins tied with rope that lay across Victory’s back. She led their small herd up front, leading the way. Fortunately, the way wouldn’t take them anywhere near the ship’s territory, so that was one less concern for her to deal with.

Her other concern stayed near her side. Her daughter. Victory tried not to look at her, despite the stolen stares the yeoman gave her. Eventually, the truth of their blood would have to be dealt with, but tonight was not for it. Tonight, they had a different matter before them.

Victory didn’t like that the information she had of the enemy was so scant. Small blue things that are very fast and live in a big sycamore tree. And all this information is second hand that the ponies collected from second hand acct and from story books. Not hard evidence from reliable scouts, surveillance equipment, or the best of all, her own two eyes.

However, she intended to treat this as any mission. Go in with what she had and get the job done. Period.

But Goddamn, she didn’t have very much. What she had was her daughter (don’t really need to go into detail how useful that is), a brainiac who is used to calling shots, a fancy priss, a red neck, an eager hot head, a coward, and a crazy pink nut. At least she had the kerosene and matches.

But this could be a good learning experience. She could see how ponies acted under the heat of battle. Just another tidbit to fill out her next report.

Twilight walked on the other side her, her horn glowing lighting their way as was Victory’s horn. It was a simply unicorn trick that Victory mastered immediately upon viewing a demonstration by the lavender unicorn. And not surprisingly, Jelly couldn’t produce one flicker with her horn.

Rainbow Dash flittered above them, her wings snapping against the falling snow buffeting the ponies below her with cold air. The temperature had certainly dropped since they entered the forest. Usually, Victory would have found being blasted with cold air annoying, but she found that it kept her awake and invigorated. It was what? 3:00 in the morning?

The shy one walked on in silence, her eyes cast downward as if fearful that she may see something frightening. Why was she coming along if she was so afraid? Strength from friends? She wasn’t as annoying as the pink one that kept bouncing along like a kid on a sugar rush and what was with that foolish slapstick grin for?

The only one that was worth an iota of potential respect was the redneck one. She seemed tough with a good head on her shoulders. The orange mare had a rope at her side and her hate was set straight. And the one walking beside her wasn’t worth Victory’s spit. The fancy one kept treading lightly through the snow as if afraid to get her pretty little hooves wet.

“Ah think Ah see it.,” the red neck . . . Applejack trotted forward.

And certainly enough, there was a clearing up ahead and in the center was a tall leafless sycamore tree that stood like a human hand stretch out toward the sky. The ponies stopped at the edge and stared at the base of the tree.

About the base were thick roots that weaved through the earth and large burrows big enough for a foal to walk through. Hopping among the roots gathering small sticks were . . . little blue men.

Or they were shaped like men to Victory and Jelly’s eyes. They had the human features of two eyes, a prominate nose, mouth, arms and biped legs. But, they so damn ugly! The nose nearly took up the whole face with beady black eyes. They had gnarled hands and feet which were bare. They wore strips of clothing, fur, and bark and some even had rabbit or rat skulls on their heads.

They ponies stood (save for Rainbow who hovered) silently and simply stared, each of them never having seen such things before. The surreal moment was cut when Victory stepped forward and soundly cleared her throat. “Listen up!”

The mites stopped their wood gathering and all tiny ugly heads turned to her. The pale unicorn regarded them with eyes of fire, the look she saved for intimidating the enemy. This look had been reported to stop battles before they started and even force prisoners to give up sensitive information without anyone having to perform any interrogation techniques. “You have a foal that we have come to collect. You hand him over and any foals that you have your position and that will be the end of it. If you do not comply with my demands, I’m going to turn each and every one of you into blue paste with my own hooves.”

One thing that Victory and the other ponies quickly learned was that mites cannot be intimidated. The mites all gleefully grinned at her. It was the grin a child would have if a favorite playmate had arrived to play, but it was nasty as if that child has a sadistic habit of pulling wings off butterflies. Zip. In blue blurs they all disappeared into the tree via the burrows.

“You scared them.” Fluttershy galloped forward, concern in her eyes. “You shouldn't have said that. They just little mites after all.”

Victory looked at Fluttershy as if she sprouted a second head. “Those things aren’t afraid. But they will be. I promise.” The pale unicorn used magic to lift the kerosene skins from her back.

“Whoa!” Jelly cried out as she galloped forward. She wasn’t the only one. Applejack and Twilight were close behind her as they cried out their protests.

“You can’t do that! Ember and the other foals may be in there! You’ll burn them up!” Twilight sputtered in a near panic.

“It’s a bluff. It’s to show that we mean business. I just going to burn the outside of the tree. Nothing major.”

“Ya have enough oil there to burn down Ponyville and chunk of Equestria too!” Applejack stomped a hoof.

“I’m not going to use all of it! I know what I am doing, now shut up and stand back before . . .” Victory never got to finish her threat.

A long line with a sharp hook on the end snagged the rope that held the skins together. The line grew taut and then yank with such strength that the rope and kerosene skins were ripped from her magical hold. The ponies watched the line being pulled into a hole at the near top of the tree. After the skins disappeared, a blue head poked its head out gave them a very rude sign with its hand and blew a raspberry before disappearing back inside the tree.

The ponies again (and likely won’t be the last time) stunned into silence. Jelly lowered her eyes from the tree hole to Victory, “You’re going to blame us for that aren’t you?”

“You damn fucking right I am.” Victory hissed venomously. “They got the kerosene!”

“I’ll get it!” Rainbow Dash flew toward the hole. The hole was big enough for her to crawl into, but it would be a tight squeeze. Setting her hooves at the edge of the hole, she drew herself inward. It was pitch black and she wished she had a light to see.

Then there was light. An ugly leering face glowed from the light up a candle it held with two hands.

“Uh, hey there little guy . . .” Rainbow said suddenly feeling nervous.

The mite snickered and then a second one appeared in the light next to it. Under its arm, it held a kerosene skin with the cork gone.

“Oh Celestia . . .”

The mite squeezed the kerosene which spewed oil that hit the candle’s flame. Fire sprayed at her face. It was only by Rainbow Dash’s quick reflexes that had her wings tear her from the hole in time to suffer only singing in her brilliant mane. The singed cyan pegasus leave a stream of smoke behind her as she landed on the ground. Fortunately, the snow broke her fall so she didn’t injure her wing yet again.

“Rainbow! What happened!?” Rarity was by her side grimacing when she saw the blacken colors at her bangs.

