Peace had finally been achieved after years of war, but then they came—the monsters who would devour the world. In a desperate attempt to survive, we united and became the ones who would devour the monsters. It's been 113 years since that day.
"They arrived, like angry, voracious gods from on high, and all but destroyed our world. We did not simply roll over and die however. We remained strong, we survived, we adapted...
...and we found the means to fight back.
Hearken to my words, fair citizens of Equestria and beyond! Today is the day we stand our ground! Today is the day we say 'no more'! Today is the day we take back this planet from the beasts that would see it consumed!
Today is the day we devour the Gods!"
~H.R.H. Princess Luna (2031, Lamnis 23) Founding of the Daeus Hunter Defense Force, Speech presented at Wendigo Corporation HQ, Canterlot, Equestria
MLPxGod Eater Crossover/Adaption
Note: While helpful, knowledge of the God Eater games/anime is not required.
Long ago, long before the Voracious Gods came and ravaged our planet, Equus had been embroiled in an endless world war.
The battles were brutal and unrelenting -- we fought and we fought until we completely forgot what we were fighting for. Not even the Princesses who had lived and fought during such a violent era, remember why -- only that we fought. It was said that the original reason became lost to time even as the wars raged on.
In hindsight, we probably weren't any better than them.
Over time however, through some miracle that had also been lost to time, we managed to return to our senses and a peace was brokered between all sapient races of Equus.
It was... an odd time for the world.
We had been warring for so long that we had forgotten what it was like to truly be at peace. Eventually, over the span of a few centuries, we learned and adapted to our new way of life.
Entire nations were built and rebuilt from the ground up, countries flourished, the people grew happy and content, the world economy rose to new heights. Science, technology, and magic came together in a harmonious balance that shaped life into something truly wondrous.
But then they came.
Monsters of all shapes and sizes spread across the world like a horrible plague -- powerful, vicious, deadly, and hungry. Before any of us knew it, there were too many to count, and as they descended upon us, they consumed anything and everything in their path.
Organic, inorganic... everything.
We called them the Avidaeos, the Voracious Gods, for we could not stop them in their single-minded drive to devour all... at least, not at first. Many died and civilization nearly collapsed once more.
But we held on.
Every metropolis, town, city, village, and hamlet that wasn't completely destroyed by the Avidaeos were made into fortresses. Even then, they didn't always deter the beasts from their wanton destruction and consumption.
For the longest time we could do nothing but cower behind our walls, waiting for the inevitable attack that would finish us off.
As our world fell further into ruin, we realized the only way to survive was to adapt and unite -- not as separate countries and races -- but as a single cohesive entity.
To that end, the top scientists from every race and Equestria's very best thaumatologists came together in a joint effort to discover the origin of these creatures, and out of this joint effort, the Wendigo Corporation was born.
Based in Canterlot, the Wendigo Corporation dedicated itself to researching anything and everything that involved the Avidaeos, and creating the means to counteract them.
It took many years and countless lives, but eventually we gained more of an understanding of what these creatures truly were. At first, we used what we discovered to build better defenses against the beasts, then we realized through more trial and error what would work against them.
Eventually, through the sacrifice of one brave soul, we found a way to fight them.
building upon this new knowledge, the Daeus Arms were created, and soon after that, the first generation of the Daeus Hunter Defense Force was formed.
By this point, the Wendigo Corporation had already overshadowed many of the governments and ruling classes of the world, reducing many leaders to mere figureheads.
At first, many did not take well to this change and fought against it, but as Avidaeus attacks grew worse and world leaders failed time and again to deliver on their promises of a safer tomorrow, more and more citizens put their faith in Wendigo.
They had set up several branches all over Equus, and the D.H.D.F. were deployed in every single branch to defend against the relentless attacks by the Avidaeos.
The risks of becoming a Daeus Hunter were great, but those who agreed to join their ranks were convinced that the rewards would be much greater in the long run.
Those affected by the Avidaeus attacks could finally get revenge for all their suffering, they could finally protect their friends and loved ones, and those with hope in their hearts for a better tomorrow could make it happen with their own hands.
Recruitment was at an all time high, with more and more people of every race signing up everyday, though not everypony that applied made it in. It turned out the risks involved reached much farther than just deadly fights against the Avidaeos.
Still, many applied, and some were even drafted in a few areas, and in time, a sizable force large enough to be spread across each country ensured our continued survival.
It may seem like a hopeless battle, with the Avidaeos able to adapt far more effectively than we ever could, but we're all willing to do our part to fight for this ravaged planet we call home. Something has to give, and we'll make sure it's them, not us.
It's been one hundred and thirteen years since the Daeus Hunter Defense Force was founded, and now it's my turn to take up the fight against the Voracious Gods.
My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is the story of how I went from a simple researcher employed by the Wendigo Corporation, to a heroine in the eyes of a small town, and the very special friends and comrades-in-arms that helped guide me along the way.
As I stood in front of the large metal container stamped with the insignia of the Wendigo Corporation, I couldn't help but wonder what the point was. Within these containers were several large pods containing the newly developed Daeus Arms.
They were currently being machine lifted by a crane into large, heavily armored trucks to be shipped off to who-knows-where, and for whatever reason, I was assigned to oversee the shipment.
Why was I here?
I wasn't part of the Daeus Arm R&D team, this wasn't the lab I worked in, and I had no idea what Moon Dancer was thinking having me temporarily transferred here. I respected the Daeus Hunters and what they did, really I did -- my own brother was one of the best Hunters Canterlot had to offer and I was proud of him for that.
I just personally wanted nothing to do with Daeus Arms.
As far as I was concerned, the things were impractical to say the least. I realize they were all we had when it came to fighting against the Avidaeos, and I understood the need for them, but they just... bugged me.
The weapons themselves came in all kinds of different flavors -- blades, scythes, staves, spears, hammers, and various gun types. Then there were these 'new type' Daeus Arms that could supposedly switch between shields, melee weapons, and ranged weapons on the fly.
The problem was that they were these stupidly large hunks of metal that used HIve Cells to function. The process one underwent to become a Daeus Hunter made the insane weight of a Daeus Arm a complete non-issue when actually wielding the things, but that didn't help the bigger problems.
What repulsed me about them were both the negative side effects they had on the natural magic circuits that ran through a pony's body, and the fact that their function and effectiveness against the Avidaeos revolved around Hive Cells.
Essentially, In order to become a Daeus Hunter, one had to inject themselves with Hive Cells via a bulky armlet placed on the arm just above the wrist, and more or less fuse with their weapon, which itself was basically an artificially made Avidaeus.
Once you put that armlet on, there was no taking it off, there was no going back.
I shuddered just thinking about it.
Hive Cells were the minuscule semi-sentient organisms the Avidaeos were made up of. They surrounded a 'core' and were what allowed the Avidaeos to adapt to any environment, no matter how uninhabitable.
The cells also allowed them to shape themselves into any number of strange and terrifying creatures. These Hive Cells were as fascinating as they were horrifying, and I had made it my life goal to learn everything I could about how they worked to better help fight against the Avidaeos in my own way.
With knowledge.
To that end I studied for years and was eventually hired as a researcher at the Wendigo Corporation. It had been one of the happiest days of my life, but getting back to the topic at hand, willingly injecting yourself with Hive Cells was something I just couldn't wrap my head around.
From what I had heard, it didn't even work a lot of the time, and the horror stories of what happened to those that failed to properly bond with the cells made me sick to my stomach.
That wasn't even mentioning the fact that the wielding the weapons -- while drastically increasing physical strength, speed, stamina, and endurance -- also drastically reduced a pony's natural magical capability.
This was an issue exclusive to ponies, as we were the most magically inclined of any of the other races of Equus save for maybe the changelings, and they didn't have the same problem for whatever reason -- in fact, they took to Hive Cells extremely well now that I had thought about it.
Once injected, unicorns couldn't cast anything more powerful than a simple levitation spell -- maybe a bit more than that if they were particularly powerful. Pegasi could still fly, but not for very long before their innate magic started to dwindle.
Earth ponies completely lost their connection to the land and their literal magic touch when it came to growing and producing food. This was a particularly devastating blow considering food had become somewhat scarce to come by in many areas and had to be rationed out.
This was somewhat mitigated by a more recently created Daeus Arm specifically made for ponies, a weapon known as an arcane stave. While there was still a slight enhancement in physical characteristics, arcane staves focused more on enhancing a pony's magical strength tenfold.
They allowed ponies to channel their magic into devastating fire, ice, lightning, and photon attacks. Arcane staves worked in a similar fashion to guns, but on a far more powerful scale, and like healing bullets when used in a gun, they could also be used to heal wounds.
It was an incredibly draining weapon though, and prolonged use was dangerous as it would leave a pony vulnerable on the battlefield. Not many opted to use staves, and while they could be used by anypony, those that did choose to use them were almost always unicorns.
Despite my distaste of the weapons, I still made it a point to learn about them, which is why I knew as much as I did. After all, you never knew when such knowledge would come in handy, and prior knowledge was always a good thing to have in general.
Well there was that, and the fact that Shiny would never shut up about the things whenever he came back home to visit.
As I reflected on what I knew about Daeus Arms and wondered what in Tartarus Moon Dancer was playing at, I continued to walk amongst the many metal crates and trucks.
I inquired about the progress being made, took stock of various other armaments and artillery, marked off each shipment that was made, and kept track of the transport vehicles coming in and out of the large warehouse that was connected to the D.A. R&D Lab.
It was tiring and, at times, annoying work, but I managed well enough. Once it was all over though, I'd be having a word with Moon Dancer about why I was even transferred from the Hive Cell Research Lab to Daeus Arms R&D in the first place.
I finally finished up the tasks I had been assigned to do after about eight hours or so of work. I made my way back to the Hive Cell Research Lab area and entered the changing room to the left of the lab entrance.
As I stepped inside I breathed a weary sigh of relief, taking off my lab coat and hanging it up next to all the others. It looked as though I was the last one to leave for the day... as usual.
Normally I didn't mind, as I regularly volunteered to work longer hours -- well maybe volunteered isn't the right word. It was more that I would completely forget that my shift was over when I lost myself in my work.
This time however, I just wanted the day to be over so I could go home and have a nice relaxing soak in the bath, maybe with a good book or two. The thought made me smile as I grabbed my bag from my locker.
I had just closed the locker and was about to head out when I heard the door to the changing room open. I turned to see none other than Moon Dancer herself walk into the room. She looked around briefly before spotting me standing next to my locker.
Her eyes widened slightly and she took a step back, looking away and rubbing the back of her neck. I frowned and opened my mouth to go off on the mare, but the look on her face stopped me cold.
She looked nervous and apologetic, looking everywhere but at me. She shifted from hoof to hoof and after a moment's hesitation she finally spoke.
"H-Hey, Twilight," she began with a sheepish smile, "sorry about, y'know, having you transferred to Daeus Arms, but the boss wanted--"
"But nothing, Moon Dancer," I interjected sourly, "you knew I was in the middle of something important, and you also know how much I hate getting dragged away from my work -- especially for something like this."
"I know, I know," Moon Dancer replied quickly, raising her hands in defense, "believe me, Twilight, I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't ordered to by Miss Inkwell."
"The Chief Operating Officer?" I asked, blinking in surprise, "why would she have me transferred to Daeus Arms R&D?"
"I don't know all the details," Moon Dancer replied with a shake of her head, "but apparently you caught the eye of the top brass with your advances in the field of Hive Cell research -- particularly with that thesis on Avidaeos cannibalism."
"So... they sent me to Daeus Arms because I was doing well in the field of research I actually studied for?" I asked with a raised brow, "that doesn't make any sense, Moon Dancer."
"No, it's not like that," Moon Dancer replied with a huff, "from what little I was able to get out of Inkwell, the higher ups wanted to test you for something."
"Test me for -- why?!" I cried in alarm, "what was this test? Why wasn't I told about it?"
"I don't know," Moon Dancer answered, rubbing her arm worriedly, "but I don't have a good feeling about this, Twilight," she looked me in the eye then, and I could see the concern clear on her face as she spoke, "the President wants to see you before you leave tonight."
For a good minute, I just gaped at the mare in disbelief.
"...Excuse me?"
Moon Dancer sighed and began heading back towards the door, looking back at me from over her shoulder as she made to turn the handle.
"I don't know what this is all about, Twilight, but from the sound of it, I think things are about to change for you," she grimaced and turned back towards the door, her voice growing quiet, "...and not in a good way."
Before I could ask her what she meant, she pulled the door open and quickly stepped outside. I could hear her hurried hoofsteps echo down the halls as I stood there dumbfounded.
Moon Dancer had been my best friend since foalhood, and through a lucky opportunity, had managed to get hired long before I did. The mare was brilliant in her own right, and despite her rather awkward and introverted nature, she quickly rose to the position of head researcher within the first few years she had been here.
I was happy for her, but couldn't help but feel more than a bit envious when I heard the news that she had been promoted. I eventually got over my envy and we maintained a friendly relationship. I trusted her to talk to me about her worries, but this time I felt as though there was something she wasn't telling me about the situation.
And then there was this test.
Why was I being tested? Was it some kind of performance review? If that were the case, wouldn't it make more sense to judge me based on what I know? Weren't there rules regarding this kind of thing? And most importantly...
What did Chief Executive Officer Celestia want with a simple researcher like me?
If there was one thing in my life I never expected to happen during my time here, it was to meet the Princess-turned-corporate-leader herself. It was so hard to believe the President had been an actual Princess once.
Well to be fair, she and her sister were still technically Princesses, but that role had more or less taken a backseat to their responsibilities as members of the Wendigo Corporation.
It had been a long time since President Celestia and Chief Commander Luna had actually taken up their roles as the Co-Rulers of Equestria -- in fact the last time they had issued any kind of royal decree was way back before even my mother was born, and that was to override some ill conceived change to the city's budget.
Generally they had trusted delegates like Fancy Pants, Blueblood, and Cadence to handle the day-to-day running of the city. Cadence herself was an alicorn like Celestia and Luna, but she had lost her status as an actual Princess, along with her entire empire, centuries ago during the Age of War.
She had worked as an aide to both Princesses all the way up until Celestia had become President, after which she became a delegate. You'd be hard pressed to find a kinder mare in all of Equestria.
If Celestia was the 'mother' of Equestria, then Cadence was the 'big sister'.
While many leaders all over the world had conceded their leadership to Wendigo's Board of Directors, Princess Celestia had gained herself a rather unique position among the other leaders.
Each member of the Board of Directors was part of a different race, a decision that was meant to represent each separate race coming together as a single entity. Each of the directors had handpicked the one they thought would best represent them as President of the Corporation.
Celestia, with her millennia's worth of wisdom and experience, had played a pivotal role in the rise of the Age of Peace. Because of that, she had been a prime candidate for the position. That left many to wonder if Princess Luna would take up the role as the Director representing ponykind, but to everypony's surprise, she refused the position.
This left an empty seat on the Board, as Celestia had already accepted the position of President. In the end the majority of the Board decided to leave the seat empty out of respect for the snow white alicorn, promising her a spot as an honorary member of the Board despite her position as President.
While she had no real power as a Board member while acting as President, she was given the right to take up that power should she ever step down from her current position.
While Celestia had turned her focus to her duties as the new President of Wendigo, Luna had continued her role as a Princess of Equestria, leading the ponies in Celestia's stead, though she lost more and more power as a Princess as Wendigo's influence spread.
Naturally, this created a rift between the two sisters, and for awhile, the atmosphere in Equestria was a tense one. It was said that Luna began to feel more and more useless as time went on, but just before things reached a boiling point, there was a breakthrough.
Daeus Arms were created and Luna was quick to hop on the opportunity these new weapons presented. She set her differences with her sister aside and together they founded the Daeus Hunter Defense Force with Luna as it's new Chief Commander.
Though both sisters were now a part of Wendigo, they never officially relinquished their titles of Princesses of Equestria, nor were they expected to. Both Celestia and Luna had been ruling Equestria for so long that the thought of stepping down from the throne hadn't crossed anypony's mind, even when they took up their new roles.
And they both performed their new roles spectacularly.
Having Celestia in the seat of the Presidency ensured that things were fair and on-the-level within the company, as the alicorn had long held a reputation for being an incorruptible leader among her people.
Luna had taken to the battlefield like a fish to water. She wasn't a pony who stepped back and let others do the fighting for her -- at least not for the most part. She remained mindful of her role as a leader, but also made sure to be an example of what every aspiring Daeus Hunter was supposed to be.
When pitted against the Avidaeos, she was a demon -- some even going so far as to say the mare changed during battle. Her nigh impossible feats and brutally efficient methods earned her the moniker of 'Nightmare Moon', a title she held with no small amount of pride.
She had become a living legend even among the dragons and minotaurs, some of the most powerful races on Equus.
She wasn't just a Daeus Hunter, she was the Daeus Hunter.
My thoughts continued to wander in this same vein, mentally reciting everything I had read about the Royal Sisters, as I waited for the elevator to reach the top floor. After roughly two minutes or so of waiting, the elevator pinged, signalling that I had reached my intended destination.
Snapping out of my musings, I nervously stepped out of the elevator and into the small hallway that led to Celestia's office. The lights overhead were dimmed somewhat, and that, combined with the soft beige color of the walls, gave the hallway a sort of cozy feel.
Okay, Twilight, just relax. Stay calm, whatever President Celestia wants, it probably doesn't have anything to do with firing you for a poor performance... probably.
I took a few calming breaths before schooling my features and walking towards the doors at the end of the surprisingly short hallway. I stopped at the double doors and took another deep breath, clenching and unclenching my fingers a few times before raising a fist to knock.
A gesture that was rendered completely unnecessary as it turned out.
Just before I could knock on one of the double doors, the handles were enveloped in a bright golden aura and the doors were pulled open of their own accord -- or rather, of Celestia's accord, as the golden aura of magic belonged to none other than the alicorn herself.
"Ah, Twilight Sparkle," came a deep melodious voice from further in, "please, come in, we have much to talk about."
I blinked stupidly for a few moments before gathering my wits and stepping into the room. The doors quietly shut behind me and I found myself alone with the President in all her glory.
The mare in front of me sat behind her large desk as though it was made for her. Her prismatic mane constantly billowed in a nonexistent breeze, her snow white fur practically shining even in the dim light and dark backdrop of the night sky that could be seen through the massive, curtainless window behind her.
Her bright magenta eyes didn't show an ounce of weariness or exhaustion, and her smile was as warm as the light of the sun itself. She wore a royal blue military styled double breasted blazer with a cyan armband embroidered with the Wendigo Corp. insignia adorning the left arm of her suit.
The blazer was partially unbuttoned, leaving the collar of a cyan dress shirt to poke out from beneath. Professional, immaculate, and radiant were just a few of the words I would've used to describe Celestia.
In complete contrast, I wore a simple forest green turtleneck and black slacks. It was only now, standing here in front of Celestia, that I felt extremely underdressed.
As I continued to stare shamelessly, Celestia raised an eyebrow before leaning forward and resting her hands on the desk. She chuckled and gave me a playful smirk.
"Like what you see?"
My open mouth snapped shut and I quickly looked away, completely mortified. The reaction only made Celestia laugh out loud.
"I'm sorry, Twilight," she said, still chuckling good-naturedly, "I couldn't resist. You'll have to forgive me, I tend to look for amusement wherever I can find it."
"Yeah," I replied with an awkward chuckle of my own, my face still a bit flushed, "I uh... know exactly what you mean."
I really had no idea what she meant.
"I'm fairly sure you don't," Celestia replied, reading my mind somehow, "but that's alright, I won't fault you for it," she gave me one last heart-meltingly warm smile before putting on a business-like frown, "I supposed we'd better get to business then."
She lit up her horn and a chair I hadn't noticed earlier rolled itself to a stop in front of her desk. She gestured to the chair with an idle wave of her hand. I took that as my cue to sit, and sat myself down in the chair, adjusting it a bit so that the seat rose a bit higher off the ground.
"Now then," Celestia began, folding her hands on the table, "did Moon Dancer tell you why I called you here?"
"Um, no, not really," I replied nervously, "she said something about a test, and that's about it. She implied that she wasn't able to get a lot out of Miss Inkwell, but I don't think she was telling me everything."
Celestia furrowed her brows and hummed to herself thoughtfully. After a moment she sighed and looked back to me with an apologetic smile.
"I'm afraid some of that might've been my fault," she finally said, "I forget how tight-lipped Raven is when she isn't given express permission to divulge information that comes directly from me."
"Oh, no, that's okay Miss President," I said quickly, "i-it's okay, really, I figured you'd tell me in person anyway, so there's nothing to worry about."
Celestia eyed me contemplatively before her gaze turned sad and somewhat guilty. She sighed again and turned her chair slightly so that she could see out the window to the brightly lit city below.
For several moments, she just sat there, staring out the window with a conflicted expression. I grimaced as I watched her, my hands idly wringing the bottom of my turtleneck sweater.
Eventually she turned back to me, her expression sad, but firm.
"Things... may not be as okay as they seem, Twilight," she said before reaching down and pulling open a drawer beneath her desk, "as for Moon Dancer hiding something from you..."
She pulled some documents out of the drawer and placed them on the desk, spinning them around and sliding them toward me.
"...I'd completely understand if that was the case."
I furrowed my brow in bemusement as I looked from Celestia's solemn face to the papers in front of me. With a growing sense of dread, I picked up the papers and looked them over.
After a minute the document slipped from my shaky hands and fluttered to the floor. I took no notice as I stared at the President with a horrified expression.
"T-These are... they're... y-you're not... you can't be--"
"Yes, Twilight," Celestia interjected with a nod, "they're reassignment forms," she sat up straight bringing the full force of her authority to bear, "I'm personally reassigning you to the Wendigo Sub-Branch in Ponyville to work as a Daeus Hunter."
I felt sick.
"Should you successfully pass both the Daeification process and your training period, you will be assigned to the Retaliation Team under 1st Unit Leader Applejack."
I couldn't breathe.
"I expect you to have your locker cleaned out by the end of tomorrow," Celestia continued, "you have three days to prepare, bring only the essentials," her features softened slightly, "I will send 2nd Unit Leader Shining Armor to pick you up on the morning of the fourth day."
I was almost certain my heart was going to beat it's way out of my chest.
"I'm sorry, Twilight, but we need you out there more than we need you here right now," Celestia continued, ignorant of my impending breakdown, "I know your research is important, and it's helped us greatly, but there's something... Twilight?"
My vision was swimming.
It was getting darker.
There was a constant pounding in my head.
Gravity didn't seem to work right.
"Twilight?" Celestia asked again, rising out of her chair and furrowing her brow in concern, "Twilight? Are you -- Twilight!"
I blacked out, wondering why Celestia hadn't just fired me instead.
I had known there was a conscription clause in the contract I had signed when I first started working for Wendigo, but never in my darkest nightmares did I believe I'd be conscripted as a Daeus Hunter.
Yet here I was, a weak, scientifically minded introvert who had no experience in dealing with the Avidaeos outside of a small sample in a test tube, reassigned to a position that could very well kill me before I even started any actual work.
And everything was explained to me in a letter.
After I had fainted in Celestia's office, she had gotten Moon Dancer to come get me and Moon Dancer had apparently called my mom to come pick me up. I woke up in my own bed the next day, dazed, confused, and -- when I finally remembered what had happened -- completely freaked out.
I'll spare the details, but suffice it to say there was a lot of shouting, a lot of expletives, and a fair amount of calming herbal tea. It took some time, but eventually I calmed down enough to explain what had happened to my mother.
She took it about as well as I did.
It was a little ways into the afternoon, after my mother and I had both settled down, that a representative from Wendigo showed up with a letter from the President herself. To be fair, it was more personal and heartfelt than I had been expecting, but not by much.
As for what the letter said...
Twilight Sparkle,
I apologize that I could not be there in person to give a better apology than this, but nevertheless, you have my sincerest apology for causing you so much distress. Please understand that had there been a better option, I would've chosen it in a heartbeat, but as it stands, you're uniquely qualified for what must be done.
It was my idea to temporarily transfer you to oversee the shipment of the new type Daeus Arms. It was my intention to observe how you handled being transferred to a new and stressful environment on such short notice, as well as to suss out a few other qualities that I'm sure will help you and others around you in the near future.
To your credit, you performed admirably.
More important however, is the reason I'm reassigning/conscripting you into the D.H.D.F. and why it's so important that it has to be you. Lately there have been multiple reports of a new type of Avidaeus sighted in the region near Ponyville.
We have very little information regarding this new creature, but from what we do know, it has shown an almost obsessive tendency to devour its own kind. It even goes so far as to ignore or outright flee from any Daeus Hunters we send to investigate in favor of attacking and devouring other Avidaeos.
While Avidaeus cannibalism has been observed in the past, and played a big part in the creation of Daeus Arms, this single minded consumption of its own kind worries me for reasons I'm not entirely sure of yet. I did not get a chance to explain, but I chose you specifically because of the rather impressive thesis you had written regarding Avidaeus cannibalism.
We believe you may be on to something, and to that end, your assignment is actually twofold. As an expert in Hive Cell biology, I'd like you to work with Ponyville's own researchers to solve the mystery of this potential new threat.
At the same time, I'm assigning you to the position of a Daeus Hunter for three reasons. The results from your last physical exam showed that you have a high probability of being compatible with the new type Daeus Arms. This type of compatibility has only been seen in one other candidate so far, and they will be joining you in Ponyville at a later date.
The second reason I'm sending you as a new recruit is that, due to an incident in the nearby Everfree Forest, there is a severe shortage of available Daeus Hunters at the moment. And lastly, as long as you exercise extreme caution, this will give you a rare opportunity to observe and study the Avidaeos up close.
As a scientist, I have no doubt this will be an invaluable experience for you and should be a significant boon to your research. Just remember to put your life before your research, and don't be afraid to rely on your team if you need help.
I have no doubt you will accomplish amazing things out there, Twilight Sparkle, and I look forward to hearing of your exploits, both in the fields of science, and battle.
~My best regards, Celestia.
And that was it.
Apparently I was Daeus Hunter material and I hadn't even realized it. I hadn't even known Wendigo had gotten ahold of any samples from my physical, nor did I even remember exactly when I had taken it, but it didn't matter now.
Even if there was less risk of the Daeification process failing, there was still a risk. Even if I did survive the process, that still left me to deal with having to actually fight against the Avidaeos.
It had played a major factor in me getting hired at Wendigo, but I was beginning to regret writing that thesis. I didn't want to fight. My brother was the one that did the fighting, and my dad, Night Light before him... before he died during an Avidaeos breach.
That was another issue.
My dad had died when I was only a newborn foal, so I don't remember him at all, but both Shining Armor and mom did. What I knew about him, I had only heard from stories from both my mother and Shiny.
Apparently during the Avidaeus attack, he had sacrificed himself to get me, my mom, and Shiny to safety behind Canterlot's inner wall. Our house wasn't exactly in the richer part of town, but it was close enough that it hugged the outside of the inner walls meant to protect Wendigo HQ and the rest of Canterlot's more vital facilities.
Avidaeus breaches were extremely rare in this city, and that had been one of the worst breaches in recorded history. My brother, having been just old enough to understand how truly terrible the events of that day were, vowed to become a Daeus Hunter to defend mom and I from another attack like that -- not that there'd been one since.
If I went off to Ponyville to become a Daeus Hunter, my mom would be left all alone save for Shiny's rare visits. Since he was stationed in the Equestrian Main Branch here in Canterlot, and Canterlot's city wide defenses were among some of the best on Equus, neither my mother or I would have to worry too much about him, but out there, outside of the Anti-Avidaeus walls...
There's no telling what would happen to me out there.
If I was just being sent off to help with the research, it would be one thing, but fighting the Avidaeos? I couldn't even imagine it, and out of morbid curiosity I tried. In any case though, I had no choice but to comply, so I'd have to get over my many, many reservations at some point.
It had been a full day since I received my new reassignment from Celestia. It was late, and I found myself sitting at the desk next to my bed in the relative quiet of my own second story bedroom, re-reading the letter Celestia had sent me earlier that afternoon.
Moon Dancer had come over a few hours ago to drop off my things from work, as I had been indisposed and hadn't had a chance. She brought Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Minuette, three old friends I hadn't seen since I started working at Wendigo roughly a year and a half ago.
When they heard the news they had insisted on seeing me, but in the end, I just thanked Moon Dancer for bringing my things over and turned all of them away. I really didn't feel like having any company right now.
All I wanted to do at the moment was hole up in my rather tiny room. To anypony who hadn't lived here as long as I had, the place would've probably been uncomfortably small -- only spacious enough for my desk, my smallish bed, a tiny closet for the few clothes I owned, and a bookshelf that covered the wall opposite my bedroom door.
The walls were a typical off-white plaster, the carpet was thin and dark grey, and there was only a single window allowing an unrestricted view of the crowded streets below. The desk I was currently sulking at was cluttered with a few pens, a large stack of unimportant documents, and several books both finished and unfinished.
I don't know how long I sat there reading the same paragraph over and over again, but eventually a knock on my door snapped me out of my daze. I cast a side glance at the door and frowned for a moment before letting out a resigned sigh and returning my gaze to the slip of paper before me.
"It's open, mom."
At that, I heard the latch turn and the door swung open to reveal a weary looking Twilight Velvet. She looked around for a second before spotting me, sitting slumped forward over my desk and staring at the letter.
"Oh, Twilight," she sighed, "you've got what, two more days before you have to leave, and you're just going to brood alone in your room?" when I didn't answer she frowned and stepped fully inside the room, "Moon Dancer and the others are worried about you, sweetie -- worried about how this is affecting you."
"Yeah, I know."
Mom was silent for a long moment before speaking again in a voice that made me look up.
"You should've at least talked to them, Twilight," mom said, her eyes shining with unshed tears, "I know... I know we talked about it already, and I know your brother is coming to get you when the time comes, but..." she stepped a bit closer, "but you don't know if... you'll ever be able to see them again after..."
She trailed off and wiped her eyes before collecting herself once again and giving me a stern frown. I winced slightly and looked away again, a small pang of guilt rising in my stomach.
"You can't push them away like that, Twilight," she admonished, "they're just worried about you."
She walked past me and lowered herself onto my bed. I turned to look at her, and it was only now that I got a closer look, that I could see the dark lines staining her cheeks and the slight redness in her eyes.
My mother had been crying, and the guilt I had felt only increased. I knew it wasn't my fault that I was being shipped out to Ponyville, but I still couldn't help but feel bad about the way I was acting once I had actually gotten a good look at the state my mom was in.
"I don't want you to go, sweetie," mom continued, reaching out and grabbing one of my hands in hers, squeezing it gently, "you're... you're all I have left and I don't want to lose you... but if you have to go... couldn't you at least do it with your head held high and no regrets?"
It was clear by the sound of her voice and the look in her eyes that she was struggling to sound supportive, and I appreciated her all the more for it. It took me a second, but eventually I leaned over and gave my mom a brief, but tight hug before pulling back.
"You're right, mom," I said, trying to sound more confident and ready than I felt for her sake, "I... I have to get over this and do what I need to do," I looked away for a moment as I spoke, "I... I'm not cut out for this sort of thing... at all, but Celestia has faith in me, and I won't let her or you down," I gave her a weak smile, "well, I'll try my best anyway."
"That's all you can do, dear," my mom replied, sniffing as she pulled me into another short hug, "just be sure to see your friends before you go, that's all I ask."
She pulled away and stood up once more before walking over to, and pulling open the bedroom door. As she was about to step outside into the hallway, she stopped and turned back to me.
"Oh, and I'll most likely have already left for work by the time Shining Armor gets here, so make sure to tell him I love him and how proud he makes me, alright?"
"I will, mom," I replied with a small smile, "I promise."
She smiled back at me warmly before walking out and gently closing the door behind her. I listened to the sound of her hoofsteps as the descended the stairs outside my room.
My worried frown returned and I gave the letter I had placed on the desk one last look before sighing heavily. I got up from the desk and moved over to my closet to retrieve the black t-shirt and sweatpants I usually wore to bed.
After I had changed, I flicked off the large lamp resting on the desk and plopped down onto my bed, throwing the blanket over myself and trying to get comfortable. My tumultuous thoughts and feelings made it difficult to fall asleep, but with one final thought, I eventually managed to drift off.
At the very least, I'll be able to continue my research...
I didn't have much in the way of advanced magitech in my home, though Celestia knows we could've afforded it.
Apparently my dad had grown up in an old fashioned home and my mom agreed to humor his views... somewhat. She would always tell me and Shiny that 'the only place magitech needed to be was in the workplace' which I never thought made any sense, as there wasn't a single building that didn't have some kind of mana device or another in it.
Regardless, because of that, Shiny and I grew up without a lot of access to computers, television, mobile phones and the like. My mom eventually relaxed her standards and got my brother and I mobile phones and a TV for the living room... but that was about it.
Sure we had the necessary amenities needed for everyday living, but no computers or anything else that would be considered a luxury when it came to magitech. Thankfully Moon Dancer's parents had no such hangups and I was able to learn how to use a computer whenever I visited her house.
Some time passed and I learned a bit more, going so far as to pick up coding in my spare time, but I still only really used computers during work and didn't have one at home to this day.
It was for this reason that I opted to visit the Canterlot Public Archives. The CPA building was probably one of the largest and most well protected structures in Canterlot aside from Wendigo HQ and Canterlot Castle.
It housed every kind of record available—from historical, to governmental, to corporate, and everything in between—though many of the records regarding the Age of War were heavily restricted.
The Canterlot Public Archives building was a place I had visited regularly as a filly and I had fond memories of it. It was where I had first met Moon Dancer and where I did most of my studying growing up.
Now I was going to use it to learn more about the Avidaeos that frequented the region around Ponyville, as well as information about the town itself. My mom and I had spent the whole morning making arrangements for my departure and trying to figure out what I should bring on the trip to Ponyville.
She had insisted on bringing everything she could pack into an oversized suitcase, but in the end, I went with only my research materials, a few clothes and a few hygienic necessities. After that was done, I had told her my plan to spend the rest of the day at the CPA, and she had insisted on me bringing my friends along.
So it was that I contacted Moon Dancer, who in turn contacted the rest of the girls. Now I was supposed to meet Moon Dancer, Lemon Hearts, Minuette, and Twinkleshine outside of the CPA building.
To be honest, I was kind of nervous about seeing all of them. I hadn't seen the latter three in well over a year, and when they finally show up, I turned them away because I didn't feel like talking.
I made my way up the steps to what was essentially a massive grey and white tower with 'Canterlot Public Archives' labeled in large black letters over the front. It didn't take me long to spot the others. The girls were all either sitting on the benches lining the entrance talking to each other, or leaning against the railing that lined the concrete pathway as they messed with their phones.
Minuette happened to look up from her phone and spot me walking towards them all. She flashed me a big smile and said something to the others before waving me over. The rest of the girls followed suit, and I breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
At the very least, it didn't seem like they were mad—if anything they all looked ecstatic to see me. I gave them all a small smile and wave of my own as I made my way over to where they were.
"Twilight!" Lemon Hearts cried happily as she stood up from the bench and rushed over to me. I let out a surprised yelp as the pale gold mare wrapped me in a quick but tight, hug, "it's so good to see you again!" she pulled away and held me at arms length, her bright smile fading a little, "are you okay? I heard about the relocation and—"
"It's okay, Lemon," I interjected with a reassuring smile, "I'm... I'm okay now, for the most part," when she remained unconvinced I elaborated further, "I talked it out with my mom and we both agreed that if I had to leave, I'd do it with my head held high... or that's what she said anyway."
"Wow, not gonna lie, Twi," Minuette chimed in as she stepped up next to Lemon Hearts and rested an elbow on her shoulder, "that's pretty cheesy. Good advice, but cheesy."
We both shared a small laugh at that before I turned my focus on Twinkleshine and Moon Dancer who were both making their way over.
"Hey you two," I called out, "was I late, or were you all just early?"
"No, we were early," Twinkleshine replied with a small shrug, "I was already in the area on an errand and both Minuette and Moon Dancer already live close by," the light grey, pink maned mare turned a questioning gaze towards Lemon Hearts, "now that I think about it though, why were you already here?"
"I was actually already here with my dad. We were helping my little brother with some research he was doing for school," Lemon Hearts replied with a shrug of her own, "when I got a call from Moon Dancer, I figured I'd stay behind and wait for you all."
"Fair enough," Twinkleshine replied, before turning to me, "It really is nice to see you again after so long, Twilight. I know both you and Moon Dancer have been busy with work, but it means a lot that you decided to see us all one last time before you were shipped off to Ponyville."
"No, I... I should've tried to hang out with all of you more," I replied, my gut twisting with guilt, "I had free time, but I was so caught up with my research and making sure I was on top of everything that I... kind of neglected you all," my ears flattened and I looked away, "I'm sorry girls."
Though I was willing to admit my past mistakes of not paying attention to any of my friends, I still didn't have the heart to tell them I had only chosen to meet up with them because my mom had suggested it.
"Ah, don't sweat it, Twilight," Minuette responded, pulling me into a one armed hug and poking me in the nose, "yeah, it does kinda suck that you didn't bother to at least call, but we all know how you are by now," the light blue mare stepped back and gave me a sheepish grin, "and besides, it's not like we got in contact with you either, so I guess that makes us even, yeah?"
"Minnie's right," Lemon Hearts added, giving me an apologetic smile, "we all had one thing or another going on, and could've made just as much of an effort to stay in touch as you."
I didn't really know what to say to that, so instead I just smiled gratefully.
"Come on, we can all catch up inside," Moon Dancer interjected, putting a hand on my shoulder before gesturing to the entrance, "Twilight leaves tomorrow morning so we don't have a lot of time."
With that, we all headed into the building, chatting and laughing about times long since past. We spent the rest of the afternoon searching through the archives for anything that would help me during my stay in Ponyville, and to my surprise, there wasn't a lot of information on the little town.
Thankfully, there was plenty of information on the Avidaeos, as well as a bit about the enigma that was the Everfree Forest. From what little I knew about the Everfree, it seemed to spit in the face of the current state of the world.
There were very little forests and woods left on Equus—the more plant-like Avidaeos taking the place of any actual trees and their role in the production of oxygen—but the Everfree stood as a testament to old Equestrian wild magic.
The forest just refused to die—rather growing even wilder as the centuries past instead. Naturally it had also grown far more dangerous as a result, and not just from the strange and extremely vicious Avidaeos that gathered there.
There was something... off about that forest, and many of the citizens knew to stay away from it—though apparently some wayward Daeus Hunters hadn't heeded the warnings, or their CO was a nutcase for issuing the order to enter the forest.
Either way, I now had to take their place, which I found rather unfair, but I already decided I wouldn't complain anymore... even though I really wanted to. Still, despite the odd lack of information on Ponyville, my friends and I managed to gather enough general data that I felt far more comfortable taking the trip.
Knowledge had always made me feel safer about my surroundings.
By the time we left, any trepidation or guilt I had felt about seeing my old friends was completely washed away. The sun was beginning to set, and each of the girls had decided to walk me home, which I was kind of beginning to regret, as it gave the others a chance to talk about the one thing I had been avoiding during our research.
"I can't believe it's really happening," Twinkleshine said as she turned to me. Her voice had taken on a more morose tone, "they're really sending you to Ponyville... to become a Daeus Hunter."
I grimaced for a moment before letting out a sigh of resignation.
It looked like I wasn't getting around this conversation after all.
"Apparently I'm uniquely qualified for the position," I replied, furrowing my brows, "at least, that's what Celestia wrote in the letter."
"How is somepony like you uniquely qualified?" Minuette asked raising an eyebrow and jamming her hands in the pockets of her dark blue jacket, "I mean, no offense, Twilight, but you're not exactly a badflank soldier.... not like Shining Armor," she looked away, her frown turning to a goofy smile, "I swear, that brother of yours could—ow!"
Minuette rubbed her arm and grimaced at the pale yellow mare who glared back with a raised fist.
"Alright, alright, yeesh," Minuette muttered, looking away with a surly frown, "so I think Twilight's brother is a nice piece of flank, so sue me," she huffed and turned back to a flatly staring Twilight, "look, all I'm saying is that you shouldn't be anywhere near a D.H.D.F. base of operations, that's all."
"I know that," I said, a hint of exasperation creeping into my voice, "but apparently I'm just what Celestia was looking for. You know the 'new type' Daeus Arms that were just developed?"
Minuette and Lemon Hearts nodded while Twinkleshine just looked confused.
"No," the light grey mare replied, brushing her pink mane out of her face, "when did that happen?"
"Daeus Arms R&D have been working on them for awhile now," Moon Dancer explained, "but the information was only just released to the public," she turned back to me with a bemused frown, "but what does that have to... do... with..." her eyes slowly widened in disbelief, "...no."
I nodded gravely.
"Apparently Wendigo got ahold of the blood samples from my last physical," I explained, "I'm completely compatible with the new Arms—only the second candidate in Equestria so far it seems."
"That's... Twilight, that's crazy!" Moon Dancer cried in bewilderment, "how does that even... why you?"
"I don't know, Moon Dancer," I replied with a sigh, "it just... worked out that way I guess, and it's a big reason why they're making me a Daeus Hunter," I turned to each of my friends in turn as I spoke, "there's other reasons they're making me go. I'm also supposed to work with the scientists in Ponyville as some kind of authority on Hive Cells."
"Well, at least there's that, I guess," Twinkleshine responded, "but still, that's just putting more pressure on you, isn't it?"
"Not really," I replied with a shrug, "I've never considered Hive Cell research a burden or even any kind of 'work' really," I smiled wistfully, "it's something I've given my life to, and I enjoy every single facet of it."
"Good on ya, Twi!" Minuette laughed, clapping me on the back, "at least you'll still be able to do what you love."
We talked a bit more before eventually arriving back at my house. As we reached the steps leading to my front door, the four of them stopped and turned to me. I looked back at them in confusion before Lemon Hearts stepped away from the others and towards me.
"Seriously though," the pale gold mare said, pulling me into another tight hug, "be careful out there, Twilight. We haven't seen you in ages, and I don't want you to die before you have a chance to come visit us in Canterlot again."
She eyed me worriedly as she pulled away, and I could see both Minuette and Twinkleshine giving me the same looks. I turned to Moon Dancer who gave me a stern frown.
"I don't know what it'll be like working at the Daeus Hunter base in Ponyville," the bespectacled mare said, "but remember that you have friends and family who care about you back home. Remember us when you're out there fighting for your life, and don't be reckless."
I stood there frozen, completely caught off guard by the sudden sincerity in everypony's voice and gaze.
"I... I won't," I stammered before shaking my head and giving Moon Dancer a warm smile, "I won't be reckless, and I won't forget any of you—not this time."
"And don't be afraid to make some new friends in Ponyville, Twilight," Twinkleshine added with a small smile and a nod, "you'll need ponies who can watch out for you. Whether it's in Canterlot or your new post in Ponyville, just remember that friends are never far away."
I smiled at each of them in turn and for a few seconds, none of us said anything—at least until Minuette let out a bark of laughter and gave Twinkleshine a playful shove.
"Really, Twinkleshine?" the light blue mare teased, "any more sap and I would've mistaken you for a tree."
Twinkleshine rolled her eyes and gave me one last hug before she and the others stepped past me and towards the sidewalk. She stopped briefly to wave back at me.
"We'll try to contact you before you leave tomorrow," she called out before rushing to meet the other girls who had also stopped to wave goodbye, "look for a message from all of us!"
I smiled and returned their collective waves with one of my own. I watched them go as they made their way further and further down the sidewalk. Once they were out of sight, the smile dropped from my face and I sighed heavily before turning back to my front door.
I don't deserve friends like them, but I'm glad they stuck by me all the same.
I allowed myself another small smile as I opened the door and stepped inside my house for what would probably be the last time in a long time.
I had already packed what little I was bringing with me and the rest of my things were being put into storage. Now I was waiting along with my mom for my brother to arrive.
My mom had opted to take some time off of work at the last minute to see me off. It wasn't something she normally did, being as hard working as she was, but it seemed saying goodbye to her daughter was much more important right now.
We sat on opposite sides of the coffee table in the living room, my mom in an armchair and myself on the couch. We had already eaten breakfast and were now both nursing a nice hot cup of coffee.
There was a tense silence between the two of us, no doubt caused by the fact that we both had for the most part already said what we wanted to say.
Really the only thing left was saying goodbye, and I wouldn't be leaving for another few minutes or so. True to their word, my friends had all either messaged or called me to say their own goodbyes, and now it was just me and my mother.
"Are you... gonna be okay once I'm gone, mom?" I asked, both desperate to break the silence and genuinely worried about my mother, "I know you have work to keep you busy, and I'm sure finances won't be a problem... but—"
"I've already come to terms with the fact that it'll just be me around the house from now on," my mom interjected, taking a sip from her mug, "Shining already promised he'd try to visit more often, and it's not like I have no friends of my own to visit from time to time."
She gave me a pointed look at that, and I rubbed my arm sheepishly. My mother did have several friends from work that she would either invite over or hang out with whenever she wasn't busy.
"Alright," I conceded with a sigh, "I just... I'm sorry, mom. I don't feel right, just leaving you on your own like this, especially with where I'm going and what I'll be doing."
"It's out of your hands, dear," my mom replied with a soft, if slightly pained, smile, "it's no fault of your own, and you don't need to worry about me. I have far more reason to worry, Twilight."
"I know," I replied, finishing off the last of my own cup, "and to be honest, I'm still a bit scared, but I'm not going to let that stop me from doing what I need to do."
"That's my girl," mom replied, leaning forward over the table and pulling me into an awkward, but heartfelt hug, "strong and focused, just like your brother and father before you."
As she sat back in her chair, I remained silent, a question forming in my mind.
"Hey... mom?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat for a moment before speaking again.
"I know you don't like to talk about him much," I began hesitantly, "but... since I'm leaving and all, could you tell me a little more about dad?"
The smile fell from my mom's face and after a moment, she set her mug down on the table and replaced her hands on her lap. For a few seconds, she just sat there, staring at her hands with a furrowed brow and a troubled frown.
"Oh, Twilight," she finally muttered before sighing heavily and shaking her head. She gave me a small weak smile, "I suppose I could, dear. Since you've gone and accepted your new and dangerous life, it's only fair that I accept what happened all those years ago."
I smiled and leaned over to rest a hand on my mom's as I gave her an encouraging smile.
"I haven't fully accepted it yet," I corrected, "but I'm willing to at least try."
"That's all I could ask for," my mom replied, her weak smile turning more genuine. She gathered herself together and I returned to my seat as she began speaking, "you see... your father Night Light... he—"
The sound of the front door opening caught both of our attention and we turned just in time to see a tall light grey stallion with a two toned baby and navy blue mane and tail step through the doorway.
"Mom, I'm here! Is Twilight—oh, Twily," the stallion stopped just inside, a look of mild surprise on his face, "I thought you'd still be getting ready."
"Hey, Shiny," I replied rising from my seat with a smile, "there wasn't much for me to pack. Mom and I already took care of it a while ago," I walked over and hugged Shining before pulling back and gesturing towards the dark grey duffle bag near the coffee table, "I figured they'd provide me with anything else I'd need at the base, so I didn't bring a lot."
"Fair enough," Shining replied with a nod, "the Daeus Hunter bases do provide quite a bit, so whatever you brought should be enough," he turned to mom with frown, "how are you holding up, mom?"
"Oh, I'm alright, dear," mom replied, pulling Shiny into a tight hug, "it's so good to see you again. Shining Armor."
"You too, mom," Shining replied, breaking the hug and holding her at arms length. He looked her in the eye, the concerned frown never leaving his face, "Twilight and I have to leave now if we want to make it to Ponyville on schedule, but I still want you to know I'll be back to visit as much as I can, alright?"
"Shining, I'm not some invalid that needs to be taken care of," mom chided, "honestly you two, I'm okay. Both of you were going to have to move out of the house at some point, in fact, I'm surprised Twilight hadn't left sooner given her age."
I blushed slightly, ignoring my mother's pointed look as I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder. Though it was true that most ponies in their early twenties would've already left home to be out on their own by now, I just found it more convenient to stay with my mom.
The house was the closest to Wendigo HQ without having to pay for the ritzier places within the inner wall. Besides, I wasn't a nuisance, and it's not like I was freeloading either.
I turned back to the other two in time to see Shining Armor step away and back towards the front door with a sigh.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry," he said with a shake of his head, "I know you can take care of yourself, it's just... I can't help it, y'know? Being on duty as much as I am, I just feel like I'm never around enough, and with Twily getting sent off to do the same thing..."
I ignored the fact that Shining has more or less said the same thing I had earlier, as I made my way over to him.
"I'll manage, Shiny," I interjected, stepping up next to the stallion, "worrying isn't going to revoke my new status as a Daeus Hunter."
"I know that," Shining groused, "doesn't mean I'm not gonna worry anyway," he moved in to give mom one last hug, and I joined him, "stay safe, mom, and like I said, I'll try to visit more often, whether you want me to or not."
"I'll miss you, mom," I added, squeezing my mother just a bit tighter, "I know Shining Armor is just being... well... Shining Armor, but I promise I'll do my best to make sure I take care of myself so I can come back and see you at some point."
"I know you will, Twilight," mom replied with a warm, if slightly sad smile, "we may be a family of unicorns, but we're all just as diligent and hard working as any earth pony. I know you both will continue to make me proud out there."
"Won't let you down, mom," Shining said before turning to me, "you all set, Twi?"
I nodded and we both turned and headed out the door, stopping one last time to wave goodbye to our mother, who almost seemed to give an exasperated sigh before waving back with a smile.
"You really do worry about mom way too much, you know that?" I teased, "seriously, Shining, you know how tough mom can be."
"You were just as worried about her as I was, and besides," Shining replied with a grimace, "that's one of the reasons I worry so much. Who knows what she'll get herself into without either of us around to talk some sense into her."
As we headed for the greyish green armoured transport vehicle parked just outside, I looked over to my brother and frowned. He really did look every bit the soldier he was.
I had heard a Daeus Hunter could wear whatever they wanted once they had gone past the level of a recruit, but my brother maintained the navy blue military jacket emblazoned with the Wendigo symbol and combat jeans provided by Wendigo Corp.
And then there was that black and white monstrosity clamped just above his wrist—the giant armlet that allowed him and other Daeus Hunters to wield their Daeus Arms.
I grimaced and turned away, knowing I'd have to don the uniform of a Daeus Hunter and take up a Daeus Arm of my own soon enough. Thinking about it was enough to set me on edge all over again, but I pushed the trepidation down for the time being.
The passenger side door of the large truck suddenly opened as we approached, revealing an orange coated, blond maned, and stern faced earth pony mare.
She wore the standard navy blue blazer decorated with a cyan armband signifying a high ranking Wendigo employee. She looked me up and down, her gaze hidden behind dark aviators, before turning to my brother.
"This is your sister right?" she asked, pulling her shades down slightly to reveal sharp, bright blue eyes, "the one President Celestia is personally sending to Ponyville," she looked back to me, "Twilight Sparkle, was it?"
"Yes, ma'am," Shining Armour replied in a more formal tone, "I've been assigned to escort her to Ponyville, along with our other new recruit, Miss Scratch."
I waved nervously before curiously looking past the orange mare and further into the truck. Sitting in one of the seats in back was a white unicorn mare with electric blue hair, violet shades, an open black faux fur coat and jeans, and a pair of headphones currently blaring some kind of techno music.
She seemed oblivious to what was going on as she leaned back in her seat and bobbed her head to the beat of her music. She did eventually notice me staring and gave a small lazy smile and salute before going back to her head bobbing.
I raised an eyebrow but decided to leave her alone and return my attention to the conversation at hand.
"Very well," the stern mare replied, pushing her shades back onto her muzzle, "Miss Sparkle, my name is Elmyra Harshwhinny. I act as the official liaison between Wendigo HQ and the other Equestrian Branches of the organization."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," I replied with a polite nod and smile, "While I haven't met you personally, I've heard you've done quite a lot of good work for Wendigo."
"Indeed," Harshwhinny replied simply, "I'll be the one introducing you to the Branch Director while making sure all the proper paperwork is in order regarding the reassignment. In short, I'm accompanying you all to make sure the transfer goes smoothly."
I nodded and Shining took the opportunity to pull the back door open, motioning me to get in once it was open. I complied and slid into the back seat next to the white unicorn mare. She turned and gave me a single nod of greeting which I returned with an awkward smile before looking away.
Before he closed, the door behind me, Shining gave me one of his 'looks' and I sighed. It was the same look he gave me every time he was about to go into what I had chosen to call one of his 'overprotective older brother' lectures.
I doubted he'd talk to me here and now, but I was willing to bet he'd have something to say once we were on the road. He closed the door and went around to the drivers seat.
"The trip to Ponyville should take us roughly four hours if all goes well," Shining announced, buckling in and starting the engine, "while this vehicle is heavily armoured it is not armed—though my Daeus Arm is stored in the back if the need for it arises."
I looked behind me, and sure enough, there was more room in the back where my brother's signature azure long blade, 'the Defender', was latched upon one of the walls. It looked more like a giant blue combat knife to me, but that's just how it was designed.
"In light of this, we will be escorted by three of our more heavily armed trucks waiting just outside the gates of the city," Shining continued as he pulled out onto the street, "the avidaeos don't attack this close to the city, but that's no reason to get complacent.
"Once we get further out, the road's gonna get a lot more dangerous, so the President has sent four other Daeus Hunters to accompany us. Between us five, the local avidaeos shouldn't be a problem, but again, that's no reason to get complacent."
His gaze flicked to the rear view mirror briefly before focusing back on the road ahead.
"That's it for the moment," he finished, "any questions?"
"Who are the other Daeus Hunters?" I asked partly out of curiosity, and partly to quell the rising nervousness in my gut, "anypony we know?"
"Maybe," Shining replied in an oddly teasing tone I didn't usually hear from him, "I've been informed not to divulge identities unless the need arises, so you're just going to have wait to and see."
I raised an eyebrow and turned to the white mare, but she didn't seem to have anything to add.
"Do you know anything about Ponyville?" I asked, remembering the strange lack of information back at the CPA building, "I couldn't find a lot of information on the town."
"Afraid not, sis," Shining replied with a small shrug, "maybe Miss Harshwhinny knows more."
"Indeed I do," the mare in question replied, "but I've been informed by the President herself to let the Branch Director explain more about the town."
"What?" I asked with a confused frown, "why?"
"I don't know, Miss Sparkle," Harshwhinny sighed, "I'm not privy to the intricacies of the President's plans, I only follow orders."
I huffed and looked out the window, watching the outer wall draw closer as we neared the city gates. Annoyed at all the secrecy as I was, I couldn't deny that a small part of me was somewhat excited to finally see what lie outside Canterlot's walls.
Who knows? Maybe things won't be so bad, maybe I'll get to see what's out there without getting attacked by crazy monsters, maybe Ponyville is actually a wonderful town.
The very first glimpse I had gotten of the world outside was breathtaking... but not in a good way. I had heard and seen images of what lie directly outside Canterlot, but to actually see it in person was an entirely different experience altogether.
It was said that the city had once been built atop a steep cliff on Mount Canterhorn long ago during the Age of War. There was no evidence to back up the claim, and neither the President or Chief Commander had confirmed whether this was true, but I personally didn't believe a word of it.
If the entire city had been built atop a cliff that may have afforded some small advantage in the form of a choke point that could be exploited against ground troops trying to climb the mountain.
The major problem would've been that a few sufficient concussive blasts to the cliff beneath Canterlot would send the entire city tumbling down into the river that had once existed below... and it would've been a long drop.
I was aware Equestria hadn't had the kind of explosive weaponry we had today, but raw natural pony magic was far more prominent back then, and it would've done the job just fine.
There was no way Celestia and Luna would've been so foalish as to design a city with such fatal flaws in its defenses.
For as long as anypony could remember, Canterlot had been at the base of Mount Canterhorn, built below the opposite side of the cliff it was said to once reside upon. In order to get to Ponyville, we'd have to actually go around the mountain, which was the main reason the ride was going to take so long.
Fancy Pants had actually been trying to push for a tunnel to be dug through the mountain to make travel easier, but the proposal had yet to gain any traction. Instead I got to see the world beyond the walls for the first time right out of the gate, and I was shocked to say the least.
Immediately upon heading through the gates, I saw nothing but desert for what looked like miles. Well... there were several large boulders here and there, and the dirt was coarse. Large pieces of brick, metal, and other material that pointed towards long since destroyed structures lie scattered about the area just outside the city.
I had read that Canterlot had been much bigger at some point in the past, but the constant attacks by the avidaeos with no way to defend ourselves left little time to rebuild the city back to the way it had been, so the wall was fortified right where the attacks had been stopped instead.
Still, a path had been cleared and we were able to drive through with no problems. As Shining had said, three other and armoured vehicles surrounded us. One ahead and the other two behind and on either side.
It made me feel a bit like a VIP, which made me feel rather uncomfortable, but really though, I was glad for the extra protection. Staring out the window, I couldn't help but wonder who these other Hunters were.
Why the President had told Shining to keep it a secret, I had no idea. From the tone of my brother's voice when he replied, and the fact that Celestia apparently had a playful streak, it almost seemed like they were playing some sort of joke on me.
Maybe there really were some famous Daeus Hunters escorting us and they just wanted to keep it a surprise?
Either way, I'd probably find out sooner or later.
The first hour and a half or so of driving passed in relative silence, the trip rather uneventful. From what Shining had told me, the avidaeos didn't normally attack this close to the city—not anymore at any rate. Daeus Hunters regularly patrolled the area, making sure none of them got within at least three miles of Canterlot, and my brother was part of that regular patrol, so thankfully he knew the area pretty well.
"I really hope Celestia knows what she's doing."
My ears perked up at the concerned tone and I turned my attention to the driver's seat. Though he kept his eyes firmly locked on the road, I could see the worry clear in them through the rear view mirror.
"The President isn't one to make decisions she didn't give careful consideration to first," Harshwhinny replied, rolling down the window slightly, "if she chose Miss Sparkle to undertake this task, there was a good reason for it."
"I don't doubt that," Shining replied, grimacing slightly as the orange mare pulled a cigarette from a pack hidden in the pocket of her blazer, "I don't doubt it for a minute. Twilight is brilliant, but she isn't a fighter."
"Doesn't matter, once she's had the proper training she will be," the mare answered simply, pulling a lighter from somewhere and bringing to the stick in her mouth. She lit the cigarette, took a puff and blew out the window before looking back at me, "I'm sure you have your reservations, Miss Sparkle, but Celestia has an eye for talent, and she has no doubt that you'll do well."
I tried to smile at her words, but I wasn't sure if I succeeded. To be honest, I still agreed with my brother on the matter, even if I was trying to stay positive about the whole thing.
"I know I don't have to tell you this, Twily," Shining Armor continued with a sigh, "and I know you've probably already heard it plenty from mom, but I'll say it anyway," he turned just enough that I could see him look at me out of the corner of his eye, "...don't do anything reckless."
He turned back to the road as he continued to speak.
"Knowing you, you've probably already spent some time in the CPA researching those monsters, but there's no better teacher than experience, Twilight," he paused as he took a particularly sharp turn and continued a moment later, "once you get out there and see the things for yourself, you'll realize just how unpredictable they can be."
"I know that, Shining," I replied. somewhat affronted by his patronizing tone, "I've already considered the possibility that the avidaeos might not act the way they've been portrayed in the documents I've studied, but keep in mind, big brother, many of those documents come from first hand accounts of ponies who've fought against the avidaeos."
"Gramps wrote enough books about the things to fill an entire library."
I turned to stare at the white mare sitting next to me, and even my brother cast the mare a surprised side glance from where he was sitting. The mare's headphones rested around her neck, and I wondered just how long she had been listening. Seeing she had our attention, she shrugged and continued.
"I grew up reading a lot about the avidaeos," the mare said with a small grin, "and thanks to Gramps, I know a thing or two about 'em."
"She's not lying," Harshwhinny added, pushing the cigarette to one side of her mouth and smirking back at the two of us, "Miss Vinyl Scratch's grandfather is one of the leading experts on avidaeos behavior. I believe you're familiar with a stallion by the name of Broken Record?"
"Wait," I turned back to the white mare with her laid back posture and easy grin, "you're the granddaughter of Broken Record? Seriously?"
"Yup," she replied simply, "Gramps was the one that talked me into being a Daeus Hunter. Moved here from Manehattan because I heard this place had a killer training program."
"Then why are you headed to the Ponyville Sub-Branch?" I asked with a bemused frown, before my eyes lit up with understanding, "the Ponyville Sub-Branch was short on available Daeus Hunters. Don't tell me you—"
"Got assigned to Ponyville as soon as I signed up," Vinyl Scratch said with another shrug, "eh, you can't always get what you want in life. Besides, I got a friend out in Ponyville, so it won't be too bad."
"Wow, you're taking this way better than I did," I commented, somewhat impressed, "I fainted when I found out I was being reassigned as a Daeus Hunter."
Vinyl laughed at that, but it was the kind of laugh one shared between friends whenever one of them did something stupid or silly. It was the kind of laugh that made you want to join in, so I did, albeit with some embarrassment.
"Believe it or not, you're not the first pony I've met that took the news that hard," she finally said with an amused smirk, "I don't blame ya really," her smirk fell away and she looked out the window, watching Mount Canterhorn sink further into the distance, "this job ain't for everypony, that's for sure."
"I know what you mean," I replied, looking down at my hands, "I never thought I'd—"
A sudden guttural roar drowned out whatever I was going to say.
I froze in my seat, my body completely locking up in shock and a cold shiver going down my spine. Something was out there... something big, mean, and probably hungry.
"Buck!" Shining growled, slamming his hoof on the gas, "we should've been good for another few miles out!"
Shining's exclamation snapped me out of my fear induced paralysis and I turned to look out the window. We had been traveling through open rocky desert, and from my side of the truck I couldn't see anything that could've made that kind of noise, which only made me worry more.
"Shining, what's going on?" I cried, my voice rising in tandem with my panic, "I don't see anything!"
"Oh, that ain't good," I heard Vinyl mutter, "that really ain't good..."
I turned and saw she was staring out her own window, her shades pushed up above her horn and her brilliant red eyes wide with horror. I unlatched my seatbelt and crawled over to her side of the truck, following her gaze... and wishing that I hadn't.
"Twilight, what are you doing?!" Shining Armor cried, "if this truck goes top side down and you're not buckled in, you're gonna need more than a few bandages!"
I wasn't listening.
The massive, dark grey wolf-like beast running along side the truck was taking up all of my attention. Its build was powerful and its size was more than three times that of the truck we were riding in.
It shook the truck with each pounding of its giant paws against the ground, causing us to swerve slightly. The beast turned to face us, its yellow eyes blazing with murderous intent and the backwards curving black horns atop its head sparking and flashing with deadly electricity.
It roared again and I screamed, quickly scrambling away from the window.
Those... were some very sharp teeth.
"2nd Unit Leader Shining Armor," Harshwhinny commanded as she unbuckled her seatbelt, "get back there, get your Daeus Arm, and get that thing away from this truck!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Shining replied, letting go of the wheel and smoothly sliding into—and past—the backseat. I was about to say something about how stupid letting go of the steering wheel was, but Harshwhinny had already taken Shining's place in the drivers seat.
"I don't know if that's a good idea," Vinyl said suddenly, never taking her eyes off the wolf outside, "that thing is a Lobairo. I don't know how much you guys know about these things, but they tend to... y'know... shoot lightning from their horns... a lot."
Harshwhinny turned to respond, only to cry out in surprise as a deafening crack filled the air and the truck lurched to the side. For one terrifying moment I thought the truck was going to tip over, but a moment later it fell back to all fours and Harshwhinny managed to correct its course.
"Gah, horseapples!" I heard Shining grunt from the very back. I looked back and saw him trying to rise to his hooves—his long blade gripped tightly in hand, "I think Vinyl Scratch is right. I can try to get onto its back from the roof of the truck and attack from there, but that would be risky, and the thing has a long range with its lightning!"
"Don't you dare go out there, Shiny!" I shouted back at the stallion, "that's suicide!"
"I know!" Shining yelled back, "but what else can we do?"
"Where the buck are the other trucks?!" Harshwhinny growled, shifting gears and trying to push the truck to go faster, "we're in no position to def—"
"Holy buck!" Vinyl cried in amazement, leaning closer to the window despite the wolf only a few yards away, "is that who I think it is?!"
My curiosity overtook me and despite my immense fear, I moved closer to the window next to Vinyl Scratch. I peered out the window just in time to see the Lobairo's horns flash dangerously.
Its next roar was suddenly cut off as another truck sped into view and slammed into its side, causing it to stumble. The truck then backed off and the Lobairo regained its footing quickly, but both its attention and mine were now on the other truck.
Or rather, the tall, dark blue mare with the starry mane crouched low atop it, her long black coat flapping wildly as the wind tore at it.
Both Vinyl and I were stunned into silence as we watched the mare shift her grip on the dark blue metal shaft of the three-pronged charge spear she was wielding, splayed her wings out, and jumped off the truck.
When I say jumped, I mean jumped.
She completely disappeared from view in an instant, though the wolf lifted its head to follow her. It roared again and with a bright flash and another loud crack, lightning shot out of its horns in a wide arc towards the sky.
"No!" I cried—rather uselessly as it turned out, as a moment later there was a loud lupine like yelp and the Lobairo's head suddenly smashed into the ground with an earth-shaking whump—its momentum completely halted and its body unmoving.
"No way," Vinyl muttered, her awed gaze glued to the sight beyond the window, "no bucking way..."
I nodded absently, my mouth hanging open as I saw the mare bent down atop the wolf's head—her spear punctured deep into the Lobairo's skull. After a moment, the mare yanked the spear out and hopped down off of the wolf, walking over to the side facing our truck, which had stopped moving at some point during the event along with the other trucks.
I was so shocked by the display I hadn't even noticed.
My heart skipped a beat as the giant avidaeus shifted suddenly, a low growl emanating from its throat. It began to rise, but in a movement so fast I completely missed it, the mare impaled it in the side, causing it to roar out.
She pulled the spear out, the massive three pointed head shining with a dark viscous substance. Before the Lobairo could do anything else, the mare aimed her charge spear at it.
Another moment later, something I could only describe as a large black monstrous mouth with sharp teeth and glowing white eyes, erupted from the head of the spear and stretched out to a ridiculous size.
The mare thrust the spear forward and the mouth at the end of the spear shot forth, biting deep into the Lobairo. Its roar increased in volume as the mare ripped the spear out, along with the mouth.
For a second, everything stopped.
The Lobairo stopped roaring, the mare stood frozen in her lowered stance, the air was thick with a tense silence. Then the massive wolf went limp—letting out one last weak growl before it stopped moving altogether.
With its task apparently done, the mouth retreated back into the spear. The mare straightened up and turned away, making a beeline for our truck. My breath hitched in my throat as she approached.
There wasn't a single pony who didn't know who this mare was.
Everypony knew the dark blue fur coat, the long horn, the impressive wings, that constantly flowing dark mane dotted with all the stars of the night sky that whipped about her face as she walked, pure white armlet, custom made charge spear, and signature black button up military style long coat.
Her piercing cyan eyes scanned her surroundings as she made her way over to where we were.
"Surprised I take it?"
I started and whipped around to see Shining Armor looking over my shoulder with a smirk.
"You didn't... why is she..." I sputtered, turning back to the window, "what is she doing here?"
Harshwhinny chuckled from the drivers seat as she took off her aviators and watched the mare approach. She lit up another cigarette before speaking on Shining's behalf.
"I'm not sure why," the orange mare answered, "but apparently it was a personal request from her sister."
I had no words.
I really, really wanted to know what Celestia was playing at, asking Chief Commander Luna of all ponies to escort us all to Ponyville.
I watched as the massive wolf like avidaeus blackened and sunk into a dark puddle of dead cells before dissipating into a black smoke with a loud hiss. I shivered involuntarily, caught between horror and fascination at everything I had just seen.
Okay, just breathe... breathe, Twilight... it's all over now.
I did just that—closing my eyes and taking deep, slow breaths as I tried to get the shaking in my hands and legs under control. I was so focused collecting my self that when I opened my eyes, Luna was already at the door to the truck.
I jumped slightly as she turned her hard eyed gaze my way. At my reaction her eyes softened somewhat and she turned her attention to everypony else in the truck.
"You all have my sincerest apologies for the delay," the dark blue mare said with a frown, "the beast caught two of our other trucks by surprise and we had to regroup. I pray the four of you are safe and unharmed?"
"W-We're fine!" I replied a little too quickly, my voice a little higher than I had meant it to be, "everypony's okay, Chief Commander, n-nothing sprained, broken, or bleeding!"
"...I see," Luna replied, raising an eyebrow at me before turning to the others, "well, that is good to hear. My sister would never let me hear the end of it if anything had happened to any of you."
"That... was wicked!"
Everypony turned their attention to the excited white unicorn mare sitting next to me. I yelped indignantly as she pushed her way past me and towards the window, causing the alicorn just outside to take a surprised step back.
"I've seen footage of some of your fights back home," Vinyl gushed, "but seeing it for real? That was... well... it was bucking unreal!"
"Vinyl Scratch," I hissed through gritted teeth, "what are you doing? You can't just—"
"Please, Twilight Sparkle," Luna interjected with an amused chuckle, "it is fine. We are... I am... flattered to receive such praise for my skill."
She gave Vinyl Scratch and I one last cordial smile before turning to my brother and Harshwhinny—her smile becoming a businesslike frown.
"Captain Armor, Elmyra Harshwhinny," she intoned, "we must make haste, lest more of the beasts follow in the wake of the Lobairo. Be ever vigilant as we press on."
Both Shining and Harshwhinny replied with a nod and a simultaneous 'Yes, ma'am' before returning to their seats up front. Luna nodded in satisfaction before looking back to me.
"Our... my sister wished for me to give you something once we had arrived in Ponyville," she said, reaching into a pocket hidden in her coat, "but seeing as I am here, I may as well bequeath her gift to you now."
My brows shot up in surprise.
What on Equus did the President want to give me of all ponies? And why wait until I got to Ponyville? If she had something to give me, why didn't she do it while I was still in Canterlot? She could've sent it along with the letter if she had it.
Thousands of questions piled atop each other in my head, and before I could voice any of them, the Commander-in-Chief spoke once more.
"Calm yourself, Twilight Sparkle," Luna said in a softer tone, no doubt noticing me tense up in nervous anticipation, "it is nothing so dire that you need to worry, though I myself am not sure why she wanted you to have this..."
Everypony in the truck watched curiously as Luna rummaged around in her coat pocket. After a moment she pulled out a key—not a key card, not a digital key, not even one of the many keys you'd find on a key ring.
No, this key was far older than anything I had ever seen before. Luna held the key out and I gingerly grabbed it out of her upturned palm, turning it this way and that as I inspected it.
It was a large, old fashioned lever lock key.
Just at a glance I could tell it had to be at least twelve hundred years old, or maybe older—yet it remained remarkably unblemished by time. To my astonishment, it almost looked as though it had just been made.
The key itself was simple—incredibly simple, yet ornate in its design. The entire key was pale gold in color and it had three sets of bits circling the pin. Each set had four bits of varying sizes, meaning that whatever this key unlocked had a very complex set of tumblers.