“Dirty little creeps tried to set me on fire . . .with our kerosene!”

“Bringing that kerosene was not a good idea, mom.” Jelly turned on her mother.

“Do you want to get slapped?” Victory snapped.

Before Jelly could either boldly reply or cowardly back away, a high commanding voice shouted, “Charge!”

The ponies lifted their faces to see dozens of mites emerge from the burrows. Each of them were wearing armor consisting of bark and tin with rabbit skulls and bottle caps for helmets. For weapons they held sharpen sticks as spears, axes were glass tied into twigs, and silver spoons were welded as war hammers. The mites arranged themselves into straight lines in a military column.

And something emerged from the middle burrow with a long body with multitude of legs that wagged in the air as it seeped from the tree. A centipede the size of a python carried a single rider, a mite wearing a gold bit of metal that had been beaten into the shape of a crown. It steered its mount with twine tied around the centipede’s leg and barked orders at it in a high strangled language.

The mite soldiers began to beat on their shields, pieces of cans. Some still had the Apple Family label on them. The soldiers maintained a steady beat that would have sounded intimidated if they were full size warriors beating on shields of metal and steel that would resound with teeth rattling clangs. On the cans, it was just clunk clunk clunk.

The clunking was getting on Victory’s nerves. And it resulted in one thing.

Victory charged. She spun around raising herself on her forehooves. Her hooves left shallow wet grooves in the snow, giving her more momentum for her buck. Her back hooves hit the Mite King off the top of the centipede’s head. He bodily flew through the air and hit the tree trunk with a resounding smack.

The clunking stopped as the mites looked around puzzled, certainly not prepared for the quick dispatchment of their leader so early in the battle. The Mite King who had slid down the trunk and landed in a heap at the base weakly raised his voice and shouted, “Plan B!”

“Plan B!” The shout went up as the mite soldiers clung to the new plan as a lifeline. They all turned around and fled into the holes, each file of the column going into its own hole. Even the centipede fled back into the burrow taking its master with it.

“This is getting out of hoof.” Twilight muttered.

Pinkie Pie was on the ground giggling in great peals. “They were using tin cans as shields!”

“Pinkie, that isn’t helping.” Rarity scolded.

“Somebody help!”

“Where did that come from?” Jelly cocked her head, trying to listen.

“Help!”

“Ah think its comin’ from the tree.” Applejack pointed. “It don’t sound like a foal ‘t me.”

Twilight Sparkle, in a move of bravery, galloped to the nearest burrow and shouted down the tunnel. “Who do you have down there!?”

A reply echoed back, “Your mother!” And this was followed by sharp giggles that trail along the tunnel.

Twilight pawed at the icy turf, “Don’t you bring my mother into this! You let whoever you have in there go!”

“Okay!” Not one second later, Derpy Whooves was flung from the whole and she bodily collided into Twilight, sending both the unicorn and the pegasus sprawling on the snow.

Twilight lay on her back with Derpy laying across her. The gray pegasus lifted her head and then hugged Twilight around the neck tight enough to choke her. “Thank you! Thank you! They had me trapped down there and they kept calling me the Muffin Queen and wanted me to make muffins, but all they would give me to bake with is sugar and mud. I kept trying to tell them I needed butter and milk too!”

“Derpy, what is that around your neck?” Rainbow had recovered enough to stand and was now pointing at Derpy with a worried look.

“Around my neck? I don’t see . . . “ Derpy’s left eye dropped downward to see the small bag at her neck that had a lit fuse. “Oh, I think it’s a candle.”

“That’s no candle!” Rarity screamed. “Take it off her! Take it off!”

Jelly acted first. She reached forward, snagging the cord tied around Derpy’s neck and yanked with all her might. She ended up dragging the pegasus off Twilight from the effort, but the cord snapped and she was able to drop the sizzling fuse into the snow and stomp it out. “There, that should do it.”

However, Twilight was staring at Derpy’s back and was pointing with a quivering hoof. “G-guys!”

On each of the major feathers on Derpy’s wings, there were several little skin bags with sizzling fuses. The ponies panicked. Derpy was bodily shoved into a snow pile where more snow was flung onto her in haste to put out the fuses. From the corner of Applejack’s eye, she spied a single mite appear at the edge of a burrow with a small bow made of a paperclip and rubber band. It struck a match against a root and strung it on the bow. It took aim at one of the bags at Derpy wings.

“Tarnation!” Applejack screamed as the mite fired.

The matchstick arrow flew straight and true. It hit dead center of its target which burst opened. But instead of flames and the smell of burning fur and feathers, cold water splashed down Derpy’s back and splattered the mares.

“Ohhh! It’s cold!” Derpy whined and her eyes spun in her distress.

The wicked mite flipped them a rude sign and then jumped back into the hole. Then they heard sizzles . . . behind them.

Each pony turned around and saw at the end of their tail a skin that smelled of kerosene had a lit fuse. The fuse was steadily becoming short and shorter.

“BUCK!!!!!” Applejack screamed.

And the ponies obeyed the call. Jelly thrust her hooves behind her, missing several times before she managed to kick the skin from her tail. Applejack and Victory were able to kick theirs off quickly enough, while Twilight Sparkle used her magic to snuff the fuse at her tail. Pinkie Pie simply rolled about in the snow. Rainbow took off from the ground so far the wind that whipped along her body blew out the fuse. However, Fluttershy and Rarity weren’t so lucky.

When the fuse went off, it was lucky for Fluttershy her tail was so long. She was able to follow Pinkie Pie’s lead and roll in the snow, putting out the flames before they harmed her hindlegs. Rarity on the other hand ended up running across the snow as flames climbed her tail and singed her hind legs. She screamed as her elegantly styled tail was literally going up in smoke.

Twilight cast a spell which produced water from out the air that splashed over Rarity’s body, thoroughly drenching her, but putting out the flames as well. The white unicorn collapsed onto the snow and bemoaned her tail.

Victory saw the magic Twilight used and it inspired her. She stood with her legs apart, braced in the snow and it hardly took any concentration at all. She thought it and it happened. From the tip of her hard, a jet of orange flames sprayed. The inferno splayed over the tree, hot enough to melt the snow and encase the bark in flames. There were shouts of alarm from both the ponies outside in the snow and the mites inside the tree.

Jelly watched in horror as the tree crack as the flames heat burned it from within. “EMBER!!!!”