Interesting as this was, it was the bow that caught my attention. The bow's design consisted of a familiar looking sun motif with the image of a crescent moon engraved within it.
I recognized the sun and moon motifs as the ones that adorned many of the banners in Canterlot castle and couldn't help but look back to Luna with a questioning raise of my brow. Luna noticed my look and nodded towards the key in my hand as she spoke.
"That key is... very special to my sister and I, Twilight Sparkle," the Chief Commander explained, "I am unsure of why she was willing to part with it, or why it was given to you specifically... but I do not believe she would have done so if she did not have a good reason."
"I... wow..." I muttered, awed and humbled that Celestia would give me something so valuable, "I... don't really know what to say except... thank you," I looked from the key to Luna with a puzzled frown, "but... what exactly does it unlock?"
Luna shook her head and gave me a knowing, and slightly impish smile.
"I was told to tell you that you would find out in due time, Twilight Sparkle," her smile fell and was replaced with a stern frown, "in any case, I trust you will take good care of this key, yes?"
"O-Of course!" I replied a bit too quickly with a smile that was a bit too wide. I found myself gripping the key a bit tighter and holding it closer to my chest, "both you and the President have nothing to worry about!"
By the wary look I received, I doubt my assurance did much to convince the Chief Commander, but she slowly nodded regardless.
"I should hope not," she replied as she stepped away from the window. Her expression once again turning businesslike as she hefted the overly large charge spear onto her shoulder, "now then, I believe it's time we resumed our journey."
One of the other trucks chose that moment to pull up behind Luna and she turned towards it just as the back door opened. She took one last look back at us and gave a single wave.
"We will be sure to keep a more constant vigil going forward, on this, you have my word," Luna called back before stepping inside the truck, "until we meet again in Ponyville."
With those last words, the door closed and I heard the engine rev up just as our own truck roared to life and began to move forward. I watched for a moment as the other truck drove ahead and took up a position in front of and to the right of us.
"She's so bucking cool..."
I blinked and turned to see Vinyl staring out the window at the other truck as it passed us. It took me a second to realize just how close she was, scooted up next to me.
Somehow I had completely forgotten she was there, and the close proximity caused me to blush and hastily shift back over to my original seat.
Seeing this, Vinyl chuckled, taking up her own seat and nodding towards me.
"I'll be damned to Tartarus, girl," Vinyl commented with an impressed whistle, "seems like you're going places. I mean, getting something personal from the President like that?"
"Yeah, I... don't really know what this is all about to be honest," I replied, eyeing the strange key in my hand with a contemplative frown. I closed my hand over it and looked towards the front seats, "did either of you know anything about this?"
"Not me," Shining replied without looking back, "I was only told that Luna was going to be escorting us, and that's about it," he glanced at me in the rear view mirror, "didn't expect her to actually give you something like that."
"Likewise," Harshwhinny added, turning around in her seat to face me, "I had no idea the President and Chief Commander even had something like that."
"Oh," I replied, looking back down at the key, "alright then... I wonder what it's for..."
"Who knows," Vinyl responded with a shrug before leaning back in her seat, "all I know is that I got to see something wicked today, and I can't wait to tell Tavi about it."
"Tavi?" I asked with a hint of curiosity as I reached down and rummaged around in my bag, "who's that? A friend of yours?"
"Yup," Vinyl replied, smiling somewhat wistfully, "Octavia and I go way back. She moved out to Manehattan from Canterlot years ago."
I hummed in mild interest as I pulled out a small-ish black nylon pouch containing my safety goggles. Unzipping the pouch, I took them out and placed them in a small side pouch on my bag.
"So she moved from Manehattan to Ponyville at some point?" I asked, replacing the goggles with the key, zipping up the small pouch, and placing it in the inner pocket of my thin white jacket, "does she have family there or something?"
"Or something," Vinyl replied with a knowing chuckle, "she actually moved all the way out to Ponyville to get away from her family, and the city in general."
"Huh," I replied thoughtfully, before looking back to Vinyl with a raised brow, "why Ponyville of all places though?"
At the question, Vinyl laughed out loud, as though remembering a particularly funny joke.
"Funny story actually," she said after a moment, "so Tavi and her folks were getting into this huge argument, right? And then..."
As Vinyl talked about her friend, I started to sort of tune out, turning my gaze towards the window. I watched the massive rocky desert pass me by, the terrain dotted with dead trees here and there.
I let my mind wander along with my eyes and my thoughts brought me back to the key and why the President had entrusted me with it.
It seemed like Celestia was going out of her way to help me, or give me encouragement, or... something. It was like she was... expecting me to do something, or that she was expecting something to happen to me.
No... thinking back on the 'test' she gave me when she transferred me to Daeus Arms R&D, the sudden reassignment, the cannibalistic Avidaeus, my compatibility with the 'new type' Daeus Arms, being escorted to Ponyville by Chief Commander Luna herself, and now this key...
It was almost like... she was preparing me for something.
But what?
Why all the secrecy? Why not just come out and tell me what she really wanted from me? I asked myself these questions, but I supposed I could take a guess as to why she wouldn't have wanted to tell me directly.
She probably might've told me right then and there in her office, had I not completely flipped out and fainted in front of her.
I grimaced at the memory, somewhat ashamed of myself for overreacting like that. Maybe she had decided that it would be best to be a lot more discreet with her approach.
Maybe she thought it'd be better to instead, let me slowly figure things out on my own, at my own pace. If that was the case, then I kind of agreed with her. I would've much rather figured this out one revelation at a time rather than...
My thoughts ground to a complete halt.
I blinked a few times before narrowing my eyes and fully turning to face my window. I could've sworn I saw something moving in the distance, but it was hard to make out from where we were.
"What... is that?" I muttered, inadvertently catching my brother's attention.
"Twily?" he asked with a hint of concern in his voice, "what's up? Did you see something out there? Anything we should be worried about?"
"I don't know," I replied distractedly as I leaned in closer to the window, "I think I see something moving in the... wait a minute..."
There was definitely some movement in the distance.
The movement had been a bit further up ahead of our truck, and as it moved closer, I could just make out what I had seen—my suspicions now confirmed.
Quickly scrambling up a large rocky cliff as if their life depended on it... was a dragon. From where I sat, I still couldn't get a good look, but I was able to see that the drake wasn't very big—most likely an adolescent.
Its purple scaly arms and head peeked out from a tattered brown cloak that blew this way and that in the wind, getting partially caught on the green spines jutting out of its head and along its back.
To say that his life depended on it was no mere exaggeration either. Gathered below the no doubt frantic dragon, were no less than a ten or so smaller bear like avidaeos.
Shining was saying something, but I ignored it as I observed the scene. I hadn't even noticed that the truck was already veering off towards the cliffside, as there was another detail that caught my attention.
It had looked like the dragon was struggling to gain any leverage, and I soon saw the reason why. In one claw it held what could only be a Daeus Arm... but it was broken.
The top half of the jade colored short blade looked as though it had been snapped off, leaving the drake holding onto the remaining lower half.
The arm holding the broken blade had a familiar black armlet attached to it, and I couldn't help but gasp in horror as the full weight of what was happening hit me.
That drake was a Daeus Hunter, and a young one by the looks of it. Not only that, but it was alone, and had been for quite some time if the state of their cloak and scales were anything to go by.
Somehow it had managed to break a Daeus Arm, which in and of itself was not an easy feat to accomplish, and now it was surrounded with no way to escape.
Who was this young drake, and why was it here in Equestria and not the Dragonlands? How did they break their Daeus Arm and how did the drake even get itself in this situation to begin with? All these questions and more filled my mind, but one question in particular rose above the rest...
Just how long had this young dragon been surviving out here in this avidaeus infested wasteland?
I was so caught up in the mystery of what the dragon was doing all the way out here that I failed to notice we were actually headed right for it... and the avidaeos below.
When I finally did notice, it was far too late for me to say anything about it—not that I didn't anyway.
"Shining, what are you doing?!" I cried in alarm as my brother swerved to avoid an oncoming boulder, "you're not thinking of driving into all of that, are you?"
"Normally I wouldn't, no," Shining replied, not taking his eyes off the road, "but the Chief Commander's already headed that way."
"What?!" I asked incredulously before shaking my head, "okay, so she's going to go save the dragon, that's great and all, but why does that mean we have to go?"
"Because that cliff the dragon is climbing is part of a large canyon we need to pass through to get to Ponyville," Shining replied, "the avidaeos are in the way, so we don't really have a choice but to follow the Chief Commander's lead."
"Can't we just go around?" Vinyl asked, though she sounded a lot less panicked than I did, "there's gotta be another road."
"There's another road," Harshwhinny replied, "but we'd have to backtrack quite a bit to get to it. It'll eat up a lot of time that we don't have."
Vinyl grimaced before looking out the window and towards the avidaeos. From the looks of it, they hadn't spotted us yet—either that, or they were too focused on their potential meal to care.
It wasn't really like I wanted to leave the dragon there to get eaten by the beasts, but the problem was that I didn't want to get eaten by the vicious beasts.
In truth though, I just wasn't prepared. We had gotten close enough that I could count at ten or so of the bear-like monsters.
I turned my attention back to the dragon, who had slipped somewhat and was desperately trying to regain lost ground. I started and whipped around when I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder.
It turned out to be Vinyl's, the white mare giving me a reassuring smile before looking out the window at the dragon.
"Those things out there? They're called Mal Ma," she began, nodding towards the avidaeos, "they might look like giant mutant bears, but they act more like wolves than Lobairos do in that they actually hunt in packs."
"And how is that supposed to help the dragon, or us for that matter?" I asked, turning back to the scene outside, "I appreciate the insight, but it doesn't help our situation in the slightest."
"Maybe not," Vinyl replied with a shrug, "but I figured a little insight would help you relax a bit. You seem like the type who'd appreciate that sort of thing."
I looked back at Vinyl with a raised eyebrow.
The truth was, she wasn't entirely wrong. I was still worried for ourselves and the dragon, but at the same time, I had actually been curious about what those things were.
It was then that I was reminded of something my brother told me a long time ago. It had been the first time he had returned home after he joined the DHDF.
I wondered how he could do it—how he could go out there and fight the things that he did without getting scared or running away.
He told me it was because he had something to fight for. Of course I knew what he meant, even as small as I was... and me being who I was, and am... I wasn't particularly impressed with that answer.
When I told him as much, he just laughed and told me something that did resonate with me. He told me that a big part of why he was able to handle facing down an avidaeus was because he studied them and their weaknesses beforehand.
When you're up against an avidaeus and fighting for your life and the ones you love, knowledge really is power...
Strangely enough, Vinyl's words, along with the memory of what Shining told me did make me feel a bit better. The more you know about your enemy, the less you have to fear... if you can find a way to deal with it, that is.
I could see Luna's truck and the other trucks speeding ahead, and I let out a startled yelp as Shining poured on more speed to keep up.
As we bore down on them, both the dragon and the Mal Ma surrounding it finally took notice... and the Mal Ma weren't too happy to see us, to say the least.
We were close enough that I could see that the dragon was a young male. He looked to be little more than an infant in dragon years, but a preteen by pony standards.
What in Celestia's name is a dragon as young as him doing out here alone?! And a Daeus Hunter? At his age?!
I had a hard time wrapping my head around what I was seeing, and it was made all the stranger by the drake's reaction.
His first reaction was shock, but rather than the relief I expected to see upon his potential rescue, he looked... affronted? Indignant? Insulted?
It certainly wasn't relieved or grateful, that much was clear.
Whatever was going through his mind, he grimaced and turned away, redoubling his efforts to make it up the cliff.
Before I could do more than stare in bewilderment, our truck lurched wildly to the side as Shining made a hard turn and stopped.
"Shining, what—"
"You and Vinyl stay inside," Shining interjected as he unbuckled himself and once more slid smoothly out of his chair, past the backseat, and into the compartment holding his sapphire colored long blade, "Miss Harshwhinny, can you—"
"I'll watch these two," Harshwhinny said, cutting him off as she grabbed a small handle on the dashboard, "just make sure those things don't get near the truck."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Shining replied, grabbing the blade and giving it a once over, "the Chief Commander's probably gonna be doing all the work, but all the same, I'm not gonna risk one of them slipping by and hurting any of you."
Harshwhinny nodded before pulling the handle out, giving it a half twist, and slamming it back down. A loud mechanical whir followed by a hiss signaled the back of the truck swinging open.
"Shining, I... just..." I grit my teeth in frustrated worry and shook my head before frowning at my brother, "just... please be careful, okay?"
As much as I really wanted to, I couldn't just tell him to not go. This was his job, what he was trained to do.
In a matter of a few hours, it was going to be my job, and at some point, I was going to be the one out there telling somepony not to worry while I did what needed to be done.
The thought was... oddly humbling.
I was proud of my brother for what he did, really I was... but at the same time, I had always kind of thought myself above the life of a Daeus Hunter—like my contributions in the fields of Hive Cell research were more important in the long run.
To an extent, I still believed that, but as I watched my brother smile at me and hop out of the truck, it truly started to sink in that what Daeus Hunters were doing, was just as important in its own way.
The work of scientists and engineers like myself would undoubtedly secure a future for all races of Equus, but it was the blood, sweat, and tears of Daeus Hunters like my brother that would insure that we survived long enough to see that future come to fruition.
And soon I was going to be thrown into both roles.
I was astonished to find that the gravity of just how important my responsibility really was didn't crush me under its weight, but rather made me feel... lighter somehow.
A distant cry and a loud curse from Vinyl Scratch snapped me out of my epiphany and I turned back to my window, only to give a startled cry of my own.
Apparently the dragon had given up trying to make it to the top and leapt off with what I think was supposed to be a battle cry, if his raised short blade was anything to go by.
The panic on his face told a completely different story however, and I had to resist a sudden urge to run out after the insane drake.
I watched in abject horror as the dragon leapt into a pack of deadly avidaeos with nothing but a broken Daeus Arm, the tattered cloak on his back, and a death wish.
Then I watched in utter shock as he completely split one down the middle upon landing. Apparently the other Mal Ma were just as stunned because none of them moved for a brief moment.
The dragon however, had no such issues, and burst into action before the one he'd slain had even fallen. I saw him turn and slice into another one directly behind him as he let out another cry—this one sounding genuinely terrifying.
It was as he charged into another one and attempted to separate its ursine head from its neck that the avidaeos finally reacted.
With deafening cries of fury, the Mal Ma rushed in to tear the dragon apart. For a few terrifying seconds, I competely lost sight of the baby dragon under a pile of avidaeos... but thankfully, mercifully, Luna entered the fray.
With a battle cry of her own, the dark mare shot forth like a bullet, practically flying across the ground with her charge spear held aloft.
In a blur of motion, four of the Mal Ma were ripped away from the pile and sent flying... their bodies splitting apart as they fell and rolled to a stop.
The Chief Commander herself had somehow wound up on the opposite side of the pile near the Mal Ma she had just slain. With her spear outstretched, she turned and readjusted her stance, ready to attack again.
It turned out another charge wasn't necessary, as Luna's violent intervention had caused the remaining three Mal Ma to scatter, only to run into the other Daeus Hunters that had arrived.
As the other Hunters cut down the last of the Mal Ma, Luna hurried over to the fallen drake. She leaned over him for a few moments before turning and barking out what I assumed were orders for a medic.
My assumptions were proven correct when I saw two ponies in white hooded coats bearing a stretcher quickly make their way over to where Luna and the wounded dragon were.
My mind was spinning as I watched the medics lift the dragon onto the stretcher. I hadn't expected to see something like this until I had gotten out of training, yet here I was, witness to not one, but two horrible attacks before I had even made it anywhere near Ponyville.
I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't even register the fact that Shining had returned to the truck, alive and unharmed.
Before I knew it, the dragon had been whisked away to one of the other trucks to be treated, Luna had returned to her own truck, and we were once again on the road.
I half listened as Vinyl gushed about how ballsy the dragon was to do what he did, nevermind the fact that it was the single most idiotic thing I had ever seen anypony do.
No, instead my thoughts once again turned inward as I replayed the scene over again in my head. Would I have to make life or death decisions like that when I was out there?
That was a stupid question and I knew it.
Of course I'd inevitably be put in a deadly situation like that, and I'd have to make a choice to run or fight. The only saving grace of my situation compared to the dragon's was that I'd most likely have a team to back me up if things went south.
But what if I didn't?
These thoughts and more circled around and around in my head for the remainder of the trip. Thankfully we didn't run into anymore avidaeus attacks the rest of the way to Ponyville.
We eventually made it out of the rocky canyon and into the rocky hills that made up the area surrounding the town.
A few dozen kilometers later and I could just make out the large steel grey wall that made up the outside of the heavily fortified village in the distance.
As the wall drew closer, I found myself thinking about the dragon and whether or not he had made it.
The area where the attack happened had been far from Canterlot, and judging by the fact that none of the trucks had turned back, I could only assume that they had planned to have the dragon treated in Ponyville.
I frowned as we reached the massive metal gated entrance into the town. I decided then that I would make some time to come visit the drake while he was recovering, if for no other reason than that nopony else would... probably.
What he did was incredibly stupid... but I wasn't going to put aside the fact that he had indeed been 'ballsy' enough to actually go through with it.
It was... inspiring.
Not only that, but just the fact that he was there still intrigued me and I wanted to know more about him. Where he came from and why he was there. How he had ended up being chased by the Mal Ma and what had happened to his Daeus Arm.
I only hoped he lived long enough for me to ask him directly.
The sun was on its way down by the time we reached Ponyville's walls.
Once I was finally able to get my mind off the mystery that was the dragon, I took a moment to really look at the walls of the supposedly small fortress town.
They... were in terrible shape.
The walls of Canterlot were well maintained by some of the best engineers in Equestria.
Both Anti-Avidaeus walls and Daeus Arms were built with gargantium, a metal that—aside from its unparalleled hardness, was the only metal that could effectively resist the breakdown of matter caused by an avidaeus's tooth or claw.
The metal didn't make a perfect shield by any means, but it got the job done, and it got it done well.
Most of the minerals used to create the metal for the walls and weapons were imported from the Dragonlands and sent all over the world, making the Dragonlands a rather wealthy country by today's standards.
Convincing the Dragon Lord to part with the ore had been a task.
The continued survival of all the races of Equus apparently hadn't been enough of an incentive for Torch to part with his precious ore.
In the end, Celestia had managed to get Torch to agree to worldwide trade by reminding him of the profit his nation would see in return.
It took some time, but Dragon Lord Torch hadn't been disappointed by the results. Rather than sit on the hoard of riches like any dragon would've done so long ago, Torch opted to put the country's wealth into their cities and weapons development.
Nowadays, the Dragonlands boasted the most powerful and deadly Daeus Arms on Equus, and many of its cities were comparable to that of Canterlot itself in terms of comfort and defense.
If I had been a betting mare, I would've put all my chips on the dragons being the last race left standing against the avidaeos threat if it came down to it.
In any case, the Princesses spared no expense in the construction of Canterlot's walls, and they were strong enough to withstand an attack by an avidaeus twice their size without too much wear.
Ponyville was an entirely different story.
Unlike the tall, pristine, smooth, and seamless silver walls of Canterlot, Ponyville's walls were an ugly patchwork of dark grey layered metal sheets.
The quality of gargantium ore that was used to build Ponyville's walls was obviously much lower than that of Canterlot's, and a lot of others places most likely by the looks of it.
It had also been clear that the walls had been attacked several times, given the many scratches and dents I could see here and there along the sides of the walls.
Looking above, I could see makeshift watchtowers on either side of the large gate, as well as the few ponies patrolling them.
I grimaced at the sight of the walls before me, that small knot of worry in my chest growing larger as we approached the gate.
"Buck me," Vinyl muttered with a low whistle, "this place has gotta be in bad shape if these walls are anything to go by."
"Ponyville has seen better days, yes," Harshwhinny agreed without looking back, "the town gets a lot of avidaeos activity for reasons we haven't really pinned down yet."
"According to what I've read," I said, keeping my eyes on the gate, "the increase in avidaeos attacks may have something to do with the Everfree Forest nearby."
"I've heard that too," Shining added with a small nod as he slowed the truck to a stop next to Luna's, "it's a strong possibility. That place is all kinds of dangerous."
We were all silent for a moment as we waited for the massive metal gates to slide open, which they did with a loud metallic groan I found rather disconcerting.
Neither Shining nor Harshwhinny seemed all that worried as the trucks once more pushed forward through the gates.
"Frankly, I think these ponies were crazy to build a town all the way out here next to that freaky forest," Vinyl commented, breaking the silence, "I warned Octavia about it, but she insisted the place was perfect... crazy mare."
"Why would she want to move here out of all places, though?" I asked with a curious raise of my brow, "I mean, now that I'm seeing this place for myself, it's kind of..."
"I know what you mean," Vinyl finished with a nod, "but Octy is... well, she was a bit sheltered growing up, and that's made her..."
She paused and waved a hand absently as she struggled to find the right words.
"...I don't know. Naïve, I guess. She's always been a bit stubborn, but once she left home, she got this weird... adventurous streak. Said Ponyville would be an exciting place to live."
"Huh," I replied after a moment, "well, that's... weird."
"Yeah," Vinyl replied with a heavy sigh before turning to look out the window, "...hope she's doing alright out here."
"Hm."
With that absentminded reply, I turned to look out my own window at the town. To my slight surprise and dismay, many of the structures we passed were in just as bad a shape as the walls outside, if not worse.
There was just as much greenery inside the wall as there was outside, which was to say there wasn't much at all.
The landscape was all dirt and rock, and the buildings were cramped and dilapidated. Many of them were single houses made of some kind of wood, brick, or lesser metal.
I also saw one or two lodging houses and at one point we passed over a bridge sitting above a small, fenced off river.
Where the river originated and where it led I had no idea, but at the very least the water looked fairly clean.
As rundown as the homes obviously were though, I could also tell that the structures were surprisingly sturdy and well-built for what they were—or at least they had been at one point.
That either meant that this part of town hadn't always been like this, or that the ponies here had some talented carpenters that only had third rate building materials to work with.
Or both I suppose.
Still, the place was a far cry from what I was used to. Even the poorer part of Canterlot didn't reach these levels, and it was with that thought that I realized this must've been what we were passing through.
Of course there'd be slums like these in the towns and villages outside of the city. Resources were scarce all around, and I was fairly certain the no doubt constant avidaeus attacks didn't help either.
The ponies living here were much the same as the buildings they lived or worked in. Much of what I saw of their attire, while surprisingly tasteful, was worn and somewhat threadbare.
Despite the sorry state of their homes however, the ponies living here seemed... well, not happy exactly, but content... at least for the most part.
Foals still played in the streets under the watchful eyes of their parents, working stallions laughed and joked with each other, housewives chatted and gossiped, and there was an overall air of friendliness about the place.
My eyes widened slightly as I spotted a pink coated mare with a darker pink and extremely poofy mane sitting on a bench surrounded by foals. They were all gathered in a small clearing that might've been a small park of sorts.
I watched in slight confusion as the bright eyed, smiling mare pulled something from... somewhere, then in surprise as the mare put the objects to her mouth, puffed out her cheeks, and blew.
The objects turned out to be five long balloons and my mouth dropped open as the mare proceeded to twist the balloons into some kind of undefined shape almost faster than the eye could see.
In a matter of seconds, the mare was holding a large serpentine Wendigo... made up of balloons. The foals cheered at the mare's antics, but I was focused on other things.
Her balloon animal skills were certainly... extraordinary, but what caught my attention was the familiar black and white armlet just above her wrist, and the navy blue military jacket she wore over her sky blue blouse.
She wore the uniform of a Daeus Hunter.
As I stared at the mare, she gave the foals the Wendigo balloon and stood up from the bench. The mare watched the foals run off for a moment before giving a long, languid stretch.
By chance, she happened to glance over to where our truck was passing by. Her eyes widened comically and she let out an overly exaggerated gasp of surprise, something I felt was a little unwarranted for an average transport like ours.
She waved a gloved hand at us with more enthusiasm than was probably necessary... then we passed by a large utility pole... and she was gone.
I blinked.
One moment she was there, then she just... vanished behind the pole, like she'd never even existed at all. I turned to see if any of the others had seen the mare, but none of them were paying any attention.
I looked from them, to the window, and blinked again before shaking my head. I wasn't going to get anywhere thinking about it now, so I put it out of my mind for the moment and focused my attention back on the town itself.
Even under their rather harsh circumstances, it was clear that Ponyville had a positive, close-knit community—or at least that seemed to be the case in the slums.
Oddly enough, I found myself envying them for some reason. I felt a bit like I didn't belong—like I was intruding on their lives even though I hadn't yet done anything or talked to anypony.
Still, despite the friendly atmosphere, there was also wariness. As we drove close by the older ponies, I could see that there was a sharpness in their eyes, as though they were watching for something.
It was as though they were waiting for some kind of attack to happen any moment. If the town was attacked as frequently as Harshwhinny claimed, then it made sense the ponies closest to the walls would be on edge.
I turned my attention back to the ponies I was riding with, only to see that they were all just as quiet and contemplative as I was.
Vinyl had her face turned away from me, her headphones blaring as she gazed out at the town. Shining silently drove down the dirt road without a sound, his expression somewhat inscrutable.
Harshwhinny had rolled down her window and was lazily leaning out of the side, cigarette in her mouth and a thoughtful frown adorning her face as she stared out her window.
I suddenly felt like we were on our way to a funeral.
Trying to ignore a slight shiver, I turned back to my window and could see that we were starting to draw some attention from the townsponies.
Some of the foals stopped what they were doing and pointed before their parents pulled them away, they themselves giving the trucks a wary look.
I raised an eyebrow at the display, but didn't comment on it to anypony.
"Look alive," Shining announced, "we're getting closer to the center of town. The Wendigo building shouldn't be too much further out."
I looked ahead and sure enough, I could see a cluster of tall, rectangular white structures rising in the distance, the cyan Wendigo emblem clear near the top of the largest of the buildings.
Along with that, I could also see that the quality of the homes and shops were getting better as we passed out of the slums and made our way deeper into town.
Rusty metal, rotted wood, and chipped brickwork gave way to clean plaster, smooth cement, and lustrous steelwork. The dirt roads vanished and were replaced with asphalt, and everything just looked... better overall.
The ponies wandering the streets were better dressed, and looked to be a lot less... wary, than the ponies in the slums which again, made sense given that they were further from the wall and closer to the Wendigo building.
There was still that air of friendliness, and that closeness that made me feel strangely isolated though. I got the feeling that was another thing I'd have to get used to for the time being.
"You okay back there, Twily?"
I turned to meet Shining's worried eyes in the rear view mirror and rolled my own in exasperation.
"I'm fine, Shining," I replied with a small huff, "yes, I was worried before, and I guess I still kind of am, but I think I'm finally starting to calm down."
I let my gaze drift towards the towering monster that was the Wendigo building further ahead. My thoughts went back to what I was supposed to do and I frowned slightly before turning away.
"I mean... this is the first time I've been out of Canterlot," I continued in a quieter voice, "things are gonna be different than what I expect, and I can't keep getting shocked, worried, or horrified by every little thing I see, or else I'll never get anything done."
"That's the spirit," Harshwhinny cut in, turning to look back at me with a small smirk, "just keep your eye on the prize and things will work out fine."
"Just what is the prize exactly?" Vinyl asked, raising an eyebrow at the orange mare, "aside from the whole 'making Equus a halfway decent planet to live on' thing I mean. Is there even another prize?"
"The pay is pretty decent once you get out of training and make a name for yourself," Shining replied with a smirk of his own, "food still sucks though. Rations, rations, and more rations."
"Fantastic," I replied flatly, "I can't wait."
"Hey," Shining replied with a small shrug, "if you do well, you get better rations, so there's that. If you're lucky, maybe you'll get actual corn-on-the-cob instead of the chunky, smelly creamed variety."
"Shining, just... no. Stop," I said, chuckling a bit, "you're doing a terrible job of selling this whole Daeus Hunter thing. And besides, I already know Daeus Hunters in Canterlot get better rations than that."
"True," Shining conceded, before his expression turned dead serious, "but this isn't Canterlot, Twi. Nasty creamed corn is a very real possibility."
"Oh, Celestia, you're terrible," I replied, laughing out loud at my brothers straight-faced delivery, "seriously, stop. I don't wanna think about that right now."
I heard Vinyl laugh along, and even Harshwhinny gave a small chuckle of her own. It wasn't really all that funny, but I think we all needed the distraction.
I know I did.
Despite what I told my brother, I was still fretting over what I'd have to do. It wasn't nearly as bad as the first couple of days after I had found out about the reassignment, but the fear and uncertainty were most definitely still there.
As the Wendigo building grew near enough that we passed beneath its shadow, I felt an odd sense of anticipation well up within me alongside the worry.
As we reached the large gate surrounding the perimeter of the Wendigo buildings, I turned and gave one last look back towards the town behind me.
Whether for better or for worse, once I passed through this final gate, my life was going to change drastically.
Once we made it past the gates of the base, we parked the trucks in a small lot near the building. Vinyl and I grabbed our bags before stepping out of the truck along with Harshwhinny.
An earth pony mare with a light amber coat and a short cut, wavy greying mane came out to greet us—or rather, Miss Harshwhinny—personally.
After a few words I was too far from the two to hear, the mare looked in my direction, her dark blue eyes judging me from behind a pair of half moon spectacles.
From what I could tell of her formal cobalt blue attire and armband, she must've been somepony important. My eyes widened slightly and my heart beat a little faster as the mare made her way over to where I was standing by our truck.
I suddenly felt very unprepared for this encounter.
I jumped slightly as a hand landed on my shoulder. I turned to see that Vinyl Scratch had sidled up next to me at some point and was giving me an encouraging smile.
"Hey, chill, Twi," she said with a small chuckle, "it ain't like we're on trial here. The head honcho probably just wants to greet us new recruits."
"Y-Yeah," I replied with a shaky smile, "yeah, I guess that makes sense. Thanks, Vinyl."
"Anytime," Vinyl replied, patting me on the shoulder and taking a step back, "just don't worry too much and you'll be fine, trust me."
I gave her a slightly more confident smile before turning towards the incoming mare. I blinked in surprise, noticing her sharp eyed gaze had disappeared and been replaced with a warm, genial smile.
"Twilight Sparkle, Vinyl Scratch," the mare said with a patient smile, "the President informed me of your arrival beforehand," she held out a hand, "My name is Mayor Mare, but you two can just call me Mayor, everypony else does."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," I replied, politely shaking the offered hand. I took a moment to notice the familiar armlet that marked the mare as a Daeus Hunter, "hopefully we won't disappoint you."
"So like, are you an actual mayor?" Vinyl asked after shaking the mare's hand, "or is that just your name?"
"Both believe it or not," Mayor Mare replied with a chuckle, "well, I used to be the Mayor of Ponyville once upon a time. Now I'm the Director of the Ponyville Sub-Branch of Wendigo."
"And you're also a Daeus Hunter," I observed, "though, if you're the Director now, does that mean you retired from active duty?"
"More or less," Mayor Mare replied, "I'm not as young as I used to be, and once I was promoted to Director, I took the opportunity to hang up my Daeus Arm."
"Oh," I replied, not really knowing what else to say, "that's... hm."
"Indeed," Mayor Mare replied before turning on her heel, "now, I believe that's enough for introductions. Let's get this recruitment underway, shall we?"
Recruitment... the Daeification Process...
I shuddered.
"W-Wait a minute!" I called out, causing Mayor Mare, Harshwhinny, and Vinyl to look back at me. I blushed slightly before speaking a little more quietly, "I want to say goodbye to my brother if that's okay."
Mayor Mare eyed me for a moment before giving me a warm, understanding smile.
"Of course," she replied, "we'll wait inside for you."
With that, they all turned and headed into the front doors of the main building. I breathed a small sigh of relief before turning back to the truck.
"Well, this is it, Twily," Shining said, leaning out of the open window with a sad smile, "there isn't really much more I can say that hasn't already been said, or isn't just common sense. Be careful, if you're in a bind, don't be afraid to rely on your team, and don't worry over every little detail or you'll miss the bigger picture."
"Right," I replied, leaning in to hug my brother, "I'll keep all that in mind, Shiny. Tell mom I love her and that I'll be okay, alright?"
"Consider it done, sis," Shining replied, his smile turning warm, "take care of yourself."
Goodbyes said, Shining kicked on the engine and pulled out of the parking space. I watched him go, until he was past the gates and out of sight.
Another hand fell on my shoulder, but this time I didn't jump. Instead I glanced back to see the Chief Commander looking towards the gates Shining had just left through.
"Do not worry, Twilight Sparkle," she said, lowering her kind, yet serious gaze to meet mine, "my sister believes you capable of great things, and I have no reason to doubt her."
She nodded and turned to head back to her own truck. The medics had already rushed the dragon inside the facility and the other two trucks had already left.
"Grow strong, Twilight Sparkle," Luna called back with a wave, "strong enough to protect your friends and loved ones. Celestia has placed her faith in you, and I shall do the same. Good luck."
She stepped into the truck, closed the door, and was off, leaving me alone outside the doors of the main building.
I turned my gaze towards the setting sun and sighed wearily.
"This is my life now," I muttered bitterly before sighing again, "well, let's see how long that life lasts now, shall we?"
With nothing else keeping me, I slung my bag over my shoulder and made my way inside the main building of the Ponyville Sub-Branch.
I wasn't ready for this.
I was far from ready for this.
It was all happening way too fast. One moment, I was walking the rather dark corridors of the building, Mayor Mare and Harshwhinny telling Vinyl and I what to expect, then we reached the waiting room for all new Daeus Hunter hopefuls.
Well, I say hopefuls, but almost everypony in that room looked just as scared as I felt. There were about twelve of us altogether, and it was clear we all knew what was in store for us.
The room itself wasn't very big. The walls were made of some sort of dark greyish brown metal, and the lighting was rather low, giving the whole place a rather somber atmosphere.
Vinyl, Mayor Mare, Harshwhinny, and I had entered through a small door placed near the wall, and after a few more words of encouragement, Harshwhinny and the Director turned and left back the way we all came.
There were two other doors in the room. One was a single black metal door that stood to the far left of where we had entered, and the other was actually a large set of ominous looking giant metal double doors that took up a good fourth of the wall opposite us.
"Betcha that's where the Daeification Process takes place," Vinyl muttered nudging me in the arm, "I mean, just look at that door! it's gotta be."
Before I could respond, the smaller door on the left swung open, admitting a tall golden coated pegasus mare with a mane and tail of brilliant orange and amber—both flaring out like a flame.
Based on what little I knew about Daeus Hunter ranks, I could tell the mare was at least a lieutenant by her dark blue military coat, the standard armband, and the several patches along the front of the coat.
Every eye in the room turned to the mare, as she walked out into the middle of the room. She silently scanned the room with an unreadable expression—her eyes hidden behind dark aviators.
Her gaze stopped on Vinyl and I and she frowned slightly.
"You two just get here?" she asked in a curt, raspy voice.
We both nodded an affirmative and in response, the mare nodded towards one of the long, uncomfortable looking metal benches on either side of the room where the others were sitting.
"Find a seat and wait," she commanded, "we're gonna be getting this underway here in a moment."
With a shrug, Vinyl walked over to one of the benches and plopped herself down in between a surly looking, mulberry coated unicorn mare and a nervous amber coated earth pony stallion.
I chose to sit on the opposite bench near the edge. As I placed my bag beneath the seat, a small squeak caught my attention. I turned to see that I had sat next to a butter yellow pegasus mare.
Half the mare's face was covered by a long, luxurious pink mane and I was only able to make out a single, terrified aqua blue eye. It took me a minute to notice that subtle shaking in the mare's frame.
She was absolutely petrified.
With the shaking, small whimpers, and complete lack of eye contact with anyone, I felt bad for the mare. Her demeanor made me a little curious as to how she ended up here.
Was she a victim of circumstance like me?
I highly doubted she joined willingly, that's for sure. I was about to say something—maybe some words of comfort—but a tiny movement caught my eye.
I furrowed my brow and looked further down. The mare was wearing a thick lime green turtleneck beneath a thin dark green coat that was clearly far too large for her.
Isn't she hot in that?
The thought left as soon as it crossed my mind as I spotted another movement coming from the opening in her coat. Looking a bit closer I saw a flash of white and my mouth fell open.
Sitting comfortably inside the mare's coat was a small white rabbit.
It wasn't like there were no regular animals left, but seeing one outside of a reserve was extremely rare. The fact that this mare had one was enough to completely stun me for a moment.
That was, until the rabbit poked its head out and glared at me with its beady black eyes.
"U-Um... excuse me..."
I snapped my gaze upward at the soft whisper and flushed with embarrassment at the mare's slightly panicked look.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." I whispered. I glanced back down, but the rabbit had vanished from view, "I... it's just... where did you—"
"Please don't tell anypony."
I opened my mouth but snapped it shut at the mare's pleading look. Instead I just nodded dumbly, much to the mare's visible relief.
"Thank you," she whispered with a small, shaky smile, "m-my name's... Fluttershy by the way."
"Um... Twilight," I replied, returning her smile with an awkward grin of my own, "Twilight Sparkle. It's nice to—"
"Alright, cut the chitchat for a minute!" came the loud voice of the golden pegasus mare with the aviators, "my name is Spitfire, and now that you're all here, this is how things are gonna go down!"
She took off her aviators, revealing brilliant orange eyes. Pointing the aviators in the direction of the giant double doors, she continued her explanation.
"Behind that giant metal door, is another, smaller metal door," she said, looking around the room, "and behind that door, is the room where you'll be undergoing the Daeification Process."
Spitfire paused when she spotted a raised hand. Raising an eyebrow, she nodded towards the white coated, jittery looking earth pony mare who raised the hand.
"Go on?" Spitfire encouraged, "if you got something to ask, ask it now, cause you ain't getting another chance later."
"U-Um... well," the mare stuttered, looking very much like she was regretting her decision to speak, "do you think... will it... y'know... hurt?"
The last word came out in a tiny squeak and Spitfire chuckled in response before shaking her head.
"Kid, it's gonna hurt like you wouldn't believe," she answered simply, "it'll probably be the worse pain you've ever felt in your life, though if it helps, the process is pretty quick."
Her smirk fell away and she took a moment to give all of us an intense stare. After a few seconds she spoke again, her tone grave and ominous.
"Let me tell you all right now, this is a dangerous process, and if you're rejected, there's a very real chance that you may not make it out... unscathed."
"W-What does that mean?" came the voice of the nervous amber stallion, "what do you mean by unscathed?"
"I mean," Spitfire replied, walking over to the stallion and leaning in close, "that at best, you'll be losing a limb, and at worst... you'll be losing your equinity, and if that happens... well... just pray that it doesn't happen."
She stepped back, leaving the stallion shaking in his seat.
"Now, normally you'd all have to go through this no matter the risks," Spitfire continued, "but here in Ponyville, we do things a little differently."
She paused another moment looking around as though she were judging each and every one of us, then spoke again.
"In this town, we're looking for those who truly want to protect their fellow equines no matter how dangerous things get.
"What we don't want, are sniveling cowards who run at the first sign of danger and leave their teammates behind to pick up the slack. That causes far more damage than any surprise attack from an avidaeus."
As if on cue, the door leading back to the corridor we came through opened, followed by the far door on the left.
A dark grey pegasus stallion holding a clipboard stepped through the far left door and leaned against the wall next to it. Stepping through the other door was a pegasus mare with a greyish blue coat and a wild light cerulean mane.
Like the pegasus stallion, she took up a spot next to her own door, look around the room with sharp, rosy eyes and a small smirk.
"To those of you who were conscripted," Spitfire continued, ignoring the two ponies that had just walked in, "you're going through the process whether you like it or not, so deal with it."
I frowned.
Well, so much for an easy out...
"For those of you who came here willingly, and don't think you can hack it," the golden pegasus pointed towards the door next to the other pegasus mare, "get the buck out and don't come back."
For a heartbeat, everypony was stunned into silence, prompting Spitfire to continue. I frowned at the new development, remembering in Celestia's letter the need for more Daeus Hunters.
"This is a dangerous job, and while retreat is sometimes the best option, flat out cowardice can and will get you and your teammates killed out there. That's something we don't need here, so as I said, if you can't hack it, get out."
Everypony in the room gave each other unsure, furtive glances. Then, slowly, some of the other ponies began to rise and head towards the exit on the right.
The jittery earth pony mare practically flew out of the room, causing the pegasus mare standing next to the door to roll her eyes.
It's no wonder Ponyville is hurting for Daeus Hunters. How are they supposed to increase their ranks if they give the ponies a choice in the matter?
It wasn't like I was advocating for conscription, being a victim of it myself, but the lack of logic behind Spitfire's decision bugged me. If they didn't have enough Daeus Hunters to protect the town, there was a real problem here.
Still, I could certainly appreciate the fact that they gave the others a choice, despite the lack of sense... even if I didn't get that same choice.
Curious, I turned back to Fluttershy to see that she'd gone pale and was shaking like a leaf—no doubt from Spitfire's words regarding the Daeification Process—but to my surprise, she remained seated where she was.
So... was she conscripted then?
Vinyl didn't make any moves to leave either, merely shaking her head at all the ponies that left. In the end, there were only four of us left.
Myself, Fluttershy, Vinyl Scratch, and a stoic looking, dark green unicorn stallion I hadn't noticed was there until now.
Now that I had noticed him, something about the stallion put me on edge, though I didn't know what it was.
The stallion wore simple beige slacks, and a black t-shirt over a white long sleeve shirt. His mane and tail came down in light grey curls, and his hard fuchsia eyes betrayed no particular emotion.
"So it's just the four of you, huh?" Spitfire commented, looking around at each of us, "honestly this was more than I was expecting."
She nodded towards the pegasus mare, who sighed, and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road then," Spitfire called out, "Thunderlane, who's up first?"
For a second I wondered who the mare was talking to, but then the dark grey stallion next to the leftmost door spoke up. He looked at his clipboard for a moment before calling the first name out.
"Let's see... looks like it's gonna be," he paused and tapped the clipboard, before looking right at me, "Miss Sparkle, looks like you're up first."
It was my turn to go pale.
"O-Okay, um... I... I guess I'll just," I pushed myself off the metal bench with shaky hands and rose to my hooves, "...a-alright then."
Spitfire nodded and the giant double doors hissed, making the majority of us jump. A second later the doors slid open, revealing a smaller, more normal looking door, just like Spitfire had said.
"Well, go on, then," Spitfire called out, "it'll be like ripping off a band-aid, best to just get it over with."
Right, like ripping off a band-aid... with a chainsaw.
I let out a single, loud terrified laugh before walking over to the door. As I passed Vinyl she gave me a thumbs up and a reassuring smile.
"Good luck," she whispered, "and remember, don't worry so much, you got this, Twi."
I gave her a weak smile before stepping into the small metal alcove and grabbing the door handle. I pulled the door open and stepped inside, having no idea what to expect.
As it turned out, there wasn't much to the room at all.
It was large and circular, sporting the same greyish brown metal walls as the room I had just left. The room itself was empty save for a large, odd machine set up smack dab in the middle of the floor.
Looking up, I could see that there was a railed off ledge above. Standing behind the railing was none other than Mayor Mare, as well as a tan coated earth pony stallion with a short spiky brown mane and a lab suit.
For whatever reason, Harshwhinny was nowhere to be seen. I made note of her absence, but figured she had her own duties to attend to so ignored it for the moment.
I could only assume the stallion was one of the Ponyville scientists I'd be working with, though the stallion looked rather unassuming all things considered.
His eyes lit up as he saw me, and I saw him open his mouth to say something, but Mayor Mare cut him off before he could.
"Ah, Miss Sparkle," she greeted, "it's good to see you again, though I wish it were under less... formal circumstances. As it stands however, I'm simply here to provide you with some instruction on what to do."
"Um... okay," I replied, looking back down at the large machine, "so... what do I do then?"
The machine consisted of a rectangular black metal pedestal, jutting out of the ground. A small raised silver platform sat on top of it, with a small rounded out groove in the middle.
"You see that groove there?" the Mayor replied, "and the armlet within?"
I stepped forward and took a closer look, a curious frown on my face despite the dread that was building up.
Set into the small rounded groove was half of a red armlet, much to my confusion. The confusion turned to understanding and uneasiness when I looked up at the rest of the machine above.
Looming a few hoof-lengths over the pedestal was what looked like another black rectangular device flipped upside down.
The silver platform had another groove with the other half of the armlet embedded into it. To my horror, I could see a far too thick needle wedged into the bottom of the armlet's top half.
That must be what they use to inject the Hive Cells into my body...
My heart began to race in my chest and I shivered violently.
"Now, all you need to do is rest your arm in the groove and the machine will do the rest," came the Mayor's calming voice, "make sure to place the wrist slightly past the groove, oh, and don't worry about which arm to use."
I barely registered the mare's words as I stood there staring at the machine that would shoot a controlled amount of Hive Cells into my body.
It was only as I stood there that I realized I was effectively living one of my worst nightmares. My imagination suddenly ran wild, and images of grotesque transformations and unbelievable agony ran through my mind.
I almost fainted on the spot, but Mayor Mare's voice brought me out of it.
"Twilight Sparkle!"
"I can't do this," I muttered, shaking my head and backing away, "I... I can't do this."
"Twilight, calm down," Mayor Mare called out, "I know it's a terrifying experience, believe me. I was once in the same position as you are right now, and things were a lot more difficult back then."
I looked up at the Mayor standing above me.
"I want you to think, Twilight," Mayor Mare continued, with a patient, understanding smile, "think about all the ponies who went through this and came out as Daeus Hunters. Think about those that succeeded with a much lower chance of success than you do."
I blinked and lowered my gaze back to the machine.
"Did you know your very own brother only had a thirty percent chance of successfully binding with the Hive Cells in his body?"
My eyes widened and I snapped my gaze back up to the ledge. This time it was the tan stallion that had spoken, a firm, yet kind look on his face.
"He what?" I cried, "did you say he only had a thirty percent chance of success? A thirty percent chance of surviving this... this—"
"Indeed, Miss Sparkle," the stallion continued with a smirk, "and you know what he said to that?"
I just stared at him.
The stallion lean forward, placing his arms over the rail and looking down at me with what could only be described as a proud smile.
"...Absolutely nothing."
"What?" I whispered, "what are you talking about?"
"He didn't say anything, Miss Sparkle," the scientist continued, "he simply grunted and walked over to the machine, placing his arm in without any hesitation whatsoever."
"But... but that's crazy," I muttered, looking down at my hooves, "Shining... what the buck were you thinking?"
"Probably of you I'd imagine," Mayor Mare replied to my rhetorical question, "he seemed like that kind of stallion when I met him in Canterlot all those years ago."
"You two... how do you even know any of this?" I asked, looking between each of them.
"Like the Mayor said, we met in Canterlot," the scientist answered, "we were the ones who oversaw his Daeification, just like we're doing now with you. Quite a frightful moment if I do say so, but certainly worth the scare."
"Our point is," Mayor Mare continued, "there are others out there with far less of a chance than you, who choose to go through with the process, regardless of the increased risk."
"Because they want to make a difference, right?" I finished with a sigh, my fear for myself draining away and being replaced by worry and anger at my brother, "something about wanting to protect their friends, their loved ones, and the future? Is that it?"
"More or less," the scientist replied with a small shrug, "lines like that are a bit too cheesy for my taste, but that's about the long and short of it."
"Right," I muttered, once more eyeing the machine with both resignation and trepidation, "well, I can't back out now... literally. And if I have a high chance of bonding... well..."
I swallowed nervously before taking several halting steps towards the machine. Once I reached it, I rolled up the sleeve of my coat, raised my left arm, and stared at it for a moment.
Goodbye old, safe life... hello new, terrifying life.
I took a deep, shuddering breath and slowly placed my arm in the groove of the pedestal just on top of the lower half of the armlet.
I took another deep, calming breath—this one slightly less shaky then before, and began a familiar mantra in my head to slow my rapidly beating heart.
One thousand...
Nine hundred ninety-three...
Nine hundred eighty-six...
Nine hundred seventy—
The top of the machine slammed down onto my arm and I screamed. I felt every inch of the needle as it pierced my skin.
Beneath the white hot agony, I could even feel the cells working their way through my bloodstream, twisting and changing my insides in ways I couldn't comprehend at the moment.
All rational thought left me as I tried desperately to yank my arm out of the machine, but it held fast. The pain quickly spread from my arm through the rest of my body, and I only screamed louder, or at least, I think I did.
I was vaguely aware of somepony shouting something, but I couldn't hear them over the horrible, pulsing pain assaulting every single one of my nerves.
Then it was over.
The pain receded as quickly as it had come save for my sore throat, and I was left a sobbing mess, slumped against the machine, my arm still held within.
With a loud hiss and a quieter click the top half of the machine detached itself from the lower and rose back up, releasing me from its grasp.
Exhausted, shaken, and distraught, I let my arm flop down next to me. One of my ears twitched at the small clank of metal as my arm hit the ground.
I looked over to see that I was now the not-so-proud owner of a bright red Daeus Hunter armlet. I ignored the voices coming from somewhere above me and simply stared at the armlet in shocked disbelief.
I had done it.
I was officially a Daeus Hunter... and there was no going back now.
I tried to listen to the congratulatory words of Director Mare and the scientist, who had introduced himself as Time Turner—though for whatever reason he insisted everypony call him Doctor Whooves—but I couldn't even begin to focus on them.
In the end I simply nodded along, mumbled a few words of thanks and exited the room. Once I was outside, I was immediately assaulted by Vinyl Scratch, who slapped me on the back and gave her own boisterous congratulations.
I gave her a weak, distracted smile before making my way over to the bench I had been sitting at before. As I passed Spitfire, she merely nodded in approval before glancing over to the dark pegasus stallion holding the clipboard.
The stallion—Thunderlane, nodded in turn and marked something down on the clipboard before calling out another name. This time it was the dark green stallion who'd been completely silent up until now.
I stopped and watched him quietly rise to his hooves before making his way towards the Daeification Chamber. He didn't say a word to anypony as he pulled the smaller door open.
The door clicked shut behind him, after which the much larger mechanical double doors slid shut with an ominous finality that I hadn't even noticed going in myself.
Thunderlane had called him Seeker, not an odd name for a pony, in and of itself, but the fact that there had been nothing preceding or following it was rather strange.
Well, it's none of my business anyway... and I have more important things to worry about now.
I raised my left arm to stare at my new armlet for a moment before letting out a long, shuddering breath. By this point, Vinyl had sat back down, leaning back against the head of the bench and bobbing her head to the beat of whatever she was listening to.
As I returned to my own seat next to Fluttershy, I watched Vinyl Scratch for a moment. With her easy smile and laid back posture, you'd think she was coming in for some kind of harmless routine checkup at the doctor's office.
I guess she didn't hear me screaming my lungs out...
Come to think of it, nopony in the room seemed to be fazed by what had transpired in that room. I turned to Fluttershy to see her trying to discreetly glance in my direction.
When she saw that I was looking, she quickly turned away with a small, and admittedly adorable 'meep'. I raised a bemused eyebrow at the yellow pegasus mare as she chanced another glance at me.
It took me a second to realize it, but it seemed as though she wanted to say something.
"Fluttershy?" I asked, feeling the need to whisper for some reason, "what's wrong? You can tell me."
"Ah, oh no, i-it's nothing really," she muttered, letting her mane fall over most of her face, "I just... I wouldn't want to bother you with silly questions or anything."
"Fluttershy," I replied firmly, "if you have something to ask, just ask it. I won't bite, I promise," a thoughtful pause, "is it... does it have to do with... what happened in that room?"
Fluttershy lowered her head even further and gave a small, nearly imperceptible nod of confirmation. My brow furrowed in confusion at her response, and her overall reaction in general.
In the very brief time I had known the mare, I had expected her to break down at the screams of agony I was sure had echoed throughout the entire facility.
But no, she was, or at least seemed simply curious.
"U-Um... well, if you don't mind," Fluttershy continued, "w-what was it like? The process I mean... d-did it... did it hurt as bad as Spitfire said it would?"
"Fluttershy," I replied with a slight frown, "didn't you hear me in there? Did any of you?"
"No, we didn't," Fluttershy answered, shaking her head, "those big doors apparently cancel out any noise that comes from inside the Daeification Chamber."
"Ah... that would explain it, I guess," I mumbled before shaking my head and looking back at Fluttershy, "well, if that's the case, I think it's best you just... find out for yourself, Fluttershy."
"Oh... o-okay then..."
Fluttershy stared at me for a long moment, searching my eyes for something—most likely trying to glean the truth of just how horrible the experience had been.
She must've realized what she was doing, because she blushed a moment later and quickly looked away. My own worried gaze lingered on her for a heartbeat or two before settling on the the large doors ahead.
For a time, the room fell into a semi-comfortable silence during which both my eyes and my thoughts inevitably drifted back to my armlet.
Now that the horror of what had been done to me had abated somewhat, I could actually focus on just what had been done to me.
I didn't really notice until now, but my whole body felt different. My senses felt a lot sharper than they had been before, and feeling the skin beneath my fur, I was certain I had gained a bit more muscle.
I felt like there was more to it than that though.
Now that I was focusing on it, I had no idea how I had missed it before. My senses were several times sharper than they had been before—sight, sound, smell, probably even taste and touch to some degree had been heightened or changed in some way.
The only thing that felt weaker about me... was my own magic.
I could barely even feel it.
A feeling of dread washed away my growing amazement at the changes and in a sudden panic, I lit my horn and reached for the mana within me, attempting to cast one of the more complex spells I knew.
It was a spell to keep a specific area superheated or sub-cooled for an extended amount of time. I had often used the spell when working with active Hive Cells in the lab.
I focused my spell on a secluded spot of the bench, trying to lower the temperature enough that the metal would be noticeably cooler.
It felt like my own magic was fighting against me every step of the way, refusing to cooperate no matter how much or how hard I pulled. I grunted and strained and sweated, and the spell nearly fizzled out, but eventually, the metal began to cool and I released the spell.
I sat there staring at the spot in horrified disbelief as I panted and gasped. I winced at the painful burning sensation in my horn.
I was completely spent.
It had taken far too much effort to do something I had normally been able to do with barely any thought or strain at all.
I didn't even flinch when I felt a soft hand settle on my shoulder. Instead I slowly looked over to see Fluttershy giving me a sympathetic look.
"I'm sorry," she said with genuine sadness in her voice, "I... um... I had heard how hard this was... on unicorns specifically, but I didn't really... well," she retracted her hand and put it to her chest before hiding her face behind her mane again, "I'm sure you don't need somepony like me to tell you how awful it is."
"Somepony like..." I shook my head, my growing despair ebbing slightly as I gave the meek pegasus a small, if bitter smile, "Fluttershy, I'm... well, this isn't okay in the slightest, but I'll... I'll find a way to manage. I'm sure it's just as horrible for pegasi, not being able to fly like you used to."
"Oh, I don't mind so much," Fluttershy replied, "I was never really much of a flier to begin with," she looked away, her eyes suddenly distant, "I do have a friend who... didn't take it so well when she went through the Daeification Process. Flying meant everything to her, but... well..."
She sighed and looked back at me with a sad smile.
"Those are the sacrifices you have to make when you become a Daeus Hunter, and she was willing to make them anyway," her smile fell slightly, along with her face, "she adapted eventually, but it was... hard. She tried to hide it, but she was depressed for awhile."
"I'm... I'm so sorry to hear that, Fluttershy," I replied earnestly. I looked away and sighed, "I... here I was, ready to have a complete breakdown about losing most of my magic, and I didn't even realize how hard it must be for everypony that goes through this. When I think about how many ponies gave up the same thing... my own worry seems petty in comparison."
It was true.
Severely weakened as it was, I at the very least, still had use of my magic, and could even cast a complex spell like I had done earlier, albeit with tremendous effort.
Many of the unicorns with weaker magic to begin with, completely lost the use of their magic when they became Daeus Hunters.
"It's not though," Fluttershy replied firmly, her tone breaking through my thoughts and causing me to look back at her in surprise, "you've lost a big part of who you are as a pony, Twilight. That's not something anypony should take lightly, and it's okay to feel sad about it."
I stared at the pegasus, my mouth hanging slightly open.
Her eyes suddenly widened and she blushed again before hanging her head. It seemed as though she remembered her namesake, because she fell silent after that, but not before whispering one last thing that I made sure to take to heart.
"Just... don't let what happened consume you, okay?"
I closed my mouth and gave Fluttershy a grateful smile.
"I won't Fluttershy," I replied with a nod, "I promise."
She returned my smile with a small, shy smile of her own. It was then that I realized the mare next to me was a lot stronger than I gave her credit for, and after hearing what she'd said, I found it a lot easier to believe she had stayed here of her own volition.
But had she really?
"Hey, Fluttershy?" I asked with a slight frown. The pegasus tilted her head curiously and I continued somewhat hesitantly, "why did you, I mean, are you—"
My inquiry was cut off by a loud hiss that made both Fluttershy and I jump.
We all watched as the metal doors slid open and Seeker step out. The stallion looked just as stoic coming out as he did going in, though I could tell even from a distance that he hadn't been completely unaffected.
I could see the slight sheen of sweat running down his face, and the minute shaking in his arms. Still, Seeker had come out a Daeus Hunter, his armlet the standard black and white of all the others.
Vinyl gave her own congratulations as she had done with me, though it was quite a bit more subdued, and she didn't get up from her seat.
The stallion didn't even seem to notice, completely ignoring her as he sat back down without a word to anypony. Vinyl eyed him with a small frown for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and replacing her headphones back on her ears.
Then the next candidate was chosen.
"Vinyl?" Thunderlane called out. When he received no response he looked up from his clipboard and frowned in annoyance at the oblivious unicorn mare, "Vinyl? Vinyl Scratch!"
Still no response.
Spitfire gave a weary sigh and shook her head as Thunderlane practically screamed Vinyl's name, muttering something about recruits and an early grave.
"Huh? Whuzzat?" Vinyl called back, lifting one side of her headphones after a minute, "is it finally my turn?"
"Yes," Thunderlane growled impatiently, "it's your turn. Get in there."
"Oh, sweet!" I blinked in surprise as the mare pulled off her headphones, took out her phone, and took off her magenta shades before she hopped up from her seat and making a beeline for me, "here, hold these for me would ya?"
"Wait, I... oh," I replied as she shoved her belongings into my arms, "alright, I guess... sure."
"Cool, thanks, Twi," Vinyl called back as she walked back to the open doors, "see ya when I see ya."
With that, she gave one last wave and lazy smile before pulling the door open and stepping inside the chamber. The metal doors slid shut behind her and everything was silent once more.
"She seems... nice," Fluttershy commented quietly, "I wonder how she can remain so calm about all of this?"
"From what I understand," came Spitfire's raspy voice, surprising the both of us, "that mare more or less has nothing to worry about when it comes to the Daeification Process."
"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head slightly, "does she have a high compatibility rate?"
"She has a perfect compatibility rate," the lieutenant replied with a small chuckle, "she may not be a 'New-Type' user like you're supposed to be, but she has a one hundred percent compatibility rate, as did her father before her, and his father before him."
"Wow," I breathed, "I... that's... that's incredible! A whole family of fully compatible ponies?" I turned towards Fluttershy, "what are the odds of that?"
Fluttershy simply gave a small shrug as Spitfire replied.
"Very low I'd imagine," she said, her tone thoughtful, "normally, you'd only see that kind of compatibility with changelings," she chuckled again, "in fact, I remember there'd been a rumor that the mare's family had either been changelings themselves, or were at least part changeling."
"Is... is that true?" Fluttershy asked, eyes wide with intrigue, "is she... is her family really part changeling?"
"Nah," Spitfire said with a small shake of her head, "they're not changelings, just really, really lucky when it comes to genes, I guess."
"That's crazy," I muttered, looking at my own armlet, "no wonder she's so calm and collected about the whole thing..."
Then again, I somehow had the feeling she would've been that way even if she had slim chance. The mare had an easygoing, unflappable air about her that made everything seem like it was going to work out for the best.
"Um, Twilight?"
I looked up at Fluttershy's questioning tone and saw she was giving me a curious look. When she had my attention, she continued.
"Um... Spitfire said you were supposed to be a New-Type user," she said with a bemused frown, "what does that mean? Does it have something to do with the color of your armlet?"
"I..." I glanced at the armlet in question, not even realizing that that was probably the reason it was a different color from everypony else's, "yeah, I guess it does."
I look back towards Fluttershy and proceeded to explain my own situation. Once I started, I found I couldn't stop.
I told her about my job at Wendigo HQ, and how I was suddenly transferred, then completely reassigned altogether. I told her about the President's letter, and about my compatibility as a New-Type Daeus Arms user.
I told her about my harrowing trip from Canterlot to Ponyville. I told her about how strong the Chief Commander was, and lastly, I told her about the dragon Luna had rescued from near death.
The last statement seemed to make the shy mare somewhat uneasy, but nevertheless, I could feel the sympathy rolling off of her in waves. I told her I was going to visit the dragon when I first got the chance, and that she was more than welcome to join me—an offer she agreed to, but with an odd amount of reluctance.
It was as I was just finishing up my story that the doors opened and Vinyl emerged, black armlet in place and a weary, relieved smile on her sweaty face.
"Sweet Tartarus," she exclaimed, "that was way worse than I thought it'd be, but hey, at least it's over, right?"
"Glad to see you're okay," I said with a small smile as I handed back her things, "Spitfire told us you had nothing to worry about from the beginning."
"True, true," Vinyl replied, placing her shades back on her face and her headphones around her neck, "doesn't mean it didn't hurt like a motherbucker though."
We shared a small laugh and she made her way back to her own seat. My smile fell into a concerned frown when I turned and saw Fluttershy's face.
The mare had gone even paler than she was before, her eyes wide and locked on the single door leading to the Daeification Chamber.
Just as she did for me when I started to freak out about my magic, I reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, hesitating for only a moment.
She jumped slightly, both at my touch and at Thunderlane's voice calling out her name. I looked from the pegasus stallion to Fluttershy, putting on the most reassuring smile I could muster.
"It'll be alright, Fluttershy," I said soothingly before biting my lip nervously, "it... it does hurt... a lot, but the pain goes away pretty quickly."
"It's not the pain I'm worried about so much," Fluttershy replied almost tonelessly, her back turned to me, "Twilight, I only have a twenty percent chance of a successful bond."
I felt a cold chill run down my spine.
"Y-You... but... but you," I slowly shook my head, letting my hand fall away from the mare, "Fluttershy... that's... that's not—"
"I know."
"But then why?" I cried, turning the pegasus around to face me, "why are you here if you have such a low chance of... of..." I rapidly shook my head, "it's too risky!"
She merely looked at me.
Even as I watched, the look of abject fear suddenly seemed to melt away as she looked back at me and her face relaxed somewhat, completely contrasting with my increasing fear and worry.
Then she gave me that same reassuring smile I tried to give her earlier.
"Why go through with it?" I asked desperately, "were you conscripted like I was? You had to be, right?"
She slowly shook her head and turned back towards the door.
"I came here on my own," Fluttershy replied in a soft voice that held a surprising amount of compassion, "I did this—I'm doing this, for Angel, and all of the other creatures still alive and hiding in the Everfree."
"I... what?" I responded, eyes wide with bewilderment, "your risking your life for... for the animals? In the Everfree? Are you telling me there's still fauna roaming around in that Tartarus forsaken forest?!"
Fluttershy closed her eyes and nodded.
"Probably the only animals left in this entire region outside of the reserves," she replied, now almost completely calm, "I... I want to save them, Twilight. They're suffering because of those monsters, and I can't sit by and do nothing."
I simply stared at her.
She was willing to risk everything for a no doubt small chance to save these creatures. Like injecting myself with Hive Cells, it was something I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around.
Did she really love animals that much?
Was she really willing to die so that they could live?
How did she even know there were animals alive out there in the Everfree?
But wait... Angel?
As if on cue, the small white rabbit from earlier poked its head out of Fluttershy's coat, its ears and nose twitching. I looked at it with an uncomprehending frown and it looked back at me stoically before raising its head to look at Fluttershy.
That's when it hit me.
"Angel," I muttered, "so that's who you were talking about..."
I released my hands from where I had placed them on Fluttershy's shoulders and sat back, staring at the other mare with a look of understanding.
"I get it," I replied, quietly and unhappily, "you really feel that strongly about this, don't you?"
Fluttershy gave a grim frown.
"Despite those monster's best efforts, there's still a lot of us left," Fluttershy replied, conviction and a hint of anger coloring her tone, "but many of the native creatures of Equus are either endangered or have already been hunted to extinction by those... those... things.
"I want to do what I can to save the ones that are still trying to survive out there, and the best way I can do that—the only way I can get as close to them as I want, is to become a Daeus Hunter, so... that's what I'm going to do."
On that note, she rose to her hooves, the little rabbit slipping back inside her coat as she did. She gave me one last smile that I tried to return with partial success.
"Thank you for listening," Fluttershy continued in a quiet but grateful tone, "I know how foolish I'm being, but I can't leave them like this, not when I can do something to help."
"I know," I replied, feeling my insides twist and my eyes water at the thought of the worst coming to pass, "just... good luck, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy nodded and took a shaky breath before turning to Spitfire. She 'eep'd' when she noticed the eyes of everypony else in the room directed at her, save for the stallion in the corner.
Apparently they had all been listening to our conversation, and had reacted differently. Spitfire gave the shy yellow pegasus the warmest, saddest smile I had seen her wear yet.
Vinyl gave an approving nod, and Thunderlane was trying, and failing, to hide his own watery gaze of admiration.
"Well go on then, get in there," Spitfire said, breaking the silence with a chuckle, and nodding towards the door, "you'd best not keep them waiting any longer."
Fluttershy blushed and nodded before briskly walking over to the single door. She turned and gave me one last look, which I returned with a nod and a much more genuine smile this time around.
She tried to smile back, but only gave a weak whimper before forcing herself to action, pulling the door open and rushing inside before her nerve completely left her.
The metal doors slid shut, and the room fell into an unbroken silence, save for the muted sound of music coming from Vinyl's headphones.
Nopony seemed to want to say anything, and I couldn't blame them. From the look on everypony's face, I could tell they were all just as worried about Fluttershy as I was.
Everypony, except for Seeker.
The stallion continued to stare at the opposite wall, completely ignorant of the tension in the room. His expression gave nothing away, and his stoic silence was beginning to unnerve me to the point that I began fidgeting.
I looked away from him and turned my attention to Spitfire, deciding to start some kind of conversation.
"So, um... Spitfire?"
"Lieutenant, to you, recruit," she corrected immediately, "now that you're officially a Daeus Hunter, I expect you to refer to me by my rank."
So I was right then. Score one for me I guess..
"Sorry, Lieutenant," I said quickly, "I was just wondering," I gave Vinyl a side glance as I spoke, and saw that she had once again, tuned everything out but her music, "how did you know so much about Vinyl and her family?"
"Oh, that?" she replied, "Vinyl's father and I go way back, believe it or not. He and I were part of the same squad back when I was stationed at the Manehattan Sub-Branch of Wendigo. We still keep in touch from time to time, which is how I knew about Vinyl Scratch."
"Oh," I replied with a thoughtful look, "that's... actually pretty interesting."
"It's a small world sometimes," Spitfire replied with a shrug, "you'll find that once you climb higher up the ranks, you tend to travel to different places often."
"Why is that?" I asked curiously.
"Kid, not many of us Daeus Hunters live to make it past the rank of a standard lieutenant," Spitfire explained with a solemn frown, "high ranking soldiers are few and far between, so normally we spread them out, send them where they're needed most. There is the occasional oddball every now and then, though."
"Oh?" I replied, raising an eyebrow, "what's that supposed to mean?"
"Take 1st Unit Leader, Captain Applejack for example," the pegasus replied with another chuckle, "she's a damn good Captain, but she's never once set hoof outside of the Ponyville region, whereas those in her position usually get shipped all over Equestria."
"Oh, that's right," I replied, more to myself, "the President said that's who I'd be assigned to once I got out of training."
"Consider yourself lucky then," Spitfire said with a knowing nod, "out of the three Unit Leaders we have here in Ponyville, she's without a doubt the most reliable."
I was about to ask who the other two were, when the tell-tale hiss of double doors silenced me. Just like that, all the fear and worry I'd managed to push aside came flooding back.
The others and I all turned to watch the doors slide open, and after a tense moment, I almost cried with relief as a familiar yellow form shakily made its way past the open doorway and into the waiting room.
Her once beautifully cascading pale pink mane was extremely unkempt, her cyan eyes were bloodshot, her face was stained with tears, and her breathing was ragged and strained... but she was alive.
She was as okay as I could've expected, and the black and white armlet pushing up the sleeve of her oversized coat indicated she had gone through the process successfully.
If her current state was anything to go by however, it looked as though it had been some kind of ordeal for the meek mare. Though I was in a similar state coming out, not even I had looked this... worn.
Despite all of this, my first instinct was to rush over to the poor mare and embrace her in a crushing hug, which, to my own surprise, is exactly what I did.
"I'm so glad you're okay," I said in a slightly choked voice before pulling away with a relieved smile and teary eyes, "I didn't think you'd make it to be honest, but I've never been more happy to know I was wrong."
Fluttershy said nothing in response as she continued to breathe in heavy erratic gasps. My relived smile gave way to a worried grimace as I looked at the mare.
"Fluttershy?" I said, taking a step forward and placing a hand on her shoulder, "hey, Fluttershy, are you gonna be okay?"
The pegasus gave me a weak smile and a shaky nod before falling forward into my chest, causing me to yelp in surprise.
"Gah! Fluttershy!" I cried, stumbling back as I caught Fluttershy in my arms, "what are you..."
My words died in my throat as I looked down at the currently unconscious mare I was holding onto. I looked back over to Spitfire, who began making her way over to where we were standing.
"Move," she commanded, "let me see her."
I complied, handing Fluttershy over to the Lieutenant. She looked her over for a moment before letting out a visible sigh of relief and turning back to me.
"It's alright," she said, answering my unasked question, "she just fainted from the stress and exhaustion. A little rest and she'll be fine."
I gave my own sigh of relief at the news, and saw Vinyl do the same out of the corner of my eye. Some of us handled it better than others, but It looked like we had all made it through the Daeification Process, and for that, I was grateful.
Still, that didn't stop the uncertainty I felt about what our future entailed, and though I was happy for Fluttershy, I still had to wonder whether or not she'd be cut out for something like this.
I still wasn't even sure I was cut out for this, but after hearing Fluttershy's words, I felt I had no right to complain, and I could only hope I found the same conviction she had to do what I needed to do.
Fluttershy was carried off by Thunderlane to the infirmary for some much needed rest. Rather than head through the left door after them however, myself, Vinyl, and Seeker were told to follow Lieutenant Spitfire through the left door and back out into the main hub.
Apparently, many of the DHDF Sub-Branch buildings were set up in much the same fashion as each other. Generally there was the main hub area, which consisted of the main entrance and the front desk where visitors would sign in and Hunters would take missions not directly issued by their superiors.
Strangely enough, at least to me, there was also a vendor selling various goods that ranged from materials used to craft equipment, to different field supplies such as restorative items, grenades, and traps. They even had a few outfits and Daeus Arms on display, something I raised an eyebrow at, but didn't comment on.