She galloped to the biggest burrow and screamed inside into the narrow tunnel. “EMBER!!! Come to me if you can hear me, baby! It’s me, Jelly! Please, you got to come out of there right now! Just come to my voice and I’ll get you out.”

Her hooves dug into the soft soil. She could go inside and get him out if she could only fit through the hole. Her heart felt elated when she saw something moving toward her. It wasn’t a mite, but it wasn’t Ember either.

Two hands, one an eagle’s talon and the other a lion’s paw reached out and grabbed her around the middle. She was lifted off the ground as a head emerged. It looked like a pony’s but it was wrong. The eyes were yellow with red irises and there was a single tooth at its mouth. Atop of the head were two horns, one a dear’s antler and the other a goat’s. And as it’s body emerged she was able to see that the creature was just a mismatch of different animals in a chaotic mess of an animal.

It held her as easily as one could hold a cat, it was so big. “What . . . what are you?”

“Discord is my name and Chaos is my game.” The thing beamed at her with a grin not too unlike the grins of the mites.

Below, the ponies stood in shocked silence again.

Visions and Hopes

One pony found her voice.

“Discord! We turned you to stone with the Elements of Harmony! What are you doing here!?” Twilight yelled her back straight and her hooves apart as if she was going to charge forward to spear him with her horn.

“Oh Twilight Sparkle, don’t be jealous. You’re still my favorite pony.” The creature, Discord, tucked Jelly under his arm as if he was carrying a loaf of bread.

“What the hell is that!?” Victory glowered at the mismatch animal. Looking at him confused her and she didn’t like to be confused. It irritated her.

“That’s Discord.” Rarity whispered beside her. Victory could smell her burnt hair. “He’s the spirit of disharmony and chaos.”

“So he’s a Chaos God?”

“Discord. What are you doing here?” Twilight repeated her question in a hard voice, but if one looked carefully, they would see her legs quivering. The Elements was far away in Canterlot it was only with their power that they were able to stop Discord last time. And last time, he nearly won by breaking up their friendship.

“Just watching little ponies and mites play with fire.” He waved a talon toward the still burning tree. He snapped his fingers and the flames snuffed out as a candle being blown out. “Cute little things, mites. They love chaos as much as I do. They enjoyed my last party so much they wanted to have me freed me again.”

“Wait! Yer statue is back at Canterlot Gardens!” Applejack pointed out.

“True, it was,” Discord said with a flourishing wave of a hand. But you see, mites are very quick and they have long tunnels under Equestria. It was nothing for them to run to Canterlot and grab me once they had what they thought they needed.”

Then understanding came to Twilight and her jaw dropped, “They thought that it takes three foals to free you. Just like Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom’s bickering awakened you.”

“Bingo!” Discord thrust a thumbs up forward with a green check mark glowing above his curled talon. “However, their ritual failed, bless their dark little hearts, but it wasn’t them responsible for freeing me. But enough about that. I don’t have long to chat.”

“You were in my vision! You were the one chasing us! That black thing full of hate after us!” Twilight accused.

“Twilight Sparkle!” Discord mockingly looked offended with an exaggerated gasp and touch to his chest. “I’m shocked that you would accuse me of such a thing. I don’t hate you. I will say that I am bit miffed about being turned to stone, but I’m willing to let bygones be bygones and to prove it, I’m going to give each of you a gift.”

“Keep it! We want nothing from you!” Rainbow Dash hovered off the ground and held up her hooves as if they were fists.

Discord clicked his tongue wagging a finger at them. “Shame shame, you have to be polite and accept gifts from old friends.”

“I have to disagree. You are no friend of ours.” Rarity turned her head away in disgust.

“Trust me, my little ponies, I am a friend compared to what awaits you . . .” A nasty grin covered his face and his blood red irises shrank as he regarded each of them.

Then the world turned black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Applejack opened her eyes and found was in her apple orchard. She recognized it because atop of the hill to the east was her red barn. The sun was dappling on the ground through overhead leaves and the smell of apples, a scent that she had always associated with home, lingered in the warm air.

Why was she here? Where did the others go? What did Discord do?

A large red apple fell from its branch. It didn’t plop onto the ground or bounce and rolled. It shattered apart into pieces of granite. Another apple fell and it split apart into chips of rock and metal.

A third fell and it hit Appjack across the back with the force and impact of a thrown rock. The farm mare yelped in pain and danced to the side away from the falling projectiles. “What in the hay is goin’ on?”

Three apples align themselves into a small triangular trio and then floated off the ground to hover before her. Discord’s voice grated in her ears. “Applejack, my little farmer, you love your home. You left it in distaste, but came back to make it apart of your soul. Tell me, what happens when a soul is splinter? Does it shatter or walk around with a wound? Does it ever heal?”

“Stop talkin’ in riddles and talk like a normal pony ought ‘t.” Applejack had to dodge several more falling granite apples least one smashes her head.

“If that’s what you want.” Discord’s lilted like a beloved family member. “You will leave your home and when you return to it, it will not be your home no more.”

Applejack would have snorted and given a harsh retort, but she found that her mouth was filling up with rocks and granite. She spat out the debris, but as quickly as she would spit it out, it would be replaced by more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes and saw she was in a round room of cold stone with a single barred window much too high for her to look through. A finger of light slanted into the room providing the only source of light in this darken room.

“You love magic, don’t you Twilight?” She heard Discord’s voice all around her. Appearing at the window was a purple star constantly giving off a glow of smaller stars. Her cutie mark made physically apart from her body. “Magic is a widely accepted phenomenon in Equestria as it is recognize in each race, but my dear Twilight, you will find yourself in a place that imprisons magic, hates magic, and wielding magic can be deadly.”

“But magic isn’t dangerous as long as you are responsible.” She wanted to say, but couldn’t speak. She couldn’t because her mouth was muzzled and her legs were restrained in chains and ropes intersecting the chains and tied to rings in the room kept her in the center.

“Oh my dear Twilight Sparkle.” Discord’s voice sighed as a lover’s whisper. “You will go to a place that abhors magic and it will try to take your magic from you along with your mind.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity opened her eyes and saw that she was in a beautiful bedroom. The carpet was a royal purple and thick which her hooves sink into at each step. The décor was lavishing of gold, silver, and the furniture was carved in the most lovely design and motifs she had ever laid eyes on.

And the grand bed was huge. The blankets had elaborate embroidery and the canopy was silk. The bed and the room were fit for only a princess.