At first I wondered why they weren't just issuing all of this to us like they would've in Canterlot. When I'd asked Harshwhinny about it, she informed me that the only reason this type of thing was issued at no cost in Canterlot was because that was where Wendigo HQ was located.
HQ could more than afford to equip the Daeus Hunters of Equestria's Main Branch, but that wasn't the case everywhere else. Outside of Canterlot, and in many other countries, much of the supplies and equipment either had to be bought, or created from materials picked up in the field.
Even then, it still cost bits to create that equipment, and the higher the quality, the more expensive the cost, both for buying and making said equipment. It made me realize once again just how lucky my brother and the rest of the Daeus Hunters back in Canterlot were.
Aside from the vendors, front desk, and main entrance, there were two other doors and an elevator. One door led back to where the waiting room and Daeification Chamber were, and the other was a wide steel door in the back that led to the prep room. The door itself was not unlike that of the entrance to the Daeification Chamber, though this one was more of a double door that slid apart.
The prep room was essentially a massive, heavily fortified garage and storage that housed the Daeus Arms in one section, and the military vehicles in another. Like the name suggested, it was where Hunters made their final preparations before heading out into the field. I was told there was also a hangar on the roof that stored a large aircraft for military transport, but I had yet to see it.
The elevator presumably led to different floors containing the living quarters, laboratory, infirmary, director's office, and of course, the roof. The rightmost door on the otherside of the waiting room where Thunderlane had taken Fluttershy apparently led to the rec room, cafeteria, training room, and another elevator, along with a set of stairs leading to each floor.
As we reached the main hub, I looked around, somewhat familiar with the area, as Vinyl and I had passed through on our way to the waiting room. It was relatively empty, with only a few Hunters hanging around here and there. Aside from them, there was only the vendor at his counter in one corner, and the receptionist at the front desk in the middle of the room just below a small set of stairs on either side.
The vendor was a light blue earth pony stallion with a cobalt blue mane, soft light brown eyes, and an easy smile. The receptionist was an earth pony mare with a cerise coat, a pale rosy mane, and friendly, light green eyes.
I didn't know anything about the vendor, but Director Mare had introduced Vinyl and I to the receptionist when we first arrived. Her name was Cheerilee and, much to my surprise, she worked not only as the receptionist, but also the Ponyville Sub-Branch's mission coordinator and navigator.
She was the 'friendly little voice of encouragement in your ear' whenever you were out there doing what needed to be done... or so she herself told us. She certainly lived up to her name with her reassuring smile and upbeat demeanor, and, having only met her once, I couldn't help but like the mare.
It was a good thing too, because I'd be hearing her voice quite a bit in the coming few weeks.
Off to one side of the main hub, near the entrance to the prep room, were four computer terminals. Each of the terminals were built into thick metal stands that reached to about chest level, and each had a large circular slot that stuck out just below the screen.
Above the screen was a teal orb embedded into another slot. Both additions confounded me, but I didn't dwell on it, figuring I'd find out what these were for soon enough.
There was no keyboard, so I assumed the interface was touch-based, something I found rather annoying. I was familiar with touchscreens, but I always preferred to use a good old fashioned keyboard and mouse for my work.
It was here that Spitfire led each of us and told us we had to wait, giving all of us info on the layout of the building in the meantime. It was an odd sort of set up to say the least, but then again, I'd never been in any of the facilities, and unlike Daeus Arms, Shining never really talked about the DHDF Main Branch building at all.
The explanation took about half an hour, and it was just as Spitfire was finishing up said explanation, that the elevator across the room slid open and out stepped Doctor Whooves. We all turned to see the stallion making his way over to where we were, his eyes glued to a clipboard in front of him and a deep, thoughtful frown on his face.
Spitfire gave a small frown of her own and cleared her throat, catching the scientist's attention. He blinked as he looked up from whatever he was reading, and smiled brightly a moment later when he saw all of us standing there in front of the terminals.
"Ah, you're all here!" he exclaimed jovially as he tucked the clipboard under one arm, "excellent, excellent. Allow me to congratulate you all on passing such a harrowing trial!"
He took a step forward, arm outstretched to presumably shake our hands, but paused. He frowned in bemusement and looked around a moment before addressing an impatient looking Spitfire.
"It seems not all of us are here after all," he observed, "where is Miss Fluttershy?"
"In the infirmary due to extreme stress and exhaustion," Spitfire replied curtly, "unfortunately we don't have the time to wait around for her to recover, so we're pushing ahead with the registration. We can put her in the system and she can get the rundown from Red Heart later."
With that said, she cracked her neck a couple of times and began making her way over to the elevator.
"Anyway, my job's done here," she called back, "now that you're here, I'm gonna take off," she paused and turned to face all of us, her expression unreadable behind her aviators, "...don't be idiots and get yourselves killed out there, you hear?"
And that was that.
She turned back around and walked away without another word, entering the same elevator the doctor had taken only moments ago. It wasn't exactly a warm goodbye and good luck, but somehow I felt like it was a fitting statement from her.
"Ah, it's a shame about poor Fluttershy," the doctor sighed, catching all of our attention once more, "that mare's got a surprising amount of potential, very surprising indeed..."
He shook his head sadly and turned back to us a moment later, his smile return in an instant.
"Well here's hoping she makes a full recovery soon, eh?" none of us responded and he cleared his throat before adjusting his white coat and standing a bit straighter, "now then, as I most likely have stated before, my name is Time Turner, though you may call me Doctor Whooves. Plenty of ponies already do."
VInyl gave a simple but earnest greeting, whereas I simply gave a half hearted sort of wave to the stallion. Seeker merely gave a small nod of acknowledgement, but this all seemed to be enough for Doctor Whooves who chuckled good-naturedly.
"As much as I'd like to get to know you all personally, I'm afraid Spitfire was right when she said we hadn't much time, so without further ado," he gestured to the computers behind us, "Miss Sparkle, Miss Scratch, Mister Seeker? If you'd all please turn your attention to the terminals before you."
We did as we were told and once we were all standing in front of a terminal, the doctor continued.
"You will be making quite a bit of use out of these terminals you see here," he explained, "this is where you'll access the DHDF Archives. Within the Archives you'll find loads of information we've collected on various avidaeos as well as any other information available in the DHDF public records.
"You'll also receive news and updates relevant to the work we do and you can send and receive mail to and from your superiors and other Hunters. What you'll most likely be using these for most often however, are the management of the items and equipment you'll no doubt receive during your stay here."
"You're referring to data management, right?" I asked, looking for a bit of clarification, "where we can keep stock of what supplies and equipment we collect?"
"That, and more besides," Doctor Whooves replied with a knowing smirk, "you're a scientist of some repute, Miss Sparkle, and from what I've read of your file, you've even delved quite a bit into the field of thaumatology, correct?"
"I've studied more than a little on the subject, yes," I replied, curious as to where the grinning doctor was going, "what of it?"
He let out another hearty chuckle and moved to stand next to the terminal I was at. Resting a hand atop it, he turned and gave me an eager grin, as though he was about to reveal his greatest creation.
For all I knew, he really was.
"If that's the case, I'm sure you'll get a kick out of what I have to show you," his smile widened as he swept his gaze over each of us, "in fact, I think all of you will enjoy this," he nodded towards the terminals, "go on then, insert the armlet into the slot if you would, please."
I looked back down at where the slot was, feeling a bit dumb that I didn't guess at its purpose earlier. In hindsight it was obvious given the size and shape. Ignoring the feeling as best I could, I stuck my arm into the opening up to where the armlet was.
The accessory snapped into place with an audible click and my eyes were drawn to the large oval shaped screen as the machine booted up. Apparently the armlets also acted as a sort of digital key to activate the terminals, something I found rather interesting.
I watched with an odd sort of anticipation as the Wendigo emblem faded into view. It disappeared a few seconds later and was replaced with a loading screen consisting of a single white spinning circle.
A moment later the circle disappeared and a message popped up instructing me to remove the armlet. The message was accompanied by another audible click and I felt the armlet loosen.
As I pulled my arm away, a scroll of white text appeared. It turned out the system was gathering my information from the armlet itself, displaying my name, age, rank, blood type, and a host of other things I didn't remember giving out when I came here.
How in Celestia's name...?
Frowning in bemusement, I glanced over to the others and saw that Vinyl was manually entering her information into the system via a digital on-screen keyboard. Seeker was doing the same over at his terminal.
Confused and slightly indignant, I turned to Doctor Whooves for an explanation. He raised an eyebrow at my look and turned his attention to my screen, giving a small chuckle and a reassuring smile a moment later.
"Right, right, sorry about that," he said, his smile turning apologetic, "unlike the others, you've already been working directly for Wendigo, therefore you're already in the system," he tapped the screen lightly, "getting this was just a matter of pulling the existing information from the mainframe and uploading it into your armlet, along with a few new tidbits regarding your new position."
I blinked.
"Oh, I... guess that makes sense," I replied dumbly as I turned back to the screen. I decided to change the subject as I tapped the 'NEXT' icon on the screen, "so what's this thing I'm supposed to get a kick out of? I mean, the armlets acting as a digital key is neat and all, but it's hardly a groundbreaking feat of technology."
"Ah, but it's not the additional function of the armlets that I wanted to show you," the doctor replied with a child like grin of excitement, "no, what I mean to show all of you is something much more exciting."
After a bit more loading, a list of options appeared, including things like 'INVENTORY (STORE)', 'INVENTORY (WITHDRAW)', 'LOADOUT', 'CRAFT', 'DATABASE', and a few other options that were currently greyed out.
"Now then," Doctor Whooves began, turning to Seeker and Vinyl, "if you two will come over here to Miss Sparkle's terminal, I'd like to show you something both useful and convenient."
The other two, apparently not done with their registration just yet, moved to stand behind or next to me. Vinyl stood by my side, peering at my screen curiously, while Seeker stood behind looking somewhat bored by the whole affair.
"Miss Sparkle, if you'll please hit 'WITHDRAW' for me?"
I did as the doctor asked and tapped the icon. I wasn't sure what to expect, and was rather surprised when 'Satchel' appeared at the top of a nearly empty list of items. Going down the rather short list I could see 'Stun Grenade', 'Restore Pill', 'Restore Pill II', 'Ration', and 'H-Ampule'.
Next to each item was a number, most likely indicating the amount of whatever item was listed. It looked like I had access to no more than five of each item, save for the satchel of which I only had one.
My curiosity overwhelmed me and I hit 'Satchel' without waiting for the doctor's go-ahead, assuming he wouldn't mind given how excited he himself was to show off whatever this was.
I staggered backwards slightly in surprise as the teal orb situated above the screen suddenly flashed to life with a bright teal glow. I saw my own body briefly flash the same color and an instant later I felt a slight weight settle on my waist.
I looked down to see that I was wearing a dark brown, faux-leather satchel that hadn't been there a moment ago, the flap of the bag emblazoned with the Wendigo emblem. I stared at the large bag loosely strapped across my chest in wide eyed shock for a moment before looking over to the others.
Vinyl gave an impressed whistle while Seeker maintained his impassive stare. Doctor Whooves was beaming in delight, and I soon found myself doing the same as I realized what had just happened.
"That's a flash crystal!" I cried, gesturing to the now inert orb in excitement, "you're telling me Wendigo managed to refine multiple ether stones into spell crystals, infuse them with perpetual matrix teleportation spells, stabilize them all to usable levels, and redirect the output of thaumic energy towards specific tasks within the system?"
I was completely stunned.
It was such a beautiful blend of magic and technical engineering that it nearly brought a tear to my eye. I took a step back and stared at the terminal with newfound respect and admiration, only half listening as Doctor Whooves continued his explanation.
"Indeed, and it's all activated with a simple tap of the screen, but It's not just these terminals, Miss Sparkle," Doctor Whooves replied, nodding towards the crystal orb in question, "this is only a small part of a larger network that's only just beginning to span across every active Branch and Sub-Branch in the world. We've already either updated or outfitted the systems of nearly 35% of the worlds major and minor Branches."
"How did I not know about this until now?" I muttered, resting my hand on the satchel as I continued to stare at the screen, "I've worked for Wendigo for well over a year now, and I didn't know anything about this."
"That is rather odd for somepony who works at Wendigo HQ," Doctor Whooves agreed with a puzzled frown, "then again, I'm told you were the kind of mare who shut everything out but her work, so you may very well have missed the memo. Somewhat understandable I suppose. After all, it's still relatively new as far as magitech goes."
I frowned, blushing slightly at his accurate assessment of my work habits. Still though, I felt as though I should've heard something about such a breakthrough.
Spell crystals were already notoriously difficult to make, and integrating them with machinery was almost an impossibility a decade ago. Now we were mass producing them and putting them into computers with no apparent problems.
I really needed to get out more, or at the very least read a general news article every now and then.
"If you'll exit out of this section, you should see that your satchel has been automatically moved to the 'STORE' tab," the doctor continued, getting back on track, "this goes for every item you withdraw, now Miss Sparkle, if you'll please..."
"Huh?" I asked distractedly before looking back at the terminal, "oh, right, sure."
I tabbed out of 'WITHDRAW' and hit 'STORE'. Sure enough, 'Satchel' was right there in bold black text, the only thing on the list. I tapped the screen and with another flash from the crystal, the bag was gone.
"So like, where does all this stuff go, doc?" Vinyl asked, causing me to jump slightly. We all turned to her and she raised her shades above her horn before jerking a thumb over to the terminal as she spoke again, "I mean, it's gotta come from somewhere, right?"
"An excellent question, Miss Scratch!" Doctor Whooves replied, clapping his hands together cheerfully, "one I'm not at liberty to answer! Company policy and all that, I'm afraid!"
"Wait, what?" Vinyl asked with a bemused frown, "but wh—"
"Now if you and Mister Seeker will finish up your registration, we can all head up to the lab," Doctor Whooves said with a small disarming smile, "I have a few tests I'd like to run. Have to make sure the Daeification process didn't have any unintended side effects after all."
Vinyl and I looked at each other with raised brows and suspicious frowns. When Vinyl asked, I was a bit curious myself, but now I really wanted to know. I idly wondered if my position as both a researcher and Daeus Hunter would allow me access to such 'classified information'.
In the meantime, Vinyl simply shrugged before going back to her own terminal, Seeker doing the same. I watched them for a second before turning to Doctor Whooves with a worried grimace. I hadn't missed what he said before, and with how much pain I went through—how much we all went through, I had to ask.
"You mentioned side effects?" I asked with no small amount of concern, "what kind of 'side effects' are we talking about here? Could they be fatal?"
I watched the doctor carefully, and noticed his ever present smile slip slightly at the question. He was silent for a few seconds as he tapped the side of the clipboard he was now cradling on one arm. It only lasted a few seconds, and his bright smile was back in place soon enough.
"I'd be lying if I said there wouldn't be at least a bit of... unpleasantness involved," he finally answered before raising a placating hand, "but I assure you, if there were any truly fatal side effects from the procedure, they most likely would've manifested back in the chamber."
Not reassured in the slightest, I went to respond, but was cut off by the doctor, who placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Miss Sparkle," he continued in a softer tone, "we've taken every precaution imaginable against such things. There is risk involved certainly, but it only really extends as far as the actual process itself. Once that's over, there shouldn't be anything left to worry about."
I stared at him for a good few seconds before giving a small, hopefully convincing smile of relief. It seemed to do the trick because his smile widened and he patted me on the shoulder before taking a step back and observing the other two.
Once he looked away my smile dropped into a deep, worried frown. I may not have had any real tenure working in my chosen field, but I knew it well nonetheless. There was no real way to completely guarantee a safe injection of Hive Cells into the body.
Even if there were no deadly delayed effects, there were still other things to worry about—things that were much harder to detect until it was far too late to do anything about it. There were things that didn't make themselves apparent until much later.
There were such things as sudden mutations brought about by Hive Cell corruption, and though rare, it was a very real problem. I knew as much because I did the research. I knew it was a possibility, but what I didn't know, was how likely such a thing was to occur in a new-type Daeus Arm user like me.
In that regard, I was completely in the dark, and that was cause for more than a bit of concern.
Vinyl and Seeker finished the rest of the registration, and at Whooves' insistence, we made our way up to the third floor via the elevator. Both the infirmary and lab were on this floor, and while I wanted to check in on Fluttershy, the doctor had other plans.
We moved past the door to the infirmary and made our way further down the hall to another door at the end. It was just before the door that Doctor Whooves stopped and turned to us, his familiar friendly smile in place.
"And here we are fillies and... gentlecolt," he nodded towards Seeker, who gave no sort of response. Whooves didn't let that bother him and simply continued, turning the door knob and pushing the door open as he addressed all of us, "now then, there'll be no need to worry here. This will be a simple procedure, like your average visit to the doctor's office, nothing more."
He stepped inside and the rest of us followed after him. I took a moment to look around the room and was rather surprised at how minimalistic the place was. The walls were the same depressing brown-grey metal as the waiting room where the Daeification Chamber was.
Though unlike the waiting room, this room was smaller. It looked very much like an office itself, with its singular desk in the middle of the room, two large bookshelves, no doubt full of tomes on engineering and the various sciences, a long bench not unlike the ones in the waiting room, and not much else really.
There were two red metal doors on either side of the back wall, one had a large yelllow triangular sign with an exclamation point and the word 'CAUTION' printed on it. The other had nothing adorning it. I imagined one of the rooms held the actual laboratory, but I couldn't guess what was behind the other door.
"Seeker, if you'd follow me to the lab, we can get started right away. Miss Vinyl, Miss Sparkle, if you two will please have a seat just over there for a moment," the doctor continued, nodding towards the bench on one side of the room, "I'll have Mister Seeker out in a jiffy."
With that, Whooves and Seeker made their way over to the door with the sign, stepping through as it slid open to admit them. The door slid shut again and Vinyl and I sat down on the bench to wait. For a time things were quiet, save for the faint sound of bombastic music coming from Vinyl's headphones.
I turned to the door Doctor Whooves and Seeker had just gone through, and heard nothing from within. I couldn't help but wonder just what the doctor intended to actually do. He'd said it would be like a normal visit to the doctor's office for a routine check-up, but I wasn't quite convinced.
I shook my head and sighed before turning my attention to Vinyl Scratch. The mare didn't seem to have a care in the world, sitting there relaxed against the back of the bench and bobbing her head to the music, her eyes hidden behind her large violet shades and a faint smile on her face.
There always seemed to be a faint smile on her face, like she knew for a fact everything would work out in the end. I envied her for being able to take things as they came, and wished I'd had a bit more of that attitude.
It always felt like I was worrying about one thing or another, and that'd been especially true now with how drastically my life had changed in the blink of an eye. Looking back down at my armlet, I frowned slightly and wondered how it had come to this, and why.
"Hey, you alright there, Sparks?" came Vinyl's voice, a hint of concern coloring her rather deep tone, "you look like somepony next in line for the gallows."
I turned to see Vinyl with her headphones around her neck and a worried frown adorning her face as she looked back at me. For a second I didn't know what to say, then I sighed and looked away towards the entrance to the lab. I was silent for another moment before finally speaking up.
"Hey, Vinyl," I began, not sure where I was going, "what do you think about all of this? You probably had a bunch of things you wanted to do besides becoming a Daeus Hunter, right?"
"Sure," Vinyl replied easily, "I was a DJ back in Manehattan, and a damn good one if I do say so myself, which I do," she leaned back against the bench and sighed wistfully, "DJ Pon-3 they called me. Played some crazy gigs in nightclubs all over the city, and when I wasn't mixing tunes or playing gigs, I slept all day and drank with my friends all night. Good times..."
I furrowed my brow in thought.
I'd heard the name DJ Pon-3 somewhere before, but I couldn't place where. I didn't really listen to anything you'd hear in a nightclub, so the fact that I knew the name baffled me. A moment later it finally hit me.
"Oh, now I remember!" I exclaimed, my eyes widening with recognition, "one of my friends, Minuette, she used to listen to your music all the time, still does, I think. She talked about going out to Manehattan to see one of your performances live, but never really got the chance."
"Bummer," Vinyl replied with a sympathetic shake of her head, "things get pretty wild during my shows, she probably would've had a blast."
"Yeah, maybe," I responded absently before frowning, "but what about you though? From the sound of it, you had a pretty great life. Why give that up and become a Daeus Hunter of all things? I know you said your granddad convinced you, but is that really all it was?"
Vinyl's smile slipped a little and she turned away with a humorless chuckle.
"Nah, there's more to the story than that, Sparks, believe me," she paused a second, her expression inscrutable behind her shades. She spoke again in a quieter tone another second later, "...I kinda bucked up and got myself into a bit of trouble back home."
"Oh," I replied, not liking the sudden bitter atmosphere, "I'm... sorry to hear that. If you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine."
Vinyl remained silent before nodding slowly.
"Yeah, that's probably for the best right now," her smile returned as she turned back to me, though it didn't feel as genuine as before, "anyway, it's nothing you need to worry about, Sparks, and to answer your original question, I'm pretty cool with this."
"Really?" I asked incredulously, "how though? I was terrified when I found out, I still am! There's every chance we'll die out there, Vinyl. If we slip up..." my frown deepened and I looked at my hands, "...if even one of us freezes up in fear, that could be it."
"Maybe, but here's the thing, Sparks," Vinyl removed her shades and turned to face me, her expression more serious than I'd ever seen it, "things might seem like they're stable now, and that we're finally starting to rebuild our lives, but that ain't the case at all."
I stared at her, once again unsure of what to say. She took no notice and continued speaking.
"The DHDF was only founded a little over a hundred years ago. I know that might sound like a long time ago, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not. Not really. Equestria and the rest of the world is still on the brink of being wiped out by those things out there.
"There's still a lot of things we don't know about the avidaeos, and they still outnumber us all almost three to one. It doesn't matter if we're scared, and our lives are always gonna be at risk no matter what we do."
With that said, she pushed her shades back onto her face and leaned back again with a small shrug.
"We're not gonna save the world from these things if we just cower behind walls," she gave a small genuine chuckle, "if Equus is going down, we're sure as Tartarus not gonna go down without a fight, at least, that's what gramps always said. Stuck with me, y'know?"
"Very well put, Miss Scratch."
Both Vinyl and I turned towards the room's entrance just in time to see Director Mare and Harshwhinny walk in. My eyes widened in surprise as the two looked around the room, no doubt looking for Doctor Whooves.
"Your grandfather is a fine stallion, and was one of the best in the field," the director continued, smiling at Vinyl, "I daresay he fought harder than any of us, save for maybe Nightmare Moon herself."
"Miss Harshwhinny?" I asked, looking between the two, "I thought you would've left for Canterlot by now."
"I'm more or less done with business here. The transfer forms have been finalized and you've already been registered," the orange mare replied, folding her arms as she stood near the desk, "I just need to speak with Doctor Turner once more, then I'll be on my way."
"In any case," Director Mare chimed in, "how are you girls finding the Ponyville base so far? I know it's not the most colorful sub-branch in Equestria, but this was one of the first built back when the DHDF was first founded."
"Really?" I asked, looking around with some interest, "I had no idea..."
"Yes indeed," the director replied with a chuckle, "the place has quite a bit of history, but I suppose you'll learn more about all that during training, so I won't say anymore on the matter."
"Right... training," I muttered with a grimace, "can't wait."
"Oh come now, Miss Sparkle, I'm sure it won't be that bad," Harshwhinny said, shaking her head disapprovingly. She furrowed her brows and turned towards the red door the doctor had gone through, "how long is that stallion going to—"
The door slid opened at that moment, revealing a stoic Seeker and a troubled looking Doctor Whooves. He stepped out with his head downcast and a deep frown on his face, causing Vinyl and I to look from him to the dark green stallion he'd been examining.
Curiosity bubbled up within me and I wondered more than ever just what had gone on in there. Had Doctor Whooves found some sort of anomaly in Seeker? I looked at Seeker, trying to find any kind of hint that something wasn't right, but aside from his eerie blank expression, I couldn't see any outward issues.
"It's good of you to join us, Doctor," Director Mare called out, "I trust things are going well on your end?"
At her voice, the doctor looked up, his grim expression turning more genial. It was like he'd never been upset at all, and I found the abrupt change rather unnerving.
"Director!" the doctor exclaimed as though this was all a happy coincidence, "I wasn't expecting you for another half hour or so. I'm afraid I'm not quite done with the, ah... new recruits just yet. Still a few more tests to run and all that."
"Please, no need to rush on my account, Doctor," Director Mare replied, waving a hand dismissively, "I only came to inform you that Applejack and Sweetie Drops have returned. They'll be meeting the recruits in the training room, so be sure to bring them there when you're done here."
"Excellent, excellent," the doctor replied, clapping his hands together before turning to VInyl and I, along with Seeker who'd just sat down next to us, "it seems you'll be meeting your new captains soon enough. Now that'll be a treat, eh? Well, provided you pass training at any rate, but I have faith you'll all do well."
"Indeed," the director agreed, "but that's not the only reason we're here, Doctor."
"Oh?" Doctor Whooves asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned back to Director Mare, "and how else may I assist you, Director?"
"Not me," the director replied, shaking her head. She nodded towards an impatient looking Harshwhinny, "Miss Harshwhinny here would like to have a quick word with you, if you don't mind that is."
"Harshwhinny?" Doctor Whooves asked, looking at Harshwhinny as though he'd only just noticed she was there. His mouth fell into a slight, somewhat insincere looking smile, "...I see. And what can I do for you, Miss Harshwhinny?"
"I'd actually like to speak with you privately," for an instant, the orange mare's rather cold blue eyes flickered in my direction before focusing back on the doctor, "I don't suppose we can use the lab?"
"Of course," Doctor Whooves replied after a moment. He adjusted the clipboard he'd been holding onto before gesturing to the red metal door, behind him, "right this way."
Without another word, Harshwhinny walked past the doctor and towards the lab at a brisk pace, the door sliding open to let her in. Doctor Whooves grimaced a moment before straightening up, adjusting his lab coat, and giving the three of us sitting on the bench an apologetic smile.
"Terribly sorry for the delay, Miss Sparkle, Miss Scratch. I won't be but a moment," he said before giving Director Mare a nod of acknowledgment, "Director."
The director nodded in return and Doctor Whooves quickly followed after Harshwhinny, the door sliding shut behind him. I watched the door for a moment before I was distracted by Vinyl's inquisitive voice.
"What was that all about?" she asked the director, "is there like, some kind of bad blood between the two of them or something? The doc did not look happy to see her."
"To my knowledge they've only met a few times in the past," Director Mare replied, eyeing the door and letting out a small sigh, "I'm not quite sure what the issue is between the two of them, but I think it'd be best for all of us not to worry about it."
"Eh, works for me," Vinyl replied with a careless shrug, "none of my business anyway."
I wasn't quite so willing to let the issue go, at least, where Harshwhinny was concerned. I got the feeling they were talking about me, but I could've been wrong. The look Harshwhinny gave me could've had significant meaning, but it was such a brief glance that I wasn't completely sure it wasn't just my imagination.
It worried me.
"You said the captains were back?" I asked, trying to distract myself, "I was told 1st Unit Leader Applejack would be my Captain if I passed training."
"You heard correctly, Miss Sparkle," Director Mare replied with a nod, "when you and Fluttershy pass training, the two of you will be assigned to the Retaliation Team under Captain Applejack, while Miss Scratch and Seeker here will be part of the Defense Team under Guard Captain Sweetie Drops, though her team just calls her Bon Bon."
Wait, Retaliation Team?
"Um, I don't know too much about squad setups," I replied with a bemused and slightly worried frown, "but from what my brother told me, there should also be a Research and Reserve Team. With me being a researcher and all, wouldn't it make more sense for me to be put in that squad instead?"
"It certainly would be a better fit for you, I admit," the director said with her own apologetic smile, "unfortunately there are no open spots in the squad. The Reserve Team gets deployed far less often than the other two teams and as a result, we rarely have to replace its squad members. On top of that, the Retaliation and Defense Teams need the support far more right now."
"Oh," I replied, a bit dejected and somewhat bitter that I couldn't at least join the team that would've best suit me, "I guess there's nothing I can do about it for now then."
Director Mare eyed me for a moment, her brows furrowed and a scowl on her face. She gave a heavy sigh a few seconds later and spoke again, giving me a reassuring smile.
"Look, I understand what you're here to do and to be honest, I couldn't be more thankful," she explained, "under different circumstances, I would've placed you in the Research and Reserve Team in a heartbeat, but as things stand, it's not possible at the moment."
I was about to respond when the director held up a hand to forestall me.
"However," she lowered her hand and her smile widened slightly, "I'd already planned to have you transferred the moment a spot opened up, so for now, please just bare with it. If the time comes and you still want to switch to the Research and Reserve Team, then I'm sure they'll be happy to have you."
Well... it's something, I guess. Let's just hope I can survive long enough to actually take the offer...
"Thank you, Director," I replied with a half smile, "I appreciate it, and I'll be waiting."
"So that's all well and good, but I got a question of my own," Vinyl said, raising a hand, "I have this friend, Octavia. She moved here and joined the Ponyville Sub-Branch not all that long ago. She wouldn't happen to be on Bon Bon's team, would she?"
"Ah, Miss Octavia," Director Mare mused, "yes, I believe she recently finished her training and joined Sweetie Drops' squad not even a week ago," she chuckled and turned to Vinyl, "quite an interesting mare, that one."
"Sweet!" Vinyl exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air, "damn it feels good when things work out."
I watched Vinyl celebrate with a small smile, happy that the mare had something to look forward to once she passed training. I just wished I could say the same, but the only thing I really had to look forward to was continuing my research into Hive Cells.
While the case of the cannibalistic avidaeus was interesting, it wasn't exactly something I was jumping with joy to investigate. Both Vinyl's celebration and my own thoughts were cut short when the door to the lab suddenly slid open.
Harshwhinny and Doctor Whooves stepped out, the former wearing an expression of professional disinterest and the latter looking somewhat shell-shocked. The moment he stepped hoof outside the lab, he glanced over in my direction and I blinked before furrowing my brow in confusion.
Why is he looking at me like that? What did I do?
From his reaction, I was now thoroughly convinced that whatever Doctor Whooves and Harshwhinny had been talking about, had something to do with me. The doctor must've realized he was gawking, because he coughed into his hand and schooled his features into something more pleasant and unassuming a moment later.
"All finished?" the director asked, turning her attention to Harshwhinny, "the truck is ready whenever you are."
"Yes, I'm done here," Harshwhinny replied, walking past Director Mare and towards the exit, "I'll be sure to let the President know everything went smoothly."
"Good to hear," the director replied, following after the stern faced mare. She stopped for a moment to wave a goodbye to the rest of us, "it was nice seeing you all again, and good luck with your training."
The two mares continued out the door and the rest of us watched them go for a moment. Once they were gone, the doctor rubbed his temples and muttered something I couldn't hear before inhaling sharply through his nose and putting on another smile as he turned to me.
"Right then! Miss Sparkle, if you'll please follow me, we'll have you in and out of the lab in a heartbeat."
Contrary to what I thought regarding how this 'check-up' with the doctor would go, it was relatively painless. All he really did was draw some blood, clean the needle, and insert the syringe into a slot on the top of a small cylindrical container. both the top and bottom of the container were metal with a large portion of the middle being made of glass.
Inside, beneath the glass I could see some kind of red light, and the bottom was connected to a laptop on the doctor's desk. It was a sort of bio-scanner used to detect illnesses and anomalies in the body, by way of scanning blood, blood plasma, and in some cases, other bodily fluids like urine and saliva.
I'd used a scanner like this one back in my own lab, though it was a specialized scanner provided by Wendigo for use in scanning unbound Hive Cells we'd managed to retrieve from the corpses of avidaeos. It wasn't an easy task to retrieve Cells when they'd been separated from the core, as the 'body' of the avidaeus began to evaporate within seconds, making retrieval impossible.
In any case, Doctor Whooves took my blood sample and scanned it into the computer, looking for any ill effects of the Daeification process. He was strangely quiet as he worked, and though I tried to strike up some kind of conversation and maybe lead him into talking about what he'd discussed with Harshwhinny, I didn't get anywhere.
He either deflected my questions or simply laughed them away, and I gave up before long. I had a feeling I'd find out soon enough what that was all about, so I didn't make too much of a fuss about it.
Eventually, after some more awkward silence and watching him read through the information displayed on the screen, the Doctor announced the Daeification process a complete success with no ill effects to see, much to my relief. There was still the possibility of a dormant strain of... something, just waiting to pop up later, but I pushed that worry to the back of my mind for now.
It wouldn't do me any good to constantly worry about what might not be the case, and I had more tangible things to worry about anyway.
A few minutes later I was out of the lab and back on the bench next to Seeker, waiting for Vinyl Scratch to return. I took the opportunity to get to know Seeker a little better, despite nervous the stallion made me, but, like talking to the doctor, it was a futile effort. The most I got when I asked him where he was from or why he decided to join, was a noncommittal grunt or complete silence.
The stallion was a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, and frankly I wanted nothing to do with him either way, so I didn't try too hard to befriend him. Something about him set me on edge, and I couldn't help but breathe a small sigh of relief when Doctor Whooves and Vinyl finally stepped out of the lab, the latter shooting me a thumbs up and her trademark easy grin.
With all three of us taken care of, the doctor gave us exact directions on where the training room was before bidding us all farewell and good luck. I'd expected him to escort us there, but he just shook his head when I said as much, saying he had to check on Fluttershy.
Worried, I asked to come with and see her for myself before I left, but he insisted I go meet with my potential Captain in the training room. He promised I'd get to see her soon enough, so I left with little resistance, though not without some disappointment on my part.
Both Vinyl and Seeker had already left to meet with their Captain while I was talking with Doctor Whooves, and by the time I left the the doctor's office, they were already gone. I grabbed my bag and was soon on my own way, though this time I took the opportunity to deposit my own bag into whatever place the terminal sent things to.
That done, I made my way back through the door to where the Daeification Chamber was, then headed through the opposite door into the other hallway. This area seemed to be a lot larger, but that would've made sense given how big just the cafeteria and training room alone must've been.
I wandered down a few hallways, doubling back in a couple of instances until I came to yet another automated metal door. As I approached it slid open without any prompt from me, and I stepped inside, admittedly curious as to what the training room had to offer. What I wasn't expecting was a narrow passageway with a rather steep set of stairs directly before me.
Somewhere above I could hear voices, one of them sounding like an excited Vinyl, though I couldn't quite make out what they were saying. I could also hear what sounded like a struggle of some sort.
Then I heard a loud, unnatural trill, quickly followed by another excited shout from Vinyl Scratch. The sudden terror I felt quickly turned to confusion, and after a moment's hesitation, I carefully made my way up the steps. When I reached the top, I had to stop and register what I was seeing.
I arrived in a room that was fairly large, length-wise, and the thing that immediately caught my attention was the massive monitor, surrounded by a few smaller monitors directly opposite of where I was standing. below the monitor was a small row of seated ponies with headsets working various different terminals.
On one end of the room, off to the right, was another door that led off to some other room, most likely the actual training area. There were probably other things of note, but I was too busy gawking at what was displayed on the large monitor to pay them any mind.
From what I could see, the screen displayed the blasted out ruins of some unknown town, and what looked like a titanic, scaly, bipedal black reptile with bony spines along its back, long arms almost as thick as its body, and wicked looking claws that were currently tearing apart the environment looking for something.
The avidaeus onscreen opened its mouth and let out another loud trill of frustration, giving me a good look at its multiple rows of huge serrated teeth and a slimy, ropy red tongue that whipped about like it had a mind of its own. Looking a bit more closely, I could see it had already been heavily wounded, suffering several deep cuts along its belly, back, and arms.
Its thick tail pounded the ground impatiently a few times and it raised itself up to its full height, sniffing the air. I watched, horrified by the sight, yet completely transfixed as I waited to see what happened next.
"Oh buck, there she is!"
The sudden exclamation brought me back to where I was and I looked down from the monitor to see Vinyl leaning over one of the chairs of the ponies observing the footage. Now that I was paying more attention, I could also see Seeker standing off to one side, watching the screen with folded arms and a deep and troubled looking grimace.
Vinyl Scratch herself was jabbing a finger at the screen, and I followed her gaze, spotting what she was probably looking at a moment later. Back in the ruins, whatever camera they were using had panned out and around to show a different point of view.
Behind a large chunk of debris, a good distance away from the avidaeus, I could see a mare clad in what looked like, black skin tight battle armor with plating across her arms, legs, and chest area, the Wendigo symbol painted on one side of the chest plate in teal. Her gloves were plated as well, the whole ensemble giving her the appearance of some kind of secret ops agent trained for infiltration rather than a standard Daeus Hunter.
Her coat was a light vanilla color and her mane and tail were two toned, with cobalt blue and fuchsia stripes. What probably stood out the most about the mare were the intensity of her icy blue eyes and the oversized amalgamation of machinery that was her Daeus Arm held tightly against her chest.
It was a gun, and judging by the lengthy barrel it appeared to be the sniper variety. It still amazed me at how effortlessly Hunters were able to wield such massive weapons, and the fact that I was now among one of them was still something I hadn't fully wrapped my head around.
The mare was crouched low with her back pressed against the wall. She took deep calming breaths as she reached into a large satchel strapped around her waist and pulled out a small metal canister. In one fluid motion she yanked a small lever at the top of the gun near the back, ejecting another, presumably empty canister from the bottom of the weapon before quickly pressing the new one into the now empty slot in its place.
That done, she slid closer to the side and peered out from behind the broken piece of concrete wall. In the distance, she could see the avidaeus wandering about, its elongated head still raised and trying to sniff her out. The path it took was slow, haphazard and clumsy, but it was clear the giant lizard was getting closer to the mare's location.
Pulling back behind cover, the mare adjusted her rifle, set her face in a determined frown and fully stepped out from behind the wall before immediately crouching once more. With painful slowness, she lowered the rifle and prepared to line up a shot, her face pressed against the scope.
For what seemed like an eternity, she barely moved, save for a slight adjustment of the barrel to keep it trained on the beast's movements. After a moment, the avidaeus snapped its gaze in the direction opposite the mare and gave another loud trill before stomping off the other way.
I didn't have time to ponder why, as what happened next happened all at once. The mare, still looking as calm as she could possibly be in this circumstance, pulled the trigger and a bright blue laser erupted from the end of the barrel with a deafening shoom.
The beam hit home, blasting a hole in its shoulder and causing it to stumble slightly. It faltered and whipped around to face the direction of where the shot had come from, only to get a face full of laser as the mare fired another shot right into its gaping maw.
Ignoring Vinyl's ecstatic cries, I focused on a point somewhere behind the staggered avidaeus, catching sight of something leaping towards it at a ridiculous speed. A split second later the giant lizard pitched forward as something slammed into its back with evidently enough force to send it smacking into the ground face first.
With its bulk out of the way, I could just make out another pony landing atop the thing. The camera once more panned over to where it was, giving us a better look at the pony that had felled the monster. It turned out to be another mare with an orange coat of fur, wearing a dark brown knee-length duster and a stetson of a lighter brown color atop her blonde, tied off mop of a mane.
That, combined with the simple black button-up collared shirt beneath, a belt with a large, silver apple shaped buckle, and light brown pants made her look like a cowpony straight out of a western. Rather than an old six shooter strapped to her hip though, she instead wielded what was essentially a giant mechanical chainsaw on a stick.
The sword was as large as she herself, was—maybe larger, yet she held it with only one hand, and didn't even seem to have to shift her own weight to compensate. She stared down at the creature below her for another second before hopping off and landing right next to it.
The avidaeus stirred, but didn't rise, letting out a few weak clicks as it shifted about. At first I thought it was over, but then I saw the stetson wearing mare turn to the lizard, raise the blade above her head and over her shoulder with both hands, and widen her stance in preparation for another strike.
She stayed that way for a few moments and before long, a strange, dark violet aura began to gather around the blade, building higher, denser and sharper until it was almost twice the size of the blade itself. Whatever that function was, I had yet to hear about it, and had no idea what its purpose was other than to artificially make the blade's length even more ridiculous than it already was.
As she continued to build whatever power she was wielding, the reptilian avidaeus finally seemed to gather itself once more and started to rise to its feet. Before it could get very far, two more shots rang out from where the other mare was hiding, the lasers striking the creature in each of its enlarged limbs and downing it again.
It trilled again, though whether in pain or more frustration, or both, I couldn't tell. As it fell, the orange mare gave a loud victorious cry of her own and her blade fell with it, biting deep into its scaly neck and splitting its head from its shoulders with seemingly no resistance whatsoever.
The dark violet aura around the blade dissipated after a moment and the only sound that remained was the dying gurgle of the avidaeus' severed head. It's body squirmed weakly, but the orange mare, who, by this point, I'd suspected was Applejack, ignored it and straightened up, raising her buster blade onto her shoulder.
With a casual ease reminiscent of Luna, she walked over to the body and, with just as much casual ease, brought the sword down to one side. The blade shrank into itself as a familiar and monstrous black mouth grew out of the hilt and surrounded it. With two quick motions she stabbed it into the body before ripping it out again.
And just like that, it was over.
The blade returned to normal, the mouth shrinking back into the hilt, and the cowpony swung it back over her shoulder before adjusting her stetson and looking skyward towards the camera, allowing me to see her face clearly for the first time.
Contrary to what I was expecting, her bright green eyes weren't hardened dulled by years of experience, but calm, easy, and oddly reassuring just like the smile she wore, and her freckles made her look every bit the country gal she probably was.
I could see the other mare making her way over to where Applejack was, but something else drew my attention back to the felled avidaeus. To my shock and bewilderment, the beast didn't dissolve into an inky black mist like it should've, but rather its body became less tangible before vanishing outright, leaving behind a glowing, wiry green frame which itself disappeared a moment later.
"That'll do it, Applejack, Bon Bon," came the voice of one of the seated ponies, "thanks for the demo, seems like the newbies got a kick out of it."
Wait... what? Demo? What is he—
Then the entire area around the two mares vanished in a similar fashion to the avidaeus, and in seconds, they were standing in a massive empty metal chamber. For a second I stood there in stunned silence, then my eyes widened as everything clicked into place.
"Wait, this was a training exercise?!" I cried, catching everypony's attention, "but... how?"
"I know, right?" Vinyl shouted back, rushing over to me and throwing an arm around my shoulder as she gestured to the now blank display overhead, "that's what we're gonna be using to train, can you believe it?"
"No, no I can't!" I shouted back, ducking out from under Vinyl's arm, "that's crazy! How does it even work? That's not just a simple holographic projection, it's... it's way beyond that! You can interact with the scenery and... a-and the avidaeus! How did you—"
"Hey, whoa, chill, Sparks," Vinyl laughed, "it's like, magitech, that's what this stuff does. Aren't you supposed to know these things? You're a scientist, right?"
"I'm a Hive Cell researcher, not a magitech engineer," I replied, crossing my arms and frowning at the bespectacled mare, "I'd planned on branching off into engineering at some point in the future, but... well..." I sighed, taking a moment to calm down before speaking again in a more measured tone, "...this happened, and now I don't know if I'll ever get a chance."
"Aw geez, that sucks," Vinyl replied, putting a consolatory hand on my shoulder, "hey, maybe you'll get a chance someday."
"Maybe," I muttered, not really believing it. I shook my head and looked back at Vinyl, opting to change the subject, "so I guess those were our future Captains out there?"
"Buck yeah," Vinyl exclaimed, "did you see—"
The rest of her words were cut off as the door on the right side of the room slid open. We all turned to watch as both Captains stepped into the room, Daeus Arms in hand. It didn't take long for them to spot all of us, and the mare I suspected was Applejack made a beeline right for me, a welcoming grin crossing her face.
"Well shoot, look who finally decided to join us," she chuckled as she made her way over, "ya'll must be that prodigy HQ dumped into this ramshackle town, Twilight Sparkle, right?"
"Y-Yeah, that's right, though I wouldn't really call myself a prodigy," I replied with an awkward smile, "I just... got lucky, I guess. Had the, uh... right blood for the job," I frowned inwardly, but pushed on nevertheless, "a-and I take it you're the Leader of the 1st Unit, Retaliation Team Captain Applejack?"
I held out my hand, intending to shake hers, but she just sidled up next to me and slapped me, rather painfully, on the back with a gloved hand. The gesture caused me to stumble forward a bit as I winced in pain.
"Got it in one, sugarcube," she replied in a jovial tone, completely oblivious to my pained grimace, "mighty pleased ta meet'cha," she stepped back around so that she was facing me again, and gave me a more measured and earnest smile, "from what ah hear, ya'll were a researcher before ya came here, right?"
"Actually, I still am," I corrected, "apparently I'll still be working part-time as a Hive Cell researcher while I'm here. I'm still not sure how that's going to work out, but... well... I suppose the Director will think of something."
"Sounds like ya got yer work cut out for ya then," Applejack responded, her smile turning sympathetic. She gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder before walking past me, "don't ya worry none though, Twi. As long as yer here, we'll all make sure yer taken care of. You'll be fine, trust me."
She threw one last encouraging smile back at me from over her shoulder and I smiled back in return. Satisfied, she continued over to one of the other ponies by the monitors and I turned away, my smile falling into a weary frown as I muttered to myself uncertainly.
I remember how tired I was getting before the Deification Process, and how I'd wanted to just get all this over with so I could shower, then sleep the rest of the day away.
What I hadn't counted on was the unexpected, unbelievable, and frankly unwanted boost in energy the process had given me. I wasn't tired in the slightest anymore, and felt as though I could've stayed up for days, but I didn't want to. I may not have been physically exhausted anymore, but I was still mentally done for the day.
I wanted some time alone so I could finally gather and sort out my thoughts on what had happened to me over the course of the last few days, but it seemed that would have to wait for a bit longer. Apparently there was a workshop on the second floor, this one specifically built to maintain and create Daeus Arms.
Before we were allowed to turn in for the day—which, by my estimate, and looking at a nearby clock on one of the walls, had since already faded into evening—we were to head to the engineer's workshop to get a run down of the various types of Daeus Arms. The trip this time would be overseen by the two Captains and we were to meet with the mechanical engineer of this branch.
Before all of this, I would've said that I wasn't particularly keen on furthering my knowledge on the subject of Daeus Arms. Not only would that have been a lie—as I was always keen to further my knowledge given the opportunity—but now that I was here, I couldn't help but be outwardly curious at the prospect.
Something that may have triggered that curiosity was seeing how the Daeus Arms worked in action, both out in the rocky desert, and in the recent demonstration by the two Captains. When I told Captain Applejack how I was planning to become a magitech engineer at some point, I wasn't lying.
Magitech had always fascinated me, but ever since my mom and brother told me about how my dad had died fighting against the avidaeos to protect us when I was little, I felt it was my duty and calling to devote all of my knowledge and energy towards Hive Cell research.
I don't regret my decision in the slightest, but every once in awhile, I found myself wondering how my life would've turned out had I chosen to become a magictech engineer instead. It wasn't all that hard to imagine in actuality—I'd still most likely be working for Wendigo in the Daeus Arms Research and Development Division.
Would I still have been transferred to this branch if I'd become an engineer?
Somehow I felt like it would've been an inevitability either way.
Such were my thoughts as we made our way out of the training room, and I would've dwelled on them further if not for the fact that both Doctor Whooves and Fluttershy were waiting for us just outside. Instantly, my contemplative and somewhat dour mood were replaced with relief and even a bit of joy at seeing Fluttershy fully recovered.
She was no less nervous and looked no less out of place than she did before, especially with that bulky armlet attached just above her rather dainty wrist. Still, she looked a lot healthier and I was glad for her. She'd already been checked by Doctor Whooves and was given the okay to move forward with the rest of the tour.
With her in tow, we all made for the workshop, and I took the opportunity to catch up with the shy mare. She walked a little ways behind the rest of us, so I slowed my pace until I was next to her.
"Hey, how'd things go?" I asked quietly, "you alright now?"
"O-Oh, yes, I'm fine now," Fluttershy replied, just as quietly, if not quieter, "I'm sorry to worry you. I'm just... I guess I just... wasn't prepared for the shock."
"I know what you mean," I muttered, "I don't think any of us were," I glanced at both Vinyl and Seeker up ahead, "though I guess some of us handled it a bit better than others..."
At that, Fluttershy winced and looked down at her hooves. Thinking she might've mistaken my words, I quickly amended myself.
"I didn't mean you handled it poorly, Fluttershy, " I replied, placing a hand on her shoulder. I jerked it back a moment later when I felt her flinch under my touch, and opted to continue without the contact, "sure it wasn't the most... graceful way to come out of it, but I wasn't in a much better condition than you were. I just... recovered a bit faster is all."
"Nopony else had to be treated in the infirmary," Fluttershy pointed out despondently, "I should've handled that better than I did."
"No, look," I shook my head and frowned at the mare, "Fluttershy, everypony is going to—"
"Everypony's gonna have different reactions," came Vinyl's louder, but still sincere voice from Fluttershy's otherside. The other unicorn clapped a reassuring hand on Fluttershy's shoulder, making the other mare 'eep' in surprise. Vinyl smiled apologetically and raised both hands in a placative manner, but continued on nonetheless, "they're injecting Hive Cells right into your bloodstream. That ain't gonna be pleasant for anypony no matter how tough they think they are."
"She's right, Fluttershy," I added, frowning slightly at Vinyl before giving Fluttershy a reassuring smile of my own, "it isn't just a matter of 'toughing it out'. Each pony's body is going to have a different physical reaction to the changes that occur during the Deification Process. That means it might be more painful or exhausting for some than it is for others. It can't be helped."
"There ya go!" Vinyl laughed, "took the words right outta my mouth!"
Who took who's words out of who's mouth?
I cast the petty thought aside and watched as Fluttershy mulled over our words. She grimaced deeply for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh, and raising her head to look up at me, a grateful, if weak, smile on her face.
"So there's nothing to worry about," I continued, "you made it through the process safely, and that's what matters. The doctor gave you the all clear during the examination, right?"
Fluttershy nodded meekly in response, brushing the mane out of her face and turning to the others ahead of us. Once he'd brought Fluttershy back, Doctor Whooves had made his exit once again, mentioning something about prior engagements in that odd and overly cheery, slight Trottingham accent of his.
"I guess you're right, Twilight," Fluttershy was saying, "it was a terrifying experience, but... I think I'm all the better for it," she looked to both me and Vinyl, her face set in a soft, but determined smile, "I'm... not looking forward to what I'll have to do. It scares me just thinking about it... but I don't regret it."
"Good to hear," Vinyl replied, once more clapping a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder, "'fear is good. Hold onto that fear, but never let it control you'," Vinyl shook her head, chuckling to herself, "that's what gramps said before I left, and I think it's good advice."
Fluttershy didn't shy away from Vinyl's overly friendly gestures this time, but she still looked slightly uncomfortable. She nodded nevertheless before addressing me.
"Thank you—both of you," she began, "when I woke up in the infirmary, there was a moment when I thought I'd failed," she raised her right arm and pulled up the sleeve of her oversized jacket to reveal the partially covered armlet beneath, "then I saw this and I almost wished I had, but then I thought about what that would've meant."
I frowned as I looked at her armlet, fully aware of what could've happened if she failed. A number of things could've happened if she failed, and none of them would've been pleasant in the slightest.
"When I think about what could've happened to me, I guess I should consider myself lucky that I survived," she continued, pushing back down her sleeve, "it's too late to back out now, and even if I could... I don't think I would."
"You could've back then when we were in the waiting room, but you didn't," I pointed out, "I think that says a lot about you, Fluttershy."
"Oh no, it's just," she sruggled with her words for a moment, "when I think about all the ponies that didn't make it, and my reason for joining the Daeus Hunters in the first place... I couldn't bring myself to back out. I know I would've regretted it."
"Well, there you go," Vinyl concluded with a nod, "you're all in, despite the fact that you're scared, that's what courage is, and that's what Spitfire—er, Lieutenant Spitfire, was looking for."
"...I suppose so," Fluttershy replied uncertainly, "I just hope I don't get in anypony's way out there," she shivered slightly, "fighting for my life is already going to be bad enough. If I got somepony else hurt because I froze up, or—or if I got hurt myself and slowed them down... I don't think I could..."
"Ah, you'll be fine!" Vinyl exclaimed, slapping Fluttershy on the back and causing her to stumble forward slightly, "just remember, you're not alone, and that you have something worth fighting for, whatever that might be. Oh, and don't lose focus, simple as that."
"R-Right, simple," Fluttershy replied, re-adjusting the wings poking out of the back of her jacket. She gave Vinyl a strained smile that spoke volumes of just how 'simple' she thought it was, "I'll... I'll remember that. Thank you, Vinyl Scratch."
"No, problem," Vinyl replied, completely oblivious to the mare's discomfort as she hurried to catch up with the rest of the group, "like I said, just keep your head up, keep your eyes open, and you'll be fine, trust me!"
I watched Vinyl for a moment before returning my attention to Fluttershy. Uncomfortable as she may have been, the shy pegasus actually did look a little better after that talk. Still, now that she was here, there was something I'd been meaning to ask once she'd left the infirmary.
"So, Fluttershy," I began, as we made our way upstairs to the second floor, "while you were in the infirmary, did you happen to see the dragon they brought in at all?"
"A... A dragon?" Fluttershy squeaked, reeling back in sudden terror. A moment later her face lit up with recognition and she turned away before muttering, "oh, r-right... you mentioned there was an injured dragon here..."
"Okay... I'll take that as a no," I muttered, regarding Fluttershy with slight disapproval, "but yes, like I said, an injured dragon was brought in when Vinyl and I arrived. I was hoping you had a chance to get a look at him while you were in the infirmary."
I looked forward to see that we were heading down a singular corridor leading to a large set of double doors not dissimilar to those in the main lobby. After a few seconds of silence, I cast a side long glance at the yellow pegasus.
"Judging by your reaction, I take it you aren't very fond of dragons?" I inquired, "you didn't really seem too interested in joining me when I asked earlier either. Why is that?"
"W-Well, I've never actually seen one before," she admitted, "but I've heard they're huge, terrifying and not very nice," she looked away, "...among other things."
"I've never seen a dragon before either—at least not in person, and not until recently," I replied with a frown, "but, while I'm not saying there's not a reason dragons have gained that kind of reputation, I do know that not all dragons are vicious brutes, Fluttershy. Even the ones that are, can't hold a candle to the real monsters out there. You should at least see them for yourself before making those kinds of judgments."
Fluttershy looked at me out of the corner of her eye before turning away, her face hidden behind her pink curtain of a mane.
"...If you say so, Twilight," she muttered in a voice that clearly spoke of not wanting to meet any kind of dragon at all if she could help it, "but, no... I didn't see any dragons in the infirmary."
"Hm, that's... odd," I replied with a bemused frown, "he was really banged up when they brought him in. If not the infirmary, then where would they put the drakeling?"
"drakeling?" Fluttershy asked, turning to me in surprise, "the dragon was a child?"
"Yeah, he was from what I could see," I replied with a grim nod, my mind going back to that horrible event as I spoke, "based on his stature and the fact that he had no wings, he must've just reached adolescence," I shook my head sadly, "I saw him trying to get away from a bunch of avidaeos on the way here, but he just ended up trying to fight them all on his own in the end."
"He what?" Fluttershy gasped, raising a hand to her mouth in horror, "but... but if he's just a fledgling, that would've been suicide, wouldn't it? Why was he even out there alone?"
"I have no idea, and yes, it would've," I nodded, "dragons are vicious in combat, but dragons as young as the one I saw wouldn't fare so well on their own against the number of avidaeos I saw out there," I grimaced, "it was so stupid. One moment, he's scrambling to get away, and the next, he's charging in with a warcry. I honestly can't figure out what he was thinking."
"And... you wanted to ask him once he was better?" Fluttershy surmised, biting her lip in uncertainty, "I... I guess I can see that. The poor thing must've been terrified. He might've been acting out of a fight-or-flight response, and being a dragon he must've chosen to fight."
"That's... one idea," I responded, eyeing the other mare warily, "so you're... worried about him, then? The big, mean, vicious dragon?"
Fluttershy blushed and looked away, not speaking for a moment. After another few moment she sighed and turned back to me with a look somewhere between shame, consternation, and pity.
"He's just a little drake, Twilight," she said, settling on a troubled frown, "I might have a problem with full grown dragons, but children are children, no matter what species they belong to. They shouldn't be out there all alone fighting against the avidaeos."
I stared at Fluttershy a moment, trying to figure out her angle. She'd never seen a dragon before and seemed to fear them as monsters in the same vein as the avidaeos, yet was ready to defend the supposed innocence of their young... even though she knew nothing about their young.
Rather than fuss over it, I decided to just move on.
"I agree," I replied with a single nod, "thankfully, the Chief Commander and a few other Daeus Hunters were there to help, and the medical team managed to get him onto one of the trucks before things got too bad."
"That really is good to hear," Fluttershy replied with a small nod, "I'm glad he made it out okay," her face screwed up in a confused frown, "but if he's not in the infirmary, then where is he?"
"That's what I'd like to know," I muttered, "where else could they have taken him with such severe wounds if not the infirmary?"
Neither I nor Fluttershy had any more time to dwell on the matter as we all reached the double doors of the engineering workshop. Applejack and Bon Bon, both of whom had been leading Fluttershy, Seeker, Vinyl, and I, stopped just before entering and turned to face us.
"Alright, ya'll," Applejack called out, "ah know yer probably itchin' ta get some rest, but before we head on back to yer new digs, we got one last thing ta show ya."
"You'll be meeting up with our chief Daeus Arms engineer and all around expert," Bon Bon added, "we wanted to get you acquainted with the weapons you'll be using to fight against the threats outside our walls."
"Exactly," Applejack replied, flashing us all a big smile before turning to the doors, "so let's get this show on the road, shall we?"
With that, Applejack made her way over to a small panel next to the door and punched in a sequence of numbers before inserting her armlet into a slot in the wall. A second later there was a muffled whir followed by a loud click, and the doors slid open.
"After you, ladies... and gentlecolt," Bon Bon said, motioning into the room with a small smirk, "the engineer awaits."
At her prompt, we all shuffled into the workshop, and my mouth dropped open at what I saw within.
The workshop wasn't much larger than what I would've seen or expected back at Wendigo HQ, but the sheer amount of complex machinery, terminals, and wiring crammed into it made it seem a lot smaller than it actually was.
On either side of the room were tall, cylindrical racks holding Daeus Arms of all different types. One one side of the room, isolated from everything else, it looked like a modern forge had been set up, complete with a miniaturized blast furnace for smelting. I also saw some kind of mechanism similar to the one in the Daeification Chamber. I grimaced at the sight, absently placing a hand over the armlet now adorning my own arm. There were wires all over the place, both thick and thin—lining the walls and floors, and hanging from the ceiling.
Some I could see connected to large computers and odd machines not even I knew what to make of. Others I had no idea where they began or ended, but they all snaked their way around various mechanical odds and ends.
On the surface, the workshop was a fire hazard waiting to happen, but I could tell that there was a sort of method to the madness. For as messy and disorganized as everything looked, there was always a clear path to where you needed to go. Nothing was in the way, not even the countless wires strewn about the place.
There was just enough space between the various machines to maneuver, and anything that looked like it could be volatile if put together, was separated from one another to minimize the damage should said volatile object break or topple over. It was chaotic, but there had been some thought put into the design.
A high pitched mechanical whine suddenly ripped through the air, making me jump. Judging from Fluttershy's frightened shriek and Vinyl's loud curse, I wasn't the only one caught off guard by the sound.
My frantically wandering eyes rested on a large workbench crammed near the back of the room where somepony was hunched over, their back turned and attention focused on whatever they were doing at the bench.
A closer look revealed a grey coated pegasus mare wearing a tight black T-shirt, and thick, heavy looking dark green work pants complete with a tool belt full of various tools. It didn't take a genius to see that this mare was the supposed engineer we were looking for.
My suspicions were confirmed when Applejack walked past me and towards the inattentive mare, seemingly unbothered by the racket. She stopped a few hoof-lengths away and gave all of us an apologetic smile before facing the pegasus once more.
"Ya'll think ya could put that on hold fer a moment, Miss Hooves?" Applejack shouted over the noise, "ya got guests!"
Hooves? Is she related to the Doctor?
It was possible, but then again, Hooves was a common secondary pony name. In any case, the pegasus adjusted something just out of my sight and the painfully loud whine of metal stopped. A second later, she straightened up, gave a languid stretch of her arms, and cracked her neck before turning to see who it was that had called out to her.
Now that she'd turned around for the most part, I could see she wore what I assumed were black welding gloves. She had a blonde, messy mop of a mane, and her eyes—really the entire top half of her face—were hidden behind a pair of large brown tinted goggles.
I could also see a large chunk of black and bronze metal lying below an industrial drill just small enough to fit on the table. It took me a moment to realize the massive chunk of metal was actually the blade of a disassembled Daeus Arm.
Going back to the mare, there were smudges of what I could only guess was oil across one cheek, the top of her nose, and both arms. All in all, she looked every bit the mechanical engineer Applejack claimed her to be and was honestly exactly what I expected to see in a town like this.
What I wasn't expecting as she lifted her goggles up, was the curious, wall-eyed stare she gave Applejack and the rest of us, her brilliant golden eyes very obviously off-kilter. It was rare to be born with strabismus, but it wasn't all that uncommon in cases where certain types of head injuries were concerned. I wasn't sure which case this was, but I decided it was best not to look too deeply into the matter.
A slight frown of bemusement crossed her face as she looked from our little group to Applejack, but it quickly disappeared behind a bright smile as she addressed the stetson wearing captain.
"Oh, heya, Applejack! I thought you were gonna be here earlier," she greeted before nodding towards us, "these the newbies?"
"Yup, green as grass, every one o' them," Applejack chuckled, following her gaze. She turned back to the mare with an apologetic smile, "sorry we're late, me an' Bon Bon got caught up in a little demonstration."
"Showing them how it's done?" the pegasus replied with a knowing smile, "yeah, that sounds like you. I'm surprised Bon Bon joined you, though. She's not usually one to show off."
"I don't see the harm in it every once in awhile," came Bon Bon's voice as she moved to stand next to Applejack and the engineer, "and I have to admit, it feels kind of good to strut my stuff like that," she frowned and shook her head, "though I'm not gonna make a habit out of it like some ponies I could name."
"Aw come on, she ain't that bad," Applejack replied, before giving a small exasperated frown of her own, "...usually."
I raised an eyebrow at that, wondering who they could've been talking about. I wasn't given the chance to wonder for very long before Vinyl suddenly spoke up.
"Hey, uh... Captains?" she called out, causing the two captains in question to turn towards her curiously. Once she had their attention she continued, her arms crossed and her gaze pointed towards the pegasus mare, "I hate to interrupt, but are you gonna introduce us or what?"
"Oh, right," Applejack chuckled. She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly before gesturing to the grey mare, "folks, this is the lady that keeps those giant hunks o' metal we use ta beat avidaeos over the head with in top shape," she slapped an arm around the mare's shoulder and gave us all a big wide grin, "she's the best at what she does, an' don't let anypony else tell ya otherwise."
"Oh come on, AJ," the mare replied, pushing Applejack away good-naturedly, "there's probably a bunch of ponies in Canterlot who have me beat. No need to go putting me on a pedestal like that."
Applejack just laughed and shook her head again, letting her smirk do the talking instead. The mare huffed and rolled her discordant golden eyes before turning to all of us, her bright and cheerful smile once more in place.
"The name's Muffins, but everypony here just calls me Derpy Hooves, or just Derpy for short," she jerked a thumb over her shoulder towards the workbench, "as you already heard, I'm gonna be handling the maintenance of your Daeus Arms. You guys have any issues with your weapons out there, just come to me and I'll take care of it."
I was struck by how much she reminded me of Doctor Whooves, and wondered again if they really were related somehow. Meanwhile, Derpy turned back to us and placed her gloved hands on her hips, her wings flaring out slightly and her smile turning more confident even as it widened.
"Like Applejack said, it's my job to make sure your Daeus Arms stay in tip top shape, and while I might be a bit clumsy, I take that job very seriously, so you can trust me to get it done without fail."
I was expecting all of us to meet the local chief Daeus Arms engineer, make some introductions, maybe one or both of the present Captains to give some kind of speech on the importance of Daeus Arms and how they were even now turning the tide against the avidaeos. At the most, I was expecting Derpy to possibly give us a minor rundown on the various types of Daeus Arms and how they worked. All in all, I was hoping for the whole thing to be wrapped up in the span of half an hour to forty-five minutes or so.
All of those things happened, but that wasn't the end of it.
Derpy's explanation alone took up half an hour, and when that was done, we were all dragged to a slightly smaller room in the back, the entrance to which I hadn't noticed upon our arrival. The first impression I got as we passed through the door and into the room was that we'd walked into some kind of shrine dedicated to Daeus Arms.
The room itself was circular, and nearly barren save for several large metal 'altars' lining the walls. Each of the altars were actually upright containers made of some kind of a dark brown metal and made to fit the Daeus Arms that had been placed within them. The grid-like amber metal floors reminded me somewhat of the training room once the hologram had deactivated, and looking at the display of weaponry around me, I wondered if this was some kind of private training room of sorts.
But that wouldn't make any sense, I glanced back at Derpy, who'd walked into the room behind all of us, and frowned in bemusement as I noticed the distinct lack of an armlet, Derpy's not a Daeus Hunter. Is it for new recruits like us? Is she planning to let us use these? Test them out maybe?
I hummed in thought and returned my gaze to the many containers around me. The majority of containers were open and showcasing one of every type of Daeus Arm ever made, ranging from the original and outdated pistol model to the latest creation, the powerful but unwieldy arcane staff. I would've been impressed by the display, had it not been for the oddly simplistic designs of each of them.
Most of the weapons still looked like a mish-mash of complex machinery, but even I could tell that each only had the absolute minimum number of parts necessary to function as a Daeus Arm. There was no flair in the designs, no extra additions, and all of them were a dull grey in color. It was almost as if they were all prototypes, made before the finished product.
Why would she keep these on display like this?
I could think of a few reasons, but I wasn't interested enough to delve too deeply into the matter. What did pique my curiosity however, were the few containers that were sealed shut. I counted three sealed containers in all, each of varying sizes. On the lid of each closed container were a series of letters and numbers marked in a bold black font.
BE-37541, HM-15742, and... RG-29512? What are these? Did her engineering team get the OK from HQ to make new weapons?
"Curious, are we?"
I turned away from the three sealed containers to see Derpy making her way over to where I was standing. Behind her I saw Vinyl having a hushed, but animated discussion with Captain Bon Bon near the blast gun display, one or both of them gesturing to the thing every now and then.
Elesewhere, Captain Applejack looked like she was trying to reassure Fluttershy as the soft spoken pegasus stared at each of the weapons with noticeable discomfort. Seeker was eyeing the variant scythe model on display with perhaps the most interest I'd seen him show in anything since I'd met him. I turned my attention back to Derpy as she stepped up next to me, her eyes on the sealed containers and her expression one of pride.
"I don't supposed you'd be able to tell me what these contain?" I asked the grey pegasus hopefully, "I'm curious enough about this room as it is, but these..."
"Nope, sorry, Twilight, but telling you exactly what these are would be against company policy... for now," she explained, moving forward and rubbing a hand lovingly over one of the cold metal surfaces, "I can tell you that they're new weapons, and that I've been working my wings off on each one of them for some time now," she sighed wistfully, "me and these babies here have spent a lot of lonely nights together."
"Lonely?" my brow furrowed in confusion a moment before widening in realization, "wait a minute... you don't mean by yourself, do you?" I asked incredulously, "you made all of these on your own?"
"Well, I mean... they're not finished yet, but... yeah?" Derpy asked, frowning and tilting her head in bemusement, "why? Is that weird?"
So I was right, then. She must've already submitted her designs to the Daeus Arms R&D division at some point and evidently they thought they were good enough to approve them, but seriously, to have designed all of these on her own, let alone make them...
"It's... well..." I shook my head and looked at the large metal boxes, "usually it takes a whole team of dozens, sometimes hundreds of engineers to create a new Daeus Arm. These weapons are so complex that even the designs are handled by a group, and you've managed to design and are building three on your own."
"Oh, wow," Derpy replied, chuckling awkwardly, "I knew Daeus Arms were normally handled by a team, but I just assumed there were some engineers out there who just liked to do things on their own, y'know?"
"No, that's... not a thing, Derpy... not normally," I muttered, looking from the sealed containers to all the others, doubly shocked as another realization came to mind, "now that I think about it, I haven't seen any other ponies in the lab," I turned back to Derpy, eyes wide, "Derpy... are you... the only Daeus Arms engineer in this facility?"
"Yup, the one and only!" Derpy replied, thumping her chest proudly. She gave a sobering sigh a moment later, "Ponyville's kind of short on engineers and scientists in general, and I was the only one who had any real interest in working for Wendigo, so... here I am."
"Wait, so the Doctor doesn't have a staff either?" I asked, suddenly worried about my future working conditions, "I mean, don't get me wrong, making Daeus Arms by yourself like you've apparently been doing is impressive—beyond impressive, but Doctor Whooves needs—"
"The Doctor has a staff, don't worry," Derpy cut in, raising her hands in a calming gesture, "it's a small staff, sure, but he brought most of his team from Canterlot, and they're good at what they do, and besides," she gave me a knowing smile, "you're here, aren't you?"
I blinked.
"Well, yeah, but... how did you... I don't remember mentioning—"
"I'd already heard from Doctor Whooves that he was getting another pony on his team," Derpy explained, "and I was also told that we'd be getting a New-Type Daeus Arm wielder by the name of Twilight Sparkle," she shrugged, "when Doctor Whooves told me the pony he'd be working with was a New-Type, I just put two and two together."
"Oh, I guess that explains it then," I replied, nodding in understanding, "still, as long as he has some kind of team, that's fine. I wonder if he sent for anypony I know..."
"Who knows," Derpy answered with another shrug. She smiled and rapped a fist on one of the closed containers, "anyway, I bet these metal boxes aren't all you're wondering about."
"Yeah," I agreed, looking around, "what is this place? Why do you have all these Daeus Arms on display like this? Are they also prototypes?"
"Yes, and no," Derpy replied, much to my confusion, "I guess you could call them 'modified prototypes'," she made her way over to the container holding the dull grey short blade as she spoke, "I explained earlier that each Daeus Arm is a sort of avidaeos itself, and all Daeus Arms are made with a core at their center, just like a regular avidaeos."
She'd certainly explained that detail previously, and while I'd known a bit about that before, the very idea still sent unpleasant shivers down my spine. The fact that these weapons were more or less pony made avidaeos was the reason they could devour cores from actual avidaeos with those monstrous mouth things. It was also the reason each Daeus Arm was unique to its wielder, and why compatibility was so important.
From the way Derpy explained it, each Daeus Arm's core is specifically attuned to its user's armlet, and though the actual design of that specific Daeus Arm could be changed and modified with various materials, the core itself, once set, couldn't be changed. If a Daeus Hunter tried to activate somepony else's Daeus Arm, it would immediately begin devouring them from the inside out.
Even if the situation was stopped before death could occur, that still left possible Hive Cell corruption. If that occurred, then mutations would start happening, and they wouldn't stop until the Daeus Hunter in question had fully turned into an avidaeus themselves.
Such was the risk of being a Daeus Hunter.
"The Arms you see around you were all built without cores," Derpy continued, gesturing to the other weapons on display, "that means their devouring capabilities are inert and they can't really be used to fight actual avidaeos, but that's not their purpose anyway."
"Then what is their purpose?" I asked, eyeing the wall-eyed mare expectantly.
"They were made with new recruits in mind," Derpy replied, turning back to me with a wide grin, "because they don't have any cores, any Daeus Hunter can wield one without having to worry about being eaten or corrupted. I made these so that you guys could get a feel for what type of Daeus Arm you want to use.
"This place is just meant to hold display models, and that's really about it," she looked around the room fondly, "sometimes I come in here to think or just when I need a quiet moment away from work, kind of like a sanctuary or something."
"Yeah, I... guess I can kind of see that," I replied, following her example as I scanned the room, "so, what then... this is basically just a place to showcase these 'modified prototypes'?"
I guess that kind of explains the unfinished models in the closed containers. Still kind of weird that she keeps them with the training Arms though.
"More... or less," Derpy grunted, trying with great effort to remove the short blade from its resting place, "I call them... 'Dummy Arms'. They might not... work like proper Daeus Arms, but... nngh... they're just as heavy!" she gave up pulling at the hilt of the sword a moment later and let her arms drop to her sides, blowing out a tired breath, "oof... sweet Celestia."
"If they're that heavy, how do you move them around?" I asked curiously as I moved to stand before the display, "I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we can even wield these metal monstrosities."
"Oh, I have magitech machinery for that kind of thing," Derpy replied, waving the matter away, "that, and I have the Daeus Hunters whose Arms I'm working on help me out from time to time. It's really not an issue, trust me. Anyway, these are what you guys are gonna be using once actual training starts in a few days."
"Training, huh?" I mused, sweeping my gaze around the room and watching the others as they gawped and gawked at the weapons. A thought came to me then, and I looked back around at Derpy, "how exactly is that going to work for me? Not only am I gonna be using a completely new and probably more complex model, but I also have other duties while I'm here."
"That just means yer gonna be workin' harder'n the rest of us," came the familiar drawl of my future Captain from behind. Both Derpy and I turned to see Applejack walking over to us, Fluttershy trailing a little ways behind, "yer trainin' regimen's gonna be a bit different than the others, an' it might take a little longer, but some good ol' hard work never hurt anypony if ya ask me."
"I guess so," I conceded slowly, fully turning to face the Captain, "I honestly don't really mind the extra work—half of it is something I live to do, but still, I'm wondering how that'll fit into the team dynamic."
"Now don't ya'll sweat the details on that," Applejack replied, smiling and clapping a heavy hand on my shoulder, "leave that to me an' the Director, we've already got somethin' sorted out," she nodded back at Fluttershy, "fer now, we just want ya'll ta focus on gettin' ta know the place an' the rest o' the Hunters around here."
"That's why we've allotted you all some free time for the next three days," said Bon Bon, who was coming up behind Fluttershy and the other Captain, "there's no pressing missions that need to be taken care of at the moment, so until something else comes up, the Director's agreed to give the new recruits a bit of slack."
"Oh thank goodness," murmured Fluttershy, letting out a barely audible sigh of relief, "I was afraid we'd be thrown right into the training. I don't know if I would've been able to handle that so soon."
"Ah, you would've been fine," Vinyl assured, moving to stand next to the shy pegasus, she patted her gently on the shoulder once before sidling up to me and resting an arm around my own shoulders, "still, we get to chill for the first few days? Nice! Maybe I can catch up with Tavi in the meantime."
"Maybe," I replied, pulling away from Vinyl's clutches as politely as I could, "if we are getting some free time though, I'd like to spend some time in the research lab with Doctor Whooves and the rest of his team. I want to know what I'll be doing and what exactly I'm working with."
I'd also like to find out what happened to that drake...
"Hey, to each their own," Vinyl replied with a small shrug. She turned to where Seeker was standing some ways away, "what about you, curls? What're you gonna do with all that free time?"
I wondered for a moment why Vinyl had called him curls, then remembered that the stallion's light grey mane was incredibly curly. Seeker, of course, didn't answer, simply choosing instead to fold his arms, lean back against the wall, and stare idly at the variant scythe in its container, his expression once again as unreadable as ever.
"Creepy son of a nag, isn't he?" Vinyl muttered under her breath before returning her attention to the two Captains, "anyway, we got the rundown about the training Arms, so what's next? We finally done for the night?"
"Yup, ah reckon that's about it fer now," Applejack replied with a nod. She turned to Derpy, "thanks fer havin' us, Derpy. Ah know ya got things ta do, an' we're mighty grateful ya could spare the time, especially this late in the day."
"Aw, It's no big deal," Derpy replied, that boundlessly cheerful expression never leaving her face, "I'm always glad to help, you know that, AJ."
"Ah know it," Applejack chuckled, "but ah appreciate it all the same. Anywho..." she rounded on the lot of us and nodded sharply towards the exit, "...let's not bother Miss Hooves anymore. I bet ya'll are dyin' ta finally see yer quarters, yeah?"
"And how!" Vinyl cried enthusiastically.
The rest of us said nothing, but judging by the way Fluttershy and even Seeker hurried out of the room after Applejack and Bon Bon, I'm sure they both felt the same way. I was about to follow when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Derpy looking back at me, her off-kilter golden eyes sparkling with something like excitement, or eagerness. It was honestly somewhat hard to tell.
"This'll be the first time I've worked with a New-Type," she said with a more reserved sort of grin, "I'm really looking forward to working with you and your Daeus Arm."
"Um, right... thanks?" I asked, furrowing my brow in bemusement, "I'm... l can't wait either."
The situation was incredibly awkward, but thankfully Derpy just laughed it off, patted me on the shoulder, and sent me off with a wave. I made my way to the door, wondering what that was all about, and couldn't help but look back one more time. Derpy already seemed to be lost in her own world as she stood staring at the sealed containers with a strangely thoughtful expression.
Designing and making Daeus Arms all on her own... how have I not heard of her before? I never once heard mention of her in Canterlot, not even when I was working with the Daeus Arms R&D team...
It baffled me.
Somepony like her would've gained a lot of notoriety at HQ, and the fact that she'd submitted designs to HQ meant that somepony in the top brass knew about her talent, so why wasn't she more well-known?
I had no doubt that if she'd chosen to move to Canterlot and apply for a position at HQ, she could've risen through the ranks of the Daeus Arms R&D Division and became a very rich mare in the process. Yet here she was, an unsung genius engineer living in a rundown town, working in near obscurity.
And somehow I get the feeling she wouldn't have it any other way.
Oddly enough, the thought made me smile as I stepped out of the room and hurried to catch up to the others. I wasn't sure why, but I supposed the mare just had that kind of effect on ponies. That was good, I thought, with how bleak life was for most, the world needed those kinds of ponies, and I wouldn't have minded seeing more like her.
We were finally on our way to our own quarters and I could finally look forward to a good night's sleep... or so I thought. Unfortunately, unforeseen elements would continue to impede the rest I so desperately wanted.
Once we'd all left the Daeus Arms Engineering Lab, both the Captains leading us had apparently decided foalsitting time was over and sent us off to find our own rooms. They'd given us the directions we needed, but from there we were on our own. They told us they'd be relaxing in the Rec Room if we needed anything, though I was perfectly content to find my own way.
From what we'd been told, there were a few ways to get to the living quarters, and as much as I'd come to enjoy Vinyl and Fluttershy's company, I opted to head off on my own. Seeker chose to do the same, but that was no great surprise to anypony present. Soon enough we all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
According to Applejack, our individual rooms were 'tagged' with our own unique signature and we'd know when we found the right room. I had no idea what they meant, but I assumed it had something to do with some as of yet unexplained function of the armlets we wore.
I didn't worry about it too much, mostly because my mind was preoccupied with Daeus Arms; specifically what I'd actually end up using in the end. I'd done some reading up on New-Types before I'd left Canterlot, and knew they were far more flexible when it came to using Daeus Arms. While 1st Generation Daeus Hunters were relegated to choosing one type of Daeus Arm and sticking with it, New-Types didn't have that limitation.
If I didn't like the way one type of Daeus Arm worked, I could just swap it out for another as long as I used the same core. As a New-Type I could effectively become a jack-of-all-trades among Daeus Hunters. In all honesty the only weapon I could see myself using was the arcane staff, but that was only because I was already rather gifted in the use of magic and had quite a bit of natural mana... at least until I underwent the Daeification Process.
In reality though, I could be terrible with an arcane staff; I'd have no way of knowing until I actually used one. That was neither here nor there for the moment, and I figured I could cross that particular bridge when I came to it. Moving on from that subject, my thoughts turned to the other mysterious New-Type that was supposed to arrive at some point in the near future.
Thinking back on it, I probably could've asked one of the Captains or even Derpy who the other New-Type was supposed to be, but it had slipped my mind to do so. Just as I'd made a mental note to ask when I next got the chance, I felt my armlet vibrate slightly. At the same time I heard a loud, but thankfully short buzz from somewhere next to me and turned to see a nondescript brown metal door to my left.
I stared at the door silently for a few seconds before looking at my armlet, then back at the door. Holding the armlet up, I backed away from the door, moved towards it, and my suspicions were confirmed when I felt the armlet vibrate and the door buzz once more. This was most likely the door to my room and it seemed I was right about the armlet being connected, but why wasn't it opening?
Am I... locked out? Or is this the wrong door?
I looked down the hall and saw a row of identical doors on either side of the corridor. Just to make sure, I walked over to one of the other doors and raised my armlet, but nothing happened. I frowned and walked back over to the door that was presumably the entrance to my own room. It buzzed again and my frown turned to an irritated scowl.
Okay, so that is my door, but why can't I get in?
One of my ears twitched as I heard another buzz further down the hall. I looked over to see none other than Seeker, standing at the door right at the end of the hall. He stepped back from the door and grimaced, looking just as annoyed as I felt. He must've arrived just after I did, and that probably meant Fluttershy and Vinyl weren't too far behind.
Come to think of it... where is everypony?
I only just noticed how empty the corridor was, which struck me as strange given that this was where all the rookie Daeus Hunters stayed and it wasn't that late yet. Sure there weren't that many rooms, but I still expected to see some ponies wandering about. Putting that aside for the moment, I called out to Seeker.
"Having trouble getting in too, huh?" I asked. He turned to me and I gave an awkward sort of wave and gestured to my armlet, "same here. For some reason we're locked out."
He continued to stare at me as though I was an idiot for another moment or two, then snorted, rolled his eyes, and stormed off the other way. I watched him turn a corner and vanish out of sight with another frown.
"Geez," I muttered to myself, "I was just trying to make some small talk. Didn't have to be a jerk about it."
"Wha—aw what the buck, seriously?! C'mon, work you stupid... grrr..."
Both my ears perked up at the distant voice and a smile crossed my face. I turned and headed down the hall towards the familiar deep feminine timbre coming from the direction opposite the way Seeker had gone. I turned a corner and sure enough, there was Vinyl Scratch standing before her own locked door.
She looked the most aggravated I'd ever seen her, and though I couldn't see her eyes behind her violet shades, I could tell she was glaring at the door by her deep scowl and folded arms. It was surprising to say the least, but I didn't blame her, I was beginning to feel the same way after being denied a chance to relax in the privacy of my own room yet again.
"Hey, Vinyl," I said, walking over to the irked mare, "can't get in either?"
"Hm?" Vinyl whipped around to face me and her scowl vanished as though it had never been there, leaving her trademark easy smile in its place, "oh... hey, Sparks. Yeah, I can't get this stupid door to open no matter what I do," she gave an exasperated sigh, "seriously, why send us here if they're just gonna lock us out?"
"I'm not really sure," I replied, frowning down at my own armlet, "maybe there's some kind of glitch in the security system? Maybe we weren't registered properly?"
"Aaah you gotta be buckin' kidding me with this," Vinyl groaned, "see, this is why I don't like these fancy automated sliding doors. Give me a regular old physical lock and key any day."
My eyebrows rose at the statement.
"Wow," I replied after a long second, "that seems surprisingly... old fashioned for somepony like you."
"Why would you think that?" Vinyl asked, raising an eyebrow at me behind her large shades.
"Oh, w-was I wrong?" I asked, mentally slapping myself for making assumptions, "I don't know, you just kind of give off that... 'modern day girl' vibe I guess. You mentioned you were a DJ before, so that might've had something to do with it."
"Huh," Vinyl replied with a thoughtful look, "well, I guess I could see why you'd think that," she shrugged, "but I spent a lot of time hanging out with gramps after he retired, and he does like to keep things old fashioned, so that might've rubbed off on me."
I didn't really know what to say next, so I opted to change the subject.
"Have you seen Fluttershy at all?" I asked, looking around, "did she already come by?"
"Beats me," Vinyl answered with a shrug, "she said she wanted to check on something and went off somewhere. Didn't think to ask, so I have no idea where she went."
"Oh," I replied, curious as to what the mare could've possibly needed to do, "I figured out of everypony involved, she'd be the most eager to settle down for the night," I sighed and idly stared down the hallway for a moment before looking back to Vinyl, "so... we should probably see one of the Captains and tell them what's going on. Even if Fluttershy came back I doubt she would've been able to get in either."
"Good call. Beats standing around here waiting for the damn door to magically unlock," Vinyl answered, giving her door one last scowl. She shook her head, "well anyway, Bon Bon said they'd be in the Rec Room, right? You remember where that is?"
"I think I remember the directions we were given," I answered looking around uncertainly, "I kind of wish there was somepony around to help me refresh my memory."
"Hey yeah," Vinyl commented, "now that you mention it, where the buck is everypony? I didn't see anypony other than Fluttershy on the way here either."
"I don't know, but it's kind of creeping me out," I didn't dwell on the matter for too long before I began making my way towards the elevator and away from the empty rookie's living quarters, "c'mon, let's just go and check with the Captains about the doors."
"No need to tell me twice," Vinyl muttered, following a few steps behind, "I'm right behind ya."
We made our way to the elevator and took it back down to the first floor. We entered the main floor and saw a few Daeus Hunters and some of the other Wendigo staff wandering around looking busy. I tried asking one of the staffponies where the other Hunters were, but they just shrugged their shoulders, gave a noncommittal response and moved on.
We walked over to the front desk were Cherilee was thankfully still present and asked her instead.
"I'm not one hundred percent sure," she replied after a second of thought, "but I do know that a lot of Hunters like to hang out in the Rec Room around this time of night. You might want to try checking there."
Vinyl and I looked at each other and the other mare shrugged. As it turned out, there was an entrance to the Rec Room at the back of the main room. With that knowledge, Vinyl and I wasted no time in heading over to the singular door.
"I really hope we can get these doors fixed soon," I grumbled irritably, "it's been a long day, and frankly I'd like nothing more than to put it all behind me. I have enough to worry about with all the extra stuff I have to do."
"I hear ya," Vinyl replied with a nod, "I was looking forward to chilling in my own room. Maybe do a bit of redecorating with some of the stuff I brought from back home. Almost would've been like being back in—"
"SURPRISE!!!"
The door to the Rec Room slid open and I stumbled backwards, letting out a scream at the sudden sound of a shrill voice and a face full of pink fur and baby blue eyes. It took me a moment, but I recognized the mare standing inches away from my face as the one I'd seen out in the slums on my way here.
I looked over to see that Vinyl wasn't nearly as shocked as I was, though she still looked somewhat taken aback at the mare's sudden appearance. As I stood there in the doorway, a hand to my chest and willing my heart to stop racing, both Vinyl and I were bombarded with an onslaught of words.
"Geez, it sure took you two long enough to get here. The party started ages ago, c'mon!"
I barely had time to process what was going on before I was suddenly yanked into the room with a surprised yelp. There was a loud cacophony of voices all around me and, looking around, it seemed like every Hunter that was supposed to be in their living quarters were here instead.
Well, that solves that mystery.
The Rec Room was large—seemingly large enough to accommodate all of the rookies in the facility. There were ponies everywhere, laughing, chatting, playing pool in one corner, drinking at a bar that was set up smack dab in the middle of the room, relaxing on a pair of long sofas, and there was even what looked like a small band of Hunters playing instruments near the back.
Colorful streamers and balloons adorned the walls and tables everywhere i looked. There were snacks and more drinks off to one side on a large table near one wall. Attached to the ceiling was a large white banner with 'CONGRATULATIONS NEWBIES!' printed in big red font, and seeing that, everything clicked into place.
"Oh snap, is that Tavi?" Vinyl asked, looking over to where the musicians were. Her smile widened a moment later and she turned back to me, "you know what? I might be tired, but a party's a party, and I never turn down a chance to party," with that, she turned and hurried off to meet her friends, "hey, Tavi! Long time, no see!"
I watched her go for a moment, grimacing as she met up with the grey earth pony mare playing the cello in the group. I was happy for her, really I was... but I was less happy about being dragged to a party I didn't ask for.
"This was a setup," I muttered with a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes, "I was denied my sleep for a stupid welcome party, and I'll bet the Captains were in on it the whole time."
"Aw come on, don't be like that," came that same high pitched voice from next to me. I turned and frowned at the pink mare, but she only smiled back in response as she spoke, "I greet all the new recruits with a surprise party! Sure it might've been a bit later than I would've liked, but don't let that stop you from enjoying yourself!"
"Wait, so you're the pony that set all this up?" I asked, scanning the crowd of ponies, "you planned this entire thing? The locked doors? The 'ignorant' staff? The... everything?"
"Yup! Pinkie Pie at your service! When it comes to parties, nopony does them better," the mare replied cheerfully, "well, I did have some help here and there, but for the most part it was all me. Now stop being a grumpy pants!" she slapped me on the back and gestured to the ponies, "c'mon it's a party for you and the others! You survived Daeification! Eat! Drink! Mingle! Who knows," she winked, "you just might get a chance to talk to somepony you've been looking for."
Before I could make any kind of response, she clapped me on the shoulder one more time and skipped away off in the crowd. That just left me wondering about the mare who called herself Pinkie Pie. The name certainly fit with her bright pink fur and overly curly pink mane and tail, but what had she meant by talking to somepony that I'd been looking for? I couldn't remember wanting to talk to anypony in particular.
"Whatever," I muttered, shaking my head and looking for anypony I recognized, "we're all free for the next three days, why didn't she just wait until tomorrow to throw a surprise party?"
Then again, she might've been busy with her own duties. As far as I knew, we were the only ones getting any time off, so if she was busy it would've made sense to have a party while she still had a chance to throw one.
Doesn't mean I'm happy about it though...
Walking around, I spotted Fluttershy sitting near the back of the room where the windows took up half the wall from left to right. She sat alone at the long table that stretched across the wall, nursing a steaming mug of something in both hands and looking like she was doing her best to blend into the background.
I guess she must've gotten here before Vinyl and I did, though it doesn't look like she wants to be here anymore than I do... but what is she looking at?
Even from where I was standing a good distance back, I could see the nervous mare casting furtive, almost fearful glances to her right. I followed her gaze and my mouth nearly dropped open at what, or rather who I saw. Sitting at the far end of the long table away from Fluttershy and everypony else was the drake I'd seen get taken in by the medical staff.
He wore a rather loose fitting dark blue standard Hunter's uniform and I could see several bandages wrapped about his head. His back was turned to me, but I assumed the uniformed covered more bandages elsewhere on his body. Though I couldn't see his expression, I could tell he was staring out the window, a glass of some kind of beverage sitting untouched next to him. If he'd noticed any of Fluttershy's wary, fearful glances, he ignored them.
Completely caught off guard by his presence, I found myself moving over to the table almost without realizing it. Before I knew it I was standing next to the drake, all thoughts of finding one of the Captains and getting the door to my room unlocked more or less forgotten in the face of this new development.
"Um..."
The drake jumped slightly and whipped around to face me, his slitted green eyes wide with surprise. A second later he relaxed, frowned and turned to stare out the window again.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," I said with an apologetic smile. The smile slipped off my face as the fledgling continued to ignore me, but I wanted some answers, and I wasn't leaving until we talked, at least a bit, "so can I... sit here? I wanted to ask you some things. Oh, my name's Twilight by the way. Twilight Sparkle."
"Spike," he grunted, "and you can do whatever you want. I'm not gonna stop you. Can't promise I'll answer your questions though."
He was obviously trying to sound like a tough dragon, but his attempts to be mysterious and aloof just came off as kind of adorable to me. He may have been a dragon, but he had a bit of a baby face—well, by dragon standards anyway. It was clear to see even underneath the bandages that he was young, and his deep yet still somehow childish voice would've given him away if not his face.
"Alright then, fair enough, Spike," I replied, sliding onto the stool next to him. I cast a side glance in Fluttershy's direction and the mare blushed and gave a small 'eep' before quickly looking the other way. I smiled to myself and turned my attention back to Spike, "again, sorry to just show up and start talking to you right out of the blue, but—"
"You were one of the ponies in the truck, right?" Spike interjected, "back in the wastes?"
"Y-Yeah," I replied, stunned that he'd remembered, "you saw me then? Through that mess?"
"Yup," he sighed, "bet you're wondering what I was doing back there, huh?"
"Well yeah," I admitted, "but more than that I'm wondering how and why you're here and not in the infirmary. You were hurt pretty bad when they brought you in," I looked him up and down, seeing a hint of more bandages beneath his undershirt, "you're still hurt pretty bad," I frowned in concern, "so what gives?"
"Ah, it's not that big a deal," he said with an encouraging smile. He pounded his chest, winced in pain and gave another, weaker smile, "dragons heal pretty quickly, and even among dragons I've always been able to heal really really fast. Don't know why, but I've never complained," he shrugged, "besides, that pink pony invited me and I had nothing better to do than lay around all night, so I figured I'd show up, y'know?"
It seemed Spike was more open and friendly than I expected, and that was fine with me. He was surprisingly easy to talk to I found, though I could only hope he'd remain that way when I asked the questions I really wanted to know the answers to.
Still, he was pretty quick to abandon the gritty mysterious and aloof dragon act, and to let him just walk around in his condition, fast healing or no...
"Negligent caretakers aside, that reminds me," I continued, "where exactly have you been? There was a..." I threw another glance Fluttershy's way before speaking again, "I had a... friend who wound up in the infirmary earlier, and when I asked about you later, she said she didn't see any dragons there."
"Oh, that?" Spike replied as he finally grabbed his glass and took a drink, "it was the weirdest thing. Instead of putting me in the infirmary, they stuck me in this room in the Doctor's lab."
"Wait, what?" I asked incredulously, "they... confined you to Doctor Whoove's lab? But I never..."
I trailed off as I remembered the second door in the back of the Doctor's lab, the one that had the 'CAUTION' sign attached to it. Had Spike been in there the whole time while we were getting our check-ups done in the other room? If that was the case, then why? What was the Doctor doing keeping Spike there?
"Why would they put you in the lab and not the infirmary?"
"I was still out of it when they brought me in, and they didn't really tell me anything about why I was there when I woke up," Spike replied casually, "but if I had to guess, it probably had something to do with my amazing ability to heal so quickly. Wouldn't be the first time they put me in a lab for that kind of thing."
"Wha... how..." I sputtered. I stopped and took a calming breath before starting again, "okay, so let's... back up and start over. What exactly were you doing out in the wastes all alone?"
At that, Spike's friendly demeanor completely vanished and he turned away with a frown.
"That's... a bit more complicated," he muttered, "long story short, I was a rookie just out of training from the Tiamat Branch of Wendigo in the Dragonlands. Because of my... special talent, I was supposed to be sent to Wendigo HQ in Canterlot to be studied, but..."
He fell silent and stared at the table before him. I saw him give a visible shudder and raise a claw to his face, his expression growing horrified.
"Spike?" I asked worriedly, "I'm not sure what this is about, but it looks like it might be a pretty painful memory. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I wanted some answers, but not if it's gonna make you that uncomfortable. Besides, you barely even know me anyway."
This sounds pretty serious though, and I'm guessing this must be at least part of the reason they held him in the labs. Did they ask him the same questions I'm asking?
"N-No, it's fine. I just... I gotta get over it," he replied, lowering his shaking claw and clenching it into a fist. He took a deep breath and continued, "we—me and some of the higher ranking Hunters from the Dragonlands—we were on our way to Canterlot via military aircraft when we were attacked by this... massive flying avidaeus over the Celestial Sea."
"A titan class avidaeus?" I swallowed nervously, "as close to Equestria as the Celestial Sea?"
My heart skipped a beat at that. A vast majority of the Celestial Sea to the east was in Equestrian territory. If there really was a titan class avidaeus flying around over the Celestial Sea, Manehattan and Fillydelphia were in very real danger of being attacked.
There was every possibility that one or even both cities could end up like Baltimare, nothing but a ghastly ruin overrun with avidaeos.
Does the president know? Does anypony in Manehattan or Fillydelphia know? Somepony was bound to have noticed something like that at some point.
"Yeah, it was huge," Spike answered, "like three times bigger than our ship. Looked like some kind of giant millipede with a bunch of bat wings," he shuddered again, "chased us all the way to the shores of Equestria. We tried to fight back, but it shot some kind of... mega laser at us, blasted a huge hole right through the hull of the ship.
"Some of the Hunters tried to fight even while the ship was going down, and some tried to flee, but none of them made it far before... well... you can probably guess."
"I'm so sorry," I said in a horrified whisper, "I had no idea... how did you survive?"
"Well..." he turned and gestured to his back," as you can see, I don't have any wings yet so I couldn't just fly to safety, but the aircraft we were on had this emergency escape pod thing, and Garble..." he winced and wiped his eyes, "a... friend of mine managed to get me on it before the ship crashed. I'm not sure what happened with that avidaeus, but I was launched all the way past... I think you ponies call it Foal Mountain?"
"That far?" I asked, flabbergasted at the distance, "that has to be... at least a hundred and thirty kilometers from where we found you!"
"Yeah, it was a long trip. I crashed just outside the wastes near Mount Canterhorn, but thanks to my healing, I survived," he explained, "afterwards I patched myself up and made my way towards Canterlot to get help, or at least that was the plan."
"But you probably ran into avidaeos trouble on the way I'm assuming," I guessed, to which he nodded grimly. I shook my head in disbelief, "and you managed to survive all on your own all that time?"
"What can I say?" he replied with a shrug and prideful grin, "I just have a knack for getting myself out of trouble... most of the time."
"That's crazy," I replied with a hint of awe in my tone, "and that Daeus Arm that you had... is that crash how it got broken like that?"
"No, that was... because of something else," he replied quietly, "I don't really wanna talk about that. In fact," he downed the rest of his beverage and hopped off the stool, wincing in pain as he landed, "I think it's about time for me to get back to the lab. I was only allowed to come here for a little bit anyway."
"Oh... alright then," I replied, slightly put out by the abrupt departure, "I guess I'll see you later?"
He looked at me for a moment before giving a small smile.
"You know what? Yeah," he replied, "once they finally let me out of that lab for good, we can talk some more later," I returned his smile and he turned and walked away with one last wave, "see ya, Twilight."
"See you soon, Spike," I replied with a wave of my own, "hope you feel better."
I watched him go until he was out of sight, then turned to Fluttershy, only to find that the mare wasn't there anymore. I frowned and scanned the crowd, but I couldn't see her anywhere. I was left alone at the table with nothing but my own thoughts to keep me company.
More worries to add to the growing pile... perfect.
I yawned and stood up from my own seat before heading back into the throng of partying ponies. I hadn't had a chance to enjoy the festivities, but Pinkie had been right when she said I'd meet somepony, or rather somedragon I'd been wanting to talk to. He sounded pretty relaxed about most of what he'd told me, but I felt like there was something major going on involving Spike and his healing ability. It really wasn't any of my business, but I still couldn't help but wonder just what was going on with the fledgling and Wendigo.
For the sake of my own sanity I decided to put all of that behind me for the night and search for one of the Captains. It was way past time for me to turn in, and I needed my door unlocked so I could finally, finally get what I felt at this point was some well deserved rest.
The blaring sound of a klaxon somewhere above me snapped me out of what was already a fitful sleep. I jerked awake, screaming and flailing around in a panic before quickly trying to take stock of my unfamiliar surroundings.
I was in a small, but surprisingly homey room with soft tan walls, a hardwood floor and a large bay window complete with potted plant on the window sill. Off to one corner was one of the terminals I'd seen in the main hub and both a long counter and some small dressers built into the walls. Aside from that, a single small desk and chair, and an empty bookshelf at another end of the room, there wasn't much else to see.
Aside from the entrance, there was another door that led to a bathroom just large enough for a toilet, a standing shower, and a small sink built within. All in all, it was a nice room, if a little spartan in appearance—though that would most likely change with some time. Looking down I saw that I'd been sleeping on a simple but comfortable low profile bed next to one of the walls, and that was when it all came back to me.
Right, this is my room...
Once I'd found Applejack at the party I had her unlock the door to my room, after which I'd taken all of ten seconds to look around my new lodgings before falling into bed and blacking out almost immediately. I didn't even bother to retrieve my bag, unpack or undress from the outfit I wore when I arrived. I hadn't seen Fluttershy, Vinyl or Seeker on the way so I'd just assumed they'd either left before I did or stayed behind at the party in the rec room.
The realization of what had happened before I woke up would've done much to calm me down had it not been for the alarm blasting loud and repetitive in my ears. That told me something somewhere had gone wrong and it wasn't really something I needed right at that moment. Pressing my ears down against my head and slapping my hands over them, I looked over to the window and saw that it was still fairly dark out.
What in Celestia's name is going on?!
Seeing as I was now wide awake, I resolved to find out, but as I threw aside the blanket and prepared to roll out of bed, the urgent sound of Cheerilee's voice came floating through the walls via an intercom somewhere in the building.
"Attention all available Daeus Hunters, facility staff and any visiting civilians, there has been a breach! The Outer District of Ponyville is under attack by avidaeos! I repeat, a large pack of Vargren have surrounded and are trying to scale the wall! Some have gotten through and are assaulting the Outer District! The Retaliation and Defense Teams have already been deployed with the Reserve Team on its way to defend the wall and the Outer District, but we need everypony else awake and alert in case of a full invasion!"
"A pack of... what?!" I cried, clumsily stumbling the rest of the way out of bed in my haste to leave the room, "oh, no. Nonono, not now. Not now!"
It was dark, as I'd neglected to hit the light switch and it was still very much night outside, but I managed to regain my footing and was about to head out the door when there was a sudden and urgent knock on the metal door. I blinked in surprise before backing up a step.
"Er... come in?" I called out hesitantly, "the doors open, I guess."
At that, the door slid open, revealing the unfamiliar silhouette of a pony in the doorway. Before I could ask who it was, the pony flipped the switch near the door and in the light I could see it was a mare I hadn't seen before as of yet.
The mare, a magenta coated, violet maned unicorn, wore both an armlet and a standard cobalt blue Daeus Hunter military jacket complete with black wool pants tucked into black knee high combat boots. Oddly enough, what made me take note of her outfit was the fact that I'd noticed she had another set of clothes and boots under one arm, a set that looked suspiciously like her own.
"You're Twilight Sparkle, right?" the mare asked, her tone both hurried and curt, "one of the new recruits?"
"Um, y-yeah, that's me," I replied, moving my gaze from the outfit to the mare herself, "what's goi—"
"No time, here," the mare interjected, throwing the set of clothes and the boots at my hooves, "get outfitted and make it quick. The Doctor is waiting for you and the others in the prep room."
"The others? Wait, what—" I began, but the mare was already rushing out and down the hall, leaving the door to automatically slam shut behind her, "...the hay is going on?"
Well... so much for my day off, I thought with a quiet sigh, I'd hoped to meet with the Doctor and introduce myself to the rest of the researchers, but I guess that'll have to wait...
I frowned and turned my gaze downward towards the outfit I was given. I glanced at the combat boots with a small amount of distaste. In most cases, hoofwear was worn as more of a fashion statement than anything else. Ponykind had evolved in such a way that the keratinous material of the hoof on its own was far tougher and more durable than what most shoes could provide, so there was no real need to wear shoes of any kind for protection unless you worked with hazardous materials or traveled often, which most ponies didn't given the state of the world.
I'd had to wear safety boots often whenever I worked in my lab back in Canterlot, but used to it as I'd become, I still wasn't particularly fond of having to do so.
I guess it makes sense for Hunters to have some sort of protection against the elements for their hooves... but then again I've seen ponies both with and without hoofwear. Maybe it's optional?
With a small huff, I decided to put that issue behind me for now and move onto the next one as I leaned down, picked up the jacket, and looked it over. I stood there eyeing it for a moment before my gaze fell on the armlet attached just above my wrist.
I frowned.
"How am I even suppose to put it on with this in the way?" I mused, my frown deepened, "how am I suppose to put any kind of shirt on with this in the way?"
Now that I thought about it, that had actually been the reason I'd opted not to change out of my clothes before I went to bed, I couldn't figure out how to get around the armlet. The fabric of both the jacket and the pants felt like it was a sort of thick nylon and cotton blend that mostly certainly didn't feel like it had the tensile strength to stretch over the rather bulky armlet just above my wrist.
I puzzled over the matter for a good minute, all too aware of the still blaring alarm and the others waiting for me in the prep room. Then my eyes wandered over to the terminal in one corner of the room, narrowing with a sudden suspicion.
"You can't be serious," I muttered, quickly moving over to the terminal, "are they expecting us to..."
Activating the terminal, I sorted through the list of available options until I came to 'LOADOUT'. Hitting that brought me to another list with every option greyed out except for the one at the bottom labeled 'APPEARANCE'. I chose the option and a familiar teal light erupted from the flash crystal embedded in the console before enveloping me momentarily.
When the light show ended, the screen then changed to reveal a 3D render of me wearing the clothes I'd arrived here in. Next to the image was another list with clothing options for both tops and bottoms. I checked and sure enough, all of the clothes I wore currently were listed, though they too were greyed out, no doubt because I was still wearing them. My brow furrowed and my mouth dropped open slightly in disbelief.
"Are you kidding me?"
A few minutes later I was heading down the elevator that led to the first floor, fully outfitted in my own apparent uniform and frowning at both the absurdity of what I had to do to get dressed and out of nervous tension regarding what was going to happen next. It turns out I had to register the uniform to the terminal and, much like the satchel, essentially 'teleport' the ensemble onto my body. It was admittedly very convenient and yet another marvel of magitech engineering to be sure, but at the same time I thought it might've been a bit much for a workaround to the issue of the immovable hunk of metal above my wrist.
Thankfully the klaxon had finally been silenced, though Cheerilee's voice would still occasionally come over the intercom giving regular updates on the situation. I'd expected to see other Daeus Hunters rushing past in order to get to the prep room, but there was hardly anypony around save for some of the non-Hunter staff of the Branch that occasionally hurried by on some errand or another. As I reached the first floor and stepped out of the elevator and into the main hub I nearly ran into Seeker, who happened to be passing by at that very moment.
"Oh!" I cried, stumbling back a step, "sorry about that, Seeker. I'm kind of in a rush and didn't see you... there."
I trailed off at Seeker's irritated scowl and smiled sheepishly. Before I could say anything else, the stallion took off towards the prep room without a single word. I watched him go with a frown, noting that he was also wearing a uniform, though he neglected to wear any kind of hoofwear.
"I guess it is optional," I muttered, "or maybe he's breaking protocol and just doesn't care?"
I shook my head and followed after him, my thoughts turning to what the Director and Doctor Whooves had in store for us. As I passed through, I could see that the main hub was practically empty save for the shopkeeps and a few non-combatants idling around the hub with nervous looks or speaking to each other in hushed, worried tones.
Cheerilee was nowhere to be seen, and I assumed she was off coordinating the teams that had already been sent out to the Outer District. A knot of worry formed in my gut as I thought about the citizens in the Outer District and the horror they were probably going through even now. From what I'd read of the avidaeos in the surrounding area, I knew that the smaller, wolf-like Vargren were native to the Everfree Forest, and rarely if ever left.
Cheerilee had mentioned there was a large pack of them, something I found odd given their usual habits and habitat. The Everfree was close, but it wasn't that close. They would've had to travel a good ways out of their territory to come here, but why? Why were they attacking the town, and why now?
Guess I'll find out soon enough...
I made my way over to the entrance of the prep room and stepped through the doorway as the metal doors slid open. The prep room itself was far larger than I was expecting, but that may have just been both the lack of ponies and vehicles, the majority of which had probably already been deployed to the Outer District.
The garage portion in general was fairly empty save for a massive table attached to the wall and bearing mechanical odds and ends for repairs, what might've been a massive tool shed in one corner, and a single armored truck not unlike the one I arrived in parked before an open garage door that led outside and towards the center of town. Something I took note of the was the fact that the engine was running, and another were the sounds of screams, gunfire, and other more indiscernible noises beyond the garage door and the Inner District.
That and the bright orange glow and black smoke rising against the night sky in the far distance made me shiver involuntarily and I quickly turned away from the sight, trying to distract myself with something else. Just from a mere glance I think I knew where all of this was going, and I didn't like it one bit.
To my far right over where the storage area was, I could see row after row of large, mostly empty stands similar to what I'd seen in Derpy's lab. Next to each stand was a terminal and what looked like a huge metal locker. With the terminals in place I wasn't quite sure what the lockers were for, but that was hardly important at the moment, so I ignored the thought.
By their design I figured the stands were meant to hold a Hunter's Daeus Arm, and was proven right when I saw Derpy herself looking over a stand that still had a short blade docked to it.
Derpy? What's she doing here?
Standing altogether not too far from her were the others. Fluttershy, Vinyl and Seeker were already talking to the doctor. Though I was still a bit too far away to hear what they were saying, it was clear at least that Fluttershy was worried, if her frequent furtive glances towards the distant town outside the garage were anything to go by. All of them were suited up the same as I was, and none of them looked happy to be here, not even Vinyl.
As I was about to head over to join in the conversation, I heard the doors to the prep room slide open somewhere behind me, causing me to start and whip around. My eyes widened in surprise as I saw none other than the purple drake from earlier walk through the doorway, sans bandages and with a properly fitted Daeus Hunter uniform to boot.
"Oh, hey Twilight!" the dragon greeted, waving amicably as our eyes met, "fancy meeting you here."
"Spike?" I asked, completely baffled, "what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be recovering back in the lab," I looked him over, a frown of bewilderment on my face, "you look... fine. What happened?"
"I got better. When I told you I heal fast, I wasn't kidding," he replied with a simple shrug. His friendly smile fell into a serious frown as he looked towards a point past me, "more importantly, when I heard what was going on, I couldn't really just sit and wait in that stuffy lab. I wanted to help," he turned back to me and raised his right arm, showing off his black armlet, "I'm a Daeus Hunter too, y'know."
"Well, I mean that's all well and good," I replied, still somewhat taken aback by the turn of events, "but what about your Daeus Arm? Wasn't it heavily damaged out in the wastes?"
"Derpy fixed it for me," Spike replied. He glanced past me once again and his bright green eyes lit up, "oh, and there it is!" he began walking past me, but stopped and glanced back at me, "hold that thought."
And with that he hurried off towards where Depry stood. I looked from him to the Daeus Arm stand and realized that the weapon was indeed the same short blade with the jade green steel restored in its entirety.
"When did Derpy have time to fix that?" I wondered aloud, "and just what the hay is that dragon made of?" as I thought about his healing capability, a theory began to form and I furrowed my brow in thought, "wait a minute... could he have been injected with some sort of advanced Bias Factor?"
It was certainly a possibility.
The Bias Factor was essentially the solution Wendigo had come up with to stop Daeus Arms from devouring their own users. Regular injections were fed into Hunters via a self-generating serum within the armlet itself, and without it, things would get real morbid real fast. There were other ways of obtaining a Bias Factor, but injections by armlet were the most common amongst Hunters.
Maybe Spike's Bias Factor does more than keep the Hive Cells within his body and the weapon at bay. Is that why they were sending him from the Dragonlands to Canterlot?
"Evidently the dragon was just born with a strange Bias Factor," came the response of a familiar deep rasp, "Doctor says it's one of the strangest things he's ever seen."
I turned just in time to see Lieutenant Spitfire walk into the prep room, the metal doors sliding shut behind her. The pegasus mare was wearing her trademark aviators and hefting a sleek and rather simplistic looking charge spear over one shoulder. Judging by the many nicks and scratches in the amber shaded blade, the spear must've either been really old, or horribly cared for, and with Derpy's skill, I doubted the latter was the case.
"He was born with it?" I asked, turning from her to the drake in question. He was giving his short blade a few practice swings and talking to Derpy about something or other, but my mind was running to the only possible conclusion to what Spitfire was saying, "but... how? I know certain traits are sometimes passed down to a Hunter's offspring, but this kind of rapid healing has never been observed in any race. Even dragons and changelings, two races who are well known for that sort of thing don't exhibit ridiculous traits like that, at least not that I've heard of."
Come to think of it, that might've explained why Vinyl and her family were so compatible with Hive Cells. It might've been a trait inherited by her family line somewhere along the way, perhaps some kind of Bias Factor mutation or adaption that occurred at some point over time. My own dad was a Daeus Hunter, but I'd never heard about him being particularly exceptional when it came to his own Bias Factor.
Makes me wonder how I ended up with a high compatibility with the new Arms...
"I don't know what to tell you," Spitfire replied, stepping past me and heading towards the others, "we don't know who his parents are, and neither does Spike himself. The Doc made an inquiry to a genealogist he knows, but nothing's come back yet. Until then I allowed him to come with us," she stopped a little ways away and turned back to me, "it looks like we'll need all the help we can get, and the kid is a certified Daeus Hunter."
With that said, she turned on her heel and walked the rest of the way to the others. There were still tons of questions left unanswered and my interest in the drake had only increased with the mystery surround his origins and unnatural capabilities. I wanted to delve more into the matter, but I'd already wasted enough time and after a moment, I followed after the Lieutenant and made my way to the rest of the group.
"...unsure of the actual cause, but we may have an idea," I heard Doctor Whooves saying as I reached the others, "as we've already seen, the... oh, Twilight Sparkle," the doctor cut himself off as he spotted me approaching, "glad to see you've finally joined us."
"Yeah, sorry. I... got a bit distracted," I replied somewhat awkwardly. I looked around at the gathering with a worried frown, "so what's going on? Why are Vargren attacking so far from the Everfree? And why now?"
"That's... just what we were talking about," Vinyl answered with a slight yawn, "the Doc thinks he might know what's up."
"Indeed," Doctor Whooves confirmed with a nod, "you see, while the Vargren normally—"
"Hate to interrupt, Doc," Spitfire cut in, gesturing to the running truck with a grim frown, "but now that everypony's here, we're moving out. I'll take over the explanations from here. The longer we stay here, the longer the Outer District suffers, and I don't know about you, but I've got a few ponies in town I'm worried about."
"Er, y-yes of course," the doctor replied sheepishly. He cleared his throat before calling out to the dragon near the weapon stands, "Spike? Are you ready over there?"
"Yeah, I'm coming!" Spike called back, waving goodbye to Derpy as he ran over to where we were. Derpy gave a small wave and smile in return before retreating back to the prep room entrance and the main hub beyond. The drake slowed to a stop before Doctor Whooves and the rest of us, short sword in claw and a determined grimace on his face, "so we're good to go then?"
"That we are, my draconic friend," the doctor replied as he began ushering all of us towards the truck, "the Lieutenant knows of the situation and what may be causing the Vargren to attack the town, and since we are rather short on time and ponies, I'll let her explain everything on the way."
"Oh, so you're not coming then?" Spike asked, sounding oddly disappointed.
"I'm afraid not," Doctor Whooves replied with an apologetic smile, "I'd be more of a hindrance than a help in this case."
"U-Um, excuse me?" came the soft and slightly terrified near whisper of Fluttershy. We all turned to her at once, causing her to wince at the sudden attention, but she pressed on nevertheless, "I... I know we don't have our Daeus Arms yet, but... a-and you did explain how dire the situation is... but we won't have to do anything... too dangerous, will we? I mean, w-we're still new after all. We don't really... have any experience... um..."
The pegasus trailed off at that and quietly stared at her boots, her face growing red with embarrassment. We all looked at her in silence for a good moment before Vinyl pulled her into a one armed hug, causing the awkwardly shifting mare to 'eep' in surprise.
"Eh, I'm sure we'll be fine," Vinyl chirped with a confident grin, "we got Lieutenant Spitfire and the little guy to keep us safe," she turned to the two in question, "ain't that right?"
"That's what I'm here for," Spitfire replied, adjusting her grip on her charge spear, "I've been tasked to protect the lot of you while you do what you need to do, and since Spike here volunteeered, he'll be doing the same."
"R-Right," Spike replied with a small nod. He looked resolute, but I could tell the young dragon was reluctant by the look in his eyes and the tightening grip on his blade, "I screwed up on my own last time, but those were... different circumstances, and I won't make the same mistake again," a confident smile suddenly crossed his face, "you can count on me."
"Well, there you go!" Vinyl replied, patting Fluttershy on the back and moving to follow Spitfire, who'd already began heading the rest of the way to the truck, "plus we have all the other Daeus Hunters already on the scene, so like I said, we got this."
"Y-Yeah... I guess you're right," Fluttershy muttered, "I just hope it's enough..."
It was clear she wasn't entirely convinced, and I didn't blame her. She muttered something else under her breath, but I couldn't catch it, and before I could ask, she quickly moved to follow Vinyl, as did Spike, leaving me alone with Doctor Whooves.
"Wait," I began, turning to the remaining pony, "so what exactly are we doing? Why are we heading out into the town when we have no weapons?"
"Ah, my apologies, Miss Sparkle," the Doctor replied with another sheepish smile, "in all the excitement, I forgot to tell you the reason we pulled you out of bed," his smile disappeared as he turned away from me and towards the town, "regardless of the fact that the lot of you aren't yet fully fledged Daeus Hunters, we still need your help, and the Director believes this is a prime opportunity to get some real life experience."
"Before we've had any kind of formal training?" I asked incredulously, "what does she expect us to do?"
At that, Doctor Whooves turned back to me, his expression both understanding and apologetic.
"In this day and age, life is wrought with unexpected danger, and she wants you to understand that," he replied softly, "and yes it's a risk, but we need all the help we can get. While the Hunters are out there fighting, there's going to be some townsfolk in need of help that they won't be able to provide, and that's were you all come in."
I blinked.
"Wait, so we're... on rescue duty then?"
The Doctor nodded and gestured to the truck that everypony had already gathered in.
"Exactly, now if you would, Miss Sparkle? As we've already established, time is not on our side and I have certain arrangements to make," he gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "you... all of you will come out of this stronger for the experience, and besides..." his warm smile turned mysterious, "...I think you in particular will be able to provide more for us than just a helping hand if my hunch is correct."
"You're... what?" I asked in bewilderment as he stepped away from me, "what do you mean? What 'hunch'? Doctor, what are you talking about?"
"Never you mind for the moment," Doctor Whooves replied, already turning to head back to the main hub, "I'm sure you'll understand once the Lieutenant explains everything to you. I wish you and the others good luck, Twilight Sparkle. Be safe and remember to watch out for your comrades as well as the citizens."
And just like that, he was gone, disappearing behind the large sliding metal doors leading back inside the facility and leaving me to stare after him with a whole host of emotions I wasn't prepared to deal with this early in the morning.
Once we'd all gathered into the armored truck and Spitfire and Spike had stored their Arms safely away, the flame-maned pegasus popped open a hatch below the dashboard and from it, pulled out several small handheld devices. She gave one to each of us and explained that they were two-way radios linked to the medics out on the field. contact with them was to be made once we'd found any injured civilians and somepony from the Medical Squad would arrive at the location ASAP. The device would also connect to any nearby Daeus Hunters in the area as well—something I, and I'm sure the others, were immensely grateful for.
Once the transceivers were passed around and she'd explained how to use them, the Lieutenant punched the gas and we were off. It wasn't long before the armored truck was roaring out of the garage, through the large driveway, and out into the inner district of Ponyville. I wasn't sure if Spitfire was just rushing because we were short on time or if she was just a reckless driver in general, but to my terror and that of another, more soft spoken pegasus, there was a lot of dangerous tilting and swerving in the first few minutes of the drive.
Thankfully there hadn't been many civilians on the road as we came tearing through—something I found somewhat odd. I'd assumed there would be refugees from the Outer District fleeing deeper into the city all things considered.
Maybe most of them already evacuated to a safer place? Or maybe...
I stopped myself from going any further than that, as that last thought didn't bear thinking about. I instead focused on keeping my eyes, and my thoughts, on the task ahead, which, unfortunately, also brought my mind to the tragedy that might've been. Those ponies that were still out and about were heading further into the city as I suspected, and I was doubly glad they had the sense to stay far out of Spitfire's way. Things finally smoothed out for the most part as we reached the main road, but before I or anypony else had a chance to complain about the initial exit from the facility, Spitfire started talking.
"Alright fledglings, here's the long story short," she began, blasting the truck's horn at a group of ponies crossing the road up ahead, "a massive pack of Vargren started attacking the slums out of nowhere about half an hour ago. None of us know why for sure, but the Doc has a theory that it has something to do with the Cannibal."
My eyes widened in recognition and understanding at that.
Right, that was one of the reasons I was transferred out here to Ponyville in the first place. I guess it would make sense if that were the case. It's not uncommon for Avidaeos to eat each other from time to time, but to gorge itself so much that it possibly drove the other group out of its territory...
"C-Cannibal?" Fluttered whimpered, her eyes going as wide as mine, albeit for completely different reasons, "you're talking about... a-about that strange Avidaeos that's been... that's... been—"
"That's been making a meal out of all the other local monsters in the area, yeah," Spitfire answered, "initially when we discovered the Celestia damned thing we thought it was weird, but since it wasn't bothering us, we figured we'd leave it to do some of the work for us."
"Bad move," Vinyl replied seriously, "in a lotta ways, Avidaeos are just like wild animals. Territorial wild animals. That's part of the reason why they attack so frequently in some areas. They don't like other Avidaeos muscling in on their turf, and if they get ousted by a stronger force, they'll eventually try to find a new feeding ground elsewhere... and try to wipe out anything or anypony that gets between them and that goal."
"The Doc figured that much might happen from the beginning," Spitfire agreed with a nod, "he convinced the Director to send out a few squads to pursue the thing, but... well..." she trailed off, and though I couldn't see it from where I was sitting, I could practically feel the grim scowl on her face as she spoke her next words, "...things didn't exactly work out as planned in the end."
"So... it's still out there somewhere then," Spike surmised from next to me, "and you think it chased the Vargren out of their territory?"
"I know it did," Spitfire replied, "the walking kindling never leave the Everfree. Ever. For them to attack Ponyville like this... it's never happened before—not with the Vargren," she shook her head, "but anyhow, that's the long and short of why they might be attacking, now comes what we—or more specifically, Twilight, Vinyl, and Fluttershy roles are in this clusterbuck—"
There was a sudden burst of static from the dashboard and the unfamiliar voice of a mare filled the truck.
"Lieutenant Spitfire do you read me? Are you there?"
Shifting in my seat a bit, I saw that the voice had come from a small speaker built into the dashboard itself. Connected next to it was a small handheld comm device, the back of which was adorned with a steadily blinking red light.
Why wasn't there one of those in the truck we took to get here? Probably would've made things a lot easier...
I set the thought aside as we all watched Spitfire frown and pick up the device. She kept her eyes forward as she put it close to her mouth and spoke, her tone somewhat clipped.
"Spitfire here, what's the situation, Fair Weather?"
"Good news, thankfully," came the relieved reply, "Applejack's team managed to either terminate or drive out most of the Vargren that made it in, so you shouldn't see too much opposition when you arrive."
There were a few sighs of relief from the back, one of which was my own. I knew we weren't in the clear yet, but I was still thankful for small favors and was willing to take anything I could get at this point. My relief was short lived, and fear took over once again as the sound of an explosion ahead of us rocked the truck. A quick glance outside the window showed the blast was far enough away that I could only see the resulting smoke rising in the distance.
Still, it had been too close for my liking all the same, and the fact that were passing less civilians and more ponies in Wendigo uniforms and other Wendigo transport vehicles wasn't helping my nerves any. Unfortunately, the mare on the other end of the line hadn't finished talking either.
"Don't drop your guard though," the mare continued, "there's still some stragglers hanging around, and several more are still trying to breach the wall. Fleetfoot and her team are on the walls picking off the ones that haven't gotten in yet—"
"What's the 1st Unit doing now?" Spitfire interrupted, "where's Applejack?"
There was a pause on the other line and I could hear the sound of urgent typing amidst a host of other frantic background noise and voices, then...
"Um... it looks like Applejack and her squad are working with the Research Team to mount a counter-offensive and eliminate the rest of the Vargren outside," another small pause, "I just got word that the Defense Team is taking care of the stragglers still inside the walls."
"Shouldn't the Defense Team be out there instead?" Spike asked, turning to Spitfire with a bemused frown, "I'm pretty sure the Research Team can handle the stragglers, right?"
"Normally we would send the Defense Team out there instead," Spitfire answered somewhat grimly, "but we lost a lot of ponies in both the 1st and 2nd Units not too long ago, so we're trying to focus each squad on where they're needed the most, and the Research Team has the most members right now," she allowed a wry smirk to cross her face, "this last month's probably been the most exercise the Research Team's gotten in awhile."
"Oh," Spike replied simply, "alright then."
Spitfire raised a brow at the drakeling for a moment, but shook her head a second later and returned her attention to the comm device.
"Well, in any case, it's good to hear we have nearly everything in hoof," she continued, speaking to the mare, "what about civilian casualties?"
"Minimal, but we have several injured in the crossfire," the mare replied, "the Defense Team has their hands full with the remaining Vargren in town. We've rounded up a few volunteers to help the wounded get to safety, but we could really use a bit more help trying to get the civilians out of the battle zone."
"Let Bon Bon know we've almost reached the slums," Spitfire answered, "we'll be there in a few, just tell them to hold on until then."
"Roger that, Lieutenant," there was another pause, and then, "and... Lieutenant?"
Spitfire raised an eyebrow at the worried tone in Fair Weather's voice. But responded nevertheless.
"Something else I should know about, Fair?"
"No, it's just..." another pause, "things are mostly under control now, but... do you really think it's a good idea to send the rookies out there without any training at all? I mean they don't even have Daeus Arms yet."
"Frankly? No, I don't. Not in the slightest," Spitfire answered after a second of thought. She turned and cast a quick, unreadable glance in our direction before returning her eyes to the road, "I think it's a damn fool move on the Director's part, but there's nothing that can be done about it now other than for those of us who can fight to make sure they come out of this alive and stronger for the experience."
An uneasy silence reigned for the next few moments after that. I continued to stare out the window, listening to the rapidly approaching sound of battle and trying to get my nerves under control. I could practically feel the fear flowing off of Fluttershy, but without looking I couldn't discern how Vinyl and Seeker felt about the whole thing. Curious despite myself, I turned and saw that Vinyl wore an uncharacteristically grim frown. Her eyes were once again hidden behind her violet shades and Seeker for his part wore a stony expression that gave nothing away.
No, wait... hang on...
I frowned and narrowed my eyes slightly, trying to get a better look at the stallion.
He actually looks... is that a smile?
A resigned sigh over the comm distracted me from my observations and we all looked over to Spitfire as Fair Weather finally responded.
"I guess that's the best we can hope for," came the mare's unhappy reply, "just make sure you and that dragon keep them safe alright? I don't want to lose anymore ponies tonight if we can help it. Fair Weather, out."
Before Spitfire could reply, the speaker cut out with another small burst of static. The Lieutenant sighed and returned the comm device to the dashboard.
"Well that wasn't very inspiring," Spike muttered before turning around in the front seat to give us a confident grin, "but hey, things are gonna be fine. It isn't like we're alone out there or anything, right?"
I was the only who gave any kind of response, and it was a small half-hearted and mostly distracted agreement. Most of my attention was focused on the surrounding chaos outside the truck. The well maintained and sturdily built structures of Ponyville's inner district had finally given way to the more dilapidated hovels of the outer district where the slums lay. There hadn't been as much collateral damage as I'd expected given all the noise, but that was probably because we hadn't reached the actual site of the battle yet.
I could see a few lightly armored medical transport vehicles parked here and there. As we passed by I could see both Wendigo medics and civilians loading injured into the trucks and was strongly reminded of the harrowing journey Vinyl and I had taken to get here. I felt like this was even worse than that had been if for no other reason than that there were far more lives at stake than just Spike's. Back then, only he'd been injured, and he'd recovered fairly quickly, but these ponies weren't part of Wendigo. They weren't Daeus Hunters and they didn't deserve to go through any of this.
"I'll be damned if these ponies don't know what they're doing..."
I broke my gaze away from the window to look at Vinyl and saw that she'd also been watching the ponies outside. When she noticed me looking she nodded back towards the window and spoke again.
"Looks like this isn't the first time they've had to do this," she observed, "they look focused, y'know? Methodical and precise, kinda like gramps whenever he's doing maintenance on his scythe."
Setting the weird comparison aside, I gave the ponies outside another look. It took a moment, and it was a bit hard to tell with us speeding by everything, but eventually I began to see what Vinyl was talking about. The citizens that had volunteered to help with the injured were clearly distinguishable from the Wendigo medics by their attire and overall raggedness, but aside from their appearance, there was little difference in the way they handled the situation.
The ponies of the slums seemed just as professional and efficient as the medics, and I was even more surprised to find that their was no panic in most of their expressions—just a dogged determination to save as many lives as possible. It was an inspiring sight, and looking at these ponies, I felt as though we'd be just fine. I realized then that Spike was right; we really weren't alone out there, and it wasn't just because we were being protected by Daeus Hunters.
"Avidaeos attacks happen often enough that most parents in the slums teach their foals safety measures and evacuation protocols," Fluttershy said suddenly. Something in her voice made me turn to her, but she'd been looking out her own window and I couldn't see her expression as she continued, "a few members from the Wendigo Medical Team visit the slums once every couple of weeks to hold 'first response' seminars free of charge for anypony who wants to learn," she finally turned to face me, that grim look of determination the volunteers wore mirrored in her eyes, "there isn't a single pony living in the slums who doesn't attend those seminars."
I blinked and stared at the mare for a long moment.
"Fluttershy," I began slowly, a growing suspicion working its way into my mind, "did you also... do you... live in the Outer District?"
We looked at each other for an oddly tense second, but it was Fluttershy that broke first. She looked away and opened her mouth to give some kind of reply, but before she could, Spitfire spoke first.
"Alright, enough chit-chat, ponies," she interjected, "our destination's just up ahead, so here's the deal. Spike and I will be the first one's out, we're gonna mostly be sticking to buildings as we search for any civvies that need a helping hand," she cast us another side glance, "don't stray too far from us, and for Celestia's sake do not try to be a hero; you're not trained for it yet. Help who you can and bail out if things get too bad or rescue seems like a lost cause, got i—"
"CONTACT RIGHT!"
Spike's sudden outburst was the only warning we got before something smashed itself against the reinforced glass of the drake's window. The sounds of terrified shrieks and loud expletives filled the truck mostly coming from Fluttershy and Vinyl Scratch. Unbidden, my mind instantly flashed back to the massive wolf-like Lobairo that had attacked on the way to Ponyville as a snarling, vaguely lupine face pushed against the now cracked glass of the window. From what little I could see of the creature, it was large enough that its entire face took up the majority of the window.
It was the first time I'd seen one in person, but I had no doubt that this was what one of the Vargren the other Daeus Hunters had been fighting against.
The Avidaeus was somewhat wolf-like, but unlike the giant horned Lobairo, this beast looked as though it was made entirely of splintered and ashen wood that wrapped around the frame of its face like raw corded muscle. Combined with the sickly yellow glow that replaced the eyes in its eye sockets and its snapping jaws with two rows of jagged blackened teeth, the effect was rather horrifying and more than a little gruesome. To Spitfire's credit, she managed to keep the truck under control for the most part, but the thing had somehow latched itself onto the vehicle and wasn't letting go.
I watched, frozen with fear as the thing bashed its face against the window again and again, putting more and more cracks in the glass with each repetition. Just when it looked like the window was about to give, the entire truck sudden swerved to the right and stopped, the sudden movement enough to tilt the truck slightly. All of us in the back were thrown to the left, but the beast held on, and as soon the truck stopped moving it slammed its face into the glass again.
Fluttershy and I screamed as the glass finally gave, but as the wolven Avidaeus tried to push its gaping maw in to take a bite out of the young dragon, it found its progress stymied by a pair of strong purple claws. Spike grunted as he held the Vargren's jaws open, his sharp teeth clenched, his draconic eyes narrowed, and the scales in his neck and hands shifting and bulging with the effort of holding the beast back. I sat, staring in amazement at the feat of strength, mentally trying to reconcile the vicious dragon I was seeing with the adorable baby faced drake I'd spoken with only hours before.
The amazement didn't last long, and was quickly replaced with shock as Spike opened his own mouth and let loose a blinding gout of green flame straight down the creature's throat. The Vargren immediately, pushed itself away from the truck, its pained howls mixing with the loud sound of crackling firewood. The flames had caught the beast on fire from the inside out—its burning wooden hide giving off an oddly pleasant scent, like potpourri.
The wooden wolf thrashed about for a few moments, probably trying to put itself out, but eventually gave up and fled down the street. I watched it go until it turned down a different road and ran out of sight. I didn't have time to dwell on what I'd just seen, as something was suddenly shoved into my hands by Spitfire, who'd made her way to the back of the truck at some point while we were all distracted.
"Here, take these and try not to blind yourselves," the Lieutenant grunted, handing us each a small metal canister, "it'll keep the bastards busy for a bit and give you some time to escape if need be. It's not much, but it's the best we've got right now, and it's better than nothing."
I held the canister up to get a better look and at first, didn't know what I was looking at. It was a small grey and yellow tube capped on both ends by thick metal plates. There was what looked like a small flat circular dial on one end. The dial was numbered from three to ten, and seeing that, I realized what Spitfire had given me was a stun grenade. Fluttershy, Vinyl and Seeker had each gotten one as well. I grimaced, wishing we'd been given something a bit more substantial, but standard explosive grenades were found to be horribly ineffective against even the weakest Avidaeos. The best we could do outside of using Daeus Arms was momentarily stun and trap the things.
I'd heard the R&D team was working on something that could do some damage, but nothing had come of the project as of yet. Until then, we'd just have to deal with keeping the Avidaeos at bay as best we could with what we had, and the Lieutenant was right; it was better than nothing. I'd never used anything like this, but Shining, in one of his many overzealous explanations of Wendigo weaponry, had filled me in on how to use one. Looking at Vinyl, it seemed like she was also fairly comfortable with the thing as she turned the canister this way and that, inspecting every inch of it.
In fact, the only one who didn't seem like they knew what they were doing was Fluttershy, who held the thing away from her like it would go off at any second. Spitfire must've noticed, because she started explaining without any kind of vocal prompt.
"It ain't exactly rocket science, hon," she began, moving aside as Spike made his way to the back to grab his own Daeus Arm, "just turn the dial and throw. Each number on the dial represent the seconds it takes for the thing to detonate once thrown. Now get back here all of you, we're heading out."
Fluttershy and I shared a nervous glance—well, my glance was nervous; Fluttershy looked absolutely terrified, but she followed after Spike and Spitfire nonetheless, right behind Vinyl, Seeker and I. Once we were all gathered in the back, Spitfire took a second to observe all of us with a heavy frown of dissatisfaction. Whether it was aimed at us or at the situation in general I couldn't tell, but it didn't last long and she gave a quiet sigh of resignation after another moment.
For a second I thought the mare was going to give us some kind of inspiring speech, but she turned away instead, grabbing hold of a latch on one side of the truck. Without a word she pulled the latch out slightly, twisted and pushed it back in. There was a loud click as it slammed into place. It was followed by a low whir as the back of the truck began to rise up and out, revealing the battered and—in some cases—burning remains of the Outer District beyond.
"Remember, we're not alone out here," Spitfire said, giving us a backward glance, "if at any point you lose track of us or vice versa, stay calm, stay out of sight and if you can, look for the other Daeus Hunters, you have the comm devices, use them whenever necessary. The other Hunters will make sure you get out of this alive if we can't get to you. Now let's move, rookies!"
With that, she hopped out of the truck and immediately took up perimeter around the outside. Spike went to follow, but held back a moment and turned to us with another encouraging smile. He opened his mouth, no doubt to give the inspiring speech we were expecting from Spitfire, but faltered. After a few false starts he gave a sheepish grin, rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged.
"Uh... what she said, I guess," he finally said, "we'll make it through this, just leave the fighting to us, alright?"
He didn't wait for us to answer, and jumped out after Spitfire. Seeker was next to head out, not saying a word to any of us as he moved forward and dropped down out of the truck.
"Welp, it's do or die time, ladies," came Vinyl's far too jovial tone, as she stepped past us and towards the open hatch. She looked back and gave us one of her signature lazy smiles, "don't know about you, but I'd rather get this over with as soon as possible. Still have some sleep I need to catch up on, so..."
She left her statement unfinished as she jumped down and joined Seeker. Fluttershy and I were the only ones left, and I turned to mare, intending to try and give some kind of words of comfort, but it turned out there was no need. To my surprise, the shaking pegasus moved on her own, the stun grenade clutched to her chest like it was the most precious thing in the world.
"Fluttershy?" I asked, unsure of what to say as she walked ahead of me, "are you... okay?"
She tensed for a moment, but relaxed a second later and gave a small nod. She didn't look back, nor did she reply verbally, she just moved ahead, carefully climbing her way down off the truck. I stood there alone for another few seconds, biting my lip and taking one last worried look out at the ruined buildings in the distance.
I really hope you knew what you were doing when you sent me out here, Celestia, because I'm still not convinced this was a good idea...
With that depressing thought, I let out a long, shaky sigh and followed after the others, praying everything went well, but afraid that nothing would.
The slums were a lot more expansive than I gave them credit for, then again I suppose that would be the case when you weren't viewing a small part of it through the window of a truck. Actually traveling past and through the dilapidated buildings, coarse dirt roads, and dark and gloomy alleyways on hoof was a vastly different experience altogether. It really gave me a sense of just how difficult the ponies living here must've had it. It would've been humbling even had it not been for the potential danger of a hungry Vargren lurking about, but with that being the case, it was not only humbling, it was both sad and terrifying. This is what these ponies had to suffer through on a regular basis?
The fear of never knowing when an attack would come? Knowing your home and loved ones might be the first attacked in a vicious Avidaeus raid? It was madness. I had no idea how these ponies could handle it all and still leave their homes with smiles on their faces each day. Even knowing there were only a few Vargren left in town, even knowing there were more Daeus Hunters about just a call away, even knowing we had a seasoned veteran to protect and guide us greenhorns as we made our way through the slums searching for potential survivors who hadn't yet been rescued, I couldn't shake my fear that something would go horribly wrong. Worst-case scenarios battered themselves against the walls of my mind, and my newly heightened senses only seemed to make things worse.
My enhanced sight had thrown everything into sharp relief, even in near-complete darkness. Every small movement in my periphery had me jumping at shadows. Every minute sound in the distance had my ears swiveling in that direction desperately trying to catch some creeping horror that wasn't there. I doubt there were many who could've pried the flash grenade from the iron tight grip I had around it. Surround by countless others in a relatively safe environment like the Wendigo base, I'd been able to distract myself from the changes I'd undergone, but out here in what I guess the lieutenant would've called 'the field', it was a lot harder to ignore given how hard I was relying on each of my senses. I was so far out of my element it was almost laughable.
The only reason I wasn't having a full-on panic attack was that the one I expected to have the most trouble acclimating was the one who—at least at first glance—seemed to be the most collected. Well, maybe 'collected' wasn't the right word for the expression on Fluttershy's face. It was more like she was... determined. There was an air of conviction about the mare that I'd only gotten a small glimpse of before now. As our small group of six quickly but quietly moved through battle-torn streets and homes that had suffered major and minor collateral damage from the fighting, Fluttershy never once faltered or lagged behind. Lieutenant Spitfire had taken up the rear and Spike took point, both keeping a vigilant eye on our surroundings. Seeker and Vinyl seemed to be dealing with the situation well enough, searching diligently for any straggling slum dwellers that had been left behind.
I, of course, did my part in looking out for somepony needing help, but I don't think any of us could've held a candle to Fluttershy's efforts. She sought out the lost and injured like she'd been doing it all her life, and if my suspicions were correct, that probably wasn't too far from the truth. It really was an encouraging sight to behold truth be told, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit envious of the way she was handling herself. Still, it wasn't as though she had no fear; one would only need to look as far as her shaking hands, quivering wings, and the sheen of sweat on her brow to know that she was just as nervous and on-edge as the rest of us, but she was certainly doing an admirable job of trying to hide it. It was for that reason that I didn't complain despite my own fear. It also helped that we were well over an hour into our search and so far hadn't run into a single Vargren since the one that attacked the truck.
We did manage to find one stallion trapped beneath the debris of a partially collapsed storehouse, but only the one so far. Fluttershy and I had pulled him free while Vinyl contacted one of the closest medics nearby. He'd suffered a broken leg, some minor cuts and bruises, and one nasty gash on his arm, but all things considered, it could've been much worse. As it turned out, there were still some civilians that had taken it upon themselves to do much the same as we were. It was two of these civilians that actually found us before the medic did, one of them actually being a close acquaintance of the injured stallion. We offered to stay and look after the pony until the medics came, but the two who'd arrived insisted they had it taken care of, mentioning that they'd seen no Vargren in the immediate area.
They'd been surprisingly stubborn about the matter, so in the end, we left them to it and moved on. I had my reservations about leaving them there, but they'd insisted and we did have a job to do, even if we hadn't had a chance to do much of anything yet. While a part of me was grateful that things had gone so smoothly so far, the rest of me could only see this as some kind of omen—the calm before the storm as it were. We had yet to come across any other Daeus Hunters, but I wasn't all too surprised about that given that the majority of them had probably moved to help defend the wall by now. I could still hear the distant sounds of battles being fought, but my enhanced hearing made it difficult to tell how close or far away it actually was.
While I was working as part of Daeus Arms R&D, I had overheard a few stallions talking about how amazing it would be to have the kind of abilities Daeus Hunters got when they went through Daeification. It was just stallions being stallions and I understood that, but I also remembered thinking that there was more to the process than just a massive boost in physical traits. Growing up, I used to think in much the same way as they did, but as I got older I began to understand just what it meant to have all your senses change so suddenly and drastically from what you'd grown used to all your life. Shining had even mentioned before that he'd had some issues getting used to the sights, sounds, and smells around him.
He'd described his experience as 'having his entire world expanded exponentially... and not always in a good way'. Having now gone through the same thing, I couldn't agree more with his sentiments. It's like my mind was still trying to catch up with my new senses, an issue that wouldn't have been all that much of a problem in a controlled environment. I'm fairly certain that's what training was for and I couldn't help but wonder if the others were having just as much trouble adapting as I was. None of them looked like they were, but then again, looks could be deceiving, so I chose to break the rather tense silence and ask the mare walking in front of me about it.
"Not gonna lie, it does have me messed up a bit, yeah," Vinyl whispered, giving a quick scan of the area before flashing me a self-deprecating smirk, "got a nasty shock when I tried to crank the volume up on my headphones. Had to crank it back down, thought my eardrums were gonna burst otherwise."