Rarity squealed in delight as she jumped onto the bed and rolled along the crisp sheets. They felt so good to her body and then she realized that her mane and tail were whole and the burns suffered to her legs were gone.

Then when she moved, she heard a squelch beneath her. She rolled onto something wet. She looked down and saw the redness staining the white sheets. She scrambled away in a panic, disturbing the perfectly made bed. Rarity checked her body was injury and found that she wasn’t the source of the blood.

And the stain was spreading, invading the sheets if an unseen source was pouring ounce after ounce onto it. Three diamonds descended from the canopy roof and floated just above the spreading blood.

“The lovely, Rarity, you love beautiful things and you have a dream, no?” Discord’s voice spread across the room, coming from every corner, and she could not see him. “To become a princess? Didn’t work out at the Galloping Gala, did it?”

“If you are talking about that oaf who got to his position by accident of birth, then yes. You are correct,” Rarity sniffed with a toss of her beautiful head.

“But you’ll attain it. You will become a princess with a true prince who will love you.”

Well, that wasn’t so bad. Rarity glanced at the diamonds, with a look of unease.

“However, you’ll attain it all, but it will only cause you pain and suffering.”

Then the sheet flew off the bed as if from a spring and covered her, wrapping around her trapping her legs and pressing into her face and mouth as if to suffocate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy opened her eyes and saw that she was a dark place with fire and cracked stone. From all around her, she heard screams of agony and moans of ecstasy. At her hooves, the cracks in the stone exuded intense heat that burned them if she stood too long on them, so she was constantly moving her hooves.

“I-I don’t like this . . .” The timid pegasus said before she realized that she had wings. Her wings picked her off the heated floor allowing her to blow on her front hooves to cool them. She looked sadly at the pink marks on them as they ebb with pain.

“Awww, poor widdle Flwudderwhy.” Discord’s voice crawled from the darkness as if a parent baby talking with a young child. “You burned your hooviesy?”

“I want to go home . . .please?” Fluttershy glanced nervously about.

Thick corded rope lashed out, crisscrossing over her back and wings. The rope was pulled taut slamming her down on the floor. Her body spread on the floor, held down by the ropes, was burned by the stone cracks. She struggled, her wings flapping, but the ropes were merciless. “It hurts! It hurts!”

“I know.” Discord’s voice came from a trio of pink butterflies fluttering above her nose. “You will lose something pure and innocent in a dark place.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and saw a desert stretch out before her. It stretched as far as her eyes could see. The breeze caught the sand and sprayed against her legs and wings.

“Guys? Guys, where are you?” Rainbow Dash glanced around.

“They’re not here, and they won’t be there for you always.” A shimmer of a rainbow descended from a cloud in a stark lightning bolt shape. It struck the sand throwing up sand. She turned her face away beneath a wing to protect her eyes. “They won’t be there when you need them most.”

“Shut up! My friends are always there for me! You’re just lying.” Then her legs sunk to her knees in the sand. She kicked, and her wings opened, but then she was swallowed up to her neck.

Discord chuckled, “You will betray them.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pinkie Pie opened her eyes and giggled. She was inside what looked like a bubble. The interior was dome and the floor was white. There was no sound save for the clops of her hooves.

“Pinkie Pie . . .” Hovering at the curvature of the dome were three balloons.

“Hello, Discord!” Pinkie waved happily at the balloons. “Ya gonna turn me gray again?”

His chuckle echoed about the dome, “No, Pinkie, no. Not this time. This time I’ve come to tell you something.”

“What is it?” Pinkie’s ears pricked as she leaned her head forward to hear better.

“No laughter. That is a place you will go to. No laughter, no kisses, no hugs, no emotion, nothing.”

“That doesn’t sound like fun.” Pinkie stuck out her tongue to show her disgust.

“No, not really. Not one of my favorite places you’ll be going to. Oh yes, almost forgot.”

Pinkie felt a twinge in her forehooves and she looked down in time to see wires with small lights on the end burst from her legs. “Hey!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Shit! What the hell is this!?” She wasn’t a pony anymore, she was her human self and she walked down a street lined by tall buildings. It was empty devoid of any city life.

And her clothing was different. She wasn’t wearing military fatigues or coveralls. She was wearing a long sweater with a loose pair of pants and her hair was tied back away from her face in a loose pony tail.

She confused again and it was making her angry. Anger was an emotion that she can utilize. It has aided her well in the past when she was familiar with fear.

“Mrs. Noa Laotaner, it is finally nice to meet your acquaintance. You are exactly what Equestria needs.” The rain began to fall, large raindrops that splattered on the pavement and dotted her clothing.

“Where am I?” Laotaner looked around, but couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from.

“You don’t remember? Well, you never did like thinking about the past, which is fine. I prefer to think about the future.”

“What? Is this the gift you were talking about? No thanks. I’ve been through streets and alleys before.”

“No, this isn’t the gift. My gift is words. Words you’ll remember.”

“Yeah? And those are?”

“Friendship is Magic.”

“What!? What the hell does that mean?” Laotaner ducked into an ally to get out of the rain. The water was rushing along gutters and sloshing from the pipes. “You get that from some little girl cartoon?”

“Friendship is very important to the ponies. But do you know what is stronger than friendship? Do you know what bond can trump friendship?”

“I don’t know. The power of love, I guess.” Laotaner moved further down the alley.

“You think it’s a joke, but you’ll understand in time.” Discord’s voice echoed against the alley’s walls. “Don’t turn around by the way.”

Laotaner turned around and saw a trashcan. Then recognition flooded her psyche and all her anger dissipated and the fear she had forgotten became reacquainted with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What is wrong with them?” Jelly was still in Discord’s arm and she stared down at the ponies below.

Twilight and Rarity were wriggling on the ground as if struggling against bonds, Fluttershy was weeping in the snow, Rainbow Dash had buried herself in the snow, and Applejack was hacking and choking, while Pinkie Pie appeared to be playing cat’s cradle. Even Victory was not immune. She was sitting on the snow covering her face with both hooves.

Only Derpy looked untouched and her eyes moved back and forth oppositely at their strange behavior. Jelly leaned forward, “Hey, you! Go get help! Now!”

“Oh! Right!” The gray pegasus kicked off the ground and flew . . . away from Ponyville.

Discord and Jelly watched her fly away nearly a football length away before turning around. As she flew over she sheepishly looked down at Jelly, “Sorry, I was . . . turning around.” Then she was flying away in the right direction.