"You'll get used to it quick enough," Spike chimed in from up ahead, "but yeah, those first few days are pretty bad, especially during actual combat," he gave a slight chuckle, "back in training I was all kinds of disoriented from the changes, almost lost an arm because of it."
The drakeling looked back with a self-deprecating smile similar to Vinyl's, only to drop it once he saw that none of us were particularly amused by his little anecdote. The only thing he'd accomplished with his story was fraying my nerves even more than they already were and causing Fluttershy's mask of determination to crack with fear. Realizing his mistake, Spike opened his mouth, closed it, and turned away with a far more sheepish chuckle.
"That... probably didn't help any," he muttered, "sorry."
He was right about that, and not only that but now I was left wondering just what kind of training he went through to almost lose an arm. That didn't really sound like something that should happen during a training exercise. Then again he was a dragon and presumably trained in the Dragonlands. With how tough dragons were normally, their training regimen was probably far more brutal than it would've been here. Still, the idea that even simple training could be that dangerous where he was from made me shudder. Looking at how young Spike still was, I also couldn't help but sympathize a little. These thoughts and more circulated within my mind as we continued to make our way through the slums, systematically rooting through empty, damaged homes in search of ponies that still needed rescuing.
Over the course of the next hour or so we did find a few more ponies in need of help, some more so than others. The first pony had been a troubling sight for me, as I hadn't had to deal with an injured pony up close and personal like this. Sure there'd been a few incidents here and there in the lab back in Wendigo HQ when somepony got careless, but I was never around whenever that happened, and accidental injuries were a rare occurrence in general. After the fourth pony though, I began to get used to the sight, or at the very least I was able to ignore the unease I felt at my task. There hadn't been much talking after the small conversation between Vinyl, Spike, and I but I figured that was probably for the best anyway.
I really didn't want to be distracted if a giant wooden wolf thing suddenly popped out of a nearby alleyway. As it happened, something actually did pop out of a nearby alleyway and though Spitfire and Spike had both caught onto the potential ambush moments beforehand and adjusted their stance and positions accordingly, the sudden feral roar of a lone Vargren as it came charging out of that small dark space still scared the living Tartarus out of me and everypony else except maybe Seeker. The moment it emerged from out of the darkness time itself seemed to stop. It didn't, I was sure, but in that moment I swore I could see each and every detail of the creature as it launched itself off the ground in a vicious lunge towards Spike, who'd already moved to stand at the forefront of our group.
It didn't need to roar for us to know its intent; its massive wooden bulk, powerful limbs, and horrifying wolven visage alone screamed for the drake's death. There was murder in its eyes, and I was able to catch a glimpse of the possible reason its sickly glowing yellows were so fixated on Spike. The Vargren's thick wooden frame was heavily damaged, large patches of its already ashen colored body burnt further black and still smoking in some areas. In that single moment where time seemed to crawl to a standstill, in that blink of an eye, my eyes had analyzed all of this and my mind had put the pieces together. At that moment I realized this was the same beast that had attacked our truck and was sent fleeing into the night for its trouble, its body wreathed in green dragonfire. It was back, and it wanted revenge, a sentiment I didn't even know Avidaeos were capable of.
The moment passed soon enough, and as Spike raised his short blade to ward off the Vargren, all I could do was stand somewhere behind him, frozen in shock and horror. Fortunately, much to everypony's surprise, the monstrous wolf didn't get a chance to sink its blackened razorlike teeth into Spike's scaly flesh. Spike himself hadn't even gotten a chance to fully lift his daeus arm before a cyan blur shot past the lot of us from behind and slammed into the beast with enough force to send it hurtling at high speed back into the darkness of the alleyway with a canine yelp of pain or surprise or both, I couldn't tell. The momentum of the interloper had sent it flying right along with the Vargren into the alley and the sounds of a brief but vicious struggle ensued seconds later.
From where I stood, I could only see vague outlines—not enough to make out what was actually going on, but by the pitiful whine that eventually floated out of the shadows and the relative silence that followed, it was clear our lupine assailant had met its end. None of us spoke a word as the figure rose to its full height and began to walk out of the alleyway. By the shape of the silhouette, it was clearly a pony, and judging by the way it handled the Vargren and the shadow of what I could only guess was a short blade, that pony was almost certainly a Daeus Hunter. Both my suspicions were confirmed as the pony—a cyan coated, prismatic maned pegasus mare in uniform—stepped out of the darkened alley and into the light of the moon. The mare in question raised one hand in a casual greeting, her other resting what was indeed a short blade on one shoulder.
"No need to thank me, folks, just doing what I do best," the mare began, a friendly—if almost insufferably smug—smile plastered across her face, "when you've got Rainbow Dash watching your back there's nothing to... worry..." she trailed, her slightly raspy voice petering out as she took in our ragtag group mostly consisting of fresh recruits. Her rosy eyes widened in shock as they landed on the pink maned pegasus who, up until a few seconds ago, was cowering behind Vinyl, "wait... Fluttershy?!"
At the sound of her name—or maybe judging by her look of recognition, at the familiar voice and face—Fluttershy stepped past Vinyl and quickly moved to greet the pony who'd saved us all a good deal of trouble.
"Rainbow Dash!" she cried, her soft voice filled with equal parts relief and worry as she pulled the bewildered cyan mare into a brief but heartfelt hug, "oh, I'm so happy to see you! I saw you at the party, but you left before I could talk to you and, well..." she bit her lip before giving a dismissive shake of her head, "I guess that doesn't matter now that you're here. Are you okay? That... that monster didn't hurt you, did it?"
"Wha—no! No, I'm okay," Rainbow replied, pulling away and looking over Fluttershy with a critical and bemused eye. It might've been my imagination, but I thought I could see disappointment or remorse beneath the confusion as she spoke, "yeah, sorry I had to bail on you like that, Flutters, but I was... kinda busy. Orders from the Captain and all that..." she grimaced as if suddenly remembering a particularly unpleasant memory before moving on, "nevermind me though, what about you? What the hay are you doing out here, Fluttershy?"
"Oh... well, um..." Fluttershy's smile fell and she began to fidget, her eyes suddenly downcast, "I... I decided to go through with it after all. I'm..." she paused a moment, then took a deep breath and returned Rainbow Dash's worried gaze with that same determined look I'd seen earlier, "I'm... I'm a Daeus Hunter now."
"Yeah, I can see that much for myself," the rainbow maned pegasus replied, glancing down at the black and white armlet above Fluttershy's wrist before shaking her head, "I'm... I guess I'm happy for you. I mean, I'm glad you made it and all—really I am... but that doesn't explain why you're here in the slums without a weapon. Shouldn't you..." she looked around at the rest of us, as if finally noticing most of us were in the same situation as Fluttershy, "shouldn't you all be back at the base? You guys only just went through the Daeification process yesterday, right?"
"Orders from the top, Dash," came Spitfire's curt reply. She nodded in acknowledgment as Rainbow turned snapped a crisp salute before continuing her explanation, "we're all out here on what's essentially a search and rescue mission. We're to avoid combat if at all possible, and with that in mind, you've done us all big favor. Well done, Rainbow, you have my thanks."
"Ah, it was nothing, really," Rainbow Dash replied, though with a lot less bravado than before, "but with all due respect, ma'am, none of them have even gone through training yet. Doesn't this seem kinda..."
"Believe me, Rainbow Dash, I'm right there with you," Spitfire answered with a sigh, "but orders are orders, and we all have to do our part. If it's any consolation, we've only had two run-ins with the enemy, and you saved us from having to deal with one of them," a thoughtful pause, and then, "what's the latest on our situation so far? Has the wall been secured yet?"
Rainbow opened her mouth to reply but her voice died out as a familiar burst of static cut through the air, emanating from each and every one of our receivers. A second later the static was replaced with a voice I recognized, but couldn't immediately place at first.
"To any Wendigo personnel deployed in the Outer District, this is Control calling on an open channel. Be advised that several more Vargren have made it past our defenses and have entered the Outer District! I say again, more Vargren are entering the Outer District! We have reports of a pack of at least seven or eight, possibly more... and... wait a moment... what's... i-is that—"
The voice—Cheerilee's I finally remembered—cut out in another short burst of static, leaving a short but ominous silence in its wake. I had just enough time to quietly bemoan the fact that I'd been right to worry all along before an ear-piercing howl rang out somewhere in the distance, catching the attention of everypony and dragon present. The inequine cry alone was chilling enough, but it was the sudden roar that followed almost immediately that really got my heart racing. I had no idea what had caused it, but it was nothing like the howl of a Vargren, that much I was certain of. The sheer force of it was enough to make the ground rumble slightly beneath my hooves. As if that weren't enough, both cries had sounded close. Very close.
"Oh, sweet Celestia..."
Fluttershy's quiet, horrified exclamation more or less summed up my feelings on the matter, and from the looks of it, we weren't the only ones unnerved by the sudden turn of events.
"What the buck kind of roar was that?" Vinyl muttered, "I know a thing or two about Avidaeos, but that was... something else..."
"We need to leave," Spitfire announced, turning to address the rest of us, "if what I think is happening is actually happening and we get caught up in it, I'm not sure even I can guarantee your safety."
"Hey I'm not gonna argue with that," Vinyl replied, "but you mind filling us in on what might be going on—er, Lieutenant?"
Spitfire frowned and turned a troubled gaze in the direction of where the monstrous cries had come from.
"If my guess is right," the Lieutenant replied after a second, "we're gonna have an unpleasant run-in with some very angry Vargren and the thing that chased them all the way here if we don't move our flanks now."
"The Cannibal," I breathed, putting two and two together as Spitfire began to lead us all in the opposite direction of whatever crisis was taking place further away, "it followed them here?"
"Permission to tag along as an escort, Ma'am?" Rainbow asked, running alongside the Lieutenant, "better three Daeus Hunters than two, right?"
"Granted," Spitfire replied without hesitation. She retrieved her comm device from her belt before continuing, "if we get ourselves into a tight spot I expect you to defend the rookies at all costs, don't let me down, Dash."
"Ha! Wouldn't dream of it!" came Rainbow Dash's confident reply.
Before the lieutenant could respond, there was yet another burst of static before Cheerilee's urgent voice was once again broadcast through our radios.
"To any Wendigo personnel deployed in the Outer District, this is Control calling on an open channel. Be advised that the Cannibal has breached defenses in pursuit of the Vargren, I say again, the Cannibal has entered the Outer District in pursuit of the Vargren. Daeus Hunters are already on the move and tracking the threat, but it is advised that all non-Hunter personnel and any remaining civilians clear out of the Outer District ASAP. More details will be revealed as we're updated. Control, out."
It was exactly as Spitfire and Doctor Whooves had guessed, and exactly as I'd feared. The Vargren had, quite literally, been chased out of their territory, and found their way here. How they'd gotten past the teams defending the wall I had no idea, but I had a very strong and very terrible feeling we were about to leave the calm for the storm. I was fairly certain I'd get a glimpse of the Cannibal at some point, but I hadn't expected, nor had I wanted, to see it so soon. Unfortunately, I may not have had a choice in the matter.
"W-Wait!" Fluttershy panted suddenly, "what about... what about the other civilians? There might still be ponies trapped out here! What... what if they get caught in the crossfire?"
Rather than answer directly, Spitfire adjusted the frequency on her radio and raised it to her muzzle before speaking aloud.
"Control, Lieutenant Spitfire calling, do you read? Over," there was a brief pause with no response, causing the mare to frown slightly, "Control, Lieutenant Spitfire calling, do you—"
"Lieutenant Spitfire, this is Fair Weather, I read you loud and clear. Sorry about the delay, lieutenant, but there's been heavy traffic coming in from all units defending the wall. We've had our hands full ever since the enemy broke through. I highly suggest you and your team abandon the mission for now and return to base, over."
"We're already on it," Spitfire replied, "the enemy's rampage was getting a bit too close for comfort so we're taking an alternate route back to base. Advise, over."
"Wilco, lieutenant, please stand by..."
"Lieutenant!" Fluttershy began, only to be cut off by the firey-maned pegasus in question.
"I understand your concerns, Fluttershy," Spitfire interjected, "but right now, getting you all to safety is our top priority for the time being," perhaps sensing Fluttershy's immense dissatisfaction, she sighed before turning to cast a partial glance back at the distraught mare, "look... most, if not all, of the civilians living out here in the slums should be on their way to the Inner District by now, but once Control comes back with a clear path out of this clusterbuck, I'll check with them on the matter, alright?"
Fluttershy frowned, clearly not mollified by the lieutenant's words, but she wordlessly nodded nonetheless after a minute. I couldn't really blame Fluttershy, but at the same time, I didn't want to end up caught in whatever mess we'd left behind either, and I wasn't even sure we'd completely left it behind to begin with. Even now I could still hear the occasional lupine howl or earth-shaking roar along with some very distressing sounds of heavy collateral damage being caused in the wake of this 'rampage' somewhere further behind us. At some point, I began to wonder if they were following us, a terrifying thought that was interrupted by a sudden inquiry from Spitfire.
"You're with the 1st Unit, aren't you? Under Applejack?" the lieutenant asked, turning to address Rainbow Dash, "both hers and Fleetfoot's team were supposed to be defending the walls. Not that I don't appreciate your intervention earlier, but what were you doing alone in the Outer District? The Retaliation Team doesn't exactly have the marepower to spare for solo missions."
Rainbow winced at the question, and I got the vague impression that she was hoping the question wouldn't come up.
"Yeeeaah, about that..." the cyan pegasus replied slowly, her expression both sour and sheepish, "I was clearing out the Vargren that still hadn't gotten past the wall with Ap—er, the Captain and the rest of the team and we almost had them," her mouth twisted into an irritated scowl, "they were thinning out at first, but then more started showing up out of nowhere and while I was trying to fight them off, Trixie and her stupid arcane staff got in the way! She flipped out and started blasting everything to pieces with no regard for friendly fire and—"
"Lieutenant Spitfire, Cheerilee calling from Control, do you read? Over."
The moment the call came on Spitfire's line, the mare had her radio in hand and was responding, Rainbow's explanation already forgotten in the face of Cheerilee's dire tone.
"Lieutenant Spitfire here reading you loud and clear, go ahead, Cheerilee, over."
"I'm filling in for Fair Weather at the moment but she's updated me on your situation. Most of our carriers are in use by medics and are carrying civilians to safety, but there's an APC you can use roughly one klick southeast of your position. I'm updating the coordinates to your radio's map screen... and, lieutenant, there's no easy way to say this... but that really is the only APC we have left right now, so if you and the others don't want to hoof it all the way back to base you'll have to take it, but..."
Cheerilee trailed off, clearly worried for us, and with good reason. There wasn't a single face that didn't fall at the news. We'd all been given a ray of hope only for it to be cruelly snuffed out in an instant, causing grim looks and pale faces all around. And why?
"That's more or less the way we came," Spike commented, his grave expression matching my own as he voiced the exact reason, "which means we're probably gonna have to deal with that mess back there after all if we wanna make it to the truck."
The notion wasn't a pleasant one—far from it in fact. It was the absolute worst-case scenario, the one I'd been worried about from the beginning. This was my life now, and things were only to get more dangerous from here on out. I knew that going in, but it was only then that I truly understood it. I found my mind briefly wandering back to the conversation I'd had with Vinyl as we waited in the lab and what she'd told me. It didn't matter how safe and sheltered I was behind the walls of Canterlot or how much I worried and complained about my own future and the imminent dangers that lay within. This was our reality, and I was bound to face it sooner or later no matter where or what I was—be it a scientist or a Daeus Hunter or both, be it Canterlot or Ponyville or anywhere else.
What mattered was how I chose to face that reality, whether I cowered behind my walls or met the dangers of this world head-on.
If Equus is going down, we're sure as Tartarus not gonna go down without a fight...
The sentiment was all well and good, and with those words Vinyl had spoken, I could feel something well up inside me—something that wasn't fear, but I refused to trade my rational mind for blind valor. I'd hold onto this feeling, hoping it would grow as I did, but I wouldn't deny that there were some things that couldn't be helped. After all, facing reality meant facing hard truths, and the hard truth was that we weren't getting out of this situation unscathed without some kind of plan, Daeus Hunters or no. Maybe the lieutenant would think of something, and with her experience, I had no doubt that she had at least some modicum of sound judgement, but that feeling—that something I felt led me to believe...
A brief but ominous silence fell over all of us as we each took in the situation we now faced. The angry cries in the distance had faded somewhat but hadn't completely vanished yet, meaning the rampaging avidaeos were still nearby. In the meantime, we'd all ducked into an abandoned tool shed to rest and take stock of our current predicament. Thankfully it wasn't long before Spitfire's eyes were back on her multipurpose radio, brow furrowed and the air around her tense as she looked over the screen of her digital map, but otherwise the very picture of a calm and collected leader.
I took the quiet moment to mentally deconstruct our less than ideal circumstances, listing everything that could and couldn't be used to make things better for us—a habit carried over from my not-so-distant days working as a researcher in Wendigo's Hive Cell labs back in Canterlot. Biting my lip and creasing my brow with worry, I unconsciously shut out the world and retreated into my own mind, picking apart every detail and leaving no thoughts unpondered.
We might actually find ourselves in a combat situation. I don't know Vinyl, Fluttershy, or Seeker well enough to know how they'd react if we were all attacked. Just because they act one way outside of battle doesn't mean they'll be the same when under that kind of pressure so I can't rely on the existing data I do have, or at least it wouldn't be wise to do so. I think it's safe to assume the lieutenant has a decent amount of experience so I can probably rely on her if it comes down to it, but Spike... if what he says is true then he only just became a Daeus Hunter recently. I've seen him in battle but the conditions weren't exactly optimal to judge as to whether or not he was capable. The only traits I was really able to glean were the facts that he was fierce and surprisingly powerful, but reckless—extremely so.
Perhaps it was only due to those circumstances he found himself in, but right now it's safer to assume that's just how he is. In short, Spitfire is reliable, but I can't say the same for Spike, and what about Rainbow Dash? She's fast, there's no doubt about that, and while she might not have as much experience as somepony like Spitfire, she almost certainly has more than Spike, but then again that's only an assumption. In reality, I have no idea how much experience she actually has as a full-fledged Daeus Hunter. I don't like relying on unconfirmed information, but that's all I really have for the most part when it comes to the ponies I'm working with. Cheerilee said there were approximately eight or so Vargren running around the slums.
They're being hunted down by the Cannibal who's also entered the town, and I suppose that, while it's still somewhat out of their way, Ponyville is the closest habitat to the Everfree. If they were trying to resettle it would make sense that the Vargren would come here, but why did the Cannibal chase them all the way here? Surely there were other prey still roaming about in the Everfree? Regardless of the reason, they're running amok in the slums and are slowly heading our way. The slums are larger than I expected so there has to be a way around them. Cheerilee did say there were Hunters tracking the avidaeos down. Maybe Spike, Spitfire, and Rainbow Dash could find a way to halt their advance and hold them off until help arrives.
From what I've heard or read, the Cannibal won't attack Daeus Hunters—it actually goes out of its way to avoid them. Would that still be true here, where their actual prey is? Would it be provoked to attack if we interfere? Wait... would it even be prudent to try and make for the vehicle? If the Vargren and the Cannibal are at each other's throats and other Daeus Hunters are getting involved, shouldn't we just retreat further from the fighting and wait for the situation to sort itself out?
My ears perk up as the thought hits me like a lightning bolt. Unable to shake it, I turn to voice said thought to Spitfire and the rest of our group when I'm interrupted by a short beep from our radios andthe now-familiar sound of Fair Weather's voice over Spitfire's radio.
"Lieutenant Spitfire, this is Fair Weather calling. Sorry for the wait, but we've finally managed to tag the position of the invading avidaeos in the area. I've updated each of your maps with the information..."
Curious, I flipped open the map screen on my own radio and noticed Vinyl and the others doing the same. Sure enough, I could see—amidst a somewhat crudely mapped overhead view of the Outer District—what I assumed were our positions represented by different colored triangles. Distressingly enough, there were several smaller red circles and one larger red circle slowly but surely making their way to where we were currently hiding out, and they only seemed to be a few blocks away. I didn't exactly need the map to tell me that, of course; I could hear the hideous cacophony of beastly howls and roars getting closer by the minute. Heedless of my growing panic over what I saw on my map, Fair Weather continued her report to Spitfire.
"...We do have some good news thankfully. We've received reports that the walls around Ponyville have finally been secured by the 3rd Unit and they've already gone to meet up with Captain Applejack's team to engage the remaining threat. The 1st Unit should arrive to intercept the enemy within the next 600 seconds, and the 3rd Unit won't be too far behind them, over."
"Understood," Spitfire replied, silently motioning for us all to move out on her lead, "we'll find a way around in the meantime. Thanks for the assist, Fair Weather—ah, and before I forget, do we confirmation on complete civilian evacuation from the Outer District? Over."
"Not yet, but we believe we've gathered everypony. We're still making sure all civilians are accounted for but at the very least, all civilians within the immediate area surrounding the enemy have been successfully evacuated so there should be no danger to any civilians remaining so long as the other teams can hold off the threat."
I turned just in time to see Fluttershy breathe a quiet sigh of relief, but the news wasn't quite enough to wipe away the worry from her expression. Understandable seeing as how there was no actual confirmation that everypony was safe. As Spitfire went to reply, we all heard some kind of muffled commotion on the other end of the radio, and a moment later Fair Weather came back on the line, her words a bit more rushed and curt than they'd been a second ago.
"I'm sorry to cut this transmission short but I'm needed elsewhere. Be safe out there, Lieutenant, and make sure the others make it out okay too. Fair Weather, out."
As the signal died out I took the chance to speak my mind regarding the situation. We were on the move once again, heading further away from the threat behind us with Spitfire and Rainbow Dash watching our backs while Spike took point. I was somewhere in the middle but slowed my pace until I was behind Vinyl and just ahead of the lieutenant.
"Um... I'm sorry if this is out of line," I panted, catching Spitfire's attention, "but wouldn't it be safer to just keep moving forward rather than trying to head back the way we came? If we just wait a bit, then the 1st and 2nd Units should catch up to the Avidaeos and we won't have to worry, right?"
There were less Vargren on the map than what Cheerilee had told us before, which means some of them must've been taken out either by the other teams or the Cannibal. Applejack and the others can handle what's left... can't they?
That was my hope, but even I couldn't deny that despite my belief that this was the best option, there was a small part of me that worried about the anomaly that was the Cannibal. Sure it was said to flee when faced with anything that wasn't another Avidaeus, but this was an uncertain situation given that the Hunters were mixed in with its prey, and there was also the fact that it had gone so far as to chase said prey past the wall and into the Outer District. If the Cannibal decided to fight instead of flee, would they be able to take it down? Evidently Spitfire's worries mirrored my own, and her response reflected as much.
"I can see where you're coming from, and I like where your head's at, Sparkle," Spitfire replied with a deep frown and a shake of her head, "if this were just Vargren we were dealing with then I would agree one hundred percent, but in this situation, the Cannibal is the biggest unknown factor," she paused a moment, stopping the rest of us as she swept her gaze across the area. With another brief command she led us down another road to our right, continuing from where she left off, "...just because we've chased it off in the past doesn't mean that's always gonna be the case, especially now when we're essentially interfering with its meal. Can't imagine it's gonna take too kindly to that."
"And you haven't seen this thing," Rainbow chimed in, "I can kick Avidaeus flank with the best of them and look good while I'm doing it, but even I'd rather not fight that monster if I don't have to," she cast a worried glance over her shoulder and her next words were spoken in a nervous mutter, "...frankly I'm hoping it just runs away like always."
That didn't inspire much confidence in the rest of us, and it only made me fear for the ones having to fight it if it decided to fight. The fear for myself kicked in when I remembered that studying the Cannibal up close would be part of my job, and if my heart wasn't racing before, it definitely started to then.
"The Cannibal," said an unfamiliar voice from further up the line of our fleeing group, "what does it look like?"
It took a second to register that the soft and quiet, yet still unmistakably masculine voice belonged to Seeker. Hearing the stallion speak was enough of a shock to temporarily stifle my growing anxiety over the situation, and I wasn't the only one who turned a surprised look his way. Rainbow Dash, who hadn't been around Seeker long enough to know about his rather cold and silent demeanor, replied without any kind of shock or hesitation.
"Honestly? It looks a lot like a dragon—disturbingly so actually," Rainbow answered, scrunching her face up in thought, "not only does it look like a dragon, but it kind of acts like one too. It breathes fire, can make weapons out of fire, grows firey wings, and it even has a shield thingy on its arm," her face fell into a bemused frown as she thought about the strange creature, "when we first saw it, we thought it might've been a dragon who turned into an Avidaeus because of Hive Cell corruption and somehow found its way into Equestria, but the Doc swears up and down that's not the case."
Avidaeos with appearances similar to that of the many sapient races found throughout the world weren't entirely unheard of, but in those cases, there was always one or more obvious and horrifyingly monstrous features that clearly set it apart from those sapient races. I wasn't sure how close in appearance to a dragon this thing was, but the similarities must've been immense if it had garnered this kind of attention. If it could manipulate fire to such an extent, that would explain all the smoke and the bright orange glow of distant fires I was seeing as we tried to make our way around the battle zone.
"According to Doctor Whooves," Spitfire added, "it doesn't share any characteristics that are associated with the kind of corruption that comes from something like a failed Daeification or a damaged Daeus Arm core—it doesn't even have a Daeus Arm to begin with," Spitfire shook her head, frowning in consternation, "Whooves is convinced it was never a creature like a normal dragon, or pony, or changeling or any of the other creatures like us. Oddly enough though, it does show clear signs of some kind of sapience in some of its actions—more so than we've seen in any other kind of Avidaeus so far. Unfortunately, that's about all the Doctor's been able to figure out so far."
Before Rainbow Dash could add more to her own explanation, the tell-tale crackle of static from her radio signaled another call and familiar southern twang boomed like thunder over the small speaker.
"Rainbow Dash, this is yer Captain! Where the buck did you get off to, girl?!"
"Oh, horseapples!" Rainbow cried, stopping in her tracks before hastily snatching up her radio from her belt and responding, "u-uh, this is Rainbow Dash speaking! S-Sorry, Cap, I was chasing down a loose end and kind of got caught up in—"
"Nevermind that! Did ya get the job done?"
"Naturally," Rainbow replied, a hint of her previous bravado edging into her voice, "it was a piece of cake, but listen, Captain, there's—"
"Good. Cheerilee marked the enemy on yer map, right?"
We'd all stopped just as Rainbow Dash did and each of us was waiting with varying degrees of curiosity, worry, or irritation. It seemed the mare could barely get a word in edgewise over her clearly displeased superior, but what caught my attention more was the utter chaos I was hearing in the background. It seemed they'd finally caught up with the enemy and were engaging, and from the sound of it, the fighting was fiercer than I'd imagined. Just past Applejack's irate voice, I could hear horrific roars and howls amidst the sound of laser fire, explosions, battle cries and what I could've sworn was laughter. Among the hideous cacophony of battle, it was the laughter that sent chills down my spine.
"Well, yeah, she did," Rainbow continued, rubbing the back of her neck and casting a nervous glance toward the rest of us, "but, Cap—"
"Then get yer sorry flank back to the rest of the team! On the double, Rainbow Dash! Out!"
Rainbow Dash flinched at the command and grimaced in annoyance at the radio as the signal cut out.
"Geez... that bad, huh?" she muttered before pocketing her radio and turning to the rest of us with an apologetic shrug and sheepish smile, "sorry, guys but I gotta bail. If Ap... if the Captain is that miffed, then things must be getting pretty serious."
"Understood," Spitfire replied, "go on then. It sounds like they're having more trouble than expected so don't make your captain wait any longer than she has to."
"Ma'am!" Rainbow snapped another crisp salute before turning to Fluttershy, her features softening slightly, "life is gonna get way tougher for you, Fluttershy, I hope you realize that."
"I doubt it'll be that much tougher, Rainbow," Fluttershy replied with that same quiet conviction, "the only real difference is that now I'll have the power to actually make a difference."
Rainbow Dash flinched again and turned away.
"Just... be careful, alright?" she said after a short, awkward moment, "I might joke around and talk a lot of smack, but being a Daeus Hunter is no joke."
"I'm well aware of that, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said, this time with the hint of a smile crossing her face, "and since I'm joining your team once my training is done, I know you'll be there to help me if I ever do get in over my head."
"Yeah... yeah, I guess that's true," Rainbow replied slowly as if just remembering the fact that Fluttershy was going to be a part of her squad. A confident smile replaced her worried scowl, "heh, if that's the case I'll just have to teach you everything they don't teach in training myself so that way I won't have to worry about you getting in over your head."
With that said, Rainbow Dash suddenly crouched low and launched herself high into the air, clearing the buildings around us by quite a bit. She flared out her wings at the peak of her jump and gave us all once last cocky smile and a much lazier salute before turning southward. With one sharp flap of her wings she shot off at an incredible speed that left a slowly fading prismatic trail in her wake.
An impressed whistle made me turn away to see Vinyl staring up at where Rainbow had been only seconds ago, her shades lifted and her eyebrows raised at the sight.
"Sweet Celestia, the girl can move," she muttered in awe, "don't think I've ever seen a pegasus fly that fast, Daeus Hunter or no. Well, except for maybe the Chief Commander but Commander Luna's in a league all her own so..."
She wasn't wrong about Rainbow Dash. The speed that mare could put out on a dime was phenomenal; I would even go so far as to say it was borderline unnatural. My scientific curiosity was more than a little piqued at the feat and I idly wondered about the strain that kind of flight would put on her already muted magical circuits. Just how long could she maintain that velocity before her magic inevitably gave out? It was as this thought crossed my mind that something Fluttershy had said before rose back to the surface of my memory.
"Hey, Fluttershy," I began, turning to the mare, "that friend you mentioned before back in the waiting room outside the Daeification Chamber..."
Fluttershy frowned in confusion for a second before a look of realization crossed her face and she gave a slow nod of confirmation.
"Right... yes, Rainbow Dash was the friend I was talking about before," she sighed before raising her eyes to the sky once again, a faint smile on her face, "that party was the first time I'd seen her in... a long while."
"I see," I replied somewhat lamely, "and from the sound of it I guess you two didn't really get to talk to one another at the party back then."
Fluttershy fell quiet for a brief moment, her smile fading slightly. Thankfully the moment passed quickly and she shook her head before lowering her skyward gaze towards me.
"It's okay," she finally said, "she seems... happy to be where she is, I think. Happier than she was the last time I saw her anyway. Just seeing that is enough for me. And besides, we'll both be seeing a lot more of her in the future, right?"
"Yeah, that's true I suppose," I said, giving the mare what I hoped was a reassuring smile, "same team and all that."
In all honesty, I was still fretting over my role as a Daeus Hunter, but somewhere deep down I think I was beginning to get used to the idea—at least I hoped I was. For the time being though, Fluttershy truly did seem to be happy to see her friend again, and there was no need for me to rain on her parade with my worries and insecurities. Based on the what I'd seen of their interactions, it was clear Rainbow Dash had some issues about Fluttershy's decision to join Wendigo as a Daeus Hunter, but I chose not to pry in the end, and we had other things to worry about anyway.
We continued onward without Rainbow Dash with Spitfire pushing us to move as quickly and quietly as possible. Our aim was simply to circle around the skirmish, giving the Avidaeos and the Daeus Hunters battling them a wide berth. To that end, we cut through abandoned homes, passed through narrow alleyways, and ran as quickly as we could get away with down the lesser-traveled roads. All the while I tried with a middling degree of success to ignore the stench of ash, smoke, and burning wood. More difficult to ignore where the continuing sounds of battle taking place not too far from our position. No matter where we went, the explosions, equine cries, and inequine howls seemed to follow us, and as a result, my eyes were constantly on the map as I moved.
I feverishly tracked every movement made by the Avidaeos and my concerns waned just a little more with each red blip that disappeared from the map. Unfortunately, the large red blip that indicated the Cannibal's presence remained a constant, which meant it hadn't yet fled like Rainbow Dash was hoping. While I felt some manner of relief, the Cannibal's lingering presence and the fact that the other Daeus Hunters weren't marked on my map kept my nervousness about the situation firmly in place.
There only a small handful of Vargren left and I can still hear the Daeus Hunters fighting even from here, so why hasn't it fled yet? Does it plan on fighting until it's wiped everypony out with the Vargren?
The thought was troubling to say the least, but before I could dwell too much on it, Spike's voice brought me out of my thoughts. At his prompting, we all looked ahead to see a lone APC parked beside one of the sturdier looking houses a few dozen yards or so away. With my new vision I could even just barely make out somepony exiting the truck from the driver's side as we approached. Whoever it was had apparently seen us as well and was waving us over from the other side. I couldn't tell who it was from here, but I almost laughed in relief as we neared our ticket out of this mess. I would come to learn that evening that Daeus Hunter's could rarely afford the leisure of a premature celebration.
Naturally, it was as we spotted our beacon of hope that the situation suddenly changed for the worst. A beastly cry rang out louder than any I'd heard thus far and with it came a massive pillar of flame that rose high above the shoddy rooftops. The blazing pillar lit up the night sky for what felt like ages, but was in reality only a dozen seconds or so. I tore my eyes away from the almost hypnotizing sight to look at my map and just as I did, I saw the four blips on my map representing the remaining Vargren vanish all at once. The sight did nothing to staunch the cold sensation of dread that washed over me. I don't know how, but I knew—even without seeing the large red blip suddenly speed away from the battlefield as the pillar of flame dispersed, even without the panicked voice of Fair Weather warning us all over our radios—I knew for a fact that it was coming this way.
Is it coming for us? Is it coming for me?
The thought came unbidden and I immediately dismissed it as ridiculous. It couldn't possibly know about us, and even if it did, what reason would it have to attack us now? There were no Avidaeos near us to devour. It had wiped out its prey, so it should have no reason to stick around. It was probably an unlucky coincidence that it was racing full speed toward us just as we were about to make it to our destination. More and more denials filled my mind, the increasingly ridiculous thoughts blotting out everything else around me. I once again began to feel the strange sense that time wasn't working quite right, and everything in my vision was thrown into even sharper relief than before. My eyes passed over everything around me, taking in every detail and committing it to memory.
I'd never been in such a high stress situation; not even what I felt during my Daeification could compare to what was happening to me now. I felt a rush unlike anything I'd ever felt before. It went far beyond a mere adrenaline rush, and though I hadn't realized it at the time, that rush too was a part of being a Daeus Hunter and it was different for everypony. As I took in more of my surroundings, my panic seemed to fade bit by bit, my scrambled thoughts and denials replaced with practical information and how I could use that to survive. That was what my purpose boiled down to then; as long as I survived, nothing else mattered... but no, that wasn't right.
My mind suddenly cleared and something clicked.
I glanced down at my map, then turned to where I could hear the destructive sounds of the Cannibal's approach. Ignoring the calls of the others, I let my thoughts run their course, analyzing the information I'd gathered and putting the pieces of a plan together until I had something concrete. Acting as quickly as I was able, I turned to the closest creature next to me, who happened to be Fluttershy and looked her over until I found what I was looking for. The mare had been trying to snap me out of whatever daze I'd been in, but I ignored that and pulled the flash grenade from her belt and attached it to mine before pulling out my own flash grenade. There was no time to explain so rather than tell, I decided to show and let the others figure out the plan for themselves.
"Get to the truck!" I shouted at the others as I turned the dial atop the grenade. For a moment, the rest of the group didn't move, all of them choosing instead to stare at me in bewilderment. I continued to prime the grenade even as I repeated myself, a lot more forcefully than even I expected, "ugh! just... go! I have an idea!"
I was wasting precious seconds and knew that whatever had come over me wasn't going to last long. I had little time and patience to spare, but thankfully Spitfire seemed to get the message and managed to corral the others into following her to the APC. I watched them go for a second and frowned as Fluttershy slowed almost to a stop to give me one last terrified look. The look was enough to shake my sudden bravery, but it held enough for Vinyl to drag the pegasus along, and I let out a shuddering sigh before raising the flash grenade I'd set to detonate at seven seconds. With three seconds left I turned and flung the thing as hard as I could toward the nearby home to my right just as a hulking shadow landed heavily atop it, the old shingled roof caving slightly under its weight.
In the same breath I turned and sped down the road towards the truck, running for all I was worth. I was so focused on the plan that I didn't even give the raging beast behind me a glance as I pulled the other grenade from my belt. I was afraid I'd completely fall apart if I saw the Cannibal so close to me; it would've been a terrible idea anyway, as the grenade went off at that very moment, lighting up everything in my path with a blindingly bright flash. Even turned completely away from the blast, I had to blink a couple of times to get the spots out of my eyes.
From the deafening roar and the splintering and crumbling of wood and stone behind me, I could only guess that the first part of my plan had worked. I really hadn't wanted to, but I had to actually make sure that it did, and so I cast a quick look over my shoulder. What I was exactly what Rainbow Dash had described; I hadn't seen a dragon in person until I met Spike, but I'd seen them in books and on tv and such, and seeing the Cannibal now, I could have mistaken it for an elder dragon had it not been for a few differences. The creature was roughly the size of the houses around us and its off-white scales shone brightly in the moonlight.
It had a more prominent hunch in its posture and a longer, more slender and flexible neck than that of a normal dragon. Decorated on either side of its head were two horns curving sharpy backward. Its face was far more feral than a modern dragon; In fact, everything about the beast could more or less be summed up as a dragon that had gone feral, with sharper spines, sharper claws and a fiercer expression. I'd read somewhere that dragons had changed over the course of several hundred millennia, and their current appearance was a result of natural evolution. The Cannibal brought to mind what dragons may have looked liked all those years ago. The thing was clearly built to kill, and just as Rainbow said, it did indeed bear an organic looking shield upon its left arm, though it looked more like a gauntlet.
Rather than the crippling fear I expected to feel as I looked back at the Cannibal, I was more enraptured by its appearance than anything. There was a sort of primal beauty about it that drew an odd appreciation out of me. Luckily I was able to snap out of it fairly quickly and noticed that the first part of my plan had worked in that the Cannibal was down on one knee, dazed and shaking its slender draconic head amidst the rubble of what was once somepony's home. Seeing that, I made to prime the next grenade but froze in the process, my legs slowing to a stop and my wide eyes fixing themselves on the dragon-like Avidaeus.
It had recovered, but rather than make any sudden moves, it turned to look at me. It didn't roar, it didn't rise to its feet, it didn't do anything but stare at me, and I couldn't look away. It had caught me in its gaze and held me there, and in those feral golden eyes I saw something I hadn't expected see despite Spitfire's earlier description of the creature.
I saw intelligence.
It wasn't just the hungry gaze of a clever hunter, it was something... more. Somewhere far off I heard the muted thunk of the flash grenade as it fell from my hands and rolled away, but I paid no attention to it, shocked as I was by what I saw. Scientific evidence showed that, although there were some cases of Avidaeos capable of higher brain function, the smarter Avidaeos were only capable of rudimentary planning at best, and those cases were extremely rare. What I witnessed in the eyes of this creature may very well have been my imagination, but I didn't think that was the case. Almost as if to prove my suspicions, the Cannibal slowly and carefully rose from the rubble and began backing away, its eyes still locked on me.
A deep, rumbling growl escaped its throat along with small gouts of fire from either side of its mouth and for an instant I was afraid it would attack after all. I yelped and clumsily backed away but before I could make it very far, the Cannibal spun around and loped off the other way. As it leapt atop another building and launched itself from rooftop to rooftop I watched it go. I continued to watch it until its monstrous form faded from view. It took another minute to register that all my limbs were shaking violently and I fell to my knees as all the strength drained out of me. I couldn't move anymore, the fear, relief, confusion and exhaustion crippling my ability to do anything but sit there and stare at the cold hard ground beneath.
I was fairly sure the others came back for me after some time, but I wasn't completely certain, as the rest of that night passed by in a haze. In fact the last thing I remembered clearly were the eyes of the Cannibal, and that was a memory I wouldn't soon forget.
At some point, I must've blacked out because when I next opened my eyes I was in an entirely unfamiliar place. Upon lifting my heavy eyelids, I immediately had to slam them shut again against the too-bright glare of fluorescent lights above me. I gave an exhausted groan of irritation before trying again, this time turning my head away from the ceiling and blinking my eyes open to get rid of the spots in my vision. Once that cleared up, I cast a quick confused glance over myself and saw that I was still in my dark blue Daeus Hunter uniform. I frowned and lifted my bemused gaze back up to see that I'd woken up in a sterile-looking white room. Half the scenery was blocked by a white divider and when I tried to lift myself from the supine state I was in, I could hear the tell-tale crinkle of a plastic sheet stretched across a thin and uncomfortable cotton mattress shifting beneath me.
Reminds me of those terrible beds they use in... oh.
It was just as my sluggish mind was putting two and two together that I noticed the sound of footsteps getting closer beyond the half-closed divider. I turned just in time to see the divider being pulled to the side to reveal an unfamiliar earth pony mare in an open physician's lab coat thrown over black slacks and a maroon blouse. With clipboard in hand and concerned frown on her face, the mare looked every bit the typical doctor she most likely was. The white of her fur and pale rosy mane wrapped in a loose bun from behind seemed to match the rest of the room—the infirmary—perfectly. The moment she pulled the divider back the rest of the way and saw me sitting up on the bed, the worried look in her sapphire blue eyes turned to pleasant surprise and the frown vanished.
Sheesh, she kind of reminds me of mom... but somehow I feel like I'm not the only one who gets that impression...
For me, it was mostly the worried expression, white coat, and sapphire eyes—though her fur was a shade or two lighter than my mom's, whose coat was more a light grey color.
"Welcome back to the world of the living, Miss Sparkle," the mare greeted warmly, "my name is Nurse Redheart, and yes, 'Nurse' is part of my given name, as it's been for the rest of the mares in my family," she gave a small chuckle before her smile fell slightly into something more serious as she continued, "I'm the resident physician for this Branch and this room here is the infirmary. I hate to get on your case when you've no doubt just woken up, but how are you feeling?"
Good question...
"I... I guess I'm okay," I replied, trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes, "I'm a little sore, but it's nothing too bad. My arms and legs do feel a bit heavy and it kinda feels like I can't fully wake up."
"I see... I thought that might be the case," Redheart muttered as she scribbled something on her clipboard. She fell silent for second before making her way back to a desk I hadn't seen behind the divider. Pulling the swivel chair out and over to where my bed was, she sat down and continued speaking with the same smile from earlier, "well, you'll be glad to know none of those symptoms are anything to worry about. They should be mostly gone within the hour. Tell me though, what do you remember from before you woke up here? Anything?"
"Um..." I lowered my head, closed my eyes, and frowned in thought as I tried to recall what happened last. It didn't take long at all for the memories to resurface, "we—the rest of the new recruits and I... a-and Spike and the Lieutenant, we all went to the slums to try and rescue any stragglers in the Vargren attack..."
From there I proceeded to recount the events leading up to my collapse in as much detail as I could, which was a fair amount for the most part. Strangely enough, or perhaps naturally, the clearest memory I had of that night was of locking eyes with the Cannibal. I thought the memory would leave me shaking, but where the fear was supposed to be, all I could feel was awe and bewilderment. If I dug just a bit deeper I could feel a sense of curiosity so intense that I even surprised myself. I had dreaded the idea of getting up close and personal with the Cannibal—and to a great extent, I still did—but now there was another desire welling up within me. Maybe it was the scientist in me, but I wanted to know more—I had to know more. I'd never seen anything like that Avidaeus, and though it was strange to admit, that was kind of exciting in a way. At least, that's how I felt after having seen the creature for myself.
There's something... special about it...
"...the Cannibal fled, and beyond that... I'm not really sure," I continued. My frown deepened slightly, "I think the others carried me back to the truck and I remember them trying to tell me... something, but everything else is a blank more or less." Finished with my explanation, I looked back up at Nurse Redheart, "what happened to me out there? Why did I just... shut down? I mean it was a terrifying experience, yeah, but I don't think anypony else just passed out like that."
The physician gave a small hum and leaned back in her chair, looking to the bright lights above as if they would reveal the right words for her to say. She tapped her pen against the clipboard she was still holding in silence for a second or two before lowering her sympathetic gaze back to me. Rather than answer my question, she asked one of her own instead.
"When you were out there," she began, "did you feel any drastic changes in your body or perception? Anything out of the ordinary, like your senses being heightened even further, maybe the sense that time was slowing down?"
"Right... yeah, it did kind of feel like my perception of time was distorted somehow," I replied, trying to remember the sensation, "I got this sort of... rush, and there was this mix of... hyper cognition and hyper-awareness, but it wasn't overwhelming like it should've been."
That last bit wasn't completely true, not at first, but once it happened I was able to adapt fairly quickly, even if I had no idea what was going on at the time. Still, I wanted to know what that was; I had an idea, but it looked like Nurse Redheart might've been able to confirm whether I was on the right track or not.
"What was that?" I asked, "is that what being a Daeus Hunter does to you? Something to do with the Hive Cells in the body?"
"Ah, that's right, you were a Hive Cell researcher before you transferred here I believe," Redheart answered as though just remembering the fact, "have you studied the effects of Hive Cells within the equine body?"
"I'm still a researcher," I replied in a slight huff before shaking my head, "and no, not in any great detail. I'd planned to get to it eventually, but I mostly focused on how Hive Cells affect each other and the world around us."
In truth, I'd been avoiding the subject. It made me uncomfortable just thinking about it, and even if I'd gotten a bit used to it—having already been injected directly—the idea still made me shudder in disgust internally that these things were inside of me. Still, it wasn't like I wasn't aware of the potential benefits of that kind of research and that there was a precedent for it; I just really, really, really didn't like the idea of Hive Cells interacting with the equine body or any kind of body for that matter, be they equine or otherwise. Of course, I told Nurse Redheart none of that.
"My apologies, I didn't mean to imply that you'd given up research for combat," Redheart chuckled, "I'm aware of your situation, Twilight. And to answer your earlier question, that is absolutely what it means to be a Daeus Hunter, though the experience varies a bit for every creature—ponies, dragons, changelings... everybody and anybody who wields a Daeus Arm, really."
She leaned back again, crossing one leg over the other, and her voice took on a lecturing sort of tone that reminded me of whenever Moon Dancer and I would get into a debate. It was kind of nostalgic in a way and I found myself thinking about the mare. Though it hadn't been all that long since I saw them last, It surprised me just how much I already missed her and the others I left behind in Canterlot.
"It's all about how the Hive Cells interact with adrenaline once it reaches a certain threshold," Redheart continued, "I'm no expert on the subject—you'd do much better to ask Time Turner—but from what I do understand, once the body produces enough adrenaline, which can happen in certain high-pressure situations like with what you went through, the Hive Cells 'activate' in such a way that causes a reaction unique to each individual injected with the cells," she gave a small shrug, "some creatures may have a higher threshold to reach before the cells activate, but it happens to all Daeus Hunters at some point."
"Okay, so this is just one of the changes brought on by the injection then," I surmised with a small nod of understanding, "but wait... none of the others reacted that way, at least not that I saw. Does that mean I have a low threshold for this kind of thing?"
"Not necessarily," the physician answered readily, "perhaps the others have a higher threshold, or perhaps you just happened to be far more high-strung than the rest at the time," she gave another shrug, "either way, the end result of you passing out tends to happen to a lot of new recruits whose Hive Cells activate for the first time. I'll most likely see your fellow newbies in here for the same reason as you before long," she paused and hummed in thought for a moment, "actually, now that I think about it, I saw your friend Fluttershy in here for the same thing already."
"Wait, really?" I asked, shocked, "when did she... oh... it must've been back then."
The only time I could think of was when she'd come out of the Daeification Chamber, but did that really count? I wasn't sure and I didn't elaborate on what I meant to Redheart, but evidently I didn't need to, as she nodded and replied anyway.
"The poor dear was so distraught from the experience of her Daeification that her Hive Cells activated almost immediately after her armlet was attached," the mare explained with a sigh, "they very nearly went out of control, but somehow she managed to fight back and pulled through in the end. You see that sometimes with some of the recruits. The fact that she recovered so quickly is impressive—admirable even."
I smiled a bit at that.
Given what I'd seen of the mare so far, I wasn't all that surprised that she pulled through. Though the fact that she only barely made it made me somewhat anxious and reminded me of what the Doctor and Director had told me about my brother, I felt I could trust a little more that Fluttershy would be okay in this kind of environment—more so than other ponies would probably give her credit for anyway.
I just hope I'll be able to manage as well...
"Oh, and don't worry," Redheart added almost as an afterthought, "the strain on your body lowers drastically with each activation so you and Fluttershy shouldn't need to visit here again—not for this at least."
That put my mind at ease, if only a little, but more than that, Nurse Redheart's mention of the others reminded me that I had some other questions I probably should've asked earlier.
"How long have I been out, by the way?" I asked, "and what happened with the others?" I paused, "and how did you know Fluttershy was my friend?"
I'm not even sure Fluttershy's my friend. I don't think that was ever established anyway, but... maybe? Does she think of me as a friend? And what about Vinyl Scratch?
"Oh, you haven't been here too long," Redheart replied, putting my pondering to an end, "the Hive Cell activation combined with a lack of proper sleep took a bit of a toll which lengthened your stay somewhat, but it's a little past 6 p.m. so you've been asleep for roughly fourteen hours or so."
Like Tartarus I haven't been here too long! That's practically a day!
"I wouldn't worry too much about it," she continued, ignoring my inner gripes, "most everypony's been out and about helping clear up the collateral damage from this morning's attack, including the other recruits who were with you, and as for how I know Fluttershy is your friend..."
A small smirk suddenly crossed Nurse Redheart's face as she motioned to something on the other side of the bed with the end of her pen. Bemused, I followed her gaze and my eyes popped open at the realization that I'd somehow completely missed a waist-high bedside stand with several things atop it—namely a plate with a large slice of chocolate cake, a small plain brown paper bag next to a small dark green flower pot, and what I assumed were several cards wishing me well. My assumption was further cemented by the many mylar balloons tied to one of the legs of the stand with phrases like 'WAY TO GO!' and 'GET WELL SOON!' painted on them in wacky fonts.
Wow, that... seems like a bit much. I mean, it's not like I was dying or got horribly injured or anything...
"Who..." I began as I slowly plucked up one of the cards and flipped it open, "you're saying Fluttershy brought all this?"
"Well, she brought the flowers anyway," Redheart answered, "a gift for buying time for her and the rest of the recruits to escape, according to her—apparently she makes an effort to grow them herself, and I have to say it's a fairly impressive effort given she's not an earth pony."
"Wow," I muttered, setting the get well card down and turning my attention to the healthy pink and yellow flowers jutting out of the soil in the pot, "these are... daisies, right? You said she grew these?"
"That's what I said, and she even threw in some nutrients for them there in that bag," the mare confirmed, "she says they're Zebrican daisies. Don't know where she got her hands on the seeds, but evidently the yellow daisies are a sign of friendship, so there you go."
In another age—namely the Age of Peace—you would've been able to find flowers like these anywhere and everywhere, or so I'd heard. Nowadays, there were a rare few who managed to make it work, but gardening as a hobby was largely considered a lost art. Now the Avidaeos had all but robbed the planet of most of its flora. The situation was so dire that we were relying on some of those very Avidaeos to continue producing oxygen into the atmosphere by way of adapted photosynthesis. When you took a step back to consider things like that bit of tragic irony and the fact that we evidently used to be able to just up and eat flowers right out of the ground, it truly was no wonder this age was referred to as the Age of Ruin.
In any case, most ponies didn't bother with using real flowers as decorations. Most decorative flora was made of polyurethane which did an admirable job as an imitation, but the feel and smell of the flowers in front of me...
These are definitely the real deal...
"The cake and balloons are from Pinkie," Redheart said after a moment, "there's a card from her too, along with some other cards from a few other ponies who came to visit you."
I placed the small pot of flowers back down on the stand and focused back on the cards. It was true; each of the cards had been handwritten by several different ponies. They all had their own little flourishes and quirks, from the confetti that somehow shot out of Pinkie's card like a party popper, to Vinyl's rather impressive artistic rendition of herself giving a thumbs up and one of her signature lazy smiles. There was a card from Rainbow Dash, written in a barely legible scrawl, and another card—the last one from what I could see—written in an elegant violet script from a pony whose name I didn't recognize.
"Who's Rarity?" I asked, looking up from the card and back over to where Nurse Redheart was still sitting, "I don't think I've heard the name before, is she part of Captain Applejack's team?"
"That's right, the most senior member after Applejack in fact," came Redheart's bright response, "she's been the Captain's right-hand mare since Applejack took over as head of the 1st Unit. I'm sure you'll get to meet her soon enough—"
Our conversation was suddenly cut short as the door to the infirmary slid open. We both turned to see none other than Captain Applejack herself walk through the entrance, sporting her knee-length duster, her stetson, and a pensive expression. The moment she saw I was up, however, her face brightened considerably.
"Well look at that, finally up an' ready to seize the day are ya?" she chuckled lightly and stepped the rest of the way inside, "well, ah suppose it's a bit too late fer that now, but nevermind that. How are ya feelin'? Better ah hope?"
"I still feel a bit sluggish, but doing better I guess, yeah," I answered with a half-hearted shrug, "Nurse Redheart filled me in about everypony trying to clean up the mess the Vargren made out there in the slums."
"She did, did she?" Applejack replied. She turned to Nurse Redheart, "so she's up to date?"
"On everything that I know, yes," Redheart said, "and I've got just about all the information I need. We were basically making small talk when you showed up, Captain," she looked over to me, "the only other thing I really had left to say was that your body has almost recovered, but isn't quite there yet so I'd like you to stay for at least another half hour before you head out."
"Really?" I asked dumbfounded, "I slept for fourteen hours and I'm still not well enough to leave?"
I am still a little out of it, but I should be fine if I just walk around for a bit, right?
"Don't bother arguin' with the mare, Twilight," the Captain cut in with a shake of her head, "believe me, ah get antsy when ah have to stay cooped up in here fer too long, but it's best to just do what yer doctor says."
"She's right," Redheart agreed with a strange smile that made me shiver slightly, "those that don't listen to their physician don't tend to last long out there in the field, so I recommend staying put for the time being, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am."
My response was immediate and full of the kind of obeisance normally reserved for one's irate mother. It turned out Nurse Redheart may not have been the kindly physician I thought she was—not completely anyway. Applejack for her part just chuckled at the exchange and moved past Redheart before plopping herself down onto one of the empty beds next to mine.
"So she told you about the slums, huh?," Applejack said, "well, ya heard right; everypony who can is doin' their part to get the slums back into decent shape."
As she spoke, she casually brought a hand to the inside of her duster, but thought better of it at the sudden glare from Nurse Redheart and lowered her hand again with a resigned sigh. I looked between the two of them with a bemused frown, but didn't say anything on the matter.
What was that about?
"It ain't the prettiest part o' town, sure," the Captain continued, "but there's still infrastructural standards we gotta uphold. The ponies that live in the outer district are good folk. They're the foundation that keeps this old Branch afloat—the roots that keep this tree healthy an' standin' tall—and we all have to do what we can to support 'em."
"Wow... when you put it that way I kinda feel bad for spending so much time conked out in the infirmary," I replied after a second, "I'm not sure what I would've been able to do, but..."
"Aw, don't ya worry none, sugarcube," Applejack waved a dismissive hand at my comment, "ain't yer fault ya wound up in here. Ah heard from Spitfire that ya stood up to the Cannibal to buy some time—heck, ah heard ya even scared it off."
"That... might be a bit of an exaggeration," I corrected, rubbing my arm uncomfortably, "I didn't really 'scare it off' so much as it just... up and left. It just... looked at me and ran off."
"Oh really now?" Applejack laughed, "sounds to me like ya scared it off."
"Anyway, now that you mention it," I said, choosing to move on, "what happened with you guys? You and the rest of the Daeus Hunters that fought the Vargren and Cannibal I mean. Just before the Cannibal ran off to where we were, we all saw this huge pillar of flame shoot into the sky."
"Ah, that," Applejack sighed and adjusted her stetson, seemingly out of habit, "yeah, it was somethin' else alright. Ah'd like to say we had it on the ropes an' it pulled a desperation move, but that'd be a lie. Really, none of us know what happened; we were doin' what we could against the Cannibal, but then it just suddenly lit up like a firework and before we knew it, everythin' went up in flames, includin' the rest o' the Vargren," at my worried expression, she hurried to elaborate further, "now don't ya worry yer pretty little head, Sparkle. Everypony managed to back out just in time with nothin' more'n a few minor burns here an' there. We made sure to draw all the varmints into an open empty space in town so nothin' else caught fire neither."
"Well that's a relief," I replied, "I'm glad everypony made it out relatively okay."
"You an' me both," Applejack agreed, "an' havin' said all that—an' now that yer awake an' all—ah think it's time we got down to why ah decided to pay ya a visit in the first place."
"Oh?" Redheart asked, turning to me and catching my eye briefly before looking back over to the Captain, "and why is that?"
"Two reasons really," Applejack replied. She stood up and stretched her arms out as she spoke, "first an' most important is that the Doctor and Director both want to see ya in the Director's office once yer well enough to leave."
"Doctor Whooves and Director Mare?" I raised my brows in surprise, "what do they want from me?"
"A firsthand report o' what happened with the Cannibal most likely," the Captain answered with a shrug, "should be nothin' to worry over."
Ah, right, I guess it makes sense that they'd want to talk to somepony who'd gotten an eyeful of the beast before it fled.
"The second reason ah came was to have ya formally meet the rest o' yer team if ya were awake," Applejack continued, "you an' Fluttershy still have some trainin' to do before yer actually part o' that team, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to know who you'd be workin' with once ya passed the trainin' phase," she made her way back to the entrance and turned to me with one last lazy wave, "anyhow, that's all ah wanted to say. Ah got somethin' else to take care of, so I'll leave ya be fer now," she paused and glanced over to the stand next to my bed, "ya ought to try that cake afore it goes stale by the way. Pinkie made it herself, an' nopony bakes a cake like Pinkie, lemme tell ya."
And with that, and one last chuckle, she exited the infirmary, leaving me and Nurse Redheart alone once again. The other mare gave me an indulgent smile before rising from her seat.
"I suppose I'd better be getting back to my reports as well," she back as she pushed her chair back over to the desk near the back of the room, "I'll be just over here if you need anything, but you should get some more rest in the meantime."
As Nurse Redheart went back to work typing away on her desktop, I took that moment to look over to the aforementioned cake still sitting tantalizingly on the stand. I'd never been a particularly huge fan of chocolate cake, preferring coffee and carrot cake myself, but I was hungry enough—and grateful enough—not to complain. With that in mind, I picked up the fork next to the plate, the plate itself, and took a bite before enthusiastically digging in.
It turned out Applejack wasn't lying about Pinkie's baking skills, and that I might've had to rethink my position on chocolate cake, especially if Pinkie was the one making it.
I'd been a bit skeptical of Nurse Redheart's request to stay and rest a bit longer, but admittedly the extra bit of rest ended up doing me a world of good. After asking for directions to the Director's office I left the infirmary and headed down the hall feeling better than I had in a while. Part of me wondered if it was okay for me to be visiting the Director in her office this late in the day, but she and Doctor Whooves were the ones calling me in the first place so I had to assume it was fine.
There were still some ponies wandering the halls and going about their business, but I ignored them for the most part as I ruminated on the events that led to me waking up in the infirmary. All things considered, I thought I'd handled myself fairly well right up until the Cannibal had shown up. I did wonder what had happened with everypony else, but I figured I could find them and ask about it tomorrow.
As I made my way to the elevator leading to the top floor where the Director's office was, my ears perked up at the whispered sound of my own name somewhere a little ways behind me. Confused, I turned just in time to catch a mare and stallion walking the other way as they glanced back at me. The moment our eyes met the stallion chuckled awkwardly and the mare gave a friendly smile and wave before the two of them continued on their way. I couldn't help but raise a bemused eyebrow at the weird exchange.
What... was that about?
I looked around and noticed that a few others walking by were casting strange looks or glances my way. It wasn't everypony, but it was just enough that it was starting to weird me out. Suddenly feeling horribly awkward and uncomfortable, I ignored the stares and murmuring and sped up my pace, wanting nothing more than to get to the elevator and away from the unwanted attention.
What the hay is going on here?!
Sure I could've stopped to ask somepony, but the anxiety was beginning to cloud my thoughts about what was being said about me. I turned the corner and breathed a huge sigh of relief as I finally spotted the elevator that would take me to my destination. It wasn't all that long a trip in reality, but the looks I was getting made the walk feel so much longer. I mashed the button to take me up to the top floor and quickly slipped inside the elevator once the doors slid open.
Thankfully there was nopony else coming in or out so I had the transport all to myself. I used the solitude to take a deep breath and collect my thoughts. The elevator was silent save for the muted hum of the machinery propelling me upward. Now that I wasn't being surrounded by prying eyes my thoughts were a bit clearer and I was able to piece together some ideas of why I might've been garnering so much attention.
"Maybe it was because of what happened back then?" I muttered to myself, "I mean, it's not like I did anything particularly special or heroic, and how would that have spread so fast anyway?"
I continued to wonder about the issue as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened once again. I stepped out into a small singular corridor. Looking down the hall, I could see it was a straight shot to the doors leading to the office, just as Nurse Redheart had mentioned. There weren't any other doors or pathways to be found, though I guess there didn't really need to be.
Relieved and oddly intimidated by the sight, I made my way to the office. I was about halfway to the entrance of the office when the door slid open on its own. Caught by surprise, I paused and it wasn't long before the mare that emerged spotted me and we locked eyes. I wasn't a mare that normally gave much thought as to whether or not a stallion was handsome or a mare was beautiful.
That said, exceptions did exist—most notably where the President and Chief Commander of Wendigo were concerned. Those two mares just seemed to radiate an ethereal sort of beauty that could hardly be defined with words. While the mare before me paled in comparison to the two demigoddesses that were Celestia and Luna, it was still clear to me that she'd put enough work into her appearance to make ponies stand up and notice.
This mare was only the second pony I'd seen who'd chosen to completely throw uniformity to the wind as far as military uniforms went, the only other being Captain Applejack. Instead of the standard Wendigo issued jacket and blouse, the mare had opted for a black cheongsam with violet trim and knee-high boots.
I wasn't exactly an expert when it came to fashion, but even I could see that the dress—traditionally worn by the kirin if memory served correctly—seemed to be made with both form and function in mind. Completing the look was an open dark violet half jacket with the Wendigo symbol stitched right into the left breast pocket in the form of a light grey patch. It all contrasted rather well with the mare's snow-white coat and a violet mane that fell over one side of her face in one big luxurious curl.
The mare, a unicorn judging by the horn poking just past her mane, had put just as much effort into her makeup as she had her outfit. It all came together to make a pony that could not and would not be ignored by stallions or even other mares. At least, that's the impression I got anyway. The other thing that stood out to me was the familiar black and white armlet attached to her right arm, making her another Daeus Hunter like myself.
"Oh!" the mare exclaimed, evidently just as surprised as I was to meet somepony else here in the hallway. Her surprise faded quickly and before I could get out any sort of response she furrowed her brows and took a step forward, "by chance, could you be...?"
She continued forward at an oddly quick pace and before I knew it, my personal space was being casually and thoroughly invaded. Feeling uncomfortable, I took a step back and was thankful when the mare didn't follow. The mare backed off a bit, but her bright azure eyes remained focused on me with an eerie sort of intensity—like she was sizing me up for... something.
"Um—"
"Apapap, just a moment, darling," she interjected before I could say anything. She straightened up and folded her arms, never once taking her eyes off me, "let me get a good look at you..."
"E-Excuse me," I tried again, unable to take the intense scrutiny, "but I kind of... have a meeting with the Director so... so if I could just—"
I tried to move past the mare but she waved a hand as if to dismiss the very notion of moving aside.
"Oh, she can wait a moment or two I think," she replied airily, her oddly serious frown twisting into an amiable smile, "surely you have a bit of time for introductions? You're Twilight Sparkle, right?"
"Ah, yes... yeah, that's right," I said, taking another wary step back, "how did you... wait," now it was my turn to furrow my brow as something suddenly clicked in the back of my mind, "are you... Rarity?"
I had no concrete reason to suspect what I did other than the fact that this mare stood out in my mind in much the same way as one of the letters I'd received while I was indisposed. Violet, elegant, flowery, beautiful; these were all words I would've used to describe what I'd read in that letter, and funnily enough, those were more or less the same words I thought of when I looked at this pony.
It was just a hunch, but a strong one—and a correct one if the mare's brightening smile and deep azure eyes lighting up was anything to go by.
"Oh? So you've already heard of me, then," she answered, "well I suppose that makes introductions a little easier then, doesn't it?"
"Well, yeah I guess... kind of. I heard a bit about you from Nurse Redheart, but it's mostly the letter you brought me that tipped me off," I frowned slightly, "speaking of which, if you did visit in the infirmary, shouldn't you already know what I look like?"
"Ah, my apologies, dear," Rarity replied, her smile turning a bit awkward, "you see, I never actually delivered the letter myself, too busy I'm afraid. I had Pinkie deliver it in my place so this is actually the first time we've seen each other I believe."
"Then how did you know who I was?" I asked.
"Oh come now, there's almost nopony who doesn't know who you are at this point," she said with a small chuckle. She leaned forward slightly and put on a playful smirk, "word around the Branch is that you drove away the big bad Cannibal all on your own."
"What?! No! I—" I sputtered indignantly. I thought back to what Applejack had said and in that moment, my uncomfortable walk here suddenly made a whole lot more sense, "it ran off on its own, I didn't do anything! Is that why everypony's talking about me and giving me weird looks? How does everypony already know about that anyway?"
"Rumors are quick to spread here in Ponyville, and the Branch is no different," Rarity shrugged, "and as with all rumors, the truth tends to get a bit twisted."
"No kidding," I muttered sourly, "things weren't much different in Canterlot when I was growing up and I don't imagine that's changed a lot," I sighed, "back then I was able to ignore stuff like that because it wasn't my problem, but now..."
"That's right! You're originally from Canterlot, aren't you?" Rarity suddenly gushed, her eyes practically sparkling at the mention of my hometown, "ah, to live in such a glamorous and—more importantly—well-fortified place must be like a dream!"
"What, Canterlot? Well, I'm not really sure about 'glamorous'," I replied uncertainly, "but I suppose its walls are the strongest and most well-defended of all the cities in Equestria, but that's to be expected given Canterlot is not only Equestria's capital, but also where HQ is located," I eyed the mare curiously, "have you not been to Canterlot? You seem like you'd fit right in."
I wasn't exaggerating either. From her outfit to the care and attention she put into her figure to the way she spoke, everything about the mare just screamed 'Canterlot elite'. Living just outside the inner walls near the center of Canterlot, I'd seen more than a few ponies like her wandering about. In fact, I half expected Rarity had been transferred here from Canterlot at some point in the past, but to my surprise that evidently wasn't the case.
"Oh no, my parents were originally from Manehattan, but they moved to Ponyville a few years before I was born," Rarity explained with a somewhat wistful sigh, "I may give off a... different impression than what you'd expect from a Ponyville native, but rest assured I'm a Ponyville mare born and raised."
"Huh," was the only thing I could think to say in response. Still curious, I decided to ask, "and the interest in Canterlot? Where did that come from?"
"It's a far more common interest here than you think, darling," Rarity replied, pushing her mane out of her face, "being from Canterlot I don't suppose you'd understand, but every filly and colt born in the slums dreams of what it would be like to live in Canterlot at some point—what it would be like to live in safety behind those sturdy well-maintained walls without fear of a nasty Avidaeos attack every other day and I'm no different in that regard."
"Oh... I guess that makes sense," my face fell a bit at that, mostly because she was right. I'd seen the Outer District of Ponyville for myself and her words only served to drive the point home about how hard ponies like her must've had it, "so... you lived in the slums then?"
"Many of us here did, yes, but there's no need to make a face like that, dear," Rarity said with an encouraging and partially apologetic smile, "it wasn't my intention to sour your mood, just to give you a bit of insight into the mare that is Rarity."
"No, it's fine," I quickly replied, "It's just... you're right. I'm just realizing again how different things are here compared to Canterlot. Although now that I think about it, the city's layout isn't actually all that different from Ponyville's believe it or not," I explained, "the most important facilities and most influential ponies are all focused near the center of Canterlot and separated from the rest of the city by an inner wall with the poorest district sitting just behind the outer wall."
"Not surprising," Rarity huffed, "I'm fairly certain most towns and cities are that way. Still, I'm sure that even the poorest district in Canterlot has nothing on Ponyville."
"Well... you're not wrong about that," I admitted, "it's not like Canterlot's never been attacked, but Avidaeos attacks are so scarce that most of Canterlot lives in relative comfort even near the outer wall," I paused as a thought came to mind, "y'know, if you made Captain you could request a transfer to Canterlot if that's really what you wanted."
I didn't mention it aloud then, but my brother actually did have some pull with the higher-ups. If I was able to get in touch with him, I could probably put in a good word, but—
"Perish the thought, darling," came Rarity's immediate reply, "living in Canterlot would be lovely I'm sure, but there's far more left for me to do here in Ponyville."
"O-Oh, really?"
"Indeed," she nodded seriously, "after all, somepony needs to be here to make sure those poor souls still living in the Outer District are well protected, well-fed, and most importantly well dressed."
"Well... well dressed?" I asked, completely caught off guard by her last statement, "what do you mean?"
My first thought was that she might've been talking about making sure the ponies in the slums had warm clothes for the winter. Winter in many parts of Equestria had become extremely harsh and unforgiving over the last few hundred years. There was a time when that kind of weather was regulated by thousands of pegasi all over the country, but the drastic rise in Avidaeos attacks from both land and sky made the task almost impossible.
There were still a few remaining teams spread throughout Equestria that were dedicated to clearing the skies when needed, but not many. There weren't enough pegasi left that were able or willing to get the job done to make any kind of difference. It wasn't like the pegasi who became Daeus Hunters could really help protect their non-Daeus Hunter counterparts either given the drastic decrease in flight capability.
Due to a lack of time and available resources, we also didn't have enough aircraft to spare to support a widespread effort either. In short, if a team of pegasi wanted to clear the skies in most towns or cities, they were effectively on their own. There was a team in Canterlot as well as all the other major Equestrian cities that were backed and protected by Wendigo, but they could only mitigate the problem so much even with Wendigo's help.
I didn't imagine there was any such team in Ponyville, so making sure the ponies had proper clothing for the winter months would make sense, but apparently that's not really what Rarity was talking about—not entirely anyway.
"Back when my family and I lived in the slums, most ponies would wander around in nothing more than rags—quite literally in some cases," Rarity explained with a small shudder, "there was a much wider gap between the well off and the impoverished then. Winters were dreadful, ponies were miserable, Avidaeos attacks were just as constant as they are now, and unless you or somepony else in your family was compatible with a Daeus Arm, there wasn't really much you could do about any of it."
"Rarity..." I replied, not really knowing what else to say.
"I won't go too deep into my personal history, it's all in the past now," Rarity continued in a slightly lighter tone, "but yes, suffice it to say life was a struggle and still is for those living in the Outer District," her expression turned distant and reflective, "I didn't have much as a filly, but I wanted to do what I could for the others out there like me."
"So what did you do?" I asked, starting to get some idea based on what she'd mentioned earlier, "I'm assuming you found a way?"