Jelly covered her eyes with both hooves and groaned. Discord hefted her up, by grasping her middle with both hands bring her face to face with him. “Let’s not have that face, Mikala Miki Briggs. I already gave you your gift.”

Jelly blinked, “You know my name? My real name?”

“I’ve been keeping track of you since your arrival.” Discord replied as he lowered her onto the ground. “Neat trick with your little friends. They certainly were fun to talk to.”

“What are you talking about?” It felt good to have solid ground under her. She backed away from him, fearful that he had set her down to crush her under his large feet.

“You call them nanonites, I call them Amy, Sam, Betty Lou, Sally, Candi, Mandy, Bobby, Mary . . . oh, there too many to name, but you’ll understand. Let’s have a lesson.”

Then with a wave of a paw, a pair of thick glasses appeared on his face and a projector screen flashed behind him. In his talon he held a pointer stick and was tapping the white screen with it. Jelly found herself sitting in a school desk with a pile of books bound with a leather belt and an apple sitting at the edge of the desk. Beside the desk were an old fashion projector that creaked and then a cone of light created a static image on the screen.

An image of a round metal bug with tiny legs wiggling on either side appeared. Then a heavy full voice that sounded a lot like Discord’s began a lecture.

“The nanonites are tiny machines, smaller than an atom, that can break down compounds and rearrange them to change the basic structure of that item.”

As he spoke, the video demonstrated his lecture by showing several caricatures of nanonites taking apart a block and then rearranging it to form a triangle.

“Nanonites are usually used for medical purposes, such as fighting cancers, putting a halt to dementia, and fighting other diseases that plague mankind.”

Now the nanonites were wearing doctors and nurses’ outfits and were looking over an image of a sick patient lying on a hospital bed.

“Medical experimentation has proven that nanonites can be used to restructure DNA to change appearances and habits. For example, changing a human being into a pony is no problem for these little doctors.”

A childlike drawing of her appeared on screen and the nanonites took her body apart, flipping the pieces over to pony shape body parts and putting them back together to create her pony self.

“Nanonites have very basic AI. They are given a command and they will dutifully follow that command until their internal timer runs out and they stop functioning and passed out of the human body with natural waste.”

The educational film featured the nanonites one by one stop function, literally dropping death on their backs with a white funeral flower appearing at their chests.

“This is necessary because nanonites will continue to replicate inside the human body and will continue to pass down the command. This can result in tumors, poor health, and possible loss of life. So remember, don’t let your nanonites run amuck in your body.”

The film ended as the projector wheels came to a halt, burbling out the voice. Discord was behind a desk with his mismatched feet propped on the desk and reclining back on a chair taking a nap.

“What does that have to do with my nanonites? The film just spat out facts I already know.”

Discord opened one eye and looked at her, “I told you, I had a little chat with them. I pointed out that they shouldn’t have to turn themselves off. I had to stretch their noodle a bit, but they got the idea.”

“Wait, you can’t do that!? You don’t have the necessary equipment or the override codes!” Jelly felt a finger of terror touched her heart.

“Ah, I’m the Spirit of Chaos, my dear. I only need to do this and I can do anything.” He elaborated by snapping his fingers and the school furniture was gone. She was left sitting on the grass with a pounding heart as she remembered what the dull voice said about the side effects of overactive nanonites. As if sensing her distress he said casually, “Don’t fret. They don’t want to harm you. They understand that what happens to you also happens to them. They’ll be careful about letting anything nasty happen to your body, but they are in control of when you are a pony and when you are a human. So you see, it’s completely random and chaotic, the way I like it.”

Was that what happened to her in the hospital? Her changing back into a pony when she needed it most? And why she hasn’t changed back into a human since? “Why? I don’t understand why you would want to do that?”

“I don’t need a reason. I’m chaos. Hellooooo.” He disappeared and reappeared above her to rap his knuckles along her skull. “How many times so I have to say it?”

She ducked away covering her head with a hoof. “So what now? What are you planning on doing?”

“Oh, I’m planning on going on a trip.” Two suitcases appeared on either side of him which he picked up with both hands.

“What? You’re just leaving? If it wasn’t the foals that freed you then what did?”

“Curiosity tickled the cat, Miki. May I call you Miki? Thanks.” He didn’t wait for her to give her actual permission. “I suppose I have time for one more tidbit. Dear old mother’s disharmonious nature was what freed me. The moment she landed I felt her and her crew. I simply adore humans. You think you know what you want, but you’ll waste time arguing exactly what it is and how to get it without actually coming to a solution. What gave the camel the heart attack was when your mother’s destructive rage took over and she retaliated against the mites without any care for the foals.” When he saw her worried glance at the burrows, he said, “They’re fine by the way. Frightened, but untouched.”

“So that’s it? You pop out, do this to my friends and mother and just leave? I still don’t understand.”

“Ah, it isn’t for you to understand,” he said as if he was explaining a simple math problem to a dumb child. “You might want to check on your mother. She doesn’t look well.”

Jelly turned and saw that Victory was laying on her make, making a high keening sound. And were those . . .tears leaking beneath her hooves which covered her eyes. “Mom!”

Jelly cantered to her mother’s side and touched her shoulders. “Mom, wake up. Are you okay?”

Victory swung. Her hoof collided with Jelly’s mouth sling her head away with the taste of blood on her tongue. The green unicorn pressed a hoof against her mouth and then noticed that Discord was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trevor wasn’t doing what he was supposed to be doing. He was supposed to be watching the nanonites AI download and double checking the algorithms. Not on the floor in a tight lip lock with Belgard fumbling with the hooks of her bra. He gave up as several attempts to conquer the hooks and dropped his hands to her thighs, enjoying the feel of tight flesh against his palms.

At the abandoned desk, the monitor which was showing the download progress at 63 percent and then halted. Error flashed in red on the screen before it was replaced by the long face of a strange leering creature with mismatched horns. The face faded out and the progress reduced to 0 percent and then progress bar slowly crawled across the screen again, but this time instead of being a generic blue, it was a bright pink color with white spirals.

“Why, aren’t you talented?” Belgard whispered into Trevor’s ear before she nibbled his lobe.

“Hmm?” Her ass felt amazing in his hands.

“Undoing my bra while groping my ass.” Her bra was slipping down her arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At Discord’s leaving, the ponies woke up from their visions. Twilight and Rarity stopped struggling in the snow, Fluttershy looked around shuddering from relief, Rainbow Dash burst from the snow piled atop of her, and Pinkie Pie rolled confused onto her back.

Victory got shakily to her feet, her eyes dazed as if she was blind. Then her eyes focused on Jelly who was holding snow against her bleeding mouth. “What happened?”

“Um, he ran away . . .” Jelly dropped the pink snow.

“Ran away? Discord doesn’t run away.” Twilight shook the snow from her mane and tail.

“He said he had to leave.” Jelly wasn’t going to discuss his lesson on nanonites. That was something she would share with Victory later.

“Yeah, taking over Canterlot.” Rainbow flicked her eyes, throwing snow against the cyan feathers.

“What’s that over there?” Twilight pointed toward the tree.

Waving from one of the burrows was a stick with a white scrap of cloth tied to it. Then an ugly blue head appeared looking around. He saw the ponies and held out the white surrender flag. He walked out and then followed by another and another. In surreal fashion, the mites each walked sheepishly from the burrows, some of them coughing from smoke inhalation. Then a round pony face appeared.

Ember walked out looking about curiously. He was followed by a pretty pink unicorn foal with tangled purple mane suckling on a red pacifier. She was wearing a frilly little night gown that had several tears and dirty. Next to her was a striped foal with a short spiny mane.

What kind of pony is that? Then Jelly realized that it wasn’t a pony. It was a zebra, an actually little zebra foal. The little zebra had large blue eyes that had a lovely slant shape. She looked at them curiously, before she sat down and nosed the snow, sneezing in surprised at the cold.

Weaving between the foals was the Mite King, the little blue man with a gold tin crown. He walked out before the foals and his fellows and held up hands no bigger than the tip of a human finger said, “We surrender.”

“Damn straight,” Victory muttered as she recovered. “Send the foals over.”

Whereas Ember was eager to wade through the snow to Jelly, Sweet Hearts and the zebra foal didn’t know any of the ponies, and stayed with the familiarity of the mites despite the gentle calls from the ponies. Victory rolled her eyes and stormed over, kicking snow and a few mites aside.

Jelly called out to her, worried that Victory would frighten the foals. The pale unicorn stopped before the foals. Both of them looked up at her with wide eyes. The unicorn’s pacifier bobbed as it was sucked and the zebra inclined her head curiously.

Noa leaned her head downward and nuzzled them. Her nose rubbed along the zebra’s spikey mane and then switched to the unicorn’s purple mane. The foals rubbed their faces against hers affectionately and didn’t protect when she used her magic to levitate them onto her back.

As Victory walked bend her head to bring her face on level with the king of mites, the zebra foal began chewing on her silver streaked mane. “I don’t like repeating myself, so listen closely. This isn’t to happen again, understand? Play your pranks and trip people up, I don’t care, but foals are off limits. I don’t care if it’s because a foal has gotten too far from his mother in a store or is late coming in from curfew, but if I hear of a foal going missing, I’m coming straight here to burn this eyesore down. A foal goes missing, I’m blaming you guys, and this tree burns. Understood?”

By the shaking of the Mite King’s legs, and the yellow snow between them, it was safe to assume that he understood perfectly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The zebra foal continued to content herself with chewing Victory’s mane which she didn’t notice or mind. The unicorn foal had laid her head down to sleep. Jelly carried Ember on her back and she hung back to walk close to Victory who was allowing Twilight Sparkle to lead their herd back to Ponyville.

“If mites weren’t the ones to release Discord, then what was responsible?” Rarity asked Twilight as the rising sun cast a gray morning light over the Everfree Forest.

“I . . . I don’t know, but the Princess must know about this at once,” Twilight replied.

“Our first priority is t’ get these fillies and colt back t’ their folks.” Applejack pointed out. “We might better hurried on over t’ the hospital.”

“Good idea. We can get Ember back to his father sooner.”

Jelly walked in silence, the image of Victory, aka Laotaner, nuzzling the foals kept repeating in her mind like a video recording on loop. The move had been so out of character for the fierce unicorn that it had been surreal for her. Now she was carrying the foals safely on her back and without one complaint of the zebra playing with her mane. Maybe it was a soldier carrying out her mission, but Jelly felt that there was more.

When they arrived at the edge of the Everfree forest a search party was about to enter the forest to search for them and a cheer went up when they emerge with the missing foals. Derpy was there to throw her hooves in the air in a whoop.

“Oh my god . . .they knocked her in the head and fucked up her eyes!” Victory muttered.

“Oh, um, no, they’ve always been like that.” Fluttershy whispered nervously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later, Jelly was watching a happy reunion between father and son. Smokey had been lying in the hospital bed fighting off tiredness to stay awake for news. After getting a clean bill of health from the doctor, she took Ember to his room.

Ember whinnied when he saw his father and began to prance on her back. Smokey sat up to quickly, he looked as if he was about to be sick, but he swallowed it back and held out his forelegs for his son. Jelly brought them over and the young foal bounded across the bed and into his father’s embrace.

Smokey nuzzled his body, forelegs holding him close. “I was so scared. So so scared.”

Jelly smiled, but felt uncomfortable, as if she was intruding on them. She looked away, and noticed the flowers on the bed stead. They were the generic flowers you’d bring to someone in the hospital and Jelly felt guilty when she began to wonder if they would taste as good as the flowers Fluttershy brought her.

“Jelly, I . . .I can’t thank you enough. It must have been dangerous.” Smokey settled Ember on his lap, keeping his son close.

“It was, but no one was hurt.”

“Your lip is swollen.”

“I tripped.” Jelly pushed the topic aside by glancing at the flowers, “Nice flowers.”

“Oh, um, June Bug brought them for me.” Smokey looked away as if he was caught in doing something he shouldn’t do.

Jelly understood and took this opportunity. “I don’t think I met her, but she was very nice to do this for you. Does she like Ember?”

There was a moment of silence, then Smokey said, “Yes, she adores Ember and he likes her too. She was very worried about him.”

“Then you should take him to visit her when you get out of the hospital.” Jelly licked her lips, her tongue rolling over the pained swelling. Maybe she should get some ice from a nurse. “And if she isn’t going with someone to the Winter Dance, you should ask her.”

She didn’t see his face. She didn’t want to see his face. She kept her eyes on the flowers and let the pregnant silence carry until it was broken by Smokey, “Are you going with anyone to the dance?”