"I did," Rarity confirmed with a small nod and smile, "before I was old enough to work for Wendigo as a Daeus Hunter, I found my talent in the form of a needle and thread. Partly out of necessity—and with a little help from a family friend—I started learning how to sew my own clothing. I quickly discovered I had a knack for it and that necessity eventually became a passion."
"And I'm guessing you started helping ponies by making clothes for them," I surmised, "is that right?"
"Just so, darling," Rarity replied, "I've been making outfits for the ponies in the slums ever since I was a filly, and my passion for fashion has only grown over the years. I've even designed outfits for other Daeus Hunters on occasion, including most of what your soon-to-be Captain is wearing."
"Wow, that's... really something, Rarity."
I said those words with no small amount of awe and respect. What Rarity was doing for these ponies, it made me think about what I'd been doing to help my fellow equines. I also got into Hive Cell research to help others, but that was only in a broader, more general sense and the effects weren't readily apparent to the common pony. What Rarity was doing was something that felt tangible; it was something I could see in an instant.
It was something I had actually noticed when I first entered Ponyville. I had thought that the ponies living in the Outer District were oddly well dressed. It likely wasn't the only factor in the smiles I could see on more than a few of their faces—the surprisingly well-maintained homes were probably another reason for that—but I imagined it certainly played a big part.
"And you yourself made what you're wearing now?" I asked, "if it weren't for the Wendigo patch I would've thought that whole outfit was part of a line from some famous designer brand."
"Oh? I'm flattered you think so," Rarity tittered. She gave a sort of half turn to show off her attire as she spoke, "this isn't exactly a recent ensemble but I feel it is one of my finer works if I do say so myself."
She paused and her pleasant smile turned a shade more melancholy and even a bit bitter.
"...All this said, there are quite a few ponies living in the slums and whether we're talking about the risk or the bits involved in getting them, materials aren't exactly cheap either way," she sighed, "far more often than not, the quality of what I'm able to make for those out in the slums isn't exactly..." her face twisted into a dissatisfied scowl, "...up to my standards."
"Ah, yeah I can see that," I replied with a nod, "the clothing I saw back in the slums looked really good, but a lot of what I saw was... kind of worn looking. But I just assumed most of that came from just... y'know, living in the slums."
"True, that is a large part of it," Rarity conceded, "but I'd still like to be able to do more than what I'm currently capable of," she gestured to her outfit, "this is actually one of my many attempts to create something fashionable, functional, sturdy, and above all, economical in terms of price and risk,"she sighed again, "though I am rather fond of the design, it doesn't quite hit the mark sadly and I still have yet to find that perfect balance."
"It sounds like you have your work cut out for you," I said, then gave my own hopefully encouraging smile, "but I'm sure you'll find a way to make it work eventually."
"One can only hope, dear," Rarity replied with a shrug and a shake of her head, "but all that aside, I believe I've taken up enough of both your time and the Director's so I'll be on my way."
"Oh, okay," I said as she started to move past me and towards the elevator, "um... oh! Thanks for the card by the way!"
"Think nothing of it, darling," Rarity called back. She suddenly stopped and turned back to me with a playful smile just as she reached the doors to the elevator, "now that I've gotten a good look at both you and Fluttershy, I think I can make something even better than a simple get-well card."
"Wait what?" I asked in complete bewilderment, "what are you... you're not talking about—"
"Consider it a gift for when you two pass training and join our merry little squad," she interjected, waving over her shoulder as she entered the elevator whose doors had just opened, "tata for now~!"
And with that not-so-cryptic statement, the doors slid shut, leaving me alone with my thoughts in the hallway leading to the Director's Office. I stood there for a moment, eyes still locked on the elevator and wondering, among many other things about the mare, just when she'd had a chance to meet Fluttershy and how that conversation went.
"If it was anything like mine," I muttered to myself, "I bet it was an interesting one..."
Shaking my head, I turned and continued the other way towards the door the Director's Office. I know Applejack had wanted me to meet the rest of the 1st Unit, but between her, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and myself, I was fairly sure I'd met most of the team already at one point or another.
It looks like I'm going to have a very colorful assortment of teammates in the near future.
The visit with the Director was just as Applejack and Doctor Whooves said it would be. It was essentially a debriefing of events told from my point of view more or less. They'd already gotten the gist of the situation from the Lieutenant and the Doctor in particular evidently wanted my thoughts on the Cannibal as a fellow scientist.
"Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of the Cannibal," I'd tried to explain to both of them, "I only made brief contact with it, but it was a... very strange experience to say the least."
The Director gave Doctor Whooves a knowing glance from behind her desk at that, one he returned with a sigh before giving me a wry smile.
"Well, you're hardly the first to describe an encounter with the Cannibal as such," the Doctor chuckled, "its behavior isn't exactly unique per se—there are many Avidaeos that consume each other for various reasons, usually over territorial disputes or to gain strength and evolve in some way."
"All that said—and as I'm sure you've heard before," the Director added, "this particular Avidaeos is an anomaly even amongst the outliers in that seems to harbor no desire to devour anything other than other Avidaeos... almost as if it has some kind of vendetta against them."
"Well... maybe it does."
My suggestion was met with a look of bemusement from the Director, but Doctor Whooves merely gave a thoughtful hum at the notion before addressing me.
"It isn't... an impossibility, I suppose," he conceded, "many Avidaeos have shown such behavior in the past, but judging by your tone, I expect that you feel there's more to the Cannibal than meets the eye. Am I wrong, Miss Sparkle?"
"You're not wrong," I replied with growing confidence, "I don't really know exactly how to explain it, but when I looked into its eyes, I felt this... sense of conviction from it—some kind of... determination or purpose," I shook my head helplessly, "I don't know, maybe it was just my imagination but it just... didn't seem like a wild beast. I felt like I could've had a conversation with it if the circumstances were different... i-is that weird? It's weird, isn't it?"
A brief, but awkward silence hung in the air as Doctor Whooves and Director Mare took in my words. The Director leaned forward and steepled her hands over the desk, seemingly lost in thought. The Doctor tapped at the clipboard in his hands looking just as pensive. The moment passed quickly enough and it was Director Mare who finally broke the silence as she addressed the Doctor.
"How certain are you that this Avidaeus wasn't born from corrupted Hive Cells or an out of control Bias Factor, Time Turner?"
"I'm... fairly sure the creature was born an Avidaeus," Doctor Whooves replied, sounding unsure despite his words, "none of our squads have been able to bring back a sample of the Cannibal's cells for me and the rest of my team to study so I can't be one hundred percent certain, but..."
He trailed off, apparently distracted by a sudden thought.
"But what?" Director Mare pressed, "Doctor Turner, if you have doubts, I'd like to hear them, as would Miss Sparkle I'd imagine."
"Well..." the stallion looked from the Director's expectant look to my bemused expression and sighed, "...under normal circumstances, a creature who's undergone Hive Cell corruption or a Bias Factor meltdown will, without fail, either die outright or become an Avidaeus.
"When the latter happens, the creature in question becomes almost unrecognizable from who or what they used to be," his expression turned grim, "Hive Cell corruption isn't exactly a pretty sight to behold and the result more often than not leaves the victim in a rather hideous looking state."
"True," Director Mare conceded, "normally, in the worst case, the victim becomes a twisted, eldritch mass of Avidaeus flesh and whatever creature it was before," she grimaced in disgust at the thought, "a far cry from the Cannibal's appearance to be sure."
I gave a small grimace of my own.
"I've... read some of the declassified reports of the phenomenon," I said, thinking back on how my curiosity had backfired then, "but I've never actually seen it for myself."
It was those reports that caused me to shy away from any part of that kind of research in the first place. I wanted to do what I could to help make our world a little safer, but my rather weak constitution when it came to that kind of body horror wouldn't allow me to delve any deeper into the subject.
And besides, there's already plenty of ponies researching Hive Cell corruption and how the Bias Factor works. No need for me to get involved any more than necessary... although I wonder just how necessary it'll become in the near future...
The thought made me shudder.
"Pray that you never have to, Miss Sparkle," Doctor Whooves continued gravely. He paused a moment to let the comment sink in before clearing his throat, "...more to the point, and given what we know, I'm convinced the Cannibal isn't the result of Hive Cell corruption—an aberrant certainly, but not one caused by such tragic circumstances."
"Then what seems to be the issue?" the Director asked, "if you're so sure, then why wear such a conflicted expression?"
"Twilight's report is simply driving home just how little we know about the Cannibal is all," Doctor Whooves replied with another weary sigh. He shook his head, a rare look of frustration briefly crossing his face, "I'm certain there's something I'm missing—some proverbial piece of the puzzle that has yet to make itself known... but what could it be?"
There was a tense moment of silence that fell in the wake of his rhetorical question, but thankfully Director Mare didn't let it last long.
"All we can do is hope that time, and the addition of Twilight to the research team, will tell," she turned to give me a soft, encouraging smile, "you're tenure with Wendigo may be lacking, but I've heard you're an exceptionally hard worker with a good track record. I'm sure we can expect great things from you in the future."
"Oh, w-well," I began, somewhat caught off-guard by the recognition, "I'm... I'll do my best to meet expectations."
"That's all we can really ask for at the present," Director Mare replied with a satisfied nod, "but I believe we've taken up enough of your time for now. If I'm not mistaken, you had a meeting to get to with the rest of the 1st Unit?"
"Right," I replied, frowning as a realization suddenly hit me, "the Captain wanted me to meet the team, but now that I'm thinking about it, she never actually told me where everypony would be gathering."
"The rec room would likely be my guess," the Director suggested, "that's where most Hunters go when they're off duty—either that or the training room."
"Alright, well I'll check there then," I replied, already turning to head for the door, "if there's nothing else..."
"Oh! One more thing, Miss Sparkle," Doctor Whooves quickly added as he checked his clipboard, "I meant to mention it earlier but you'll be meeting with my team tomorrow afternoon. The schedule's been changed a bit in light of, er... recent events, so your actual training starts the day after. Make sure you get a good night's sleep tomorrow."
For a brief instant, I had a difficult time deciding whether to be excited or anxious at the news. Deciding to be optimistic for once, I ultimately settled on the former emotion. I'd finally be able to meet the rest of the researchers like I'd wanted to do since coming to Ponyville, and the training...
Well, at the very least I'd be learning how to properly defend myself against the Avidaeos, right? And now that I've seen them up close and in use, I am curious about what kind of Daeus Arms would work best for me. I may have just seen them as giant hunks of metal before, but they and the walls really are all that stands between us and complete annihilation.
"Will do, Doctor," I replied with a bit more enthusiasm, "is there anything else?"
"That'll be it for now. We'll send you an email with more details sometime soonish so make sure to check your terminal when you get a chance," the Doctor flashed another one of his jolly smiles, "I'm sure the other researchers will no doubt be overjoyed to have another brilliant mind on the team."
I wasn't really sure how to respond so I just gave an awkward chuckle and one last goodbye before stepping out of the Director's office and back into the hall. As I made my way to the rec room my thoughts turned to a few different topics—namely the upcoming visit with the ponies I'd be working with, both in the 1st Unit and as a scientist. There was also the matter of my sleep schedule being thrown way off.
It was close to eight in the evening by the time I got out of the Director's office and I didn't feel the slightest bit tired. Even as caught up in my own concerns as I was, I still somehow managed to find my way to the rec room without any help. Honestly, I hardly even noticed the ponies around me or the fact that there were fewer of them given the time of day.
I was musing on whether or not I could force myself to sleep once I got back to my room when I heard somepony call my name. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up to see that I'd entered the rec room proper. I hadn't seen this place since the party and without all the decorations and dozens of ponies milling about, the room felt somehow both far too big and incredibly cozy at the same time.
The first to notice my entrance, much to my surprise, was none other than the pink party planning earth pony herself, Pinkie Pie. The bubbly mare waved at me from behind the counter of the bar at the center of the room. Now that I took a bit of time to look, I could see that the bar itself wasn't just a bar, but rather a sort of small makeshift kitchen as well—complete with cooking utensils, a small stove, a grill, and a few other things crammed into one small space.
Sitting at one of the stools in front of the bar and casually nursing a wine glass of some kind of dark amber-colored drink was Rarity. The mare was having what seemed to be an animated but very one-sided conversation with Fluttershy who'd taken up a seat next to her. The shy pegasus seemed content enough to simply listen to what the seamstress had to say, only giving an occasional small smile and nod or one-word acknowledgment.
Looking around the room I spotted Applejack and Rainbow Dash over by a pool table. My eyes landed on the two just in time to see the latter mare smack the cue ball a little too hard, sending several of both the striped and solid balls into various holes. I knew enough about pool to know that the move was a major blunder on Rainbow's part, to say nothing of the ensuing groan of frustration and a mocking chuckle from the Captain.
All eyes turned to me at the sound of Pinkie's boisterous announcement, causing me to wince and give a weak sort of wave in return. I knew the Retaliation Team had lost a good number of its members fairly recently so I expected the turnout to be small. That said—and even though I didn't know exactly how many ponies were on the team—I suddenly got the feeling I was the last to arrive.
"Erm... sorry to keep you all waiting," I said, giving everypony present an apologetic smile, "I'm not too late, am I?"
"Not at all, darling," Rarity replied, matching my awkward grin with a reassuring smile, "Fluttershy and I only just arrived ourselves a few short minutes before you did," she gestured to a stool next to her, "come and join us, won't you? We've plenty of food, drink, and pleasant company... mostly."
From over by the pool table with her pool cue resting on one shoulder, Rainbow Dash cast an unamused frown Rarity's way, not missing the jab evidently aimed at her. Rarity, for her part, ignored the look and continued to address me instead.
"I'm sure Pinkie will be more than happy to accommodate you while we give proper introductions," she finished, "just let her know if there's anything you prefer."
"Yeah! We don't have as many ingredients to work with as I'd like, but..." Pinkie added with a small childish pout. She shrugged and her bright smile returned a moment later, "...eh, I'm sure I can still whip up something good with what we've got, so c'mon! Pull up a stool and lay it on me! What are ya in the mood for?"
I glanced over to Fluttershy and Rarity, only now noticing that the former had what looked like a small plate of mostly eaten sweet rolls. Next to that was an even smaller plate of baby carrots that were currently being devoured by a familiar and ravenous white rabbit. In all the excitement of today's and yesterday's events, I'd completely forgotten about Angel.
The little rabbit looked content enough to sit on the counter and gorge itself on its meal, and since Fluttershy wasn't saying anything about it, I guessed everypony else was okay with it as well. Rarity, by contrast, had nothing save for the drink in her hand.
"Oh, don't worry about me, dear," she replied to my unanswered question, "I'd already prepared myself a little something earlier before I came here."
"Oh, okay then," I answered, taking up her offer to seat myself on the stool left of where she sat. I eyed the drink in her hand curiously, "is, um... did you..." I paused and turned to the bouncy mare behind the counter, "did the Ponyville Branch actually manage to get ahold of some wine?"
Both Pinkie and Rarity gave me matching looks of disbelief before turning to look at each other. A moment later they were both laughing like I'd told the best joke they'd heard all night. Through my confusion and embarrassment, I happened to notice that Pinkie's laugh in particular was strangely familiar.
Disturbingly familiar if I'm remembering right...
"Oh heavens no!" Rarity giggled, trying to get herself under control, "I only wish I were so lucky... but no, darling," she raised her glass and swished the contents around meaningfully, "the wine glass is mine, but what's inside is nothing but cheap rationed alcohol I'm afraid."
My face twisted further in bemusement.
"But... then why put it in a—"
"She does it to make herself feel better about having to drink trashy beer," came Rainbow's raspy voice. I turned just in time to see the mare in question drop herself down onto the seat next to mine. She looked past me, leaning forward on the counter and flashing Rarity a sardonic grin, "thinks it makes her look classy."
"I've said it before and I'll say it again, Rainbow Dash," Rarity replied with a dainty sip of her beer and a haughty flip of her mane, "there is nothing wrong with holding oneself to a higher standard when it comes to one's appearance.
"If you want others to see you as a mare brimming with confidence and elegance, then you must look the part, even if you don't feel it or if circumstance won't allow it—fake it till you make it, as it were."
"Hah, I don't gotta fake nothing," Rainbow scoffed, "I don't need to drink cheap beer out of a wine glass to know how awesome I am."
"Oh?" Rarity replied, holding a hand to her chest in mock surprise, "and here I thought all those motivational pep talks you give yourself in the mirror every morning was your way of overcoming your own perceived inadequacies. Perhaps I was wrong?"
That threw the pegasus for a loop apparently, because her response was nothing but a sputtered mess.
"What?! I don't... h-how did you—"
"I have quite a few friends as it happens," Rarity replied with another casual sip of her beer, "and one of those friends just so happens to have the pleasure of sleeping in the room next to yours," she cast Rainbow a cheeky side glance, "to hear her tell of it, your little speeches can get quite... heated."
Face glowing red with embarrassment and anger, Rainbow opened her mouth to retort, but a hand on Rarity's shoulder caught both mare's attention. We all turned to see Fluttershy eyeing Rarity with a frown that was small, but full of reproach.
"I understand that Rainbow Dash was in the wrong for provoking you, Rarity," she began, her quiet voice brimming with all the energy of a disapproving mother, "but do you really think mocking her in retaliation is holding yourself up to a higher standard?"
For a brief instant, nopony spoke. The three of us just stared at the normally diffident mare with varying levels of surprise. I hadn't known Fluttershy all that long myself, but having seen how strong she could be when the situation called for it, I wasn't all that taken aback. Rarity seemed to recover quickly enough, but strangely enough, given their apparent history—or maybe because of it—it was Rainbow Dash that seemed the most shocked out of the three of us.
Before she could say anything about her friend's behavior, Fluttershy quickly pulled her hand from Rarity's shoulder and turned away. Her face was as red as Rainbow's had been a moment ago and when she next spoke, the chastising tone in her voice was nowhere to be found.
"I-I'm sorry," she squeaked, "I said too much, didn't I?"
Rarity blinked and shook her head before giving the mortified pegasus an apologetic smile.
"No, not in the slightest, dear. On the contrary, you're absolutely right," she assured. She sighed and turned to face Rainbow Dash, "perhaps I did go a bit too far with my words, and for that, I apologize. I simply meant to point out that we all have ways of coping with the more... unpleasant trials that life throws our way and one shouldn't be mocked for such a thing... but I suppose I made a hypocrite of myself in the process."
It took a second for Rainbow to answer, but she eventually moved her focus from Fluttershy to Rarity, registering her words and scoffing in response.
"I'll say, and it wasn't like I was the one that started it anyway," Rainbow retorted grumpily, though she was quick to relent once she noticed Fluttershy eyeing her with the same look she'd given Rarity, "er, b-but I guess it's cool. And I mean the whole wine glass thing is... well, it's not something I'd do, but... to each their own? I guess?"
"I think you may have missed the point just a tad," Rarity replied, wholly unimpressed by Rainbow's response, "but still, I believe it best to put this bit of nastiness behind us for the time being," with that, she rounded on me and presumably Fluttershy, a pleasant smile suddenly gracing her face, "after all, I imagine our guests and future teammates didn't come just to hear us bicker."
Honestly, I didn't really mind it all that much. I'd heard much worse from when Twinkleshine and Minuette fought, and it wasn't like I never got into heated debates with Moon Dancer either. I wanted to say as much to Rarity, but it was around that time that a certain aroma permeating the air started to catch my attention. It was a familiar smell, one that would almost instantly get my mouth watering.
"Order up!"
I looked over to the counter just as a very familiar dish was placed in front of me. Pinkie, who'd been oddly quiet up until that point, had somehow—without my notice or any prompt or request from me—fully cooked and prepared one of my favorite meals. A massive hayburger complete with ketchup, a side of fries, and a cold glass of what I suspected was sweet tea. All of it together was a staple of my personal diet back home and a meal I've loved since I was a filly.
A meal I haven't had the chance to eat in... I can't even remember how long.
I looked up at Pinkie, unsure how or where to even begin asking the multitude of questions I had. My bewilderment must've shown on my face because the pink mare gave me a wink and a mysterious smile.
"I asked you what you wanted, but I didn't get an answer, sooo~ I guessed!" she replied to my unasked question, "I had a hunch you were a fast-food kinda gal, so I went with my gut. Well? Was I right? I was right, wasn't I?"
"Well... yes, you were, and that's what amazes me," I replied, still in awe, but now somewhat suspicious, "this was one of my favorite things to eat back home. Pinkie, how did you—"
"I already told you, silly!" Pinkie laughed, "it was a hunch. I just have a sense for these things, y'know?"
"Uh-huh," I raised an eyebrow, growing warier by the moment, "and how did you prepare something like this so fast without me or anypony else noticing?"
"Oh, that?" she scoffed dismissively, "I'm more a patissier than a patty flipper, but I've always been pretty good in the kitchen no matter what I make," she paused a moment, then shrugged, "or so I've been told anyway."
"Okay," I pressed, growing somewhat annoyed at the mare's evasive answers, "but that doesn't explain—"
"Best not to look too deep into it, sugarcube. Believe me, ah've tried, an' there ain't nothin' down that path but madness."
We all turned to see Applejack making her way over to the bar from where she'd still been lingering over by the pool table. The amused smile on her face told me she'd probably been listening to us all the whole time and chose not to interfere for whatever reason.
"Finally decided to join the rest of us, did you, Captain?" Rarity asked with a hint of good humor.
"Figured it was about time, yeah," Applejack replied before taking a seat next to Rainbow and addressing the exuberant barmaid, "I'll have what Rarity's havin' if ya don't mind, Pinkie."
"In the really big flagon?" Pinkie asked with a knowing smile.
"In the really big flagon." Applejack replied, smiling in kind.
"One big ol' flagon of ale, coming right up!" Pinkie cried.
In a feat that further defied all reason, the mare dropped down behind the counter only to pop back up an instant later dressed as an old fashioned serving wench—the kind you would've seen serving patrons in an old rustic tavern. I watched her fill what really was a 'big ol' flagon' from a tap with several more questions spinning around my mind.
"Like ah said," Applejack continued as she finally turned to face me directly, "it's best to just let her do her thing. Ain't no use in understanding any o' what she does or how she does it."
I certainly beg to differ...
But despite the thought, I chose to take the Captain's advice and move on for now, for the sake of my sanity if nothing else. Now wasn't the time to sate that kind of curiosity, but that didn't mean I was giving up on trying to figure the mare out—far from it. I'd have my answers eventually, especially if that mare was part of the team. Instead, I moved my thoughts from Pinkie to the flagon she was filling and the mare that would presumably be drinking from it.
"Are you sure it's okay to be drinking so much in your position?" I asked somewhat worriedly, "that... seems like it's going to be a lot of booze..."
"Ah, it's fine," Applejack assured with a dismissive wave of her hand, "ah can hold mah liquor better'n anypony in this town, ah guarantee it."
"She's not lying either," Rainbow added with an exasperated huff, "This one time at a party down in the slums way back, I once saw her drink twenty-seven other ponies under the table. No joke, she showed up the next morning looking as fresh as a Celestia damned daisy."
And judging by that bitter expression I imagine you were one of the casualties in that drinking contest.
"Wow," I muttered aloud, "that's, uh... pretty impressive, but the alcohol is rationed just like everything else, right? How can you all afford so much of it?"
Really, what impressed me more was the fact that they'd somehow gotten enough alcohol for that kind of rampant consumption.
"True, normally there ain't too much ta go around, but... let's jus' say ah know a mare an' leave it at that fer now," the Captain said with the same kind of mysterious smile Pinkie wore earlier, "bein' a Captain has its benefits. This is one of 'em."
With that said, Applejack picked up the flagon Pinkie had just dropped down in front of her. She took a large swig, sighed in contentment, and returned her attention to me and Fluttershy.
"I know the both of ya have probably met just about everypony here at one point or another, but ah'll introduce ya just the same..."
She nodded in Pinkie's direction.
"This here's Pinkamena Diane Pie, though everypony in town just calls her Pinkie Pie or just Pinkie for short," she began, "an' it don't matter if she's in the kitchen with a spatula or on the battlefield with a boost hammer, that girl can work some miracles, lemme tell ya."
Pinkie just giggled innocently at the praise, but I was still a bit wary. I don't know what it was about the mare, but something about her just... felt weird. Even apart from the absurd feats I'd seen her accomplish, it seemed like I wasn't quite getting the full story when I looked at or spoke to her. She put me on edge in a way I couldn't exactly comprehend.
Well, I'm sure I'll find out what the deal is sooner or later, though now that I'm thinking about it, I'm so sure I want to anymore...
"And then ya got Rainbow Dash, here," Applejack continued, heedless of my suspicions about her bubbly teammate, "ah don't think there's a pegasus alive who can outpace or outmaneuver those voracious varmints like Rainbow."
The mare in question gave a cocky lopsided grin and opened her mouth to no doubt expand on her own greatness, but Applejack pushed ahead before she could get a word out.
"Yeah, she's mouthy an' she has a bit of a puffed-up ego," she said. Rainbow's smug grin gradually fell into an unamused scowl as Applejack continued to tick off points on each finger, "she's hot-headed an' reckless an' careless an' Celestia knows she's got a long way ta go before she's even half the Daeus Hunter she thinks she is..."
"Thanks for the glowing praise, Cap," Rainbow deadpanned, "means a lot."
The Captain shrugged and downed more booze before speaking again, still addressing me rather than Rainbow Dash.
"...but the talent is definitely there," she finished, "an' for all her faults, her commitment and dedication to the team an' mission are the strongest ah've seen outta any other Daeus Hunter yet. At the end o' the day, Rainbow Dash is somepony we can all count to have our back when the manure hits the fan."
Applejack's words prompted a vigorous nod from Pinkie and even an honest, if slightly reluctant, agreement from Rarity. Combined with Fluttershy's own nod and smile of understanding, it all seemed enough to satisfy Rainbow whose grin returned, albeit with a bit more humility than last time.
"Hey, being awesome in this kinda job is a requirement, y'know? And part of being awesome is looking out for your buddies," she said, surprising me with a far more subdued tone. Her smile shifted into something more somber as she spoke, "because if you don't... well, things can get bad real quick."
Everypony went quiet at that statement and for the second time that night, I experienced a horribly uneasy silence. But unlike my meeting with the Doctor and Director, this silence seemed to hold much more weight. I could feel unspoken words pressing down on me and all the warmth and comfort from a moment ago had evaporated, leaving a cold and melancholy sort of air.
I could see that something wasn't right in Applejack's particularly long pull from her flagon or how Pinkie's smile no longer seemed to reach her eyes or even how Rarity's beautiful features seemed to age several years in that single moment. I realized then that there was some kind of context that I was missing, and thinking back, I might've even had an idea of what it was.
Feeling shocked and more than a bit troubled by the sudden shift in the previously jovial atmosphere, I turned to Fluttershy. The other mare had clearly noticed the change just as I did, and if her worried frown and furtively wandering eyes were was anything to go by, she wasn't any happier about it than I was.
A long sigh from Rarity snapped everypony out of their apparent funk and all eyes turned to see the gently set her unfinished glass down on the counter and spoke.
"Well, I suppose it's my turn now, isn't it?"
The mare rounded on Fluttershy and me with a lighter tone and a slightly more chipper smile. It was clear to everypony present that she was trying to dispel the out of place gloom hanging over our heads, but I appreciated the effort.
"We've already met at this point but my name is Rarity Belle," she continued, placing a hand on her chest, "seamstress, fashionista, and the 1st Unit's one and only marksmare. I'm not sure I've actually said this formally yet, but it's a pleasure to meet the two of you."
"Likewise," I replied cordially, happily latching onto Rarity's attempt at moving back to the original subject, "you said you were a marksmare? Does that mean you use a sniper gun like Captain Bon Bon?"
"It does," Rarity confirmed with a nod, "to be honest, I find many of these... industrial monstrosities rather garish and as you might imagine, I'm not too partial to getting my hands dirty in a close range scrap either—"
"Oh, but she will if she has to," Applejack cut in with a half-smirk, "don't let the prim an' proper demeanor fool ya, Twi. That mare can tussle with the best of 'em."
"Oh yeah!" Pinkie chimed in with an amused giggle, "I've seen her beat back an avidaeus with nothing but an empty rifle and righteous indignation! Twice!"
"I once saw her shove the entirebarrel of her gun into the eye of a Lacerbola!" Rainbow laughed, "the overgrown lizard never saw it coming! I've got a lot of amazing stunts under my belt, but I gotta admit, that was the single coolest thing I've ever seen her do."
Rarity frowned and took up her glass again, likely to mask the embarrassment she felt at having been outed as a surprisingly violent combatant. I had a sneaking suspicion that she didn't mind it all that much though. In fact, I had a sneaking suspicion she expected that exact outcome. If that was the case, then she'd accomplished what she set out to do. Just like that, the atmosphere had gone back to the way it was before.
If that's the case, then that means she was willing to lose a bit of face with two mares she barely even knew, all to put things back on track... I can respect that. I wonder if I could've done the same in her position?
After another sip, she cleared her throat and continued on in an effort to regain some of her lost dignity.
"Yes, well, a mare has to learn to defend herself when the going gets tough," she explained, "and these are rare instances I assure you. My skills shine when I'm far from the thick of things and that's where you'll find me more often than not."
"Really, Rares could give even Bon Bon a run for her bits," Pinkie observed as she refilled Applejack's flagon, "and Bon Bon is one of the best sharpshooters in Equestria."
"I'm not so sure I'm as good as that," Rarity replied with a modest chuckle, "but I do what I can to keep those brutish beasts at bay."
"Are you kidding?" Rainbow exclaimed. She turned to look Rarity full in the face, her expression almost comically serious, "look, Rarity, we may not see eye to eye on a lot of things but if there's one thing I can admit to myself about you, it's that you're a damn good shot. Seriously, Bon Bon's got nothing on you."
Rarity blinked in surprise, her words catching in her throat at the sudden heartfelt praise from a mare she clearly hadn't expected any praise from.
"Wow, I'm pretty sure that's the nicest thing you've ever said about Rarity, Rainbow," Pinkie commented. She rested one arm on the counter, all smiles and eyes half-lidded as she observed the two mares, "I think you might've broken her."
Looking over I noticed Pinkie had changed back into her navy blue Daeus Hunter uniform at some point, presumably when I wasn't paying attention. I pondered over this for a moment, but Rainbow's reply pulled me back into the conversation at hand.
"Eh, I just call it like I see it, and I've seen Rarity pull off some insane shots," the pegasus replied with a shrug. She then slid her gaze past Rarity and smirked in my direction, "of course, having said that, she might be getting some tough competition in the near future."
Now it was my turn to blink in surprise.
"Wait, me?" I asked in disbelief, "you can't mean me, right?"
"Of course I mean you, Miss Prodigal New-Type," Rainbow laughed, "I heard you were personally asked to join by the President herself. If that isn't an endorsement, I don't know what is."
"I was conscripted," I corrected with a frown, "there's a huge difference. I'm not here because I want to be, I'm here because I have to be."
Granted, both the President and the Chief Commander do seem to have a lot of faith in me... for some reason. Celestia even had her sister escort me all the way here. And then there was that key she gave me...
I'd stored the key in my bag and put the mystery of why I was given it and what it meant out of my mind for the most part, but I never once forgot about it. Really, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Rainbow Dash might not have been too far off the mark after all, not that I admitted as much to Rainbow.
"Alright, so you were conscripted," Rainbow Dash continued with another dismissive shrug, "I still say you've got some kinda skill hidden away somewhere, I can just smell it," she tapped the end of her muzzle and smiled proudly, "I got a nose for these kinds of things, y'know?"
"Of course you do," I deadpanned, "just don't be disappointed if I don't meet your expectations."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll do just fine, darling, both you and Fluttershy," Rarity chimed in, apparently having gotten over Rainbow's praise. She gave a curious frown, "incidentally, have either of you thought about what Daeus Arms you'll be bringing onto the battlefield?"
"Ooh, you should choose the boost hammer!" Pinkie suggested with what I felt was a bit too much enthusiasm, "it hits really, really hard and it has this rocket boost thingy that lets you do all kinds of crazy things! It's such a fun weapon!"
"Ah don't think Twilight has the, uh... vivacity to wield somethin' like that, Pinkie," Applejack with an amused half-smile, "an' besides, ah don't think anypony can use a boost hammer the way you can. Ah don't think anypony's crazy enough to pull it off."
"Hey, you never know," Pinkie countered, leaning over the counter to give me an encouraging nudge, "she might have a knack for it, right, Twilight?"
"I'm... going to have to agree with the Captain on this one, Pinkie," I replied with a shake of my head, "honestly, I still haven't really decided on what I'll use yet. My training starts in two days so I'll probably have the opportunity to get a feel for what works best for me."
"Well whatever you choose, for the love of Celestia, stay away from the arcane stave," Rainbow Dash warned, "those things are way more trouble than they're worth."
"So I've heard," I replied with a grimace, "I actually worked in Daeus Arms R&D for a bit back when I was still stationed at HQ and had the opportunity to read up on some of the Arms. My brother also told me a little about some of them as well. From what I've read, the arcane stave, in particular, seems to be a little... undercooked in terms of functionality."
"Right? I mean, the concept is good on paper, but you have better options in the blast gun and shotgun, which both offer a lot more stability," Rainbow emphatically explained, "yeah, staves can put out way more power overall, but the payout in damage isn't worth the toll it takes on both the Hunter and the weapon itself."
Any comments I might've had shriveled up and died in my throat as I listened to Rainbow ramble and rant about the arcane stave. It was almost like I was back home listening to my brother go on and on about his own excitement and frustrations when it came to the different types of Daeus Arms. I couldn't help a small smile crossing my face as the enthusiastic pegasus continued to list her grievances with the relatively newly developed weapon.
"When you factor in the insane amount of time it takes for the artificial magic circuits to replenish their store of mana and how open it leaves you in an actual battle, the arcane stave is just not a viable weapon right now and never will be," she finished with a disappointed huff, "not without some serious tweaking anyway."
Satisfied that she'd made her point, Rainbow Dash looked around to see that she'd garnered the undivided attention of everypony at the bar. She frowned in bemusement at the various impressed and amused expressions before her eyes widened and cheeks reddened in realization.
"Uh... s-so, yeah, you should probably pass on the arcane stave for now," she began with a small cough and a light, embarrassed chuckle. Desperate to change the subject, or rather the target of all that awkward attention, she turned instead to Fluttershy, "w-what about you, Flutters? I know fighting isn't exactly your thing, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but—"
"No, it's okay, Rainbow," Fluttershy interrupted with a small and admittedly adorable chuckle of her own at Rainbow Dash's expense, "I have given it a bit of thought," her smile faded slightly, "actually, I've given it a lot of thought. I'm... still not one hundred percent sure, but after talking to Derpy about it, I think I might have an idea."
"Really?" Rainbow replied, once again taken aback by Fluttershy's response, "wow... so what did you have in mind then?"
"Yes, I admit I'm rather curious as well," Rarity added, "I find myself unable to gauge what you'd choose by just looking at you. I can't imagine you taking up the front lines, in fact I shudder to even think about such a notion. Maybe something more... long range?"
Fluttershy went to respond when she saw and realized that we were all waiting for an answer, the rest of us just as curious as Rainbow and Rarity. She closed her mouth and hesitated as if to decide whether or not it would be a good idea to answer. Ultimately, and with a lot less confidence, the mare hid her face behind her mane and gave a subtle nod but didn't say anymore.
"Well don't just leave us in suspense," Pinkie exclaimed with impatient anticipation, "what kinda firepower are we talking here? Sniper? Shotgun? Blast gun? Rayg—oh wait, Derpy's not done with that one yet..."
"C'mon now, everypony," Applejack called out to the rest of us, "ah think we're all makin' the poor girl nervous, puttin' her on the spot like that. If she don't wanna talk, we don't gotta force it outta her."
"...t gun."
We all turned out attention from Applejack back to Fluttershy.
"What was that, dear?" Rarity asked, "you'll have to speak up, I didn't quite catch that."
"...ast gun."
"One more time, sugarcube," Applejack asked encouragingly, "almost caught that but—"
"I'mgonnatryusingtheblastgun!" came Fluttershy's rushed and panicky response, "Derpy explained how it works and how it's the most effective weapon to use when healing your teammates."
We were all rendered speechless for a second, but this time Rainbow was the one to recover first, her brow furrowed in thought.
"That makes sense actually... yeah," she said after a second. I wasn't sure if it was my imagination or not, but the mare seemed almost relieved as she spoke, "if you wanted to take up a pure healing role on the team the blast gun would probably be your best bet," she gave Fluttershy a quizzical look, "did Derpy tell you about bullet crafting?"
"She... told us a little about it during our tour of the Daeus Arms maintenance sector," Fluttershy replied uncertainly, "I don't know too much about it, but when we were talking, she did say that I'd need to learn more about it if I was going to be a dedicated team medic."
"Yeah, the blast gun has the most potential when it comes to healing over a wide area," Rainbow explained, "but if you really wanna be an effective healer and get the most out of the blast gun, then you need to get creative with how you craft your healing bullets."
"I can help you on that front, darling," Rarity offered, "I've had a fair bit of practice when it comes to crafting bullets myself and I'd be more than happy to show you how it's done."
"O-Oh, no I don't want to be a burden," Fluttershy replied, slightly flustered at the proposition, "I'm sure you already have so much to do, a-and I wouldn't want to—"
"Nonsense," Rarity huffed, "I'd be terribly remiss if I didn't take the time to make sure you were properly prepared for what's to come."
"...Okay," Fluttershy nearly whispered, though I could just barely make out a tiny grateful smile hidden behind her mane, "thank you, Rarity."
"Think nothing of it," Rarity replied before glancing over in my direction, "and Twilight, dear, I suggest you partake of your meal before it gets too cold. It wouldn't do to have Pinkie's cooking skills to go to waste."
"Wha—oh! Right!" I replied, looking back down at the untouched hayburger and fries just waiting to be devoured. The rumbling in my stomach at the sight and smell made me realize just how long it had been since I had an actual proper meal, "sorry, Pinkie, I guess I got caught up in the, ah... discussions."
"Don't even worry about it," Pinkie said, waving the apology away, "happens to me all the time. Go on, dig in! You don't get home cookin' like this every day... mostly 'cause I can't afford it," she shrugged, "would if I could but eh, what are ya gonna do? That's just the alternate universe we live in."
"The what?" I asked, completely nonplussed.
"Told ya, sugarcube, there ain't no use in unravelin' that mare," Applejack called out from behind her flagon, "just put it outta yer mind an' eat yer burger."
No, I don't think I can just put it out of my mind that easily. I'm pretty sure she just casually alluded to something that needs to be questioned... or maybe she really is just crazy and I'm overthinking it.
I picked up my hayburger and frowned at it for a moment. It was a dead ringer for just about every other hayburger I'd eaten over the years. Even more unsettling was the fact that she'd even left off the onions and cheese, just how I liked it. It was at that point, at that very moment, that I decided that Applejack was probably right.
There's definitely something weird about that mare... but for right now at least, I think I'm okay with not knowing what horrible secrets she might be hiding in that brain of hers...
With that thought and a small uneasy shudder, I put it out of my mind just as Applejack suggested and bit into my burger. The taste completely washed away my doubts and worries I had, not only about Pinkie but even the worries I had about prior events and the near future. For the next few minutes, joy and nostalgia flooded every pore of my body.
Not even the laughter from Rainbow or the disgust from Rarity regarding my horribly sloppy eating habits could ruin my mood and the rest of that night turned out to be one of the best I'd had since coming to Ponyville.
The next day came earlier than I expected, all things considered.
At some point during the meetup the night before, Rainbow Dash had convinced me to partake in a couple of glasses of beer. I was reluctant at first, having only ever touched the stuff once before with Moon Dancer. That had been to celebrate my—at the time—new position as a researcher for Wendigo. I wasn't a complete lightweight when it came to alcohol, much to the surprise of the others, but I was definitely feeling it by the time I turned in for the night.
What did surprise me was the fact that I not only woke up with no hangover but that I'd woken up so early to boot. I was the second one to leave the get-together following Fluttershy's departure, but we'd all stayed up fairly late into the night. Sure, I went back to my room and crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow, but waking up at eight in the morning after a late night of drinking and feeling as okay as I did was pretty impressive in my opinion.
There was some residual grogginess and the beginnings of a minor headache, but a quick shower was enough to clear all that up. It only took me about an hour to get ready for the day, and that was only because I had to take some extra time to unpack all my stuff. By the time I was done, my assigned room actually looked like a proper room, if a bit austere in appearance.
All that said, I had passed out with the expectation that I'd be waking up late so I found myself wondering just what to do with my time. I checked my personal terminal and saw that the Doctor had indeed sent me an email with a schedule for today and tomorrow. Sure enough, my meeting with Doctor Whooves and the other researchers wasn't scheduled until about eleven or so, so I had a few hours to myself.
So what I should I do until then?
The Director had actually sent a personal email with a few suggestions for what to do with any free time that honestly wasn't bad. One recommendation was that I should familiarize myself with the various facilities the Ponyville Branch had to offer. I could also just spend time browsing the terminal's database. I could look up various bits of information relating to my job and bring myself up to date with what was going on within Wendigo.
There was another suggestion to head to the slums and help out with the restoration efforts. Evidently, to hear Applejack talk about it, there were still ponies out there working to repair the damages from the Avidaeos attack—many well into the night and even some throughout. Apparently, there were some Wendigo staff on standby to transport any Hunters willing to assist to the slums if need be.
I gave it some serious thought and it wasn't long before I realized I'd already made up my mind the moment I read the suggestion. I felt bad enough having slept through the initial cleanup of the attack and now that I had a chance and some time to spare, I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to help. After all, I wasn't sure when I'd next get that chance with how busy I was likely to become in the following days.
My course set and my Daeus Hunter uniform donned, I stepped out of my room and began making my way to the main hub. The Branch was as busy as ever, with staffers and Hunters alike flitting to and fro like diligent bees in a hive. It was a familiar sight that almost made me feel as though I were back in HQ, rushing back and forth to give and receive new reports on whatever I was working on at the time.
It was oddly soothing... until I remembered that I could be called on at any moment to risk my life. Trying not to think too deeply about that part of my job, I picked up the pace a little. It wasn't too long before I reached the main hub and the door to the prep room. I started to head for the large metal door, but when I saw Cheerilee standing at the front desk I stopped and changed course, something having occurred to me just then.
"Oh, Twilight Sparkle, good morning," Cheerilee greeted as I approached the desk, "I heard you were a big help in getting the Lieutenant and the other rookies to safety the other day. I speak on behalf of all the operators when I say you have my gratitude."
"No, it wasn't as impressive as all that, really," I replied, waving away the thanks, "I was just trying to do what little I could given the circumstances."
"All the same, your work is appreciated," Cheerilee chuckled, "anyway, what I can I do for you?"
"Right, well," I began, "I'm thinking of helping out with the restoration of the slums and I was kind of wondering where I should start. I'm pretty sure there's still a lot to do, so..."
I trailed off and Cheerilee nodded in understanding.
"There certainly is quite a bit of work that still needs doing," she hummed thoughtfully, "we have more than enough hands for building repairs and I can't exactly ask you to guard the walls without a weapon, so... I suppose that leaves the distribution of emergency supplies."
"Distribution of supplies, huh?" I thought for a moment, then nodded, "yeah, I can do that. Where would I need to go?"
"Just let one of the ponies driving the APCs know you'll be helping with supplies and they'll take you to the distribution site."
"Good to know," I replied, "well then, I'll—wait, do you know how much time that'll take? I kind of have a meeting to get to in a few hours."
Cheerilee took another second to think.
"Well, you're free to leave whenever you feel necessary, but I don't believe there's much left to hand out at this point," she assured me, "you should be done in about an hour and a half—maybe two hours or so if you wanted to stay until supplies ran out."
"Perfect," I nodded before stepping away from the desk, "thanks, Cheerilee."
"Anytime, Twilight," the mare replied with a sunny smile, "barring any unforeseen circumstances, I'll be here for the rest of the day if you need anything else."
I thanked her again, headed for the prep room, and within a few minutes, I was in the passenger seat of an armored personnel carrier and on my way to the slums. I spent most of the ride wondering what kind of ponies made up the Doctor's supposedly small group of researchers. The 1st Unit had been a colorful cast of characters so to speak—both literally and figuratively.
I wondered if that small team of researchers would be just as wildly varied in their nature or if they'd be more grounded. I was hoping for the latter, but after having gotten to know the ponies of the Retaliation Team, I found that I didn't really mind if the former wound up being the case. I wondered if maybe I'd run into them once or twice already and not have even known it. That had been the case with Pinkie after all.
I wondered about all of that and more as the APC passed by rows of partially reconstructed homes and the occasional group of roaming slum dwellers. Some looked weary from the hard work, others look rather satisfied at their contribution. And then there were those who'd been affected the most by the attack—grieving families who'd lost loved ones or those who lost their homes and meager possessions entirely.
I heard casualties had been kept to a minimum all things considered, but that didn't change the fact that lives were still lost. Those unfortunate ponies weren't coming back and with each attack by the Avidaeos, there was always a risk of more and more dying each time. Back when I was working in Canterlot I never really had an opportunity to think about just how messed up our world was.
Or maybe I should say I kept myself busy enough that I didn't have to think about it.
But now that I had time to ruminate on it, I couldn't help but ask myself where it had all gone wrong. At exactly what point in history did our lives become... this? Hiding behind walls and fighting each and every day just to keep our ultimate demise at bay for just a little bit longer? There were all kinds of speculation surrounding the emergence of Hive Cells, but no creature has been able to pin down its source or exactly when it came to be.
By the time we had even a vague idea of what Hive Cells were, it was already too late to stop the spread of the all-consuming single-celled organism. Still, for all the theories, we haven't gotten any closer to finding a more effective solution in ridding the world of Hive Cells other than Daeus Arms and many still feel that's not enough. There are tons of self-proclaimed realists out there who argue that it's only a matter of time before the Avidaeos hunt us all to extinction.
It's not like I can't see their point—I myself am a logically minded pony, or so I'd like to think. That said, I don't like the idea of simply lying down and accepting our grisly fate, even if it is inevitable. There's a fine line between pragmatism and pessimism and the latter was a line I wasn't willing to cross just yet, not when it came to the collective survival of all sapient races anyway.
Sure I had some misgivings about my own personal survival, but that was just me. I was just one pony. It was because I believed—and still believe—there's more that we could do as one large collective of sapient creatures inhabiting this ruined planet that I became a researcher.
I have to believe there's more we can do, because if not...
"You look like ya got somethin' on yer mind."
"Huh?" I turned to face the source of the deep baritone. The voice in question belonged to the driver, a bulky red earth pony stallion whose sleepy green eyes remained fixed on the road ahead, "were you... talking to me?"
"Eeyup," he replied, eyes still locked on the road, "ain't much fer words, but Ah'm a good listener if ya wanna talk about it."
I looked at the stallion.
He was a handsome sort—strongly built, steady gaze full of a sort of quiet kindness, and just a general air of down-to-earth equanimity about him. I knew nothing about him, but felt as though I could trust the stallion at just a glance. Maybe it was that feeling combined with his other traits like the southern accent, the soft emerald eyes beneath his brilliant orange mane, or the freckles on his face, but he reminded me of a certain stetson-wearing captain.
Maybe they're related?
I looked for the telltale armlet of a Daeus Hunter but didn't see one on either arm, which meant he was probably just another member of the Branch staff. I was curious about the stallion but not enough to pry, so instead, I shook my head and laughed off both his and my own concerns. He'd been the one to offer and despite his trustworthy aura, I still didn't feel comfortable unloading those kinds of thoughts on a complete stranger.
"Oh, no it's nothing major," I finally answered as I returned to staring out the window, "I'm just... trying to get used to life here in Ponyville is all."
"Mhmm..." was all the stallion said in response.
It was clear from his tone that he didn't entirely believe that was the case, but he thankfully didn't press the issue. The rest of the ride continued in a silence that had become slightly awkward but it wasn't so bad that I couldn't ignore it. As I watched more and more ponies pass by, I realized the many scattered and disjointed groups I'd seen up until now had become more organized, many of the ponies forming a loose line directed somewhere ahead of us.
I followed the line with my eyes, trying to see if I could find the end, and saw that it continued around a corner. The APC took one last turn right, following the line, and stopped a minute or so later in front of what looked like a large warehouse. The building was one of many in the immediate area that hadn't been caught up in the attack and was completely intact.
The double doors were thrown open and I could see the line of ponies steadily shuffling inside on one end of the wide entryway. On the other end, several ponies emerged with various plastic boxes and bags stamped with the Wendigo logo in hand. If that wasn't an indicator that this was my stop, then the large sign overhead reading 'Outer District Relief Center' certainly was.
It was my first time seeing one, but I knew relief centers provided various types of aid to the homeless and victims of disasters like what happened the other night. I knew there were a few in Canterlot's Central District so it would stand to reason that they had at least one here somewhere. I did wonder why they would bother putting one in the Outer District though. It was just begging to get attacked in another Avidaeos raid.
As the APC pulled to a stop I thanked the stallion and unbuckled myself to exit the vehicle, but as I pushed the door open and stepped out of the carrier the stallion spoke up.
"Hey," he began, and continued again when I turned to give him a questioning look, "Ah know Ah'm just some stallion ya just met, but don't forget you got a team ya can share yer problems with. AJ an' the others'll take care of ya."
I blinked.
I hadn't expected to hear the stallion say anything at all when we parted ways, let alone provide words of encouragement out of the blue. It just went to show he was just as sincere and well-meaning as he looked. I was also convinced now more than ever that he and Applejack were related somehow.
"Um... thanks," I replied, genuinely touched at his words, "I'll remember that."
He nodded and—once I'd closed the door—reversed course, hit the gas, and was off the way he came with a roar of the engine and a spray of gravel from beneath the thick wheels. I watched the APC go for a moment before another thought hit me and a lump of cold panic dropped into my gut.
Wait... how am I supposed to get back?! I don't know my way around the slums!
I pressed a hand to my chest and took a deep breath. Panicking wouldn't have helped the situation and if I stopped to think about it, there was probably some system in place. If there hadn't been I was pretty sure the stallion wouldn't have just left like that.
"You alright there, lass?" came a raspy voice from somewhere to my left, "yer lookin' a wee bit peely-wally."
I jumped slightly and whipped around to find one of the ponies in line—an elderly pegasus stallion—eyeing me with a mix of concern and confusion. He had a thick Trottish accent I could only just parse and I had no idea what 'peely-wally' meant, but given how I'd acted just a moment ago I could make a few guesses.
"I'm okay, sorry," I assured, waving a dismissive hand.
He looked unconvinced but nodded nonetheless before returning his attention to somepony else he'd apparently been speaking to ahead of him. I took the chance to make my way past the line and was about to step into the building when I spotted a large metallic white sign posted to the open door on the right. Curious, I walked over to the sign and saw that it was a notice.
The words 'VOLUNTEERS PLEASE USE SIDE ENTRANCE' were stamped upon the sign and just below that I could see a black arrow pointing to the right, presumably in the direction of the side entrance. I shrugged, realizing it made sense to separate the help from those who needed help. Figuring there was probably a back room where the supplies were stored, I followed the arrow and walked around to the right side of the warehouse.
I couldn't see the door from where I was, but all the way at the other end, near the back of the warehouse, I could see two more Wendigo staffers standing by the wall. Just like the stallion who drove the APC, both wore the uniform, but neither had Hunter armlets. As I got closer I could hear the two ponies chatting amicably and could see the side entrance in question sitting between the two.
When I got close enough the two halted their conversation and turned their attention to me, and now that I saw both their faces I could see they were twins. Both ponies were unicorn mares, forest green in color and rather diminutive in appearance. Their snow-white manes were identically cut in flat shoulder-length bobs with bangs that covered their entire brow.
What struck me most about the two and the easiest way to tell them apart were their eyes. Both pairs were a deep violet color, but that's where the similarities ended. The mare to the left of the door had wide, staring eyes—like she was constantly fascinated by everything she saw. The other had a gaze closer to that of the stallion from earlier, her eyes half-lidded and sleepy though with none of the same warmth.
"You here for volunteer work?" asked the sleepy-eyed mare in a bored tone.
"Obviously," answered the wide-eyed mare sounding only slightly less bored, "why else would she be coming back here, sis?"
"Maybe she stole one of our uniforms to sneak around back and pinch a few extra rations," the sleepy-eyed mare suggested in that same bored tone.
"She has a Daeus Hunter armlet, sis," the wide-eyed mare pointed out, "if she's a thief, she'd have to be a damn good one to pull off stealing one of those."
"Maybe," was all the sleepy-eyed mare said in response.
"Um," I began, raising my arms placatingly, "I am a real Daeus Hunter and yes, I'm actually here for volunteer work. My name is—"
"Twilight Sparkle, right?" the sleepy-eyed mare finished, "yeah, we know. You can go on in."
I blinked, then frowned.
"You... you know?" I asked, both baffled and a bit irritated, "wait, if you already knew about me, then why did you—"
"Castor was just poking a bit of fun, she didn't mean anything by it," the wide-eyed mare interjected as she pushed open the door. I noted that neither mare had been smiling the entire time, "now go on, don't want to keep those poor souls waiting, do you?"
"Er, no I suppose not," I replied uncertainly, "alright then, well... thanks?"
With that, I entered the warehouse, shuddering inwardly as I noticed the twins watching me every step of the way. They held their inscrutable gazes right up until the door closed behind me. Even with a closed door between us, I still felt like they were watching me and gave an outward shudder at the thought.
"Sheesh," I muttered under my breath, "what's their deal?"
Trying to put the two out of my mind, I returned my attention to the room in front of me. Looking around, I half expected to have fallen into some kind of trap set by the twins, but thankfully all I saw was your average storage room. The room itself was smaller than I imagined, but the ceiling was high and the shelves, which covered every wall, were so tall any creature that didn't have wings or magic would've needed a good-sized ladder just to reach the middle.
Most of the shelves were stacked with all kinds of nondescript boxes of varying sizes but there was one shelf at the very back opposite the door I came through that had nothing but the same types of plastic boxes and bags I saw being carried out of the warehouse by the ponies in line. Most of the racks from the bottom up to about the middle shelf were barren, but there were still plenty of supplies left in stock from what I could tell.
It was just as I was wondering where I should go and what I should do that a door nestled between two shelves on the far right wall clicked open and another unicorn mare entered the room. Her mane was the first thing that caught my eye. Crimson and yellow streaks gave it a fiery appearance that reminded me of the Lieutenant, but this mare's mane was more... vibrant might've been a good word.
In fact, the mares shared a similar coat color as well, though it was more an amber shade than the gold of Spitfire's coat. The biggest difference, however, was her cyan eyes. They were focused, sharp, full of intelligence and a self-assuredness that I honestly wish I had. Again, to keep up the comparisons, Spitfire had that same gaze, but unlike Spitfire's gaze which felt like it could burn a hole through you, this mare's eyes were cold as the Frozen North.
She stopped in the middle of the storage room, her eyes focused on a clipboard in one hand. In her other, she held a large styrofoam cup of what smelled like black coffee. And lastly, floating in her pale blue magic, was a pen that was currently scratching something out on yet another clipboard held in the same telekinetic field. The mare reminded me of myself back when I was drowning myself in my work back in Canterlot.
What's more, as I watched her pore over whatever papers were on that clipboard, I began to get the impression that I'd seen her somewhere before. Completely absorbed in what she was reading, she didn't seem to notice my presence in the slightest—not even as she paused to take a sip of coffee. Her focused gaze remained fixed on the clipboard, and if I was honest, that was just fine with me.
For some reason, I felt like if I made myself known, she'd just yell at me, but that was ridiculous... right? Still, there was that nagging sense that I knew her, or at least knew of her, I just couldn't put my finger on where I would've seen her. Maybe I'd seen her in passing somewhere in the Branch, but that didn't seem right. I feel like would've remembered somepony as... severe-looking as her.
I took note of her uniform and the lack of an armlet. She wasn't a Hunter but she was clearly a member of Wendigo, and her navy blue Wendigo issued top—now that I was paying attention—looked more like a lab coat than the standard-issue blouse and jacket combo that I wore. I still couldn't quite place her face or name, but I started to suspect that she might've been one of my future colleagues on the Doctor's small team of researchers.
If that's the case, then maybe I might've seen her at some point back in Canterlot? Doctor Whooves did bring his team to Ponyville from the Capital. Maybe she—
And then it hit me.
Like a bolt from the blue a distant memory suddenly surfaced in my mind from back when I had first been accepted as an official Hive Cell researcher for Wendigo. It was only just the once and only briefly, but I'd met this mare once before in Canterlot. There hadn't even really been an exchange of words at the time, but that small interaction and what I learned about her later definitely left an impression on me then.
"Sunset Shimmer..."
The words were quiet—barely above a whisper, but in the relative silence of that room, there was no way she wouldn't have heard. Sure enough, one of her ears twitched at the sound and she finally turned to see me standing there, brows raised and face pale with shock. To her credit, Sunset looked only about half as surprised as I did and after looking me over for a moment, she cracked a small smile that, even as bitter and humorless as it was, didn't reach her cold blue eyes.
"Twilight Sparkle... I was wondering when I'd finally get to see your face again."
Sunset Shimmer's words caught me up short, and despite my shock, I couldn't help but raise my brows in bemusement. We'd only met just the once and only for a brief moment. We hadn't even said a single word to each other, let alone had any kind of history, and yet here the mare was acting like I was some old frenemy she hadn't seen in ages.
"You... remember me?" I asked uncertainly.
"Of course I do," Sunset replied, willing away the two clipboards and the cup of coffee in her hand with a pale blue flash of her horn. She fully turned to face me, crossing her arms and giving me an assessing sort of look as she spoke, "you're the little tenderhoof they got to replace me back in Canterlot. Why wouldn't I remember you?"
Normally I would've given some kind of flustered denial of the fact, but something about the way she looked at me made me frown instead. Her words were blunt and matter-of-fact, and that, combined with her dismissive expression poked at my nerves. It was like she was judging me and found me wanting and unable to live up to her expectations.
"Well," I replied after a moment, "I'd like to think I was hired based on my own merits and not just as a replacement."
Sunset's lips quirked up in a slight smirk.
"Oh, I don't doubt that," she replied with a small chuckle, "they don't just hire any amateur researcher off the streets. I'm sure you've got the brains for the job, Sparkle..." her condescending grin grew another inch, "but that doesn't mean you weren't a replacement."
I furrowed my brow and was about to protest further, but the other mare spoke again before I could, waving the matter away with a dismissive flick of her hand.
"Oh relax, I'm not bitter or anything," she paused, then shrugged, "well, not anymore. I've had plenty of time to get over myself about the whole thing, and besides... this place kinda grows on you after a while."
Based on her earlier assertion, I was highly doubtful that she'd put the past behind her entirely, but Sunset's last comment surprised me. For the briefest of moments, I swore I could see her smirk shift to something more genuine, but the moment passed so quickly I couldn't have been sure it wasn't just my imagination. Before I could comment, she was leaning back against one of the shelves near the door she'd entered from and regarding me coolly.
"So, has the big hero of the rookies deigned to grace us lowly commoners with her assistance?"
Despite the many questions I wanted to ask about Sunset Shimmer and what she'd done and why she was here in Ponyville, I couldn't help but raise an exasperated look to the ceiling above and groan at her words.
"Not you too," I groused, "all I did was throw a flash grenade! Something anypony could've done!" I sigh and crossed my arms and looked away, a bit self-conscious, "that wasn't even what made it run off like it did. If the Cannibal really wanted to attack us, I wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop it."
Sunset hummed in thought a moment before giving a single nod to herself as if coming to some conclusion.
"Yeah, I figured it was something like that," she said, pushing herself off the shelf and giving me a look that was something close to, but not quite, pity, "these ponies love to talk about stuff they don't know anything about, but hey, at least all the rumors about you paint you in a positive light."
I frowned.
"What are you... oh, right," I winced, realizing what she must've been referring to, "I didn't mean to... I mean, I—"
"No, it's cool, I get it," Sunset interjected with another wave of her hand, "yeah, it was a pain in the flank at first, but I got used to it. I mean, it's not like most of the rumors weren't true."
My eyes widened in horror at the mare's self-incrimination. It was a month or so after my initial meeting with Sunset that I'd gotten the details of what she had tried to do from Moon Dancer. I hadn't quite believed it back then and hadn't really seen anything to back up the claims. Looking back though, I think it was more that I hadn't wanted to believe the rumors.
True or not, I was surprised to hear that those very same rumors had apparently somehow managed to follow Sunset Shimmer all the way to Ponyville. Even more surprising was to hear that the rumors were true—and to hear it straight from the pony's mouth no less. I was so taken off guard and horrified by the admittance that I opened my mouth before I could stop myself.
"Wait, you mean you really did try to—"
"Create a more effective weapon against the Avidaeos? I certainly did," Sunset cut in with no hint of shame or regret in her voice, "and I would've succeeded too, but alas, I was branded a madmare and thrown out of Canterlot on my flank before I could get any real work done."
"Sunset," I replied with deliberate slowness, "you wanted to inject Hive Cells directly into unborn foals. How could you not expect that kind of backlash from other scientists and the public?"
I hesitated a moment before continuing. To be honest, I get where Sunset was coming from. I understood what she wanted to accomplish and had even thought about such methods myself. I knew how groundbreaking her theory was and how tremendous the benefits would be if she was able to achieve the outcome she'd envisioned when she proposed her thesis. I knew all of that, but there were reasons I had immediately pushed the idea aside.
There were reasons her thesis was rejected outright. There were reasons she was branded a madmare for even suggesting such a thing and was no doubt reassigned to a place where she probably had far fewer resources at her disposal.
"Not only was your idea unethical, but it was risky. Way too risky. The risk involved makes even the lowest compatibility rates for Daeification seem far more preferable in comparison," I shook my head sadly, "nopony wants to take that kind of chance, not when our remaining population is stretched so thin, never mind how immoral such an experiment would be."
What I left unsaid—couldn't bear to mention, rather—was that she had tried to go through with the experiment in secret anyway. That was what truly horrified me. That was the real reason for her reassignment, or so the rumors said. Thankfully, according to Moon Dancer, she'd never actually gotten the experiment off the ground before she was caught and shipped off to Ponyville.
To hear that she had actually attempted to do something so horrible...
I'm honestly surprised she still has a job given the circumstances, but from what I understand, the mare does have a brilliant mind. I guess the top brass didn't want somepony like her to go to waste?
"Oh boy, you're gonna be a joy to work with, I can tell," Sunset muttered with an exasperated shake of her head. "look, I've heard all the arguments, okay? I know the risks better than anypony and contrary to what everypony thinks, I already accounted for those risks. I made contingency plans, I had all my bucking ducks in a row! I crossed my t's and dotted my i's but nopony sees that!"
The mare was spitting angrily now, her hands clenched into fists at her sides and her eyes blazing with indignation. It was clear from her distant gaze that she was lost in the past, her rant directed not at me anymore, but at some poor pony she'd probably told this exact same thing to. I didn't think she was even aware at that moment just how much the past was still affecting her, despite what she said to the contrary.
"It's not like I stole some expecting mother off the streets," she continued, "I made sure she knew what she was getting into. She knew, and she was willing to go along with it. She was willing, but nopony wants to acknowledge that minor detail."
She snorted derisively but then fell silent. After a moment and—much to my surprise—her expression suddenly grew somber. As Sunset fumed, I started to wonder if she really was telling the truth. Throughout it all I still had my doubts but when she spoke again, her next words put those lingering doubts to rest.
"She was willing to risk the life of her own unborn foal for the sake of a better future," she said in a near whisper. Her eyes grew glossy, but there was strength beneath the quiet sorrow in her voice, "some ponies might've called it inequine or repugnant, what she was prepared to do—probably a lot of ponies actually—but that's not how we saw it..."
Things were moving in a direction I hadn't expected and I wasn't really sure how to handle what I was hearing. The emotion was there in her words—unmistakable, entirely genuine, and honestly a bit startling. In a matter of moments, I found myself looking at Sunset Shimmer in a new light and I didn't know what to make of the situation. I suddenly had a lot more questions.
I wanted to know more about what happened, but it didn't really seem appropriate to ask about it. I felt a little like I was listening in on a conversation I wasn't supposed to hear.
"Sunset," I began after what felt like an eternity of awkward silence, "I... um... look, I didn't mean to—"
"Don't gimme that look, Sparkle," Sunset groaned. She swept a hand across her face and gave an irritated sigh, "damn it, this is why I don't like talking about it. I get all worked up and... ugh!" she grunted in annoyance and shot me a scathing glare, "this conversation never happened, got it?"
"Conversation?" I replied, quickly raising my hands up in conciliation, "what conversation? We've just met as far I know."
If she wants to move on and act as if nothing happened, I have absolutely no complaints.
She narrowed her eyes but nodded in satisfaction a second later.
"Smart mare," she replied, her easy—and slightly amused—smirk back in place. She nodded over to one of the many stocked shelves, "you're here for volunteer work, right? Grab a box and meet me up front. I think we've wasted enough time back here."
As Sunset spoke, her horn lit up and two of the larger supply boxes flew from the shelves and made their way over to where she stood. I watched it all happen for a moment, a pang of bitterness and envy rising in my chest at the display of magic. I'd been distracted by the mare's sudden appearance before, but now that the shock had worn off, I was reminded that lifting even one of those boxes might've very well been beyond me now.
I cast my longing gaze from the boxes Sunset held in her pale blue aura to the shelf she'd gestured to earlier. With a frown and a brow furrowed in concentration, I tried to pull out one of the boxes with my own magic. Using my magic after the Daeification was like trying to push water through a knotted hose. It was like straining a muscle you hadn't used in a long time to its limit.
It was a horribly unpleasant experience... but I found I could do it.
It took just about every bit of magic I had in my now significantly reduced mana wellspring, but the box eventually found its way into my hands. I stood there for a moment, the supply box held in sweating palms and panting with exertion. I was about to bemoan my circumstances again for what felt like the hundredth time, but then I noticed something.
While I was exhausted, I didn't exactly feel drained like I did when I first tried to use my magic after Daeification. Yes, using magic was a lot more difficult now and I imagined using more complex spells would take their toll. Yes, I had to fight to pull every bit of magic I could from my wellspring, but when I focused on my mana consumption I found something surprising.
The best way I could describe it would be to start with the thaumic wellspring—or the magic or mana wellspring for the laypony. A unicorn's wellspring is a bit difficult to describe to creatures that don't have one. Pegasi and earth ponies have thaumic 'veins' that channel thaumic energy through their bodies, sort of like how blood vessels work. Unicorns, on the other hand, don't have veins but rather a thaumic 'core' called a wellspring.
A thaumic wellspring isn't an actual physical organ like a heart or the lungs and thaumic veins aren't actual veins either for that matter. If you were to cut a pony open, you wouldn't be able to physically see either of these things and yet they exist and can be studied nevertheless. The biggest difference between thaumic veins and thaumic wellsprings is that thaumic veins form highly complex pathways in the body.
A wellspring doesn't use pathways to transmit thaumic energy. Instead, that thaumic energy is pulled directly from the wellspring by way of the horn atop a unicorn's head. The horn acts as a conduit for thaumic energy and the amount of thaumic energy that can be held in or pulled from the wellspring is determined by various factors such as age, health, genetics, and both internal and external thaumic interference among many other things. Thaumic veins are also affected by many of these factors, but not always in the same way.
And then there's the Daeification process.
For reasons that are still being studied, Hive Cells have a tendency to react badly to the thaumic field, or rather, the thaumic field reacts badly to Hive Cells. The thaumic energy in a given area is often either attacked violently or rejected outright whenever Hive Cells are introduced. The effect this has on the ambient thaumic field surrounding the planet is that the energy is usually broken down or scattered.
This isn't particularly a problem because the thaumic field is self-sustaining and can restore itself indefinitely. This is, however, the reason why magic by itself doesn't work against the Avidaeos. We learned that horrific lesson ages ago and paid dearly for the attempt. We also learned through some truly harrowing trial and error that there are exceptions, particularly when it comes to thaumic energy within the equine body.
Setting aside how Hive Cells affect the body physically, the thaumic effect of Hive Cell integration actually varies from pony to pony somewhat. Once Hive Cells are injected into the equine body, any thaumic veins or wellsprings are attacked and either destroyed completely or crippled beyond use... usually. There are many cases where some ponies, such as myself, could still maintain use of their magic, albeit in a severely limited capacity.
It's not entirely understood why these exceptions exist, but there are theories. The thaumic energy that flows in the veins and wellsprings of ponies is far more condensed than what you'd find floating around in the ambient thaumic field. That density and the overall potency of thaumic energy are also affected by the factors I mentioned previously. Many thaumatologists believe this to be the reason why Hive Cells aren't always able to completely destroy or cripple thaumic veins or wellsprings.
Of course, the rules and effects are different for every species, but I'm not really an expert when it comes to any of the other creatures outside of ponykind. There was something strange at play where I was concerned though, and I didn't realize it until just now. I hadn't tried to use my magic since the one time just after my Daeification for fear of something going wrong, but something had definitely changed between then and now.
Before, it felt like my magic was disconnected, a separate entity that refused to cooperate when called upon. But when I tried to use it just now, the feeling was completely different. I could feel the connection to my own wellspring just as I had before my Daeification. The sensation, like I was forcing that thaumic energy through a knotted hose, that hadn't been the case before.
It was still difficult to use magic, but now the reason was completely different. It didn't feel like I was trying to pull thaumic energy from a wellspring unwilling to give up even the tiniest bit of magic. Now it felt like my wellspring was trying to push against an alien force trying to block the innate connection between it and the conduit that was my horn. I didn't even know if that made sense, but I didn't know how else to describe the sensation.
What the hay does this even mean?
"Pretty impressive that you can still use magic, but yeesh... that's gotta suck."
The sudden comment snapped me out of my thoughts and it took a second to get my bearings back. I blinked and looked over to Sunset, who was still waiting by the door she'd originally come through with the two boxes still held in her magic. Her words and expression were both as matter-of-fact and unsympathetic as when she'd first spoken. When she finally caught my eye she gestured to the box in my hands and continued.
"That right there is why I never bothered with the whole Daeus Hunter thing," she said with no small amount of disdain, "but from what I hear, you didn't have a choice did you, little miss conscript?"
"No," I replied sourly, "no I didn't."
"Well, I suppose you can still work your way around a test tube," she crossed her arms and shrugged, "gonna be pretty inconvenient though."
"That reminds me," I tilted my head and frowned at Sunset, "I'm pretty sure I already know the answer at this point, but... you wouldn't happen to be part of Doctor Whooves' team, would you?"
"What gave it away? The stylish lab coat?" she snorted, "yeah, I'm part of Time Turner's research team. Guess that makes us colleagues now."
"I guess so," I said a little warily, "and what about the others? The Doctor said the team wasn't very big..."
"Nope, just you, me, the Doc, and two others," Sunset chuckled and turned to pull the door open. She started to head out, but stopped partway and turned to look back at me over her shoulder with an impish grin, "as for the other two... well, those two delightful mares should still be just outside waiting for us to finish up so we can all meet up with Time Turner."
I started to follow after her as she answered but stopped as I realized who she was talking about. She watched as my expression went from bemused and questioning to shocked and a little unnerved.
"Wait... are you talking about those creepy twins I saw when I came in?!"
She just laughed and continued out of the storage area to the warehouse beyond.
I wanted to ask Sunset more about the twins, but all I was able to get out of her before things got busy were their names. I knew from speaking to the mares that Castor was the name of the sleepy-eyed one and apparently the other mare's name was Pollux. I had assumed from what Doctor Whooves had told me, that they were from Canterlot like Sunset but for some strange reason, I wasn't so sure.
I couldn't say why, and Sunset didn't say one way or the other, but somehow I felt like even in Canterlot they would've stuck out. I'd certainly never heard of a pair of twins working at HQ and they didn't seem like they were from Ponyville either. Again though, I had no way of knowing for sure as of yet and all my attention was taken up by volunteer work pretty quickly.
Cheerilee had mentioned that the distribution of goods was coming to a close for the day pretty soon and it seemed like the ponies living in the slums knew it. I'd seen the long line outside but hadn't really registered just how many ponies needed supplies and how impatient a lot of them were to get them. The only ponies working behind the counter to get them all what they needed were me, Sunset, and Seeker, much to my surprise.
He hadn't seemed like the type to do volunteer work, but there he was, handing out boxes and bags of food and clothes. That said, he did look like he wanted to be anywhere else and his communication skills left a lot to be desired. The irritation at his predicament was coming off of him in waves, and it made me wonder why he was even here in the first place.
Well, not like it's any of my business I suppose...
He hadn't even acknowledged me or Sunset, and I knew better than to reach out to him at this point so I just let him be and focused on my own work. All Seeker and I had to do essentially was hand out whatever ponies needed, whether that be food or clothes. Sunset was there mostly to keep stock of what items went out and of how many ponies had been taken care of.
As I worked, I idly wondered if the clothes in question had all been made by Rarity, but I shook my head at the thought. That couldn't have been the case, as there were far too many clothes for one mare to make on her own. Still, she probably had a hand in putting at least some of the outfits together, a thought that made me smile a bit. That thought brought me back to thinking about the rest of my soon-to-be team members.
Each and every one of those mares had been interesting in their own way and not for the first time, I found myself looking forward to working with them all. The smile on my face slipped down to a concerned grimace once my thoughts inevitably brought me to my other soon-to-be team. This one I wasn't so sure about, having met them for myself. It's not like I was a stranger to working with other researchers when the situation called for it.
I generally preferred to work alone when I was in Canterlot, but teamwork wasn't beyond me and I even made a few... well, I wouldn't have called them friends exactly, but I'd garnered a few friendly acquaintances during some of the group projects I worked on. That said, while working with the Doctor seemed painless enough, I was far less sure about Sunset and the twins.
The Retaliation Team had all been interesting in their own way, but the scientists of Ponyville were more... strange in their own way—even Doctor Whooves to some extent. The stallion was nice enough; he had a jovial personality and tried to make us rookies feel welcome. He was approachable and friendly, but there was something oddly... mysterious about him.
I couldn't help but get the impression that he was hiding something sometimes. There were times when his genial attitude didn't feel genuine. And then there were the diminutive unicorn twins, Castor and Pollux. I'd only met them briefly, but in that short amount of time, they'd left an unsettling impression. It wasn't anything they'd said or even how they'd acted really—well, not entirely anyway.
They just kind of gave off this weird, unearthly vibe. Thinking back on it, it was kind of like how I'd heard ponies used to feel whenever they encountered other ponies disguised as changelings back during the Age of War. Something about them felt very, very off, but I couldn't put my finger on what the problem was. I didn't think they were changelings.
For one thing, changelings hadn't had to hide their identity in Equestria since the Age of War. For another, I didn't get the sense that Sunset felt the same way I did from the way she spoke about them. As alien as they seemed though, I also couldn't help but be a bit curious about them. That just left Sunset Shimmer herself and all the baggage that evidently came with the mare.
When I first heard about her, about what she'd done, I was horrified. I wasn't one of the ones who thought she was a monster, but I had thought she may have been a little unhinged. I thought that maybe her ambitions had gotten the better of her and that she needed help—maybe somepony to pull her back to reality. Maybe a therapist or something.
Now, after having spoken to her and listening to her unintentionally heartfelt rant, I didn't know how to feel about the mare. Yes, she had a bit of an abrasive personality, but there was something more there, something genuine and passionate behind the cold and aloof exterior. At least, that's what I got out of our second brief but eventful exchange. Still, it didn't really do me any good to ruminate on my new colleagues.
In the end, only time would tell if I got along with my would-be team of researchers. With the meeting later today coming up, I'd know one way or another soon enough. The more I thought about that meeting the more nervous I got so I chose not to dwell on it too much as I worked. More time passed and just as I was falling into a mind-numbing rhythm of serving the slum-dwelling masses, Sunset called it a day.
Seeker was out the door the moment the mare told us to wrap everything up, not once giving any thought to helping with the cleanup. I guess he wasn't really obligated to help and Sunset didn't bother to say anything about it, but I was still a bit put off by his attitude. I could've left too but I felt bad about leaving everything to Sunset.
And besides that, I'm already scheduled to meet with her and the other two after this anyway.
With my mind made up, I helped Sunset corral the complaining stragglers out of the warehouse. Once that was done the twins came in and helped us return the leftover supplies to the back. When I asked about it, Castor informed me that a certain amount of supplies would continue to be handed out each day until we ran out. All in all the cleanup took about half an hour with none of us really making any kind of small talk.
Strangely, and thankfully, the silence wasn't as awkward as I'd feared it would be. I wouldn't have called it a comfortable silence exactly, but it wasn't painful either. It was as if we all had a mutual understanding that none of us really wanted to talk to each other, but not in an antagonistic sort of way, it was more of a... professional courtesy? Whatever kind of silence it was, I was completely fine with it.
Once we were done I asked Sunset about our ride back to the Branch and apparently, she already had it covered. We locked up and she motioned for me to follow her and the twins out and around the back of the warehouse. There I was surprised to find that Sunset had evidently commandeered an APC for her own personal use. The mare chuckled at my questioning gaze toward the armored vehicle parked just ahead.
"As long as it's regarding Branch business, you're free to use the APCs," she said, answering my unasked question, "you didn't know that?"
"No, I didn't," I replied with a frown and a shake of my head, "I thought you needed a special license from Wendigo to operate a military vehicle."
"Pfft, yeah, in Canterlot," Sunset corrected as she pulled a set of keys from her coat pocket and continued toward the APC, "they're a little more lax about that kind of thing here. If you've got a regular old license that's good enough for the Director."
"Oh," I muttered, following after her and the other two, "I don't even have a regular license so the thought just didn't cross my mind, I guess."
"Wait," Sunset paused and raised a brow in my direction as she was opening the driver's side door, "you don't know how to drive?"
"I never needed to," I replied somewhat defensively, "it wasn't that far a walk to HQ from where I lived and I could just take the bus if I needed to go somewhere else."
"You're in like your, what, mid-twenties, right?" she shook her head in disbelief, "what kind of pony your age in Canterlot doesn't have a license these days?"
"We don't have a license," Castor interjected, pushing past me as she opened the back door and slid into the back seat.
"Seriously?" Sunset replied, raising both eyebrows at the sisters, "neither of you... why am I only now just hearing about this?"
"Why do you think we always ask you to take us everywhere?" Pollux answered as she moved to sit next to her sister in the back, "we figured you already knew."
"And it didn't seem like something worth bringing up," Castor added, "it still doesn't, really."
"Ugh, whatever," Sunset sighed and waved a dismissive hand in my direction, "just... go around the other side and let's go get this meeting over with."
I did as she said with no complaints and a minute later we were screeching down the dirt road back to the Branch. On the way, I decided to strike up a conversation despite my reservations. I thought it might be best to get the ball rolling and build a rapport sooner rather than later. Not to mention I was more than a little curious about the two sitting in the back, even if they did unnerve me a bit.
"So how long have you all been working together?" I asked, turning to Sunset but posing my question to everypony, "Doctor Whooves didn't really say much about who I'd be teamed up with."
"What do you think this little get-together is for?" Sunset replied with a roll of her eyes, "but sure, I'll humor you and your precious attempt at small talk. Might get us out of the stupid team-building exercise the Doc probably has planned for us anyway."
"Uh... team-building exercise?" I asked.
"Don't ask," Sunset groaned, "I like the guy well enough for the most part but his outdated ideas about 'togetherness' and that boundless optimism can get more than a little grating sometimes."
"I think it's charming," Pollux argued, "like an out-of-touch dad trying to connect with his kid."
"I don't trust him," Castor said, "anypony who smiles that much has to be hiding some very dark secrets."
"You think so?" I asked with an uncertain smile.
It was hard to gauge whether or not the twins were being facetious when everything they said was spoken in that same bored monotone.
"Oh yeah, there's no way this stallion doesn't have at least a few skeletons in his closet," Castor answered, leaning forward in her seat with an emphatic nod, "I mean, you've seen it, right? That door in his office? The one on the left with the caution sign?"
"I've seen it, yeah," I replied slowly, "what about it?"
"Castor and I have been working with Time Turner since way before Sunset showed up," Pollux sighed, apparently deciding to humor her sister, "and not once has he ever let us even take a peek inside."
"Now that you mention it, yeah," Sunset chimed in thoughtfully, "the last time I asked him about it he told me that was where he kept all the materials and chemicals too hazardous to keep out in the open, but hey, who knows?" she cast a side glance and conspiratory grin my way, "maybe he's just secretly picking up where I left off?"
I gave the mare an unamused and slightly disapproving frown but that just made her laugh obnoxiously. Setting Sunset's ill-conceived joke, I gave the notion some serious thought. The fact that he might've been keeping hazardous materials in the room made perfect sense. For all Sunset and the other two knew that might been all there was to it.
I, however, happened to know somepony, or rather some dragon, that had not only seen the inside but was treated in that very room. Assuming what he told Sunset was true, would the Doctor have kept Spike in that part of his lab even knowing there were dangerous materials in the same place? If that was the case, what did that say about Doctor Whooves?
I decided to keep that bit of information to myself for now since I had no evidence and wasn't a fan of idle gossip—especially when it was about somepony I was going to be working so closely with. I did have to admit it was a bit strange that the Doctor hadn't let his own team into that part of the lab even once given how long they must've worked with him. I was curious enough to ask Spike about it the next time I saw him, but for the moment I chose to change the subject.
"So you two left Canterlot before Sunset then?" I asked the twins, "or did you join from here in Ponyville?"
The two sisters glanced at each other for a brief second before answering. There was a short but oddly uncomfortable silence in which I began to feel like I'd made some kind of verbal misstep. Then, much to my relief, Pollux shrugged and spoke up.
"We moved here from Canterlot's Outer District ages ago," she explained.
"We moved here from the Northside, specifically," Castor clarified.
"Ah... I see," I replied with a wince, "that, uh... must've been rough."
"Yeah, life sucked for a while," Pollux agreed.
"We definitely had our share of trials and tribulations," Castor said.
"But our suffering paid off in the end," Pollux continued, "through way more effort than I care to remember, my sister and I managed to scrounge up a decent amount of bits, made some connections in the Middle District, and got ourselves a one-way ticket to the Ponyville slums."
"Doesn't sound like much of an upgrade," Castor said, casting a completely unreadable gaze out the window, "but if you ask me, I'd take living in these ramshackle huts any day."
"Hear, hear," Pollux added.
"Oof," Sunset muttered just loud enough for me to hear, "kinda glad I wasn't the one to bring that up."
Setting Sunset's comment aside for the moment, I couldn't help but ruminate on the twin's plight. I was almost certain they were severely downplaying how hard it must've been to make the trip out of Canterlot, but I didn't dare press for more details. I might not have been able to sympathize, but I couldn't blame them for choosing Ponyville's Outer District over their own home.
Canterlot was a city whose districts form three rings from the Outer District to the Middle District where I was born and raised, all the way to the Inner District where all the wealthy ponies and important buildings were located. The further out you went, the poorer the state of the city, and while most of the outermost district was nowhere near the state of Ponyville's Outer District, there was one notable exception.
The Northside, as many Canterlot natives called it, was a roughly 37 kilometer stretch of land at the northern edge of Canterlot. The area was the closest thing Canterlot had to a seedy underbelly. It had all the trappings of what you'd call the 'bad part of town' what with its underdeveloped structures, dark alleys full of scoundrels and the homeless, sketchy markets, and worryingly high crime rates.
I wouldn't have called it a slum exactly, but it certainly was far below the standard of every other part of the city. In many ways, I would've called it a much worse place to live than even Ponyville's slums. At least here everypony seemed to be fairly friendly and close-knit. I'd personally never been to the Northside but I'd heard stories and none of them too flattering, to say the least.
What made the Northside particularly noteworthy—and a large part of the reason the area was the way it was—was because it had been ground zero for one of the worst Avidaeos attacks Canterlot had ever suffered. The attack in question was a two-pronged assault from both the north and south, but the north was hit first and got the worst of it by far.
Incidentally, my dad died defending us in that same attack. The way my brother tells it, most of the Hunter teams were focused on pushing the Avidaeos back in the north. That left the south almost entirely unguarded and the monsters had already breached the wall to the Middle District by the time any nearby teams could put up a proper defense.
My dad had been called out to hold the line, but he wasn't able to meet up with his own squad because he'd been too busy trying to keep us safe. He was able to hold out just long enough for reinforcements to show up but didn't last much longer than that. That was all I knew about the event and I only knew that much because that's what Shining Armor told me.
I wasn't old enough to retain any memories at the time and to this day there's still a ton I don't know about what happened during or directly after the attack—at least where our family was concerned. As for the Northside, we managed to rebuild the outer wall, but for one reason or another, that section of the city had never fully recovered physically or financially.
Cadence and the rest of Canterlot's Council of Royal Delegates had been trying for years to rebuild Northside back to what it used to be with shockingly little to show for their efforts. While there's been some progress in the past, the going has been agonizingly slow. I don't know all the details but my guess is that the Northside restoration project is eating up more resources than we can afford to feed it.
That's usually the case with these kinds of things.
"Did you not know, Sunset?" I asked, returning my attention to the mare sitting next to me, "you all never discussed it before?"
"Nope," Sunset replied with a small shrug, "never cared enough to ask, and frankly I'm surprised you two decided to open up like that."
"What can we say?" Pollux began with another careless shrug.
"Sparkle's indelible charm won us over," Castor finished with an approving nod in my direction.
"Uh... huh. My charm... right," I replied with a tone oozing skepticism. I shook my head and turned to Sunset, "and what about you, Sunset? I don't much about you other than a little about your time working at HQ, and even then I don't much."
"Hmm..." Sunset made a show of thinking over her answer before giving another one of her impish grins, "why don't we keep it that way for now? I think it'd be more fun if at least one of us had a dark mysterious past, don't you?"
"Not really, no," I answered with an unamused scowl, something that I was afraid might become the norm with Sunset, "and it's not like you know my past."
"What's to know?" Sunset scoffed, "you're the standard nerdy girl-next-door type, probably grew up in the Middle District with a proper, modest upbringing," she turned to give me a challenging look, "come on, tell me I'm wrong."
I wanted to argue, and while I wasn't sure about the whole 'nerdy girl-next-door' thing, Sunset had pretty much hit the nail on the head with the rest of her guess. Yes, I could've mentioned the tragedy the befell my family when I was an infant... but I was an infant. I didn't remember any of it and never felt like it affected me nearly as much as my mom or brother.
I didn't feel like I had a right to bring all of that up in this context, so I didn't. And other than the attack on the city, nothing else of note had really happened in my life up until I was hired by Wendigo. Even then, the majority of my time at HQ was spent in relative obscurity—at least until my sudden conscription. Apparently, the ensuing silence was answer enough because Castor was the next to speak up.
"Wow, she's got you pegged, doesn't she?"
"Well excuse me for being boring," I groused, "not everypony has some dark or interesting backstory to share, and I'm pretty sure my current circumstances more than make up for that."
"What, being a conscript?" Sunset raised a brow, "that's nothing new. I knew a few ponies who got drafted into being a Hunter and shipped off to who knows where. They weren't happy about it but hey, that's just how the chips fall sometimes."
"And do you know why I was conscripted for service as a Hunter?" I asked, not quite believing she didn't know my situation given that the Doctor and even Derpy knew. I raised my arm and pulled back my sleeve to better show off the red armlet affixed to my wrist, "do you know why this is a different color than the others?"
Sunset took a moment to pull the APC to a stop in front of the gate leading to the Branch. She looked over to me as the gate slid open and furrowed her brow thoughtfully.
"Huh, come to think of it, I hadn't even noticed," she replied, "but now that you point it out, yeah. I do remember the Doc mentioning something about New Types and special Daeus Arms. I guess that was about you?"
I gave Sunset my best 'are you serious?' look and turned to the twins for some kind of help or explanation. Unfortunately, neither of them had much to say on the matter. Their only response was to shrug and shake their heads. It honestly wasn't like I was proud of my status as a New Type Daeus Hunter or anything, but I guess I'd gotten somewhat used to ponies I'd never met already knowing everything there was to know about my situation.
"Sorry," I said, returning my attention to Sunset, "I'm not really expecting everypony to know about it, but I guess I was just surprised that somepony like you hadn't realized what was going on."
"That's fair," Sunset nodded as if it was completely natural to think she'd be on top of everything, "but I don't really give much thought to the Daeus Hunter side of Wendigo affairs. I kind of just tuned Time Turner out once he started going on about Arms and armlets."
"Sunset, you do know a lot of our research goes toward helping those Hunters protect us from the Avidaeos, right?" I replied with an admonishing frown, "I'm not saying you have to learn everything you can about the Hunters and what they do, but you at least have to respect the work they put in. Not to mention it's their feedback that helps improve our own work."
"Oh for Celestia's sake," Sunset groaned as she pushed the armored car forward through the now open gateway, "I swear, you're worse than Time Turner," she turned to give the twins an incredulous look, "you call this charming? Seriously?"
"Positively adorable," Pollux said without hesitation.
"Cute as a button," Castor agreed wholeheartedly.
Again, I couldn't tell if they were making a joke at mine or Sunset's expense or if they were completely serious. I still found the pair disconcerting, but after hearing about where they came from I could maybe understand how they might've come to be the way they were. That's what I told myself anyway, but in reality, I still wasn't sure. Sunset Shimmer was an anomaly all on her own, one that I didn't expect to understand anytime soon.
As the fiery maned mare shook her head in exasperation and went about parking the APC in the massive garage, I decided to withhold any kind of judgment until I got to know the other three a little better. They weren't like the Retaliation Team who were fairly easy to get along with. After talking with them for a bit though, I felt like a friendship between the four of us at some point in the future wasn't completely impossible.
I suppose that just left Doctor Whooves and what he may or may not have been hiding.
The meeting with Doctor Whooves turned out to be surprisingly uneventful. Sunset, the twins, and I actually wound up running into the Doctor on the way to his lab. The stallion was hurrying down the hall with his nose in what looked like a large black notebook and a troubled look on his face.
He was muttering something to himself he probably hadn't meant for anypony to hear, but my Daeification had given me sharp enough hearing that I could make out every word perfectly well, even several hoof lengths away. Even then though, I couldn't understand what he was talking about.
My best guess based on what I overheard was that he seemed to be worried about some project he and Derpy were working on. There was also mention of 'weaker Bias Factors' and 'recalibrating for higher compatibility'. I was intrigued, but then he mentioned something about a 'critical failure of Bias Factor functions' and 'accelerated Hive Cell corruption'.
Needless to say, my interest dried up pretty quickly after that. Before I could worry too much about what I was hearing, Sunset grabbed the Doctor's attention by calling out to him. Pulled from his rather worrying ruminations, Doctor Whooves looked up to find the four of us heading his way.
From there, things just sort of fell into place. Once he saw us, he'd quickly snapped his notebook shut and was once again all smiles and goodwill as he led us into the lab. He'd been surprised to see us all together, but once we explained how we'd met, he just nodded as if that made perfect sense.
Just as Sunset had hoped, he'd skipped most of the introductions—though I did get a chance to learn a little more about Sunset and the twins. During the meeting, Sunset had grudgingly admitted that she'd had a normal, formal education just as I had.
Though I noted that, unlike myself, she'd leaned much harder into the subject of how Hive Cells affected the body. That didn't surprise me given what she'd told me back at the warehouse. What did surprise me were the twin's background when it came to the study of Hive Cells.
Evidently, the two were largely self-taught, picking up most of what they knew back when they lived on the Northside. They didn't go into much more detail than that, but I got the feeling there was a lot more to the story. Still, I knew better than to pry, and while I was a bit skeptical about their credentials at first, I realized that Doctor Whooves had to have recruited them for a reason.
I didn't think he would have done so if their know-how wasn't at least mostly legitimate. Then again, Ponyville seemed to have slim pickings when it came to researchers so who knew? I decided to let the matter go, figuring I'd find out sooner or later.
It didn't escape my notice that the Doctor said very little about his own history regarding HIve Cell research, but I also chose not to call him out on it. I honestly had no real reason for my silence on the matter other than an unwillingness to rock the boat.
Unlike Sunset, I got the impression that whatever secrets he may or may not have been keeping were better left kept in the dark. Apparently, Doctor Whooves had decided that we knew each other well enough because he was quick to move on to other topics. It wasn't long before we wound up in the same labratory I'd seen shortly after my Daeification.
He gave us a rundown of all the lab equipment, most of which I was already familiar with. None of what I saw seemed to have the same quality as what you'd find back in HQ, but I already knew that'd be the case going in. The equipment wasn't terrible or anything, but a higher budget for better tools wouldn't have gone amiss.
The laboratory itself, though smaller than what I was used to, was a decent size. There was at least enough space to where none of us would get in each other's way if we were all working together. All in all the place was satisfactory even if it lacked some of the more convenient amenities of Canterlot's facilities.
The last subject of the meeting was for my benefit and revolved around my contribution to the team. I specialized in discovering how Hive Cells worked and that particular branch of research included Avidaeous behavior. With that in mind, it was supposedly my job to uncover anything we hadn't already figured out about Avidaeos.
Normally Avidaeos behavior wasn't that hard to figure out. The vast majority of those abominable creatures have only one objective, to feed. There's more to it than that, but everything else they do—any other purpose or reason—is secondary to that all-consuming need to devour anything and everything in their path.
At least that's how it works normally.
It's through this process of consuming matter both organic and inorganic that Avidaeos adapt and grow. It's how they evolve. How they learn. No matter how intelligent a single Avidaus may become though, they will always defer to the baser instincts of the Hive Cells that make up their body.
For the longest time, this was an immutable fact, but over the years several oddities began to crop up. Researchers began to notice strange anomalies in the behavior of certain Avidaeos—quirks that didn't seem to almost, but not quite match what they'd learned.
It was thought that Avidaeos never attack and devour their own, but that was proven not to be the case. It was thought that they could and would consume anything they set their monstrous teeth to, but that was also not the case. It took some time, but eventually, we were able to manufacture metals the Avidaeous either couldn't easily or outright refused to eat through.
We found a way to make magic work against them, and there's even been evidence of Avidaeos that could speak. So many things we thought impossible had come to pass. So many traits we thought invariable had been challenged. With all this in mind, I guess you could say that my job was no different than that of any other researcher who came before me.
The only real difference is that my job would be heavily focused on the study of one Avidaeus in particular. I was more than a little hesitant at first, but after seeing the Cannibal for myself, I have to admit, I was rather eager to learn more about it, even if that meant going out into the field—something I was much less eager to do.
In any case, we hammered out a few more minor details and the meeting wrapped up not too long after. With that done, I said my goodbyes to Sunset and the twins and followed Doctor Whooves to the observation deck of the training room. I'd initially been surprised when the Doctor mentioned he was coming with, but it made sense once he'd explained it to me.
"Well of course I'll be accompanying you, Miss Sparkle," he'd said with a small chuckle, "somepony needs to be there to keep tabs on your physical and mental condition under duress," his smile faded somewhat as he continued, "I suppose this courtesy comes a bit late given the events of the other night though, eh?"
I assured him it was fine and didn't really blame him given the circumstances. I did wonder about needing him there if it was just training, but he was quick to inform me—warn me, rather—that even if it was training, it could be just as intense as the real thing. After what I'd seen of Bon Bon and Applejack's demonstration I had no reason to doubt him.
Feeling more nervous than I'd been a few moments ago, I followed Doctor Whooves up the stairs and into the observation deck. As I stepped inside the room I found none other than Cheerilee and Derpy waiting for me. The former sat at one of the large consoles beneath the many monitors overhead.
She looked to be in deep discussion with the latter mare who stood beside her with her arms crossed a serious frown that didn't look quite right on her normally amiable features. Both mares turned at the sound of our entry, their expressions brightening up, though only slightly in Derpy's case.
Is it just me, or does she seem... weirdly anxious?
It might've been my imagination, but I couldn't shake the feeling that she was worried about something. There was the conversation she was having before I came in. The conversation had ended too abruptly for me to catch any details, but it didn't look like good news was being discussed.
Not only that, but it was also something in the way she moved. Again, I could've imagined it, but even if was just perceived, that apprehension did nothing to ease my own nervousness. Whether it was the case or not though, it certainly didn't show in her tone as she spoke.
"Oh, hey, Doc, Twilight," Derpy greeted as she approached, "I wasn't expecting you two for another half hour or so."
"Yes, well I did have a whole thing planned but, er..." the Doctor cast a wry look in my direction, "it appears Miss Sparkle and the others became fairly well acquainted before the meeting. So I figured we shouldn't waste any time seeing as our schedules are rather packed for today."
"Fair enough," Derpy replied with a surprisingly adorable little giggle. She stopped before us and turned to me with an apologetic smile, "hey, Twilight, it's good to see you again, but you kind of caught us at a bad time."
"Oh, um... sorry," I frowned, "you did say we were early. Should I come back later?"
"No, no, it's fine, I just need to have a quick chat with the Doc here. Shouldn't be more than a few minutes," Derpy assured before jerking a thumb over her shoulder, "why don't you go talk to Cheerilee in the meantime? She'll bring you up to speed on training procedures."
"Uh... alright," I replied, my brow furrowing as my unease grew, "I'll see you in a bit I guess?"
I turned to Doctor Whooves, who gave me an encouraging nod before he and Derpy stepped past me and out the entrance to the observation deck. Once the door slid shut I heaved a quiet sigh and made my way over to where Cheerilee still sat. Apparently, rather than sit here watching us talk, she'd made herself busy, typing away at the console as she scanned the many monitors before her.
I wasn't sure what she was doing exactly, but she must've heard my approach because she paused her rapid typing and swiveled her chair around to face me.
"Twilight Sparkle, we meet again," she greeted with that welcoming smile of hers, "how was your time in the Outer District? The work wasn't too difficult I hope?"
"Oh, no, no it was fine. The work was simple enough," I tilted my head curiously, "you, uh... sure do get around. Every time I see you it seems like you're doing one job or another."
"I wear a lot of different hats, it's true," Cheerilee replied with a nod and a shrug, "but that's simply the way things work when you're understaffed like we are."
"Understaffed?" my brows furrowed in bemusement, "but I've seen plenty of staff around the Branch."
"The majority of those are likely volunteers or interns," Cheerilee explained, "generally citizens working on their own time without pay. Setting aside the Hunters and including myself, the number of employees we have on an actual payroll barely breaks the double digits."
"Wow," I muttered in surprise, "I had no idea..."
"Yeah, most small towns are like this," she sighed, "the Delegates are doing what they can, but there are only so many bits to go around these days."
"Well yeah," I argued, feeling somewhat bad about the situation, "but given how well off Canterlot is, I'm sure we can spare a little more aid, right?"
Cheerilee was shaking her head before I even finished speaking.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Miss Sparkle," she said with a sad and slightly pitying smile, "Canterlot is a major city—the capital city. Our most important resources are built and maintained there and whether we like it or not, that's where the bits need to go.
"If this were the Age of Peace, I'm sure we'd have no problem getting what we need, but we're a world in steep decline. So much so that ponies have taken to calling this a post-apocalypse. The End Times. The Age of Ruin. And the worst part of it all is that they're not entirely wrong."
The light in her eyes, that spark that had been there since I'd met her dimmed slightly for the first time as she continued. Her expression fell into something resembling melancholy and the look was enough to bring me down right along with her.
"What you have to understand is that they're not just talking about the Avidaeos. Things might seem stable on the surface, but dig a little deeper and you'll see that society as we know it is on the brink of collapse. Ponies, changelings, minotaurs, griffons, even the dragons. We're all just hanging on by a thread in the grand scheme of things."
It didn't take me long to realize that she was right.
When I thought about towns like Ponyville and even some of the things I'd noticed in Canterlot, I couldn't help but agree. One need only look at the situation regarding Northside and the many bills and construction-related proposals that had gone unpassed or ignored because Canterlot simply didn't have the funds to enforce or support any of it.
It truly was a sorry state of affairs and Cheerilee's words put all of it into perspective for me. I knew on some level that things were bad, but that had only been where Avidaeos and the state of Ponyville were concerned. I hadn't really given much thought to the world's economic crisis as a whole.
Still...
"I'm not so sure about the dragons," I said with some skepticism, "no matter how I look at it, they still seem to be doing just fine for themselves."
"Ah, but that's where you're mistaken," Cheerilee countered with another shake of her head, "while the dragons may not want for resources, that doesn't mean they don't have problems of their own to contend with. Remember, theirs is a brutal eat-or-be-eaten culture and that's not just about survival. That mentality bleeds directly into their socioeconomic structure as well," she grimaced, "I fear it likely the dragons will destroy themselves long before the Avidaeos wipe them out."
"You really think so?" I asked, a little unsettled by her grim proclamation, "are things really that bad in the Dragonlands?"
Maybe I should ask Spike about it the next time I see him...
"Worse in some cases," she sighed before perking back up with a clap of her hands, "but I think that's enough doom and gloom for one afternoon. What's say we get you prepped and ready for your training session?"
"Yeah, that sounds... good," I agreed wholeheartedly, "but before that, I have to ask... have you been to the Dragonlands?"
"Oh Celestia no!" she laughed, "I just happened to pick up the knowledge somewhere along the way," she gave me a playful wink, "I used to be a teacher if you can believe it. Now if you'll come along with me to the equipment storage room, Miss Sparkle. I'll explain everything as we go."
Yeah, I can definitely believe it alright, I thought as the impeccably dressed mare stood up and motioned for me to follow her to another door I hadn't seen on the deck's far right side. As we walked, Cheerilee explained the ins and outs of what I'd be doing during training.
As I understood it, the goal, at least for today, was to get me acclimated to actually wielding a Daeus Arm. Not just a single Daeus Arm either. Showing me into the storage room, which looked a lot like a more compact version of the prep room/garage area, Cheerilee told me I'd be trying out all the Daeus Arms.
I suppose I should've seen that coming given what Shining Armor had told me about his training days. He'd wanted to go straight for the buster blade originally but they made him try all the Arms. Ultimately he'd gone with the long blade after realizing how unwieldy the buster blade could be.
For new recruits who had their hearts set on a particular weapon, the reality often didn't match up with the ideal. This was so often the case that Wendigo eventually mandated that trainees try each and every Daeus Arm. With me having no idea what I wanted to use or what would work best for me, I couldn't really complain.
The Arms on display more or less mirrored what I'd seen back in Derpy's 'sanctuary' with a few visual and mechanical tweaks here and there for usability. I wandered around the Training Arm storage for a time, looking over each Arm in abject indecision.
Short Blade, long blade, buster blade, charge spear, boost hammer, variant scythe. And on the other side of the room were the ranged weapons. Assault gun, sniper gun, blast gun, shotgun, and arcane stave. I wondered at the placement of the stave but figured it might make sense to count it as a ranged weapon given its capabilities.
And because I was a New Type I could potentially use all of these at any point.
My Daeus Arm would make use of blade, gun, and shield, whereas the majority of Hunters had use of only one or the other and a shield. I could use not only long and short-range weaponry at once but swap out the type of Arm if I wanted to. I feel like that should've made my decision irrelevant, but it only made it harder to choose.
All the while Cheerilee stood by, patiently waiting for me to make my decision as she continued to explain my training process. According to the mare, Wendigo used something called a thaumic projector to train recruits. I learned that day that thaumic projection was the next logical step in the implementation of virtual reality.
Virtual reality itself had been around for some time, but limitations had only allowed for partial immersion of one's senses including sight, sound, and smell. Thaumic projection, which was a much more recent development, allows for full immersion of all senses including taste and touch.
The fully immersive effect is what I'd witnessed during the demonstration. Newer recruits like myself and Fluttershy would only be working with partial immersion for the first few days of training. The projection room would manifest an enemy or two and maybe a few pieces of terrain but mostly remain unchanged.
I wouldn't see anything crazy like entire cities or an army of Avidaeos. The thought of facing that down sent chills down my spine, but at the same time, I couldn't help but marvel at the capabilities of such a device. Suddenly enamored with the idea of seeing the thaumic projector at work up close, I chose to go down the row of weapons in order starting with the short blade.
I'd known my enhanced strength would make the weapons less cumbersome, but I hadn't realized just to what extent. Even the short blade, the smallest weapon in the arsenal, was a massive thing that would've dwarfed even the largest of the two-handed swords used by ponies back during the Age of War.
With that in mind, I'd expected to still have to put in some kind of effort. But when I pulled the short blade free of the rack on the wall, I wound up underestimating my own strength and nearly stumbled backward into Cheerilee with the thing. The short blade had been far lighter in my hand than I'd expected, a fact I'd tried to explain among several frantic apologies.
Thankfully Cheerilee had been fully prepared to sidestep my blunder. To my relief, she just laughed it off and told me it hadn't been the first time that had happened. It seemed that was a common misjudgment made among first-time Arms users.
I was giving the massive blade a few experimental swings, gawking in amazement at how effortless it was to do so when the door to the storage room swung open and Derpy stepped inside. It took me a moment to notice her, but when Cheerilee called out to me I turned to see the wall-eyed pegasus giving me an assessing look.
"Oh, hey, Derpy," I greeted, lowering the short blade with an awkward smile, "are we, uh... ready to go?"
"Hm?" Derpy replied distractedly. The mare looked like she was lost in thought as she watched me, but thankfully snapped out of it before I could get too uncomfortable, "Oh... oh yeah, yeah. Did Cheerilee explain everything?"
"Just about," Cheerilee replied, nodding as she reached into the pocket of the black vest she wore over her white collared long sleeve shirt, "all that's left is to give you this."
She pulled out a small device and held it out to me. I took it and looked it over with an inquisitive frown. It took me a moment to realize what I was looking at but when I did, my brows rose in surprise.
"An earpiece?" I asked, looking from the device to Cheerilee, "I know my brother and the rest of the Hunters in Canterlot use them but I was under the impression that Ponyville still used handheld comms devices?"
"All staff members outside of coordinators and field operatives use handheld comm devices," Cheerilee corrected, "we don't have enough of these to give one to every single pony in the Branch so we use them sparingly."
"That one's yours," Derpy added, nodding to the earpiece in my hand, "make sure you don't lose or break it. Not only would getting a replacement be a huge pain in the flank, but the cost would come out of your paycheck."
"Right, I'll... keep that in mind," I assured, "I'm assuming I'll be using this out on the field, but were you wanting me to use it during training too?"
"Of course," Cheerilee said, "I'll be the one providing you instruction through that earpiece during your training, at least for today. You'll likely have your Captain running you through your paces going forward."
"Makes sense," I nodded before turning to Derpy, "so...?"
"Right, right, the projection room. Follow me," Derpy said, heading back out of the storage room.
As Cheerilee took her place back at the main console I followed Derpy to a door on the opposite side of the room. She pulled the door open to reveal a metal staircase leading down, likely to the large projection room below. Rather than lead the way inside, she instead motioned for me to head in.
"Head on down and Cheerilee will let you know what to do next," she said, "I'll be keeping an eye on you along with the Doc and Cheerilee."
"Right, um..." I turned to look over the observation deck with a frown, "where is Doctor Whooves anyway?"
"Ah, he had to go take care of some last-second business," Derpy replied with a shrug, "he'll be here in a bit. In the meantime, come check in with me once you're done. I'll need to ask you a few questions about your experience."
With that, she gave me one last reassuring pat on the shoulder and walked back over to where Cheerilee was sitting. I watched her go for a moment, then headed down the stairway, putting in my earpiece as I went. With short blade in hand and heaving a quiet sigh, I pushed open the steel door at the bottom and stepped into the circular projection room.
Well, I'll be getting a much-needed workout if nothing else...
The next few hours I spent in that projection room were full of adrenaline, fair but firm guidance from Cheerilee and Derpy, and a few interesting revelations I discovered about myself during training.
Just as I was told, there wasn't much of a change in scenery and the only thing that was generated by the thaumic projector was a single Vargren. The slavering wolf looked menacing enough, snapping and snarling and bearing its blackened teeth at me. The projection was so unexpectedly convincing that I froze up in terror for a moment.
My mind flashed back to the night we'd rode into the slums and got attacked in the APC. Unlike then, there was no armored vehicle or Spike to stand between me and the wooden bark-like beast this time. This time it was just the two of us and I wasn't equipped to handle the vicious creature.
It took Cheerilee a worryingly long time to convince me that I was equipped to handle the Vargren in front of me. It took me another embarrassingly long moment to realize the thing wasn't attacking me. It just stood there looking menacing and that was it. It didn't make any move to tear my throat out or devour my innards.
It was just a training dummy.
Once I finally realized that fact, the terror died down for the most part. Still, lingering unease made me tighten my grip on the short blade as I moved to follow Cheerilee's careful instruction. The way training worked was kind of strange in my opinion because you had no real lead to follow. No teacher to show you the ropes.
Yes, Cheerilee was there over the earpiece giving me tips and pointers. I was taught in general how to move on the battlefield—things like how to distribute my weight when swinging various blades or responding to certain types of attacks by different Avidaeos. I was taught about stamina management and when to use and save expendable items like flash grenades or ampules.
I was even given a quick rundown of Avidaeus strengths and weaknesses. I was, however, happy to learn that most of those types of lessons were done the traditional way, through lectures and textbooks. Doctor Whooves would also be acting as my teacher during those lessons.
And then there was what was very likely the most important part of a Daeus Arm, the devour module. The devour module built within all battle-ready Daeus Arms is what allowed them to take their 'predator form'. The predator form in turn is how Daeus Hunters were able to keep an Avidaeus from reforming and finish it off in a sense.
When Cheerilee first mentioned predator form I hadn't been entirely sure what she was talking about until she explained it. Then I realized I'd seen that particular form in action twice before. I remembered how Nightmare Moon herself had conjured some sort of demonic 'mouth' from her spear that stretched out and plunged itself into the fallen Avidaeus.
I saw Captain Applejack do the same thing to one of the giant lizard-like Avidaeos in this very projection room. Cheerilee's explanation gave some more context to what I'd witnessed. A battle against an Avidaeus was essentially a process of breaking down its Hive Cell structure until it was weak enough to rip out the core.
Predator form was how Daeus Hunters accomplished that task. Without it, an Avidaeus could simply run off and feed on something else to regain its strength and rebuild its Hive Cell structure. Not only did tearing chunks out of an Avidaeus make it weaker, but it also made the Hunter stronger.
There were two additional functions of the devour module. The second function allowed a Daeus Arm to convert and adapt consumed Hive Cells to boost the Daeus Hunter's overall strength and agility for a brief period. The third function allowed a Hunter with a ranged weapon to fire a special unique bullet created from the Cells of the Avidaeus devoured.
That wasn't even the end of what the devour module could potentially do. New functions were still being researched and tested even now. The creation of the Daeus Arm and the devour module therein truly was a turning point for us in the seemingly neverending war against the Avidaeos.
I had a hard time trying to wrap my head around the specifics of how any of this was supposed to work. The sheer complexity that must've been involved gave me a new respect for Daeus Arm engineers like Derpy. I couldn't activate predator form with the training Arms, but Cheerilee assured me that the process would be so easy to pull off as to be almost instinctual.
I didn't know whether to be relieved at the ease of use or disturbed at the implications.
I learned all manner of practical knowledge regarding survival and Avidaeos assault as I clumsily flailed about with each weapon. But on the whole, you were encouraged to experiment. To find what approach and style worked best for you. I, unfortunately, had some trouble finding out what actually worked for me.
Attacking the enemy wasn't hard, it was a stationary target that didn't fight back. The problem was that none of the weapons I used felt right. The short blade was too light and I couldn't shake the habit of overextending myself. The long blade wasn't too hard to use, but for some reason, I couldn't get behind the idea of using the same weapon as my brother.
I couldn't explain why, but it just... felt like bad luck. I couldn't use the buster blade for the same reason as my brother—too unwieldy. I had the same problem with the charge spear that I did with the short blade but for the opposite reason. I was overextending because the spear was too top-heavy and I couldn't adjust for the shift in weight properly.
The boost hammer was far too complex a weapon for me, to the point that I actually injured myself in a rather embarrassing display while trying to figure it out. I could tell that with some patience and a good sense of movement and your surroundings, it was a formidable weapon. If I was being honest though, the thing scared me a bit.
Seriously, Pinkie and the boost hammer were practically made for each other...
Surprisingly, I found that I had the least issues with the variant scythe. I couldn't even tell you why. I had grabbed the weapon thinking I'd have the same exact problem I'd had with the charge spear, but no. One swing of the curved blade flowed smoothly into the next and it was easy to find a rhythm.
Attacking the immobile Vargren almost felt like a dance. I found myself naturally settling into a series of twisting, twirling steps without realizing it, each attack hitting its mark without fail. I didn't know how I looked to the ponies watching from the observation deck but I was actually beginning to enjoy myself. I thought I had found my perfect weapon...
...right up until I tripped over my own hooves and fell flat on my face.
As if that embarrassment wasn't enough, I felt my stomach give a nauseous lurch as I got up and just barely managed to keep myself from retching all over the floor. Needless to say, that was the end of my brief but beautiful relationship with the variant scythe... but maybe not. I was self-aware enough to realize that I might've done well with the weapon.
When I headed back up to the observation deck to give my thoughts I found that both the Doctor and Derpy agreed. Evidently, I had been a fairly impressive sight for somepony who'd never used a variant scythe before. It seemed not many took up the weapon for the same reason I hadn't taken up the boost hammer, which surprised me.
On the surface, I was still uncertain but logically I knew that no other melee weapon had felt as right as the variant scythe. By a simple process of elimination that's what I'd probably end up choosing and I wasn't too upset about it. With all the melee weapons tried and tested, it was time for me to test out the artillery.
This process went by a fair bit quicker seeing as there weren't as many options for long-range weaponry. It was also a much more mortifying experience due to two factors. The first was that at some point, my would-be Captain had shown up to observe me alongside Derpy, Cheerilee, and the Doctor. The second was that I was a terrible, terrible shot.
To hear Applejack tell it—as she practically choked on her own laughter—I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Not even if I was standing three hooves in front of it. That did very little for my morale, but I had a hard time disputing her words. I failed utterly with every single gun I'd tried to use.
Assault gun? I'd sprayed practically everything but the unmoving Vargren in front of me. Sniper gun? Missed every shot because I kept flinching due to recoil and even fell over a few times. Blast gun? Somehow I was the one that went flying when I fired it. Cheerilee had said something about posture and setting my hooves properly but I just couldn't seem to get it right. Same went for the shotgun.
Thankfully, the Captain had other business to attend to and left before I headed back up to the observation deck. Her only piece of advice to me before she left was to keep at it and ask Rarity for her help. While I was sure Rarity could give me some amazing pointers, I just wasn't feeling the long-range approach. I also wasn't looking forward to the conversation with the others about my abysmal display later.
I'm pretty sure the Captain is itching to tell the rest of the team all about it...
All that was left was the arcane stave and by this point, I didn't have much hope. Given what I'd already heard about the thing, I wasn't expecting much out of it. The arcane stave, or staff, had the general look of the magical wooden staves of old, though this one clearly wasn't made of wood. The stave was made of the same metals as the other weapons and was about the height of a charge spear.
Instead of a spearhead though, there was a massive ring at the tip. Embedded around the thick ring equidistant from each other were five fist-sized orbs, each glowing a different color. One was a blazing red, another a frosty blue, then sparkling violet, brilliant golden-yellow, and finally a radiant emerald green.
Within the center of the ring, held in place by the claw-like end of the stave's shaft was another orb, this one pitch black and almost twice as large as the others. At the base of the large ring, spread out around it like the petals of a flower was what I assumed to be the built-in shield. According to Derpy, when activated, the shield would slide down to the center of the shaft and readjust itself to block incoming attacks.
I wasn't sure how it all worked, but it seemed to make sense for the most part. When I asked about how a melee weapon would be implemented in the design, Derpy just gave me a wink and told me not to sweat the details and to leave it to her, so I did. I wasn't interested in the shield or the melee weapons anyway. What intrigued me more were the orbs.
I could tell just by looking that each orb was a spell crystal of some sort. Judging by each color I could also surmise that the five outer orbs housed a different type of elemental magic—namely fire, ice, lightning, light, and healing magic respectively. That was easy enough to deduce, but I was much less sure about the pitch-black orb in the middle.
Derpy's face seemed to light up when I asked her about the rather ominous-looking orb in the center.
"Oh, that?" she said with no small amount of foalish glee, "well, arcane staves don't have the ability to convert Hive Cells into bullets like the guns do—no barrel to fire them from obviously.
"Instead, when you devour and consume Hive Cells from an Avidaeus, that spell crystal in the middle powers up your existing spells and adds some... interesting effects on top of that."
"Effects?" I asked, intrigued despite myself, "what kind of effects?"
"Well, that depends on what type of spell you use," Derpy replied with a shrug of her shoulders, "I suppose if you were a gamer you'd call them 'status ailments' or 'debuffs'."
I wasn't a 'gamer' in the sense that Derpy was probably referring to. Shining Armor and I didn't really have any video games around the house growing up. That said, I had run more than my fair share of Ogres and Oubliettes campaigns with Moon Dancer and the rest of my friends back in the day.
It was Shiny who'd got me into the game and I had to admit it was a lot of fun. Despite what Minuette would have others believe, I felt I was a really good GM whenever my turn came around to run the campaign. The memories of those days came flooding back unbidden and it took me a moment to bring myself back to reality.
I realized with some embarrassment that I'd been staring at Derpy while I was zoned out. Thankfully the wall-eyed mare just shrugged my apology away, saying she'd been there before. Attempting to push past the awkwardness, I asked about how these 'status ailments' worked, though I already had a fairly good idea based on the spells.
"I said the effects were interesting, but really it's pretty much exactly what you'd expect," Derpy explained, "casting a fire spell sets the Avidaeus on fire, an ice spell will freeze them solid, lightning paralyzes them, and you can blind them with a photon spell.
"Throw your teammates a heal and the spell will also grant a regenerative effect for a while. It's all temporary of course, but a well-placed debuff can make all the difference especially when you hit an Avidaeus' weakness."
"Wow," I muttered, eyeing the arcane stave with newfound appreciation, "I had no idea the arcane stave had so much utility. If it weren't for the obvious drawbacks this thing would far outstrip any of the guns."
"I wouldn't go that far," Derpy said with a grin that was equal parts wry and amused, "when you take the sheer amount of customization that bullet crafting allows into account, the guns still take the cake in terms of utility, but I get where you're coming from," with that, Derpy began to push me towards the stairs leading down to the projection room, "now go on, get down there and give it a spin!"
I looked over to Cheerilee who started to give a thumbs up, signaling that I was good to go, but paused when Doctor Whooves put a hand on her shoulder. Cheerilee gave him a bemused look but when the stallion spoke he was looking at me.
"A word, if I may before you move on to the final exercise, Miss Sparkle?"
The stallion's expression wasn't severe, but there was a hint of solemnity to his features that made me a bit nervous.
"Oh... yeah, sure," I replied, giving Derpy a look before moving back over to the workstation where Cheerilee sat, "is something wrong?"
"Oh no, nothing's wrong. I'd just like to give you a bit of advice is all," he assured me with another one of his genial smiles, though it quickly fell into something more serious as he spoke, "I'm sure you've heard that the arcane stave draws upon an artificial, self-replenishing source of mana to cast spells, yes?"
"Yeah," I replied with a nod, "I remember Rainbow Dash mentioning something about it."
"I see," the Doctor replied with a slow, thoughtful nod, "...did she also mention that the arcane stave also requires your own unique mana signature to function properly?"
"What? No, this is the first I've heard of something like that," I frowned thoughtfully, "then again, I suppose that's not too surprising."
Unicorns manipulate their mana signatures in order to cast spells. Basically, mana provides the energy needed to cast a spell, and a mana signature is the key required to 'write' and 'execute' that spell. A properly structured spell needs a mana signature to function, just as the Doctor mentioned.
Magitech engineers and thaumatologists found a way to write and seal spells within crystals, but those spells still need either direct contact from a pony's mana signature or some kind of special interface with a mana signature built-in.
Any unicorn who had ever cast a spell successfully knew how to manipulate their mana signature. It was one of the first things they taught in basic thaumaturgy back in primary school. With that said though, it was a different story when using an object other than your horn as a catalyst.
Most pegasi and earth ponies had no way of consciously manipulating their mana signatures. Normally, any magic cast by a pegasus or an earth pony was cast through an instinctual reaction within their mana veins. There were some minor exceptions to this rule, such as Rainbow Dash and the prismatic trails she leaves behind when reaching a certain velocity while flying or Pinkie's seemingly inexplicable shenanigans.
At least, that's the only explanation I can come up with for how she does what she does.
"I've also heard that the stave takes a heavy toll on the user," I continued, "if it was just the mana circuits and your own mana signature that shouldn't be the case, so what else should I be worried about?"
"Ah, that is the exact right question to ask, my dear girl!" Doctor Whooves exclaim, giving me an approving clap on the shoulder, "you see, it's the Hive Cells in your body that act as the thaumaturgical link between your own mana signature and the mana circuits within the stave. The more spells you cast in quick succession, the more strained that link becomes—"
"And that in turn puts a negative strain on your body, potentially leading you to lose control of your Hive Cells and eventually... possible Hive Cell corruption," I surmised with a quiet swallow of nervousness.
"Just so," the Doctor confirmed with a grim nod, "but that's not all you have to worry about I'm afraid. If you attempt to utilize the stave to cast spells exceeding the mana circuit's reserves, the stave may attempt to pull any excess mana directly from your personal pool of mana."
I opened my mouth, but I didn't have a response to give. The horror of his words spoke for itself. Feeling somewhat sick, I cast a fearful glance at the arcane stave in my hands. Thoughts of replacing the weapon back on its rack ran through my mind, but another reassuring pat on the shoulder from Doctor Whooves brought my attention back to him.
"But I wouldn't worry too much about that," he replied in a tone that was unnervingly chipper after what he'd just told me, "we're talking about the most extreme of cases here. The arcane stave and your Hive Cells can handle a fair bit of strain so long as you don't push yourself too hard, so chin up and give us a good show, eh?"
"Y-Yeah," I replied, trying and failing to match his encouraging smile, "thanks for the warning, Doctor. I'll definitely, uh... keep all of that in mind."
"Be sure that you do," he nodded towards the stairs leading to projection room, "now go on. Off with you then."
I gave a shaky nod and made my way back over to the open door and down the stairs. Up above I could hear both Derpy and Cheerilee verbally laying into the Doctor for his 'fearmongering', but I wasn't really listening. I was too busy thinking about anything and everything that could go wrong.
I'd just begun to feel comfortable being here, but now there was a whole different sort of atmosphere stepping into the projections room. I felt like was the one chosen to test out a deadly new superweapon that could go off and kill me at any time. While that wasn't entirely the case, it wasn't entirely untrue either.
"Calm down, Twilight," I muttered to myself, barely able to hear my own voice over the loud mechanical whir of the thaumic projector coming to life once again, "it's just like Doctor Whooves said. As long as you don't push yourself, everything will be fine."
There weren't many arcane stave users in the Ponyville Branch—in fact, I'd only heard of one other pony who'd taken it up—but they'd managed to not get themselves killed thus far. The thought was supposed to bring me some comfort but as the immobile Vargren manifested before me something in the back of my mind began to nag at me. As Cheerilee began to bark instructions into my ear I couldn't help feeling like I was missing something. Something crucial piece of information I'd forgotten.
Like the answer to the last make-or-break question on an exam...
"Alright, Twilight, this should be fairly easy," Cheerilee was saying over the earpiece, "casting a spell with the stave shouldn't be any different or any more difficult than using your horn but it might feel a little strange at first if you've never used another catalyst before."
I set my hooves and tightened my grip on the arcane stave, all the while trying to push that nagging sensation aside and focus on Cheerilee's words.
"I've worked with other catalysts so that shouldn't be an issue," I assured, sounding more confident than I actually was, "but how will I know once the mana circuits are depleted?"
"You'll feel it through the cellular link," Cheerilee replied, "when that happens, just lift the pen from the paper as the saying goes."
I blinked at that last statement. Lifting the pen from the paper was a saying used by thaumaturgy teachers. It essentially referred to the act of cutting off a spell through the cessation of mana signature manipulation. I was surprised Cheerilee knew the phrase as it was pretty much just a unicorn thing.
Then again, she did mention being a teacher in the past, probably a mixed tribe teacher if her knowledge of that phrase is anything to go by.
"Blunt as he was about the matter, the good Doctor wasn't wrong about the risks," Cheerilee continued, "if you continue to cast once the strain reaches a certain threshold, your Hive Cells will start to pull mana from your own wellspring in an attempt to stabilize the link."
"And if that happens?" I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.
"If that happens you'll feel a strong tugging sensation within your wellspring. You'll have a small window, so the moment you feel that sensation, drop the stave immediately, no matter the situation."
"Wait, that's it?" I asked incredulously, "just... drop the weapon? There's nothing else you can do?"
"Unfortunately, no," Cheerilee answered, her tone grim, "once you pass that threshold and if you miss that window, your Hive Cells won't let you go until either the spell is cast, or..."
Cheerilee didn't finish the sentence, but she and I both knew she didn't need to. Hive Cell corruption was a nasty business and she had no need to go into detail about what would happen. I grimaced at the thought and groaned inwardly as I prepared to make the second stupidest decision of my life after the Daeification process.
Well, that decision was out of my hands, but still...
"I'm starting to get a better idea of why nopony uses the arcane stave," I grumbled, but raised the weapon in question towards the Vargen, "and everypony has to use this thing at least once?"
"Actually, they don't," Cheerilee admitted after a moment, "had you requested to return the Arm and end the training there, you would've been free to do so. You still are."
"And you couldn't tell me this before I came down here ready to risk my neck?!" I shouted up at the observation deck.
"I know how you feel and I'm sorry, Twilight," Cheerilee said, sounding genuinely apologetic, "but protocol requires us to provide all the facts before giving the opportunity to back out. Still, whether you were down there or up here in the observation deck, I was always going to give you that option."
If that's the case, then why were Derpy and the Doctor so eager to get me down here knowing the risks? I didn't exactly try to hide my discomfort so why not mention I can back out beforehand?
Those questions brought me back to the conversation between Cheerilee and Derpy, the one I hadn't heard while coming in. And then there was that private talk between Derpy and the Doctor afterward. As doubt and suspicion welled up in my gut, that nagging sensation from earlier only grew stronger.
Are they not telling me something about this training exercise?
"Twilight?"
"Huh?"
I was pulled out of my grim ruminations by Cheerilee's concerned voice.
"It's up to you," she continued, "like Doctor Turner said, your body should be able to handle a good deal of strain, but we are also aware of the danger involved. If you don't want to continue, we won't force you."
I don't have to continue, huh...?
I straightened up and lowered the stave, my thoughts racing. After learning more about what I'd be getting myself into, I didn't want to go through with it. I wanted very much to stop the training exercise right here and choose some other Daeus Arm to wield. I'd even found one I could potentially be really good with.
As far as guns went, I could just choose another one and get advice from Rarity on how to be a better shot like the Captain suggested. Rainbow had even begged me not to use the arcane stave, likely for these exact reasons. There was no reason for me to use the arcane stave and every reason for me not to use it.
And yet...
I couldn't help the pensive frown that crossed my face as I looked at the stave in my hands. Common sense was telling me to walk back up those stairs and put the arcane stave back where I found it. I wanted to. I almost did, but that little nagging voice in the back of my mind was screaming at me to wait. Wait for what, I wasn't sure, but I surmised that it had something to do with that feeling that I was missing something vitally important.
"Twilight...?"
What is it? What am I missing? Was it something Doctor Whooves or Cheerilee said about the Daeus Arm? Or was it—no, hang on a minute...
"Twilight? Twilight, can you hear me?"
"I'm... I'm gonna go for it!" I called out.
I was already regretting my decision as I raised the stave once again, but I needed to test something. I ignored Cheerilee's bemused response and instead focused my attention on the Vargren in front of me. I took a couple of steadying breaths before pointing the tip of the stave in the direction of my target.
You're an idiot, Twilight Sparkle. Seriously, if this doesn't work then I'm basically a dead mare. If it does though... then maybe I might be able to...
It wasn't until I reached within myself and felt the mana in my thaumic wellspring that I remembered what it was that was bothering me. It was the fact that I could feel the mana in my wellspring. Not just a bit of it like back at the warehouse, but all of it. It had diminished before but now it was all there. The only thing stopping me from reaching inward and pulling all of it out was the blockage caused by the Hive Cells in my body.
"Are you sure about this?" Cheerilee asked warily. I wasn't sure, but it sounded like she was slightly distracted as she spoke, "it's only your first day of training. You can always try again later once you feel more comfortable."
"I don't think I'm ever going to feel comfortable with this," I replied with a shaky, panic-fueled laugh, "but... there's something I want to try."
"Twilight, what are you doing?" Cheerilee exclaimed, suddenly sounding very tense. I heard some kind of muffled commotion over the earpiece before Cheerilee came back on, "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish but I strongly urge you to—"
"I'm about to do something very unscientific, Miss Cheerilee," I interrupted. I could've sworn my heart was beating three times faster than it should've been, but my voice was oddly calm, "it's a risk, but if I don't try it now, there's no way I'm gonna be able to talk myself into doing it again."
"Twilight! You—"
Without another word, without giving it anymore more thought for fear of losing my nerve, I tied my mana signature to the arcane stave. A sharp gasp escaped my lips as the Hive Cells within the Daeus Arm and my own body formed the cellular link. I could actually feel the connecting cells snap into place. The moment I was connected I ignored the mana circuits altogether and pushed as much of my own thaumic energy into the stave as I could.
I'd chosen at random to imbue the lightning spell crystal with my mana and the reaction from the cellular link was immediate. What came next wasn't anything so gentle as a simple tug from the arcane stave. The moment I fed what little I could of my mana to the weapon, the Hive Cells within all but tore the rest of it out of me. The pain I experienced during the Daeification process couldn't even begin to compare to the agony I felt now.
My plan, foolish as it was, had been to forcefully unclog my thaumic wellspring using the arcane stave as a sort of thaumic plunger. I could tell, even through agony so great that it was practically transcendent, that the plan had worked. The mana was rushing out of my wellspring like a high-powered firehose.
I still had a distant and hazy sense of my surroundings and could hear the constant, deafening roar and crack of thunder and lightning all around me. The sound was more than enough to drown out my screams and I was certain that the projection room wasn't coming out of this disaster unscathed. I didn't have the mental strength to worry about things like that now though.
I had a much bigger problem on my hands, namely that I could also tell something fundamental was being altered inside of me. It was the same type of invasive metamorphosis I'd felt during my Daeification and that meant something was happening to the Hive Cells they'd pumped into me. Of course, I was far too focused on the pain wracking my entire body to care about that.
The utter chaos and maddening agony wrought by my fatally idiotic decision seemed to go on for an age. I almost thought it would never end. I thought I'd literally go insane before it was all over, but eventually, I was blinded by a brilliant flash of light and deafened by an earsplitting crack. At that same moment, I felt my hooves leave the ground followed by a vague sense of motion before a sudden painful impact brought everything to a screeching halt.
No more pain. No more flashing lights or thunderous sounds. No more whirling thoughts or constant worries. All that was left now was blessed darkness and a strange sense of accomplishment.
I woke up cold, shaking, sweating, and gasping for breath. My mind was a whirlwind of vaguely remembered images—hazy flashes of what might've been a strange dream or some kind of nightmare. I looked around, heart racing and eyes wide with a nameless sense of dread. It took a second for my brain to slow down and actually process what I was looking at.
Once the directionless fear abated somewhat and I could focus, I saw that I was in a room that looked far smaller than I was comfortable with. The walls and floor were all dark grey metal and the room itself was devoid of any furnishings save the rather uncomfortably thin mattress I'd halfway risen from in my panic. There was a single metal door at the end of the black metal wireframed bed and the entire room was dimly lit by a pair of barely functioning fluorescent tube lights overhead.
This isn't a bedroom, I thought, my panic rising once again, it's a prison cell!
A quick once-over showed I was still wearing most of my uniform though my embroidered military blouse was missing, leaving me with just my thin cargo pants and the black undershirt I'd worn beneath. I slammed my eyes shut and tried again to get my thoughts under control. I needed to think back, to remember the events that had led up to... whatever was going on.
After placing a hand on my chest, I took deep breaths and opened my eyes again. I needed to calm down. I needed to ask myself the right questions, to start with what I could answer and find out how to get the answers I didn't know. My brows furrowed as I took stock of my situation.
What happened to me?
Where am I?
Why am I in a cell?
How did I get here?
Who put me here?
What was that dream—
An icy shiver ran down my spine as I ran through what I could remember of what I saw. My whole body was trembling slightly in fact, and it took me a moment to realize that it was the memory of the dream that was causing it. As the shock of waking up in an unfamiliar place wore off, I started to notice just how weak and shaky I felt, like I'd fall right over if I tried to get out of bed.
What in Celestia's name happened to me? I thought, raising a hand to my sweaty face, think, Twilight! The last thing I remember was... was... that's right, I was... I'd gone to the training room, and then—
My eyes widened in horrified realization as the memories came flooding back into my mind in a sudden rush. I'd gone with Doctor Whooves to officially start my training and everything had gone fairly well until...
"The arcane stave," I croaked in a voice hoarse with shock and dread, "what did I do? Oh, Sweet Celestia what did I do?"
Another thought occurred to me and, with a strange and desperate mix of apprehension and anticipation, I tentatively reached into my thaumic wellspring. My breath caught in my throat and all thoughts screeched to a halt at what I found. All my mana was there, free for me to use at my will without any kind of cellular blockage whatsoever. Not only that, but it felt like both my wellspring and thaumic energy had grown significantly.
As amazing as that fact was though, the discovery was overshadowed by the sheer wrongness of that thaumic energy. It was somehow both familiar and completely alien at the same time—like there was some foreign substance that had gotten mixed in with what should've been pure mana. It wasn't hard to guess what that 'substance' might've been, but I found myself having trouble wrapping my mind around the apparent changes my magic had undergone.
I was so unnerved by what I felt that I shied away from my own magic altogether. I shuddered at the recollection of what transpired back in the projection room. I had already taken an uncharacteristically colossal risk in doing... whatever it was I'd done with the arcane stave. With results this troubling there was no way I was going to exacerbate what might've been a potentially dire situation by messing with what I didn't understand.
Even though that's probably what got you in this mess in the first place...
Thinking about it rationally, my actions were almost certainly what landed me here, wherever this was. That thought led me to realize with growing horror the possible consequences of what I'd done. Given the explosion of thaumic energy released from the stave, there was no way that the projection room hadn't been damaged in some way.
While that was bad, the true terror came from not knowing what exactly it was that I'd done to my own body, to my mana. For all I knew, I'd caused some kind of potentially fatal and irreversible mutation. I could be undergoing Hive Cell corruption even as I sat here fretting over my stupid, stupid mistake and what it might have cost me.
It was getting hard to breath. It was suddenly far too hot. I couldn't stop sweating and the bed was becoming more and more uncomfortable by the second. With clumsy movements, I scrambled out of the bed and, just as I'd predicted, nearly fell over as my bare hooves hit the ground. Not quite able to completely regain my balance, I stumbled forward the few steps it took to get to the metal door and pressed my hands to it.
The door, heavy and imposing as it was, thankfully had a rectangular opening cut out at eye level. That at least allowed me to peek outside and get a glimpse of where I was. I did just that, trying to get an idea of what was going on. Outside I could see part of a laboratory that was markedly different than what Doctor Whooves had shown me. The room beyond my cell was slightly darker than the other lab.
From where I was standing, I could just make out two massive containment tubes lined up against one dark grey wall. The tubes were empty save for some unidentifiable bubbling blue liquid, and both seemed to be connected by thick wires to a large machine I couldn't quite make out from the cell. There were several monitors, likely for recording and observation, and other standard lab equipment on various desks.
The thing that stood out to me most was the large table in the center of the room. It was one of those adjustable experimentation tables, the ones with metal clasps meant to hold somepony in place for certain scientific procedures. Above the table was a giant retractable metal tube built into the ceiling.
At the end of the tube were several robotic 'arms'. Each arm ended in one or more silvery metallic tools of some kind. Some of those tools had obvious uses like cutting or lighting or magnification, but others were a complete mystery to me. Most would have found the sight terrifying and to a certain extent it was a little unnerving, but I'd long since gotten used to such sights.
Even if I had never personally worked with such equipment, I knew what it was generally used for and why it was necessary. If anything, the sight of a lab outside the cell did quite a bit to ease some of my worries. If I was here, it meant that somepony—likely Doctor Whooves—had probably taken the time to find out what was wrong with me and I could get some answers. The fact that I was still alive and relatively unharmed was also a good sign, or at least I hoped as much.
This place must be what was behind that other door in the Doctor's office...
I turned to look over my shoulder at the bed, realizing that this was probably where Spike had been kept while he was recovering. I would've been lying if I said I didn't still have some concerns about my situation, but now that I was thinking things through and had gotten a look at where I was, I did feel a bit better about it. Turning back to the door, I saw no handle at all. I tried to push it open and even used the viewing slot in the door as leverage to try and pull it open, but the heavy metal door didn't budge an inch... meaning I was locked in.
Well, I guess that shouldn't be too surprising given the risks I might still pose if I am corrupted...
"How long has it been?" I wondered aloud, before calling out, "Hello? Can anypony hear me? Doctor Whooves? Are you there?"
The loud crackle of static sounded somewhere behind and above me, making me jump. I whipped around at the sudden noise and looked up to see a small loudspeaker embedded into the corner of one of the walls. A familiar voice washed over the small cell just as I spotted the thing.
"Oh, hey, you're finally awake!" came the exuberant and slightly boyish voice from the loudspeaker, "took you long enough! Thought you'd never wake up!"
My eyes narrowed slightly as I tried to place the voice. They widened again when the name came to me a moment later.
"Wait... Spike?!" I asked in confusion and disbelief, "Spike is that you?"
"The one and only," Spike chuckled, "been a while, huh? Hang on a minute, I'll be right out."
"You'll... what do you mean 'you'll be right out'? Where are you?"
There was another burst of static as the line cut out and a few seconds later I heard the sound of a door opening somewhere outside my cell. I made my way back over to the metal door and peered through the slot just in time to see none other than the young drake stepping out of another room across from me. What I thought was the lab entrance turned out to be another section of the lab.
Spike, decked out in full Daeus Hunter uniform, quickly rushed over to my cell. I stepped back a bit as he moved up to talk to me through the rectangular slot in the door.
"Hey, Twilight," he began, sounding a bit awkward as he spoke, "sorry about... y'know... all of this. It wasn't my idea to put you in there, just so you know."
"I wouldn't have assumed otherwise," I replied with a frown, "I kind of have an idea of why I might be here, but why are you here? Where's the Doctor?" another thought occurred to me and I looked around the cell before narrowing my eyes at the dragon, "wait... were you... have you been watching me from that room?"
"What? No, I... well, the Doctor said..." Spike looked away, nervously scratching at his neck as he tried to give a fumbling explanation, "I mean, not many are allowed in here and since I was already here once Doctor Whooves asked me to monitor your condition and to let him know if you woke up," he suddenly gave a sheepish smile as he pulled some sort of edgy-looking graphic novel from the inside of his jacket, "honestly though, I was kind of... distracted."
"Okay," I said slowly, "but I'm sure there's somepony more qualified to do that sort of thing. If he was busy, why not send Sunset Shimmer or any of the other researchers? Why did he ask you of all ponies—er, creatures?"
"I don't know," he exclaimed as he put the book back in his inner pocket and gave a helpless shrug, "maybe the others were also busy? Maybe he just thought you'd want to see a friendly face?"
"And... he trusted you to watch over me by yourself?" I asked, my frown turning skeptical, "in his private lab?"
"I guess?" Spike replied uncertainly, "look, he asked me to help him out and I agreed because I was worried. I have no idea why he chose me or even what's going on with you. I wasn't told anything about it."
"So you have no idea what's going on then," I said, "Doctor Whooves didn't say anything about it at all?"
"He just sat me down, taught me how to work the monitor, and told me in no uncertain terms not to do or touch anything without his expression permission before he left," he shivered slightly, "he can actually be a pretty scary guy when he wants to be."
"And... does anypony else know?" I asked tentatively.
"I don't think so," Spike replied with a worried frown of his own, "the training room is closed for 'extensive repairs' and there's all kinds of crazy rumors floating around, but I don't think anyone actually knows exactly what happened."
"I see," I muttered, "and how long have I been... indisposed?"
"Well, I don't know how long you've been asleep, but no one's seen you in like... a week and a half or so," Spike replied thoughtfully, "I've only been here since this morning."
"A week and a half?" I whispered in dismay, "it's been that long?"
Spike watched me quietly for a moment, his expression the very picture of concern, then he spoke in a quiet voice.
"Twilight," he began, then paused before starting again, "Twilight, what happened? I heard a few ponies saw a bunch of medics rush into the training room and carry you out all restrained on a stretcher a few minutes later."
I didn't say anything to that, instead opting to stare at my hands as I thought about how that scenario must've played out. When it was clear I wasn't going to respond, the drake continued.
"A bunch of us were really worried about you—we still are. Me, Vinyl Scratch, the entire Retaliation Team," he paused again, "Fluttershy is... I don't even know. She's been making some... frankly horrifying assumptions about what might've happened to you."
"I'm fine, Spike," I finally replied with a rueful shake of my head, "at least I think I am. Why don't you go get Doctor Whooves so we can sort this out? If he says it's okay I'll tell you—all of you what happened, but until then... well, let's just see what the Doctor says, alright?"
And it was true. I felt pretty much fine now.
The weakness and trembling had more or less subsided throughout the conversation. I was starting to feel, if not completely normal then something close to it. That sense of wrongness in my mana still hadn't abated and that worried me greatly, but I wasn't fearing for my life anymore. At least not for the moment.
"...Alright," he finally said after a moment, "I'd like to say I'll be back but I don't know what the Doctor's gonna say, so... hopefully I'll see you later I guess."
"Thanks, Spike," I said with a small smile, "I'm sure I'll see you around."
It really was nice to see a friendly face after what I'd gone through, even if it made no sense for the dragon in question to be here. We said our goodbyes and Spike left, leaving me alone with my thoughts once again. I took the time to reflect on the decision I made back in the projection room. It hadn't been like me to make that kind of call—far from it. Normally I was a stickler for the scientific method and the safety guidelines that came with it.