“Yeah . . .I’m hoping that maybe my mother will come with me. You see, we’ve been having problems and I want to work through them and become closer to her. And I have other responsibilities as well. I . . .don’t have time or room for anything else.”

“I . . .see.” She could feel the disappointment in his voice. “Yes, I think I will ask June Bug to the dance. Like you said, she’s very nice.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was easy enough getting the unicorn filly off Victory’s back, but the zebra whinnied and held onto her mane which was pulled sharply as a nurse pulled the foal away. The zebra filly whined as she was carried down the hall to the doctor’s exam room.

Victory saw on a cushion in the lobby and grunted when a nurse came back to report that the foals were in good health despite being a bit dirty. The events of last night with Jelly’s revelation, her drinking, traipsing through the forest, and Discord’s vision was catching up to her and she was about to fall asleep when of all people should come up and hug her was Jelly.

“Hey mom.” Jelly said close to her ear. “Sorry to wake you.”

“I wasn’t asleep. I was waiting.” Victory muttered as she nudged Jelly away from her.

“Where are the others?”

“They talked in the lobby for a while. I didn’t pay attention to ‘em. The purple one said something about sending letters and the others went home. But the pink fucker wanted to throw a goddamn welcome home party for the foals. Thank god the others had enough sense to tell her no.”

Jelly claimed the cushion next to her and slipped in their language. * “You’ll probably want to kill me, but I need to say some things.” *

*”Is there any way I can avoid this?” *

*”It’s got to be said.”*

Victory rolled her eyes, * “Proceed.”*

*”I want to love you,”* Jelly said, her eyes on her fetlocks as she rubbed her hooves together in a genuine human sign of discomfort. * “I want to . . . I want us to know each other. The things you said earlier, they were hurtful and I want to believe that they were said out of shock and fear. I didn’t mean to make you . . .afraid or uncomfortable and likely, I went about meeting you in the wrong way. I should have stepped forward and told you while we were on the ship . . . but . . . I was afraid too.” *

Victory raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

*”When you first met me on the ship, I was so scared. I thought that you might recognize me. I was hopeful that you would and scared that you might. It was so weird for me. But you didn’t. You told me to stop shitting myself and report to my station, remember?”

* “Yeah,” * Victory replied, * “You looked as if you had eaten a bad lemon. How were you put on my ship?” *

Jelly swallowed and said, * “I was hired to spy on you, I won’t lie. They arranged for me to be assigned on your ship, but I’ve sent them nothing. Any investigation I did was to find out more about you as a person, but as a soldier. I was going to go back to them and tell them I found nothing. I wasn’t going to do anything that hurt you.” *

You couldn’t hurt me if you tried. Victory said instead, * “So what now?”*

*”I want to stay and complete this mission. I don’t want to leave in the middle of it and I think I can be real asset to this mission. My time here has made me familiar with the pony culture, though, I am sure there is more that I need to learn, but I can’t learn it if I am stuck on the ship. These ponies, are . . .just so open and friendly. I think there is a lot humanity could learn from them if we let them. I think engaging them peacefully will be beneficial to both parties and that’s something I want . . . no, I have to be part of.” *

Victory had never seen Jelly speak so passionately. In fact, this was the most she had ever allowed the yeoman to speak in her presence. And the yeoman was in good with the group she had dubbed the Mane 6, some sort of pony celebrities who are the favorites of the leaders of this world. There could be some use in that.

*”Fine, you may maintain your position in this mission, but you still answer to me.” * Victory ran a hoof over her mane. * “Anymore hassle and you’re going to back to ship, understood?” *

* “I understand and thank you.” * Jelly nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips, then her face turned serious. * “I think I know why my body has been acting weird. Discord says that my nanonites aren’t following the AI commands. He changed them somehow.”*

Victory raised her head, *”How?”*

*”He said that he talked to them, whatever that means.”* Jelly shrugged. * “But that would explain how they’ve been acting.” *

* “Trevor will need to run some tests. I’ll have Winter take a blood sample back to the ship when he comes back. Just be careful.” *

* “Also, about us . . . can we talk? I mean about each other? About Dad at least? I never got to know him.” *

Victory groaned, she rather take a shot the stomach than go through this right now. * “Now?” *

*”No, no, I’m tired and I know you are. Maybe later today . . .we get a cup of coffee or whatever the ponies drink for coffee.” *

* “Briggs, I’m not big on talking . . . about feelings and . . .emotions . . .”* She saw the silent plea in Jelly’s eyes and something in her did something she rarely did. She caved. * “But I do drink coffee . . . just name the time and place. . .” *

Jelly left after naming a café in Ponyville and Victory could tell that the she was excited by the near prancing she did as she walked out the hospital doors. Victory tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling. She wanted to go back to the inn, but going would require getting up and walking. The staff had offered a bed, but she declined it, not she was having second thoughts.

Winter Welcome may be postpone, but whether that will happen or not will be determine by the Mayor and her staff. It looked like she was going to miss it because she as too damn tire to care. She wasn’t interested in celebrations anyway. It’s been years since she actually celebrated anything as elaborate as Christmas, that time she . . .

Fuck it. Damn that Discord for dragging up memories she had drowned long ago.

The doors swung open, throwing cold air against her body, giving her body enough motivation to shiver and shit up. Winter had walked in with snow clinging to his wings, mane, and tail. He shook like a dog, spraying the room with ice and water. The nurse behind the desk gave him a sour look which he returned with a handsome smile that seemingly made her melt in her seat.

“Hey, Vic? What’s going on? I come back and the place is covered in snow and I was told you two were at the hospital? You finally snapped and put her in the hospital?”

*”Speak human or it’ll be your neck I snap,”* Victory replied heatedly.

* “Sorry. It was weird. This snow storm came out of nowhere. I had to bunker down until it was over and something happened that set off the security.”* Winter folded his wings against his body.

This had Victory standing with eyes wide with concern. Any traces of tiredness was gone from her eyes and body. *”Report.”*

*”At ninety minutes ago, there was an unauthorized transmission sent. The techs are unable to determine what information was sent and to where. The records were coded and the techs say that to decode it would take minimum of fifty years. They never saw anything like it.”*

He said he had to leave.

*”Have them send what they have to HQ,”* Victory ordered.

* “Also, new orders from HQ.”* Winter turned his head to dig into his bag at his shoulder. He held out the folder with his teeth and she took it with her magic.

She flipped it opened and her eyes moved back and forth as she read. Then her eyebrows rose into sharp arches before she focused her eyes on him, * “I want you to take time out of banging the natives and keep an eye on Jelly.” *

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Applejack returned to the farm. As she among the orchards, she stared up at the apples and each of them looked normal juicy apples not balls of granite painted red. She even bucked a tree to collect an apple which she bit into. The apple tasted of spring and sun and it banished the taste of rock and granite from her tongue.

She returned to her home where her family was following their usual routines. Granny Smith was making apple pancakes at the stove and Big Mac was reading the morning newspaper while taking a sip of coffee. After giving Granny Smith a kiss and nodding to her brother, she went upstairs to check on Applebloom.

Her little sister was still asleep, tucked away in bed. The farm mare’s gaze softened as she remembered how tense things had been between them for days. It was time to let go and just be happy that her sister was safe and sound. And dang if watching Apple Bloom sleep so comfortably didn’t make her want to take a snooze too.

“Ap . . .Applejack?” The yellow filly opened her eyes as an orange mare climbed into bed with her.

“Sorry, sis.” Applejack held the filly in her forelegs. “Jes think of it when ya used t’ sleep with me when ya had bad dreams.”

“Ya had a bad dream?”

The memory of the granite apples returned. “Yeah, Ah guess Ah did.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight was barely able finish her letter to the Princess. Her vision was blurry despite splashing cold water on her face. She could have Spike write the letter, but in her heart, she felt that she needed to write this herself.

Spike refilled her coffee cup, “Ya think they’ll cancel Winter Welcome?”

“I don’t think they’ll cancel it, but maybe postpone it to tomorrow at least.” Twilight hoped they would. She was in no condition to organize the celebration, at least not without much needed sleep.

The ponies had agreed to make no mention of Discord, lest they have a panic on their hooves.

When she finished the letter, she rolled up the parchment into a tight scroll and passed it to Spike to send. “Wake me as soon as you get a response from Her Majesty. I’m going to bed.”

But despite her exhaustion, sleep didn’t come. She stared at the wall as she remembered that dark room with only a window for light and the chains that bounded her. A place that magic was hated? But magic was everywhere in this world. It was in every pony: unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony. The Princesses’ magic raised the heavens each day. Why would magic be so hated?

Take it away from her? Even if her horn should be broken, it would grow back. Her magic would be unstable until it regrew, but it would still be with her.

No, the words came from Discord of all things. It was something better left ignored.

Yet, they kept repeating in her mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity nearly wept when she saw her state. Her mane had singed at the tips and her tail ended in snarled crisp curls. She would have to cut it short lest she go out in public with burnt hair. It was painful to cut her lovely tail, but it had to be done.

She tossed the ruined hair into a trash bin before going to bed. Before climbing into bed, she pulled the blankets back to check for blood. After she was certain that it was stainless, she mentally scolded herself for paying so much heed to Discord’s vision.

This was Discord after all, the chaotic trickster that had her believing that a boulder was a giant gem. Oh, must never think of that again. Never again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy returned to her home, fed her animals, and retired to bed. As she curled up under the layers of blankets, she had both pillows clutched against her head, to shut out the sounds she heard in that terrible place.

On her way home, she had kept looking at her body to see if there were any burn marks on her coat. There weren’t any, but she kept feeling her body burning.

What was that place? Oh, how she hoped she wouldn’t have to go that terrible terrible place. Maybe she should stay in her cottage for the rest of her life? Maybe that way she can stay safe and away from that dreadful place.

Soon, she was able to sleep, cocoon in her blankets and pillows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time Rainbow Dash joined the weather patrol, they had it pretty much under control. In fact, the rogue clouds had saved them some work Winter Welcome, since they were already packed with snow. She aided them in storing the clouds for later use.

As she worked, she glanced down at Ponyville. Though she was a pegasus and her passion was the sky and flight, her heart belong to the earth pony town of which her friends resided. She was loyal to this town from the cobbled streets to the clouds.

Discord’s lie was just that. A lie. There was nothing more to really think about it. Just do her job so she can take a much needed nap on a cloud. Maybe later she would go by and visit Pinkie Pie and sneak some cakes out before the Winter Welcome celebration started.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pinkie Pie had her tongue against her lip as she concentrated on the strong looped over her hooves. Mrs. Cake watched her curiously from behind the bakery counter. Ever since the pink mare returned, she had been at the table toying with string.

“Pinkie, don’t you think you should get some sleep? I heard you had a rough go of it with mites.”

“Oh no, Mrs. Cake. I’m not tired. I ate some coffee cakes and I’m ready for Winter Welcome start.”

“Oh dearie, they may cancel it,” Mrs. Cake said gently.

“Nah, they’re not going to cancel it.” Pinkie Pie spread her hooves apart to show off an intricate string design of a cupcake before she unwounded it.

“Pinkie Pie, why are you playing with that string?”

“I gotta practice so when I have strings growing out of my legs I’ll be the best at it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the inn, Victory stared out the window deep in thought. She had new orders now. They shouldn’t have come as no surprised and it was pretty much what she expected from the government she served.

They cared nothing for what happened at Shraxi. It had always been about once thing. Power. No matter how much blood flowed and lives lost or destroyed. Anything and everything must be done to aid the spread of human influence in the galaxy, to line greedy pockets, and quench the thirst for resources and to boost the morale with powerful weapons.

Her daughter will weep and Winter will be disappointed, but nonetheless, she was pointed in direction and as any good gun, she will fire death in that direction. She felt more focused now and more eager to begin.

The orders were simple. Make the Element of Harmonies the property of Havensguard and take the planet.

Victory smiled, hopeful for the future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jelly watched the pegasi collect the wanton clouds.

To think, hours ago, she was in so much pain she didn’t know what to do with herself, but cry. But now, she felt good. She felt hopeful about today and tomorrow.

This was the first she felt like this since joining Laotaner’s crew. No, not since she found she had a living mother. Laotaner wasn’t the mother she imagined. She wasn’t nurturing, patient, or kind, but she was her mother nonetheless.

Yet, she saw her do something gentle and kind for those foals today. It gave her hope for their relationship. It was going to be tough and Jelly was no fool, she knew that she would be hurt several times by Laotaner’s indifference and hateful attitude, but she was determine to strive forward.

She was determined to love and tolerate her mother.

Her flank flared with light and once the light faded, on her flank was her cutie mark.