Moon Dancer was a little fast and loose when it came to her own methods. She was always a little more willing to take those kinds of risks so I could see her trying something like that, but not me. I often tended to check and double-check to make sure safety protocols were in place before I ran any experiments. Looking back on it, I wasn't sure what had compelled me to do something so... so stupid.
It was like some kind of mania had taken hold of me when I realized there might've been a chance for me to recover the full use of my magic. I remember weighing the costs against the benefits, but at the time it seemed that, somewhere in the back of my mind, my decision was already a foregone conclusion. If I could take back my choice I probably would have, but whatever I had chosen to do, it was already done now.
Only time and a proper diagnosis from Doctor Whooves would tell whether my choice was worth the pain I endured. Even just remembering that level of agony made me shudder. Still, I was alive and even felt okay for the most part. I had to believe that counted for something.
That's right, Twilight. Positive thoughts. Maybe things worked out better than you hoped, or maybe I've doomed myself to a slow and painful death. Either way, I'm not going to get anywhere by worrying about what I can't change. What's done is done. Just... take a page out of Vinyl's book and chill.
I took a deep breath and fully settled back onto the bed to wait for the Doctor. I closed my eyes and listened to the muted buzz and snap of the flickering tube lights overhead. In the relative quiet and with nothing else to do, it didn't take long for my mind to wander back to that strange dream. The memory was still hazy and indistinct but it hadn't faded.
Behind my eyelids, I could still see vague impressions of a time and a place I didn't understand. When I focused my thoughts inward I could remember a large and opulent structure of polished grey stone surrounded by a dense, dark forest. The forest was alive, howling with fervent and unfettered desire as it spewed forth an endless tide of hideous beasts. They charged the structure in a relentless siege that was somehow miraculously kept at bay by a single creature.
I frowned, my brows furrowing as I tried to drag the image of that creature forth from the murky depths of my subconscious mind. To my surprise, the picture came far more easily than anything else. The creature was a being unlike any I had ever seen before—hairless save for a mane of burnished silver and mocha brown skin beneath exotic yet strangely familiar attire. Most striking of all was its eyes, piercing orbs of brilliant gold that shone like the sun.
Those eyes... why do I feel like I've seen them before?
More details returned to me as I recalled the creature. Memories of how she—and I was fairly sure it was female—fought with all the viciousness and tenacity of a demon out of Tartarus. She tirelessly beat back the horde of beasts with a skill and grace that might have even surpassed the legendary Nightmare Moon. I felt my teeth clench and sweat begin to run down my brow as the images became more and more defined.
Waves of beasts were cut down, sliced apart by a massive ebony scythe that fell again and again without pause or mercy. The battle seemed to go on for an eternity but the creature continued to endure. She fought valiantly but I knew on some level that she fought in vain. She was powerful and steadfast but the tide was hungry and unrelenting.
The creature's strength waned bit by bit as the struggle continued and that toll only increased with each monster slain. Still, she pushed herself even harder, refusing to break under the pressure. She pushed even though she knew there would be no reinforcements. She knew she would eventually fall and that the structure would be overrun, and yet she pushed on.
Even as her mind and body began to break down, she pushed. Even as the darkness ate away at her very existence, corroding and corrupting everything she was down to the last atom, she just roared in defiance and fought that much harder. She fought and she pushed and she bled and she screamed and—
A sharp knock at the door brought reality crashing back down around me and I jolted upright with a shocked yelp. A cold shiver ran down my spine as the last remnants of that horrible nightmare faded and I tried to still my shaking hands as a concerned voice floated into the small chamber.
"Miss Sparkle?" came the familiar voice of Doctor Whooves, "Twilight, can you hear me? Is everything alright in there?"
What... what in Celestia's name was that?
"Y-Yes... yeah, I'm fine. Everything's okay," I called back, trying to keep my voice steady as I slipped off the bed and made my way over to the door, "just a... just had a nightmare is all."
Was it really a nightmare though? I couldn't help but wonder, and who was that? What was that?
"A nightmare you say?" the Doctor replied warily, "that's all? Nothing more?"
"No, that's it. Just a nightmare," I answered even as I tried and failed to convince myself that it was the truth, "I'm fine, physically. Well, I'm pretty sure I'm okay anyway."
"Ah, I see, well that's good to hear—the latter I mean, not the former," he said with evident relief in his tone, then after a brief awkward pause, "you're... decent I hope?"
It took me a second to realize what he meant and I rolled my eyes when I finally figured it out.
I guess that explains why he isn't just looking through the door. I'd say he was a gentlecolt, but he had some young dragon he barely knew watching me sleep since this morning so...
"Yes, Doctor, I'm decent," I replied, "if everything's in order, I'd like to find out what happened and clear up any uncertainties. I assume Spike told you my current condition?"
"Only that you seemed fine outwardly," he replied, his face finally appearing through the viewing slot in the door. The stallion looked slightly worn out like he hadn't slept in a couple of days, though his cobalt blue eyes lit up as he saw me, "and by all appearances, it looks like he was right! You're looking much healthier than when I first brought you in."
"And... how exactly did I look when you first brought me in?" I asked, hesitant to hear the answer, but curious nonetheless. At the Doctor's grim frown I decided I didn't really need an answer, but before I could backpedal he spoke.
"Well, let's just say it was a... rather frightening time for all of us for a while there," he shook his head and gave me a reassuring smile, "but we can talk more about all of that in a bit. For now, what say we get you out of that dingy old cell first, eh?"
"Thanks," I began as I walked out of the cell. I gave a short but satisfying stretch before turning back to Doctor Whooves who was slightly straining to push the heavy metal cell door closed behind me, "so... I assume there'll be more tests?"
"A few, yes," the Doctor grunted as the cell door finally slammed shut with a loud clack. He stepped back with a small sigh, "we managed to finish most of the important examinations while you were comatose. All that should be left now is to assess the changes and make sure everything is as it's supposed to be now that you're awake." I opened my mouth to ask the first of the many questions on my mind but the words caught in my throat at the sight of his suddenly serious expression. "Yes, Twilight Sparkle," he continued, "there are changes and they aren't small ones as I'm sure you can probably tell."
I quietly closed my mouth and gave a slow, careful nod. "My magic—the thaumic energy in my wellspring... I felt it when I woke up," I shook my head and locked eyes with Doctor Whooves, "it's all there, but it's... different. Wrong somehow, and I think something's been going on with it since before what happened back in the training room." I paused, a concerned scowl crossing my face as another thought hit me, "speaking of which, are Cheerilee and Derpy okay? I was in too much pain to see everything that happened but I know it... well, I know it wasn't pretty."
"No," Doctor Whooves sighed, "no, I'd say it was a rather terrifying spectacle to be behold, all that lightning..." he shuddered lightly at the memory, then shook his head and gave me a tired smile, "but rest assured, Miss Sparkle, the projection room was build to withstand far more than what you put out. Miss Cheerilee, Miss Muffins, and myself all made it out completely unscathed."
"Oh thank Celestia," I breathed, then blinked in confusion, "but Spike told me the training room was closed for 'extensive repairs'."
"Ah, yes," Doctor Whooves' smile turned somewhat sour at my response, "well, the projection room largely remained intact, but the same couldn't be said for the mainframe. The internal systems that control the thaumic projector took a lot of electrical damage so that's where most of the repairs were made," his expression turned stern but there was something else in his gaze that I couldn't place as he continued, "we just about have everything working again, but this incident caused several setbacks, both obvious and unforeseen."
I winced and managed a nervous smile, "I suppose all that damage will have to come out of my paycheck?"
That same odd expression flickered across the Doctor's face again but it was gone before I could make heads or tails of it. He let out a low, disarming chuckle and moved to head towards what I assumed to be the lab entrance as he answered. "Let's... leave that discussion for later. For now we'll head to the main laboratory. I'll run some basic examinations. and we can talk a bit more about your condition," he stopped halfway to the large red door and glanced back at me, "I'm sure you have more questions and I believe I can answer at least some of them."
I frowned and followed after the Doctor, feeling very weird about this whole situation. There was definitely something strange going on. Something I was missing and felt like I had been missing for a while now. In my concern for Cheerilee and Derpy I'd momentarily set them aside but I still had a few suspicions I wanted to confirm. Thinking back on it, there were a few red flags I couldn't help but see in hindsight, and many of them revolved around Doctor Whooves and his occasionally strange words and behavior. But I chose once again to push the matter to the side until the tests were done.
The tests in question weren't all that different from the examinations I was subjected to just after my initial registration. The Doctor took some blood and tissue samples and did a complete thaumic scan to assess the current state of my internal mana. There wasn't much conversation during the process but the quiet wasn't exactly uncomfortable. It was more a sort of professional understanding between scientists that the procedure was made easier when we weren't trying to talk one another's ears off. If there were any questions on either end, they would come after the tests were done, barring any complications, of course.
In all honesty, I could've done the tests myself and would have, were I back in Canterlot, but this was Doctor Whooves' lab and he had a lot more experience than I did. With that in mind, and as much as I wanted to run the tests myself, I let the Doctor work. He ran his tests, checked the results, took some notes, and presumably updated a few records on his desktop. I couldn't help but notice all the strange and interesting expressions he shifted through as he reviewed the gathered information. Watching him, I picked out concern, intrigue, surprise, more concern, a weird look that might've been satisfaction or maybe vindication, and finally, relief. Some half an hour or so later, he finished typing out the last of his report.
He pushed his swivel chair back from his desk and let out a pleased sigh before spinning around to face me. I sat somewhat nervously atop the examination table opposite the Doctor. The many faces he'd made during the procedure had me worried, but my uncertainty eased a bit at his consoling smile. "Well, physically, it seems you've made a full recovery," he assured, "though, I would check with Red Heart just to be sure. The medical side of science lies outside my realm of expertise, I'm afraid." His smile turned awkward as he reached for a sheaf of papers pinned on a clipboard on his desk. "As for the magical side of things, well... that requires a bit more of an explanation."
"I'll say," I replied with a frown, "I meant to mention this earlier, but the situation with my magic has been pretty weird for a while now," I narrowed my eyes slightly at the stallion as I spoke, "and I think you know something about all of this." Doctor Whooves grimaced and looked like he was about to say something, but I pushed on ahead, "I realized I still had access to my wellspring just after my Daeification. I could barely draw any thaumic energy out from it and it was like my own wellspring was fighting against me every step of the way, but I could do it." I shook my head and eyed the Doctor with some suspicion.
"I've always had a pretty deep wellspring of mana to draw on, so I initially wrote it off as being one of the lucky few unicorn Hunters to retain at least some use of my magic." My frown deepened, "but weird stuff has been happening to me since I came here—no, even before that. Being reassigned to Daeus Arms R&D back at HQ, getting conscripted, being escorted by the Commander-in-Chief herself, the key she gave me—"
"Key?" Doctor Whooves interjected. His brows furrowed in bemusement, but there was a hint of interest in his deep blue eyes. "What key is this? And you said the Commander-in-Chief gave it to you?" My lips thinned at the interruption but I couldn't exactly fault the Doctor for his curiosity.
Neither the President nor Chief Commander told me to keep the thing a secret, but I felt like I shouldn't just blurt out everything I knew either. Still, there wasn't really much for me to tell, so I just nodded and told him the truth. "She did, but I don't know what kind of key it is or what it's for. All I know is that it's old. Really old. And before you ask, no, I don't know why I was entrusted with the key."
"Fascinating," the stallion muttered before perking up and eyeing me with a hopeful look, "if you don't mind, could I possibly... see this key?" His expression reminded me of a colt begging his parents for snacks at the grocery store. I would've found it endearing if I wasn't so wary of the stallion.
As things stood, I didn't particularly feel like sating his curiosity at the moment. I had my own answers to seek and I was certain he had at least few to give me so I just shook my head and moved on. "I don't have it with me, but maybe later. Right now, I want to know what's going on and how you're involved," I looked him straight in the eye, "I remember that conversation you had with Miss Harshwhinny during our initial examination. That was about me, wasn't it?"
Doctor Whooves held his silence for a few moments, but then seemed to deflate under my accusatory glare. He looked down at the clipboard in his hands as if debating whether or not it would still be useful. Eventually, he just sighed and set it back on the desk as he spoke. "First and foremost, Miss Sparkle, please understand that—up until the incident in the training room—none of this information was mine to give."
He leaned forward in his seat, his his eyes focused on me and his hands loosely clasped together over his knees. His solemn expression looked strangely out of place on his normally affable features. "In light of that incident, however, things have changed and I can tell you a bit more about what I know," his smile returned, albeit briefly, "I'd be happy to in fact. But know that, while I was made aware of some sensitive information, I don't have all the answers."
He leaned back and held his arms out as if in surrender. He gave me a smile that was equal parts rueful and apologetic, "In many ways, I'm still trying to figure this all out, same as you." He paused and looked at me expectantly, clearly waiting for my response. I looked away, my eyes going distant as I thought on his words and the implications they held. It was becoming obvious that there was something strange going on behind the scenes. Something involving me and reaching much higher than I was comfortable with.
I thought that sudden relocation and conscription was fishy from the beginning, but this... just what is the President expecting from me? What's she planning and why me? My eyes widened slightly as something I should've realized much sooner clicked. Wait... this is because of my magic. That's it, isn't it? Is it because of what I did in the training room? Did they know things would turn out like this? No... there's no way, right? Who could have predicted...
"Are you kidding me? Am I really at the center of some... some secret conspiracy reaching up into highest corporate level?" I let out a mirthless laugh at the idea as I returned my attention to the Doctor. "Is that seriously what's going on here?" I gave Doctor Whooves a strained smile, hoping this was all just a joke, but when he didn't immediately respond, my smile faltered and broke. "Sweet Celestia... that is what's going here, isn't it?"
The Doctor gave an awkward cough and turned away at my horrified whisper. "Well, I won't deny a bit of cloak-and-dagger, but it's not really as bad as you might be imagining." At my disbelieving look, he groaned and pinched the wide bridge of his muzzle in frustration, though it seemed the aggravation was directed inward rather than at me. "Okay, look. To start with, yes, Miss Harshwhinny and I did have a discussion regarding you directly. I already knew about the general circumstances surrounding your transfer to this branch, but this was the first time I was made aware of your... other unique situation."
My stomach dropped at the significant gaze he shot me. I wasn't sure I wanted to, but I ended up asking anyway. "And... what other unique situation would that be?"
"What I'm referring to, Miss Sparkle, is your bias factor," Doctor Whooves replied, a hint of a smile crossing his face, "or rather, the awakening thereof."
He took a second to let his words sink in, and that in turn took several more seconds. The idea that I could be carrying a dormant bias factor hadn't even crossed my mind. It just seemed too ridiculous. After all, neither my brother nor my father had a bias factor, so I'd just assumed I didn't either. If it was true, though, then some of what was happening made a lot more sense. I just wasn't sure how it was possible or why nopony thought it prudent to inform me prior to now.
"Was this the real reason I was sent here?" I asked numbly. I had dozens of questions, but for some reason, this was the one that came out of my mouth. A look of pity crossed the Doctor's face as he answered.
"Only a part of it, I assure you. Though this information was kept from you, everything else you've been told is far from a lie. Even had you not awakened your bias factor, the President most likely would have sent you to Ponyville either way given your status as a New-Type and a top notch Hive Cell researcher."
"But why wasn't I told?" I replied, not sure whether to be flattered or disappointed at his assessment, "Why keep it a secret from the pony it affects the most? Why keep it a secret at all? And how does my bias factor even work? What did it do to me?" I knew I was asking too much too fast, but I was overwhelmed and needed to get all the important questions out there.
Judging by his calm expression, the Doctor didn't mind my constant outpouring of panicked queries. He just raised his hand for me to stop and spoke. "I didn't tell you because I was told not to or else I certainly would have. Apparently, you weren't meant to know unless your bias factor fully awakened.
"Frankly, I have no idea why they kept this from you specifically and I was too shocked by the news to ask at the time. As for why the higher-ups want to keep this a secret, well..." He sat back against his chair and crossed his arms, his pensive gaze raised to the ceiling. For a few moments he just sat there tapping a finger against his arm as he thought. "I imagine it might be because they didn't know exactly what your bias factor was or how it worked."
He lowered his thoughtful gaze back to me, "All they knew was that you had one and that it was dormant. They didn't know what it would become if you awakened it so I believe the top brass wanted to keep the details hidden in case things went wrong—probably wanted to resolve any potential mess internally and sweep everything under the rug."
I wasn't sure what to say to that. I could kind of understand not wanting to cause a panic, but at the same time, it wasn't like bias factors were an unknown phenomenon. Bias factors were rare, but not so much that they weren't considered common knowledge to the general public. Even dormant bias factors were well documented and known by those who had an interest in that kind of thing, so why was mine different? What was so special about my own bias factor that it required all this nonsense? "Just what is my bias factor?" I asked, trying to maintain at least a semblance of calm, "I'm assuming it has something to do with my mana and how it... changed?"
"It has everything to do with your mana and general capability to use magic after your Daeification," Doctor Whooves confirmed with a nod. He looked slightly guilty as he spoke, "I... was encouraged to try and find a way to push your bias factor into an active state, you see. The problem was that I hadn't the faintest idea how to go about such a thing," he shook his head and grinned wryly, "it wasn't until I saw you testing out different Arms that I realized the arcane staff might do the trick. At this point I'd already discerned that your bias factor was related to your mana and wellspring so I figured using the staff might give your bias factor that last push it needed to awaken."
"Well, we can't really say you were wrong," I replied with a grimace, "but then if that was your plan, then why try to scare me away from using it like you did back then? I don't know if that was your intention but you weren't exactly making it sound like a fun weapon to use."
At that, the Doctor frowned seriously. "I'm not proud to say that part of it was plausible deniability if something went wrong," he coughed and quickly moved on at my unamused glare, "the other part was simply that some part of me knew this was too dangerous. I suppose deep down I wanted to keep us both from making a mistake we'd both regret, but you..." he eyed me with both wonder and bewilderment, "You definitely surpassed my expectations to say the least."
"I don't know why I did it," I said, answering his unspoken question. I rubbed my arms nervously, looking past Doctor Whooves and seeing myself in the projection room with that arcane staff, "I just... I don't know. I felt compelled to try something. I didn't want to lose my magic, I think. Before I knew what I was doing—before I could really give it too much thought—I'd already committed." I shook my head, "More importantly, how does this affect my mana? I can feel it in my wellspring and can likely use it, but the thaumic energy in my body feels... wrong. Changed somehow. I wasn't sure if it was safe so I haven't used my magic since waking up."
"An understandable and wise decision given how little you knew," the stallion said with a nod of approval. "With both Sunset and the twins' help, I ran several tests while you were indisposed to make sure you were stable. It took time, patience, and a lot of coffee, but we were eventually able to make a breakthrough." He cleared his throat and reached for a plain white mug sitting on his desk, likely coffee from the scent. He took a sip and grimaced at the taste. Muttering a curse at his now room temperature brew, he sighed and set the mug back down. "As far as we can tell," he continued, "your bias factor has allowed your internal mana to adapt to the Hive Cells in your body."
My carefully collected calm broke and my mouth dropped open as I put the pieces together from what I already knew. "So you're telling me that the Hive Cells and my mana have reached some sort of... equilibrium within my wellspring? Or, no wait..." I bit my thumb and looked away, my mind racing as I thought on the sheer strangeness of how my mana felt. "It's not an equilibrium but... a complete fusion of Hive Cell and mana? Is that even possible?"
I looked to the Doctor for confirmation and he grinned back at me, his deep blue eyes twinkling with excitement as he replied. "Not quite, but just close enough to be accurate. It would be better to say that the mana in your wellspring devoured the invading Hive Cells and evolved."
"Come again?"
The Doctor laughed at whatever expression I was making. I wasn't even sure what kind of look I had on my face, but I couldn't be bothered to care. Doctor Whooves was saying things that made no sense. The implications of what he just said were so outside the realm of possibility and common sense that just entertaining the idea almost made me irrationally angry. Unable to fully contain my spiraling emotions, I hopped off the examination table and began pacing the small space between us. "I don't think I heard that right. There's no way you just implied that my mana—the normal, average, everyday thaumic energy that's been circulating inside my wellspring since birth—suddenly somehow took on the properties of an Avidaeos." I whipped around to stare at the Doctor feeling and probably looking insane, "I mean, that's not possible, right? Hive Cells are supposed to reject or destroy mana, right? It's an established scientific law backed by years and years of painstaking research, right?!"
"Correct," Doctor Hooves replied in a measured tone, "but you and I both know there are exceptions to the rule. Granted, this is still an unprecedented case that will likely turn the entire Hive Cell research community on its head once it's out in the open." He looked me up and down with a frown. "I wanted to tell you about your bias factor, but after learning exactly what your bias factor did, I find I'm not entirely against the idea of keeping it secret—at least not until we've established you as a proper Daeus Hunter. From your current state, I assume you'd appreciate a bit of silence regarding the matter?"
My face twisted as I tried to get a grasp on my turbulent emotions. It was all too much to take in and I wanted to scream, but in my frazzled state I managed to latch onto one simple fact. I was alive and stable, at least according to Doctor Whooves. If he was right, then I didn't have to worry about Hive Cell corruption, but that didn't mean there weren't other unforeseen effects. With that in mind, I raised a hand to my chest, inhale and exhaled deeply a few times, and turned to face the Doctor head on. "I don't know if it would be better to release this information to the public or not. I'll probably be mobbed by curious ponies either way, and besides, it's not in my hands whether ponies are told or not, is it? And speaking of which, does Derpy know about all of this? I remember you talking to her as well just before I started my training."
"Ah, no, that was related to... something else entirely," He replied, looking slightly uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and continued on. "The only other ponies that know right now are myself, my research team, the Director, and those at the top of Wendigo." He grabbed his clipboard once again and stood up from his seat. "As I understand it, the top brass are currently in talks as to whether or not to release the information regarding your bias factor to public military records, but as of now, we've all been given a gag order, and that includes you." His expression turned serious and I was struck again by how odd the look was on him. "This is a big deal, Miss Sparkle. Bigger than perhaps either of us know. Testing has shown that your bias factor allows your raw mana to affect and, in some cases, destroy Hive Cells."
"So... does this mean that I can use my magic freely?" I asked, trying my hardest to take that insane revelation in stride. "Would there be any adverse effects to my body or other creatures?" Doctor Whooves blinked once, then smiled sheepishly at the question. "Right, I meant to get around to that. Several thaumic scans were taken and we've discovered that your thaumic signature has changed drastically. We've already updated the personal data within your armlet and are working on readjusting a few other devices for your use so that shouldn't be too much of a problem in the short term—though it might be a pain to deal with if you make it back to Canterlot." He gave a helpless shrug and I just groaned as I realized what he was getting at.
I'm going to have to reset all my thaumically linked devices if I make it back home. I wonder if I can get Wendigo to deal with that for me... No, I'd still need to be there to actually make the link. Horseapples...
While I was trying to get over the unforeseen annoyance, the Doctor had paused a moment to check his notes. "Let's see... the hue of your mana has changed slightly. It's become a lighter shade of magenta—closer to lilac than anything else." He looked up at me to gauge my reaction and I just rubbed my neck. "That's... certainly going to take some getting used to, I suppose," I replied, not having much else to say on the matter. Doctor Whooves smiled reassuringly and moved on, looking back down at his notes. "Your internal mana density also seems to have increased significantly," he continued, "that should add some more punch to your spells, but you'll need to adjust your mana output when casting. That could take some getting used to, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time."
He finally lowered his clipboard and flashed me an encouraging grin. "Beyond that, the scans show no adverse reactions when interacting with anything outside of Hive Cells. You're free to use your magic as you see fit." I sighed in relief and was surprised to feel myself growing a little excited now that I was in the clear. I could use my magic to its fullest. I couldn't speak on how it would affect my combat as I still had no real experience in that regard, but experiments and testing would be a lot easier than I was anticipating. I could actually keep up with my peers and if I somehow were able to escape being Daeus Hunter, I still had a future.
Unfortunately, my excitement didn't last long before my brain helpfully reminded me of some not-so-savory topics that hadn't been discussed in any real detail yet. First there was the matter of that aforementioned mob of curious ponies I'd have to deal with once I got out of the lab. And then there was the issue of the wrecked systems in the training room. I winced at the thought, but asked anyway. "On the topic of the training room and... damages owed..." I began.
The Doctor raised a hand to cut me off, his reassuring grin never leaving his face as he said, "Say no more, Miss Sparkle. I have personally chosen to take financial responsibility for that little fiasco."
I blinked.
"I... really?" I asked, taken completely aback, "Are you sure? I mean, I can't imagine that the costs are small—" I snapped my mouth shut, realizing what I'd just implied, but the Doctor raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Oh? And I suppose that means you'd be willing to pay off those damages then?"
I shook my head rapidly and quickly replied with a grateful smile that was only slightly strained. "No, no I appreciate the generosity, Doctor. Things might be weird for a while but you've done a lot for me and I won't forget that."
Now it was his turn to look flustered, though he tried not to show it as he replied. "Oh, it's nothing in the face of what you must've gone through." He adjusted his lab coat and swept the hand holding the clipboard toward the closed entrance to the lab, "Now come, let's get you get out of this stuffy lab and get you something to eat, shall we? I'm sure you're famished."
Now that he mentioned it, I was pretty hungry. I'd probably been tube fed simple nutrients this whole time and I was eager to get something with some substance. I wondered if I could get Pinkie to make something and that thought brought me to the rest of the Retaliation Team and Spike. A pit formed in my stomach at the idea of meeting them all again, mostly because I wasn't sure what I'd say.
I was under strict orders not to mention what happened and I wouldn't until I got the go-ahead, but at the same time, I didn't want to make something up, nor did I really have an excuse in mind. What I did know, was that I wanted to see them all again despite my reservations—Vinyl Scratch too if I could find her.
I guess I'll just have to think of something to say before I run into them. Here's hoping not too much has changed.
Just as I'd expected, the next few days were anything but peaceful. Almost two weeks had passed since I was carried out of the training room and worked on by not only Doctor Whooves and his team, but also Nurse Red Heart. She'd only been there to make sure I was okay physically and hadn't been briefed on the details regarding my bias factor or the testing surrounding it.
I made sure to visit the infirmary at Doctor Whooves' recommendation and was given a clean bill of health by Red Heart, much to my relief. Just as ordered, I hadn't told anypony the truth of what happened to me, though it hadn't been easy to keep my bias factor a secret for a number of reasons. The persistence of the curious was one major problem I had to contend with for a bit, but another was my desire to actually tell those I'd come to call friends, or close acquaintances at the very least.
So far, I'd been holding off on using any overt magic in public and telling most ponies who asked that I didn't want to talk about what happened. I tried to make it seem like I was traumatized by the event, and I found that the act actually wasn't too hard to pull off, as it wasn't entirely a lie. Every time I thought back to the pain I endured, my hands shook and I swear I could feel my horn tingle with painful aftershocks.
When I inevitably ran into the rest of my future combat team I told them the same thing. I was worried about what they'd say in response, but I found my worries wasted and unnecessary. They were more than supportive, not asking any more and fussing over my wellbeing like a bunch of helicopter parents. I had yet to see Sunset or the twins since I woke up, but I was sure I'd see them around eventually. While I was curious to see what they had to say about my situation, I didn't mind putting off the meeting.
Avoiding the use of my magic after I'd just gotten back full control over it was frustrating, but the social issues I'd been dreading wound up resolving themselves fairly quickly. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, as much as the ponies of Ponyville loved to gossip, they wouldn't push an issue if they saw that it was truly hurting the victim of the rumors rather than just annoying them. At least, the vast majority of them wouldn't. After a couple of days of avoiding the issue, I was largely left alone by most of my peers.
Most of my peers.
"Oh for the love of Celestia, enough!" I rounded on the azure coated unicorn mare doggedly following after me as I stormed down one of the many uniform halls of the branch. "I've told you over and over again that I have nothing to say about what happened! I don't want to talk about it! I don't want to think about it! I don't have any deep hidden magical secrets to reveal! I just want to forget about it and move on with my life!"
Several ponies passing by stopped to stare at the confrontation, but at this point I just didn't care anymore. I've been told before that I was quick to panic but I considered myself to have quite a bit of patience with other ponies. Usually. The mare who currently stood before me looking shocked and affronted by my complete and utter rejection had finally tested the last of that patience. There hadn't been a single day since I was released by the Doctor that she hadn't hounded me about the details of the training room incident.
No matter what I said, no matter what I did, no matter how I tried to avoid her, she just wouldn't leave me alone. I'd gotten fed up and now I was in a situation I would've much rather avoided altogether. I didn't like it but I had to put my hoof down at some point, and that point had finally been reached. "How is this so hard for you to understand?!" I cried in frustrated astonishment.
"You... You can shout and scream and deny it all you like," the mare replied, trying to collect herself after a moment of stunned silence. She drew herself up and shot me her haughtiest glare, "but I know there's more to this, Sparkle! I know you're hiding something big, and the Great and Powerful Trixie refuses to relent, not until you've laid all your secrets bare!" She punctuated her statement with a ridiculous flourish, cutting her hand to one side like she was laying down some holy law.
I ran both my hands through my mane with an aggravated growl and turned to continue down the corridor, the self-proclaimed Great and Powerful Trixie shadowing my every step. "Seriously," I groaned, suddenly feeling tired, "don't you have anything better to do than follow me around like a lost foal?" I didn't bother looking back at Trixie as I spoke. I could hear the clop of her hooves and the constant flap of the dusky purple mantle she wore over her fully buttoned standard issue Wendigo jacket.
The mantle was strewn with yellow, silver, and pale blue stars of various shapes, making her look like some kind of ponytale depiction of a witch or wizard. Completing the ludicrous ensemble was a large, floppy, wide-brimmed hat with a folded conical crown adorned with those same stars. She wore the getup everywhere she went and without a hint of shame. Oddly enough—and despite her insufferable presence—I kind of respected that.
"Of course I do," Trixie scoffed as she hurried to walk alongside me, "The training room finally opened back up so I decided to get a bit of practice in—you know, perfect my already stellar skills." She glanced at me sidelong, an infuriating smirk crossing her face, "I just so happened to overhear the news of a certain unicorn mare also heading off to resume her own training after making a mess of the place."
I snorted and tried to walk a bit faster and, of course, Trixie did the same. "So you decided to tag along and try to squeeze as much information as you could out of me, is that it?" I asked, giving the nosy mare a sardonic smile, "Waiting for me to slip up so you can catch a glimpse of my hidden power during training?"
"Exactly!" she admitted without a shred of doubt or hesitation, "I may not know what went down in that projection room, but if my hunch is right, then you haven't completely recovered from the ordeal. Even if you don't show your true skills, there'll still be somepony there to watch you—to make sure whatever happened doesn't happen again, and that'll just be more proof for the Clever and Observant Trixie to build upon."
She looked rather proud of her own deduction, but all I could do was shake my head. "Trixie... you do realize that there's always somepony watching to make sure something dangerous doesn't happen during training, don't you? An observer will be there whether I'm there or not."
I grimaced internally, knowing Trixie was, in actuality, not too far off the mark with her assessment of the situation. It wasn't like only one Hunter could use the training room at a time. The projection room was more than big enough to train several recruits at once. Generally speaking, most trainees tended to practice in solitude when possible, but pairs and group training were common. After all, the Daeus Hunters worked in teams. Like Trixie said, the training room had finally re-opened after roughly two weeks being shut down. Not everypony enjoyed training, but there were many who were beginning to feel like they were getting rusty. With the re-opening of the training room, the number of training sessions were at an all time high.
I was pretty sure it was one of those 'don't know what you have until it's gone' situations, but that was just my guess. Still, with how she'd been bugging me for the past few days, I was certain Trixie's excuse to follow me into the training room was just that. An excuse, and not a very good one. That aside, it was going to be my first time back in the training room since the incident and Doctor Whooves was supposed to be residing over my personal training to watch for any bias factor related abnormalities. Until we got the okay to reveal my circumstances to the public I wouldn't be using my own magic, but there was another way to practically apply my magic without being discovered.
I still had reservations and a few more questions about my bias factor and I guess the Doctor understood that. He allowed me to take some time to visit friends and clear my head, then called me back to the lab to discuss any additional info he might've missed and how my bias factor actually worked in depth. That was fine with me. As a scientist, I wanted to know everything inside and out, or at least everything that Doctor Whooves could tell me. It turned out that, internally, my mana circulation—which included my wellspring and the mana conduit that was my horn—was the only thing affected by my 'evolved' thaumic energy. The rest of the Hive Cells in my body were still there, but they didn't recognize my thaumic energy as a threat anymore and my thaumic energy in turn didn't attack my own Hive Cells.
In a way, it was kind of like how the immune system doesn't attack the body's cells because of the specific proteins they carry. Once Hive Cells were injected into the body via the armlets, they essentially became part of the Hunter—the Hive Cells infused with our own unique genetic data. The 'evolved' mana, the Hive Cells, they were all part of me and each component recognized that and worked together to attack any external threats—namely, foreign Hive Cells. According to Doctor Whooves and his team's research, my 'evolved' mana, when raw and undirected by my thaumic signature, can—depending on the amount of mana released—either interrupt or outright destroy any Hive Cells other than my own.
Obviously, being surrounded by other Daeus Hunters and Daeus Arms, this would cause major problems. With that being said, ponies don't really generate raw, unfiltered mana under normal circumstances—not unless something's gone terribly, terribly wrong with the circulation of their mana. That kind of disaster is usually a result of a magic surge, but those are rare nowadays. I remember reading about how magic surges were incredibly common and a massive problem during the Age of War, but we've come a long way since then. While the dangerous phenomenon is still a problem, our advances in thaumatology and magitech have made that problem much smaller.
There are five categories that make up the severity of a magic surge with Category 5—or just C5—being the worst. To put how dangerous surges could potentially be into perspective, my little episode back in the training room was officially only classified as a Category 2 magic surge. Thankfully, Daeus Hunters don't really have to worry about this at all given what Hive Cells normally do to internal thaumic energy. What's more, after some testing on mine and the Doctor's part, we found that as long as I use my thaumic signature to 'write' the proper commands when casting spells, my 'evolved' mana acts just like normal mana, albeit a little denser than normal.
The way my bias factor worked also seemed to imply that I was now immune to Hive Cell corruption, but Doctor Whooves was quick to rectify that assumption. While I'd gained a far stronger resistance to Hive Cell corruption, I wasn't completely immune to it. With enough concentrated exposure to foreign Hive Cells, my internal thaumic defenses would be overwhelmed and I would inevitably succumb to that grisly fate. If my armlet was damaged too badly, I ran the very high risk of my own Hive Cells rebelling against me and causing Hive Cells corruption. That in and of itself was a danger that every Hunter had to worry about.
In my case, however, my 'evolved' mana would try to attack the Cells out of self-preservation and the ensuing internal battle would destroy my body. At least, that's what the Doctor theorized. That was a test I was all too happy not to be part of. So yes, there were still risks, but we'd done the proper testing to ensure that those risks were low. That said, I still needed to make sure I could use my magic safely in the field, and I couldn't really do that kind of testing in the lab.
This was a large part of why I was on my way to the training room and why Doctor Whooves was personally overseeing my results. After some discussion on the matter, Doctor Whooves eventually decided the safest way to test my magic without revealing it was to, ironically, use the same method I used to awaken my bias factor.
Naturally, I was completely against the idea and may or may not have called the Doctor a mad scientist. Doctor Whooves tried to assure me that he already had everything covered and that recent history wouldn't be repeated. I remained entirely skeptical, but decided to go against my better judgment and trust him as the senior researcher. The many images of all the things that could go wrong swirling in my head did nothing to help my current mood, but Trixie's flustered expression and her stuttering failure of a rebuttal at my words certainly did.
Apparently, she'd forgotten the purpose of the observation deck within the training room. In all seriousness, I had assurances from Doctor Whooves that everything would be fine, but I just couldn't shake my doubts. I wanted to leave Trixie behind, but more than her annoyingly overbearing personality, I just didn't want to accidentally hurt her or worse if things went wrong.
Private training sessions behind locked doors and emergency training room lockdowns weren't unheard of, but in the case of the former, those private sessions were usually reserved for the Captains. I hadn't thought to request a private training session in light of my circumstances and Doctor Whooves hadn't offered. As far as I knew, any Hunter or trainee who wanted to train could just waltz right in, never mind the potential danger I posed if the worst came to pass. It was all enough to make me scream in frustration.
Just... why?! Where are the safety measures? Why didn't the Doctor tell me what he was planning? 'I want it to be a surprise' my flank! This is absurd! And then there's this egotistical loudmouth!
"Just what is your deal, anyway?" I suddenly asked, cutting off the other mare's half-formed response, "Say I do have some amazing secret or ridiculous hidden power. What then?" I stopped just before the stairway leading up to the training room and turned to look Trixie in the eye. "How would that information benefit you? What would you gain? What would you do with that knowledge?" I narrowed my eyes, "Looking for more juicy info to add to the rumor mill? Is that it?"
To my surprise, Trixie stepped back, looking positively offended at my accusation. "Wha—of course not!" she snapped back, her dark violet eyes ablaze with indignation, "Do you think the Great and Honorable Trixie so base as to blab your deepest darkest secrets to the world willy-nilly?"
Now it was my turn to look confused. "Wait, so... you're not trying to spread more rumors then?" I asked, trying to confirm what she was saying. Trixie huffed and blew a large silvery-blue lock of her mane out of her face before giving me another haughty look.
"Please, I'm not some vapid simpleton chasing after useless hearsay just to impress her empty headed friends. Give me a little more credit than that, Sparkle." As she finished, she raised a hand to toss aside the stray lock of mane that found its way back into her vision. I took a mental step back and re-assessed the mare in front of me, watching as she accidentally knocked her floppy hat askew and scrambled to readjust it.
She was perhaps one of the most annoying mares I'd ever met and yet there was a strange earnestness about her—like she was a filly who believed every boastful, arrogant word of what she said. Maybe it was her overblown and downright foalish sense of superiority, but I got the impression that she wasn't lying. She truly wasn't out to spread rumors, but if that was the case...
"Then why are you so fixated on this idea that I have some kind of hidden secret? And even if I did, why would I share it with you? I don't even know you." My last words came out with slightly more bite than I would've liked, but at this point, those words had to be said. I was tired of dealing with Trixie and just wanted to get this test over with.
Something flickered in Trixie's eyes at my words, some indefinable emotion I couldn't place. Her whole face twitched but I couldn't tell what kind of expression she was trying to make. It only took half a second for her features to settle once again into indignation. Before she could get another word out, however, another voice spoke out from behind the azure mare.
"Well, if it isn't the wannabe archmage and the actual archmage together in one place."
Both Trixie and I nearly jumped at the unexpected sound and as Trixie whipped around to face the voice I looked over her shoulder to see— "Sunset?"
Sure enough, the fiery maned researcher was leaned against the wall opposite the stairway, her arms crossed and her expression one of mild amusement as she watched the two of us. I'd been so caught up in dealing with Trixie that I hadn't even noticed her arrival.
"What are you doing here? How long have been here?" I asked, then frowned, "And archmage? What are you talking about?" It only took me a second to realize what she was talking about, but I chose play dumb. I didn't want Trixie getting even more riled up than she already was, but unfortunately, Sunset Shimmer had other plans.
"Oh, I've been here long enough to get the gist of the situation." She replied flippantly. A grin that I very much didn't like crossed her face as she moved away from the wall and toward where Trixie and I stood. Her words were aimed at me, but her bright cyan eyes fell on Trixie as she spoke, "And if you wanna know why the Reckless and Unreliable Trixie is following you around like a puppy begging for scraps, it's because that's exactly what she's doing." Sunset's eyes bore into Trixie and her smile widened ever so slightly.
Trixie flinched, any response she was about to make dying in her throat. Her expression grew complicated, but before I could ask what Sunset meant, the mantle wearing Hunter rounded on my and jabbed a finger in my face. "Very well, have it your way, Sparkle," she suddenly snapped, "I'll take my leave for now, but this isn't over. I will unravel the truth of what happened in that training room!"
With that declaration she turned about with a grandiose flap of her mantle, gave Sunset one last glance, and marched off away from the stairway and down the hall with hurried steps. A strange knot formed in my gut as I watched her go. I suddenly felt like I'd been missing some important context this whole time. "Was that really necessary?" I asked, turning back to Sunset with a frown.
"Hey, it got her out of your mane, didn't it?" She replied with an unapologetic shrug. She moved past me and started making her way past the stairs and down the corridor in the opposite direction of where Trixie went, "Now come on, Time Turner's waiting for us in Derpy's workshop."
"Wait, the workshop?" I asked, bewildered as I tried to keep up with her brisk steps, "I thought he was supposed to meet me in the training room?"
Sunset shrugged without turning around, "Don't ask me, I was just told to come pick you up. The Doc did say something about not wanting to spoil the surprise. If you do ask me though, I'd say he and Derpy were cooking something up just for you." She glanced back at me from over her shoulder, her eyes lidded and a knowing smirk crossing her face, "Now aren't you just a special snowflake?"
I frowned, remembering the Doctor's claim about having a solution already lined up. If Derpy was involved and we were going to her workshop, that could only mean... "A Daeus Arm? Is that what they're working on?" I was mostly pondering aloud to myself, but Sunset answered anyway.
"Most likely. Given who we're talking about and where we're going, I can't really see it being about anything else." She tilted her head as though in thought, "Then again, I suppose it could be something to do with your armlet? You're generally not supposed to mess with those once they've been attached, but in your case..."
Sunset paused a moment, then shrugged. "I dunno, maybe Derps found a way to upgrade or alter it somehow to suit your... delicate situation?" she turned and gave me an unpleasant grin, "Who knows? Maybe they'll make you go through another Daeification."
I shuddered and glowered back at the other mare. "Don't even joke about that! Do you have any idea how awful that process is?" A thought hit me and I glanced down at Sunset's wrists, neither of which had the bulky armlet of a Daeus Hunter, "Ah, no I... guess you wouldn't."
Sunset mirrored my action and cast her eyes toward my own armlet, though her expression bore a bit more disgust, or maybe disdain. "No, I know exactly how awful that process is," she replied. "Why do you think I'm not wearing one of those monstrosities?"
It took me a second to realize what she meant, but I understood soon enough. She was a Hive Cell researcher the same as me—specifically, she was an expert on how Hive Cells affected the equine body. She might not have experienced Daeification for herself, but she would have known the details. She would've understood the risks involved. Thinking about it further, that was probably also the reason she was participating in whatever Doctor Whooves and Derpy had planned for me.
Honestly, it wasn't like I didn't sympathize with her feelings on the Daeification procedure. After all, I felt the very same way she did before I became a Daeus Hunter. I still feel that way to an extent, but in getting the armlet and meeting my fellow Hunters, I've since gained an appreciation for what most Hunters have to go through to be what they are. There was one thing I didn't understand though, something that bugged me the more I thought about Sunset's reaction. She seemed to have this intense aversion to injecting the body with Hive Cells and yet she'd attempted to do essentially the same thing to an unborn foal.
Does she hate the idea in spite of her past deeds, or because of them?
I couldn't fault the mare either way. I'd almost gotten used to the idea before my potentially deadly blunder in the training room, but I still wouldn't wish the Daeification process upon anypony. The topic, though meant as a joke at my expense, wound up leaving an uncomfortable silence in its wake as we walked. It wasn't until we were nearing the door to the Daeus Arms workshop that another thought crossed my mind.
I glanced around the corridor. It was both empty and quiet, but I wasn't sure how long it had been that way. A worry started to gnaw at my mind as I realized Sunset and I had been talking about things we probably should have kept to ourselves. I ran back through the conversation in my head and found that, while much of what we talked about might sound suspicious, none of it was exactly incriminating. Still, I couldn't help but give the hallway a wary once-over.
The sound of my name being called brought my attention back to Sunset, who was watching me with mild impatience. We'd finally reached the door while I was preoccupied and now the other researcher was waiting for me to open the door. "Oh, right, the number," I muttered somewhat distractedly, "hang on a second." I stepped up to the keypad next to the door and punched in my personal Daeus Hunter ID number.
All new recruits were sent their DHID in an email about a week ago, but I'd only gotten a chance to check my emails recently. It was a good thing I did too, because I'd be in an awkward spot right now if I hadn't. Once I entered my ID, a small panel opened just below the keypad and I inserted my armlet into a large slot.
There was a loud beep and the door to the workshop slid open without issue. Sunset was the first to enter, but I hung back for a moment, a small but insistent tingle at the back of my neck making me pause. Suddenly feeling as though I was being watched, I took one last look around the corridor and froze. At one end of the hallway, just as I turned to look, I caught a glimpse of something disappearing around a distant corner. It might've been my imagination, but I couldn't shake my sudden doubts.
I had a very difficult time trying to convince myself that the flap of that familiar star-strewn purple mantle as it vanished from view wasn't a trick of the light. I felt my heart leap into my throat as I internalized the implications of what I'd just seen. If it were any other pony then I probably could have written the situation off somehow—maybe make some kind excuse or let other ponies chalk it up to silly rumors or something. But no, if I truly wasn't seeing things—if that mare overheard anything Sunset and I had been discussing—then my life was about to get very... frustrating.
"Hey, you coming or what?"
I whipped around to see Sunset already making her way into the depths of the workshop where Doctor Whooves and Derpy were no doubt waiting for us. She'd stopped and turned to find me just standing there in the open doorway, probably looking like I'd seen a ghost. She watched me with that same impatience, though it was colored with a bit of wary concern this time around.
"Whoa, you, uh... you okay over there?" she asked carefully, "You look like you just bit into Castor's baked toffee." The comment momentarily threw me for a loop. I hadn't know Castor had an interest in baking, nor would I have ever guessed it in a million years looking at the mare and her sister.
"Uh, n-no, I'm fine," I replied, trying to collect myself, "just... thought I saw something down the hall. The corridors are kind of creepy when there's nopony around, so I was bit jumpy I guess." I gave the other mare a hopefully reassuring smile.
Sunset just gave a non-committal hum in response before continued on into the workshop. "I get where you're coming from, but you get used to it pretty quick," she replied absently, "now come on, I want to get this over with. Got better things to do and better places to be."
I watched her go for a second before glancing back to where I saw our mantle-wearing stalker. There was nothing and nopony there anymore, not that the fact did anything to ease my worries. In the end, I just gave a resigned sigh and stepped into the workshop. I could've told Sunset about what I saw, but what would that change really? Sure, somepony in the know could chase the mare down and tell her not to spill the beans, but that would just raise even more suspicion and make things even worse for me.
Trixie didn't strike me as the kind of mare to give up in the face of higher authority—at least, not when said authority wasn't around to keep her in check.
No sense in making a big stink about it now. I'll just... cross that bridge when I come to it.
The meeting in Derpy's workshop was turning out be a surprisingly tense affair. Sunset and I arrived to find the normally congenial engineer verbally laying into a beleaguered looking Doctor Whooves. The two of them stood over by one of the work desks in the much too cramped laboratory.
Neither Sunset or I caught anything from outside the workshop due to it being soundproof, so I was thrown for a loop for a moment. Sunset, for her part, looked as if she'd already known what we were about to walk into. As we made our way toward the pair, I was able to pick up the tailend of a point Derpy was trying to make.
“...a few more safety measures, but no! Nopony thought to bring it up with the engineer! Nopony ever thinks to consult the ones giving our civilization a fighting chance! Nope, we're alway the last to know! And then what happens?
“Orders come last minute, work gets delayed, the Avidaeos attack and ponies die because we couldn't get them properly geared up in time! Do you know how frustrating that is? Do you know how much that hurts? Of course you don't! All you science types just—”
The wall-eyed pegasus paused to take a calming breath, then crossed her arms and glared at the Doctor. I wanted to point out that engineering was itself was just applied science, but I wisely chose to keep my mouth shut. I understood what she was trying to get at.
After a second, Derpy continued in a tone that was quieter but no less frustrated than before. “Look, as long as I have the materials, I can rig up a working Daeus Arm from scratch in a week no problem, but this...?” She sighed and shook her head helplessly. “One week wasn't enough. Even with all the info I got from the guys back in Canterlot, this was the best I could do on such short notice. I'm good, but I'm not that good.”
“Oh come on, Derpy,” Sunset called as she verbally and physically moved to insert herself into the discussion. She stopped next to the pegasus and slapped a hand onto her shoulder, giving the mare a knowing smirk, “we all know you're the best Daeus Arms engineer in Equestria—probably the world at this point.”
“I doubt that, but it's always nice to know my skills are appreciated,” Derpy replied, her sour expression turning to something tired but far more friendly as she gently removed Sunset's hand. She acknowledged me with an apologetic smile and nod before addressing us both. “Sorry you two had to hear that. It's just... been a long week.”
The weary engineer punctuated her last statement with a pointed glare in the Doctor's direction. Doctor Whooves just sighed in respose before turning to give me his own apologetic shrug. “You have my apologies as well,” he said, “I'm afraid this little, ah... altercation is my fault. Got a bit too eager and... let my expectations get away from me.” He cast Derpy a side glance, a somewhat guilty grimace on his face, “er... sorry, about that, Muffins.”
“...Nah, don't worry about it,” Derpy finally sighed after a tense moment, “I know how you get, and it's not like it's your fault I didn't have time to prepare something better.” She scrunched up her face in displeasure, “It's the ones at the top who never think about how much time and effort it takes to do what we do. Just gets under my skin sometimes is all.”
“Um...” I began, looking between the Doctor and the engineer. I felt it was finally safe enough for me to butt in, so I spoke up. “I'm, uh... assuming all of that had something to do with whatever it was you brought me here for?”
“You assumed right, Miss Sparkle,” Derpy replied in a light tone that quickly turned to one of concern as she gave me another look, “before all that though, how are you feeling? Everything shake out okay?”
“Yeah, I'm fine now,” I replied with my own look of concern, “the Doctor and Nurse Red Heart got me fixed up. How about you? Doctor Whooves told me you were fine but...”
“Oh, you don't need to worry about me,” Derpy replied, laughing off my worries, “Cheerilee, Whooves, and I all came out no worse for wear. I was just worried you might've magically crippled yourself after your little lightshow back in the training room.”
“No, that, uh... that didn't happen,” I allowed myself a wry smile despite my embarassment and slight shame at having done something so stupid. “Kind of the opposite actually.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Derpy snorted. Hands on her hips, the pegasus eyed me up and down with a strange mix of amusement and annoyance, “because of that stunt you pulled, I had to make some insane modifications to the Daeus Arm core you were supposed to use originally, and I only had about a week to do it. A week.”
“That's... insane,” I muttered in disbelief, “and you managed to pull it off?”
“Just barely,” Derpy griped, “I only got access to the data on your weird new bias factor a little over a week ago and had to base a brand new design entirely around it.” She shook her head, clearly aggravated by the less than ideal circumstances she found herself in.
“If I had more time I would've just built a whole new core from the ground up,” the engineer sighed wistfully. “Yeah, it would've taken longer, but it would've also been both a lot safer and a lot easier. As things stand though, we'll have to go with what I could throw together.”
“But why is that?” I asked, somewhat confused by the urgency. I gave Doctor Whooves a questioning look, “Why rush the process? If Derpy wasn't as good as she is, something like this probably would've taken weeks, if not months for a whole team of engineers to complete, let alone one. Why does it need to be done now?”
I had some general knowledge about Daeus Arms, but knew very little about how they were built. My brief stint in the Daeus Arms R&D department back in Canterlot hadn't given me any insights either. That said, I was aware that what Derpy could accomplish was far outside the realm of what should've been possible on her own. Listening to her explain the situation she was in just cemented my opinion that Sunset was right.
No matter how she herself denied the claim, it was clear to me that Derpy Hooves likely was the best Daeus Arms engineer in Equestria, if not the entire world. I felt bad for it, but I couldn't help thinking her talent was wasted in a place like Ponyville. I would've even gone so far as to say her talents were wasted in Equestria.
While our country may have initially led the charge in Daeus Arm technology, the dragons had long since overtaken pony engineers when it came to sheer skill. Daeus Arms made in the Dragonlands were said to be the most powerful of any nation. I, and probably most of the ponies here, believed Derpy had more than enough skill to match and even surpass any engineer in the Dragonlands.
Given how impossibly fast the mare could work, I could understand her having stricter deadlines than most, but a week? I had to agree with Derpy on this one. That was far too short a timeline to get any proper work done on a Daeus Arm, no matter how skilled you were. In response to my questions, the Doctor could only give me a helpless shrug.
“Orders from up top, I'm afraid,” he replied with a bitter smile, “now that we've shed some light on what your bias factor might be capable of, the big wigs over at HQ want a Daeus Arm in your hands and you out in the field as soon as possible. I admit, I... was also a bit eager to get things moving along.” His bitter smile fell into a frown, “But Miss Muffins is right, this situation isn't exactly ideal.”
“So the execs are looking for a field test and they want it done now,” Sunset chimed in. She sat on the notion for a second, then gave a casual shrug and looked over to me, “can't really blame them honestly.”
“To be honest, I can't either,” I admitted reluctantly, “but even then, I still don't see why they have to push ahead so recklessly. Haste makes waste and all that, right? We both heard Derpy mention something about safety issues.”
I didn't say it out loud, but I really didn't feel good about wielding a potentially unstable Daeus Arm. If Derpy really was as good at her job as I suspected she was, then I had little to worry about. At the same time though, I'd never seen her work, nor had I used one of her creations before. I expected quality, but given the circumstances, I couldn't be sure I'd get it.
“Yeah, we get that, but the top brass aren't thinking about the matter the way we are,” Sunset replied seriously, “It's like this: Even though we pretty much developed all the tech keeping the Avidaeos at bay, us ponies have fallen way behind the other races over the years in terms of just about everything.”
Sunset wasn't wrong about that, no matter how much I wished she was. Ponies were the pioneers of anti-Avidaeos technology, but for whatever reason we'd hit that proverbial wall. Our research had stagnated after the first Daeus Arms were developed.
Once we spread the knowledge to the other surviving races around the world, we found out too late that the majority of them had some unexpected advantages over us ponies. Equestria had been a massive hegemony during the Age of War and the Age of Peace, but here in the Age of Ruin, both the changelings and the dragons now vied for the most powerful nation.
The changelings had far and away the most Daeus Hunters to throw at the Avidaeos thanks to their perfect Daeification compatibility. If that weren't enough, the unified consciousness unique to their race allowed them to coordinate and communicate on a level no other race could match.
They'd also had the ability to shapeshift at one point by consuming the positive emotions of other creatures. It was frightening to think about, but thankfully, that ability had supposedly been magically sealed across the entire race as part of the treaty that had ended the Age of War.
Being the emotivores that they were, I wasn't sure how they were managing their food situation, but they'd clearly found a solution of some kind. They were probably the only nation that could be considered truly thriving in this Avidaeos ridden wasteland. Ultimately, it was the changelings that were effectively leading the charge against the monsters plaguing our world.
Ironic given they'd once been the most reviled race in each and every other nation. Oh, how the tables turn. I'd have laughed if it wasn't all so sad.
And then there were the dragons with their physical might and abundance of high quality resources. They were the the most lacking in population, but they more than made up for that in the sheer power of their Daeus Arms, strongholds, and Hunters. Between the Badlands' numbers and the Dragonlands' power, Equestria just couldn't compare. Not anymore.
From the strength of our Daeus Hunters to the quality of our resources and equipment, we could no longer keep up. The griffons, minotaurs, and kirins weren't as powerful as the changelings or dragons, but they all had their own unique strengths too. It was only in the last two decades or so that we finally managed to make a few new innovations.
Not when we have to sacrifice pretty much everything that makes us ponies just for a fighting chance. I've never really thought much about it, but compared to the other races, we really got a raw deal here...
“If your bias factor could somehow be replicated, we might finally have a chance to catch up with the other nations.” Sunset continued as if in response to my despressing thoughts. “They don't want to waste this opportunity because they already know the research needed to duplicate your bias factor will take time. The sooner we get started, the better.”
“Could they even do that? Replicate Twilight's bias factor, I mean,” Derpy asked, casting a worried look my way, “and even if they could, what would happen to her in the process?”
“I'd very much like to know that myself,” I added, mirroring the other mare's expression.
I wasn't entirely familiar with how such a process would work or if was even possible. This was more Sunset's territory than mine, so I turned to ask her. Before I could ask though, Doctor Whooves interjected with his own answer instead.
“It has been done before, yes, though very rarely,” he explained with a somewhat conflicted frown, “the process is incredibly lengthy and invasive—horribly dangerous too without a comprehensive understanding of how the bias factor in question functions and what it's capable of.”
At my horrified expression the Doctor raised his hands placatingly. “Th-that said, the procedure does require the full consent of the, ah... patient—”
“Test subject,” Sunset corrected with a grim smile.
“Patient,” Doctor Whooves repeated with an unamused scowl, “we're scientists, Miss Shimmer, not barbarians. While it is true that things were done... differently once upon a time, the President herself has since put laws into place to protect the patient and their interests.”
“Except where the conscription clause is concerned,” I pointed out somewhat bitterly, “I can't think of a more invasive process than Daeification, and I had no choice in taking part in that.”
“Yes, well,” the Doctor cleared his throat awkwardly, “unfortunately, there's always exceptions. The laws where Daeus Hunters and Daeification are concerned were based upon the military centric mandates of old. Considering we're essentially in a constant state of war, such military drafts are unavoidable.”
“I suppose so,” I replied after a moment. I wasn't fully convinced, but I decided to move on, “but getting back to that bias factor replication procedure. Are you sure they'd just let me choose? I know full well what my abilities could mean for Equestria. Would they seriously just let that go if I decided not to go through with it?”
“They'd have to,” Sunset answered with another shrug, “the President is really strict about laws like that. Oh, they'll try to do everything they can to get you to agree. Some of the more unscrupulous types up top might try to threaten you. Some might try to bribe you. Some might try to guilt you into the procedure, but in the end, if you don't want to do it, you don't have to.”
“Would the President allow them to do all of that?” I asked skeptically.
“Not if she or the Commander-in-Chief found out,” Sunset replied with a wicked smile, “but the thing is, if you're careful and determined enough, you can get around Celestia's authority without her being any the wiser.”
“That's... disconcerting,” I replied with a disturbed grimace.
“That's politics in the workplace,” Sunset shrugged, “not too different from the government variety if you ask me.”
“Twilight, I know you're worried about what Wendigo has planned for you,” Derpy said, cutting into the conversation, “I'm not too sure about what to think either if I'm being honest, but we're not gonna get anywhere hemming and hawing about it here.” She gestured to the door that led to her little Daeus Arm sanctuary, “For now, I think it's time we took a look at what this humble engineer has planned for you instead.”
For a moment, Sunset, Doctor Whooves and I all looked at each other. I personally wanted to discuss things a bit more, given that I was more or less at the center of this whole thing. I was the one this all affected the most for better or worse. That said, Derpy was right. We weren't accomplishing anything other than to pile more worries and reservations on top of the ones I already had.
Doctor Whooves must've seen something in my expression but he finally turned to address Derpy. “I think that would be a splendid idea,” he agreed heartily, “even if Miss Sparkle agrees to go through with the procedure, she wouldn't be approached on the matter for quite some time. After all, there's still much to learn about her bias factor and there's also her lack of experience as a Daeus Hunter to consider.”
“Exactly,” Derpy nodded before making her way to the strange display room I still didn't know the name of, “so let's stop the worrying and get this show on the road already. I got a lot to show you and I'm a busy mare.”
“Fair enough,” Sunset added. To my surprise, the other researcher turned to head in the opposite direction towards the workshop entrance. “I'll be in the lab if you need me. I'm gonna look over the info we got from Red Heart one more time.”
“You're not coming with?” I asked curiously.
“Why would I?” Sunset shot back, giving me a bemused and annoyed frown over her shoulder, “All I was told to do was bring you here. My job's done and I got better things to do, so I'm out.” With that, the door to the workshop slid open and she slipped out with one last lazy wave behind her, “See ya, Sparky. Be a good girl and do what the engineer says, okay?”
I grumbled a bit at her parting words, but ultimately chose to ignore them. Instead, I followed Derpy and Doctor Whooves into the display room. I asked Derpy about it as we entered and found out that this was partly a display room, but mostly just a sort of secure storage for the more interesting projects she was currently working on.
The first thing I noticed was the absence of the mysterious coffin-like containers I'd seen last time I was here. Derpy, who'd apparently taken note of my curiosity, told me that those projects were more or less complete and had been sent off to Canterlot for a final review and potential approval. That essentially meant we might be getting new types of Daeus Arms in circulation soon.
I surprised myself at how interested I actually was at the news, but Derpy quickly drew me back to the matter at hand. She led me and the Doctor over to another coffin-like metal container, this one presumably holding my new 'New-Type' Daeus Arm. I almost complained that I hadn't gotten a say in the type of weapon I would wield, but then I remembered back to about two weeks ago, just after I'd been given a clean bill of health by Nurse Red Heart.
I'd been checking my emails and remembered getting an email from Derpy herself. She'd brought up my training and had actually asked me about my preferences regarding Daeus Arms. I'd given it a lot of thought at the time and wound up going with the variant scythe as my close range weapon in the end. I still recalled how much the weapon seemed to click with me when I'd used it.
I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted in regards to a shield type. From what I discovered during my disastrous training session, there were three different types of shields. You had your bucklers, which were the smallest model. Then there were the standard mid-sized shields, and finally the bulky tower shields.
I also gave this some thought as well and chose to go with the buckler. Having used the scythe, it felt like something that required a lot of agility and dexterity so I chose to keep my load light. I didn't really have a preference for the design so I left that up to Derpy.
I had also asked Derpy about the arcane staff as a long range option. I had my suspicions, but I wasn't actually sure if the weapon was supposed to be lumped in with the other long range Daeus Arms or not. According to Derpy's reply, the arcane staff was kind of somewhere in the middle, as the head of the staff could be used as a blunt melee weapon in a pinch.
She told me that if I wanted to use both the variant scythe and the arcane staff though, she'd make it work somehow. I didn't want to inconvenience the mare with a complicated request and told her as much, but I never got a response back from her. In the end, I'd totally forgotten about the email until now.
Now though, it all came flooding back to me and I found myself curious about what the pegasus had done. As we stood there in front of the sealed container, I couldn't help but express my concerns about Derpy pushing herself, not just with modifying a unique core, but a unique Daeus Arm to boot. Her response was to wave away my worries.
“Don't worry about it,” she said, “I had more time to work on the Daeus Arm itself and frankly, it was a lot easier than modifying the core I put in there.” She gave me a giddy smile, “And besides, I actually had a lot of fun making this one, so yeah... not a problem in the slightest.”
The Doctor, for his part, watched the proceedings from a distance. Evidently, his role was to simply observe, ask questions, and document the results of my synchronization with the unique core. I wondered aloud if maybe there shouldn't have been another Daeus Hunter nearby in case something went wrong, but Derpy assured me it wouldn't be necessary.
“Alrighty then...” Derpy began, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. A wide grin split her face as she moved around to the right side of the container where a keypad I hadn't noticed before was embedded right into the metal. After she hit several keys there was a loud beep followed by a long hiss.
The lid split down the middle as it rose forward and both sides slowly flipped open to reveal my new Daeus Arm resting within the massive metal container. I wasn't sure what to expect, but even at a glance, the design somehow made sense to me. Having already seen an arcance staff, I could tell right away that the magical weapon was the basis for this Daeus Arm.
Rather than the curved snath of a farmer's scythe, the length of the scythe was straight like a charge spear. The grip along most of the shaft's length was a deep black shade with a matte finish. Further up the length near the blade, I could see a glossy indigo buckler with a strikingly pink outer edge. Its design was simple yet stylish and its contrasting tones were suspiciously familiar.
The small shield was separated into two halves on either side of the shaft and connected by a series of thick, spring-loaded metal hinges. From what I understood, the mechanism that controlled the Daeus Arm's shapeshifting capabilities would allow the shield to snap into place at the center of the shaft as one whole when needed.
That same mechanism housed within it the devour module used to shift the Daeus Arm into its predator form. It would also normally allow a New-Type to swap the blade of a melee Arm for the barrel of a ranged Arm. My Daeus Arm was a bit different in that last regard. In my case, the massive blade of the scythe stretched out on one end, while the head of what would narmally be the arcane staff served as the counterweight on the other side of the shaft.
The full ring I'd seen on the practice staff had been reduced to a half ring made from the same metal as the blade. All five magic orbs were present, though a touch smaller to compensate for the reduced space on the half ring. The large black orb was still there in the middle incased in the same metal and not at all reduced in size. It took up the bulk of the role as a counterweight to the blade.
The metal that made up the scythe's blade shone a deep indigo color that seemed to absorb the light around it. The dark purplish-blue tone faded into a vibrant shade of pink along the blade's reversed edge. I was shocked to see that it was a perfect match for my mane, but then I thought back to my brother and how his long blade was designed around his mane as well.
Maybe it's normal? I don't know, but I'm not complaining.
The blade itself was thick at the base and gradually tapered off into a slight hook at the tip. With the way it curved, the length of the blade was oddly reminiscent of a griffon's talon. I'd always scoffed at how ludicrous and nonsensical Daeus Arms were, and I still held those opinions on the oversized weapons to some extent.
Even with those opinions though, I was able to find a surprisingly large amount of appreciation within me for what Derpy had created. For as fast the mare worked, I could tell she put a lot of care and attention into the design and it showed. The weapon truly was a work of art.
While I was admiring the Daeus Arm and lost in my own thoughts, Derpy took that moment to make her way back over to my side. With a ridiculous flourish and a brilliant smile, the cockeyed engineer gestured to her creation.
“Pretty neat, huh?” she boasted with no small amount of pride. The mare was practically glowing with excitement as she waved a hand toward the weapon, “Twilight Sparkle, I present to you, your new Daeus Arm. I call it... the Witch Talon!”
After a bit of digging on my own, I discovered that Doctor Whooves was right. I really didn't have to subject myself to intrusive experiments regarding my bias factor if I wasn't comfortable with it. While it was a relief to know I had actually had a choice this time around, I hadn't decided whether I'd forego the tests or not. I knew the potential benefits—what it meant to share my bias factor with the rest of ponykind.
I knew how selfish it would be not to let Wendigo examine me and my unique bias factor. That said, the prospect still made me incredibly uncomfortable. Yes, I was a researcher myself, but if anything, that just made my decision all the more difficult. I knew what went into intensive and invasive research, even if experimentation on the equine body wasn't my forte.
Still, I had plenty of time to think about it, so I did my best to put the matter out of my mind for now. Thankfully, it wasn't all that hard to do. In a move I didn't entirely agree with, the higher-ups had decreed that the next two weeks be spent on my Daeus Hunter training. This was different from my original schedule, which had been a week of Daeus Hunter training followed by a week researching what we knew about the Cannibal.
I was also meant to share what I knew about the behavior of various Avidaeos in general. I may not have had any combat experience, but I had plenty of practical knowledge where the Avidaeos were concerned. I'd gained a lot of insight into Hive Cells during and even before my admittedly short career at HQ. I knew how the cell cooperated with one another, how they broke things down, how they themselves broke down, their behavior in certain conditions.
The creatures the Hive Cells would form depended on several factors, including their environment and, more importantly, the kinds of materials they devoured over a certain period of time. The fact that these cells were semi-sentient was troublesome and could allow for a worrying amount of unpredictability. The good news was that, assuming there was no catalyst for evolution or adaptation, Avidaeos were creatures of habit for the most part.
That meant that, in most cases, they were easy to track and, if you knew what you were doing, it was easy to read their movements. Again, this wasn't always the case and there were plenty of outliers that made Daeus Hunting difficult. More often than not, it was these outliers and that ever-present element of unpredictability that caused the most casualties on the battlefield.
One couldn't account for everything, but Hive Cell researchers like myself tried to fill in as many gaps in our knowledge of Avidaeos as possible—or that's what I believed anyway. I still believed that because it was an objective truth, but as I spent the next two weeks learning the ropes within the relative safety of the training room, I realized that Daeus Hunters could also fill in those knowledge gaps through simple observation.
I knew they could, I'd just never actually thought about the scientific implications or applications until now, not really. In fact, I found a lot of my preconceptions about the work of a Daeus Hunter falling away in the face of actual combat. Ever since my brother joined the Daeus Hunters, I'd told myself I respected the profession, and I did. I was finding out, though, that somewhere deep down, I'd been looking down on Daeus Hunters.
I'd somehow convinced myself that researchers were superior simply because we were working to wipe out the cause of this world's monstrous infection, while Daeus Hunters only worked to cure the symptoms. In reality, that entire thought process was ridiculous to begin with. Both roles had their own strengths and were equally vital to our survival.
If anything, it would likely be Daeus Hunters that dealt the final blow to the Avidaeos threat—presumably with a whack from a Daeus Arm of some kind. Now, as I was repeatedly forced to stare down the hungry maw of one Avidaeos after another, I was beginning to gain true respect for what Daeus Hunters did. Yes, the Avidaeos were magical holograms, but they were terrifyingly life-like holograms that could physically harm me.
The Avidaeos thrown at me weren't too vicious and the damage they could do was blunted, but combat training was still a heart-pounding affair. While two weeks wasn't enough time for me to get used to battle, it gradually got easier to prepare myself for it. It helped that I was allowed to use my new Daeus Arm, the Witch Talon, during my sessions. Normally, that was a privilege reserved for those who'd already progressed beyond the rookie stage.
In my case, I had no choice in the matter. Some—like Trixie, probably—would've seen it as special treatment for my talent. Personally, it felt more like I was handicapped and being given an aid to help with a disability. Granted, it was a very nice aid and I appreciated all of Derpy's hard work, but it still drove home the potential danger I posed to other Daeus Hunters and their Arms.
Until I could somehow get a handle on my bias factor, the Witch Talon was a necessity. Of course, with all of that said, I'd be lying if I said the weapon itself didn't utterly fascinate me. When Derpy explained how the Witch Talon worked, I was reminded of why I'd almost walked the path of a magitech engineer at one point in my life.
There were quite a few things about the Daeus Arm that had been modified, but all the important changes lay in the core and the configuration of the mana circuits within. The mana circuits had been converted into mana conduits. Those conduits would channel my own altered mana directly, rather than use the self-replenishing mana source seen in other Daeus Arms.
It was the job of Derpy's modified core to keep the devour module stable while my mana was being channeled. In theory, it would keep the whole Daeus Arm from breaking down and the Hive Cells within from turning on me or dying outright. There were a ton of other little details involved, but that was effectively the gist of how the Witch Talon worked in laypony terms.
We'd all worried about how things would fair, given how little time Derpy had been allowed to work on the core, but thankfully, there'd been little need. The first training session with the Witch Talon had gone off without a hitch—at least, where the Daeus Arm itself was concerned. My first real training session against an attacking target had been a floundering, panic-fueled disaster, but that was beside the point.
The important thing was that the weapon worked as intended for the most part. Over the next two weeks, Derpy made little adjustments and improvements to the core using my observations and the Doctor's notes. She continued to tweak the Daeus Arm until she was satisfied the potentially volatile weapon wouldn't blow up in my face. I had no need to worry about my weapon, but my training was another matter entirely.
My first week had been spent learning battle tactics and putting them into practice through actual combat. My teachers had been many, from Cheerilee, to Applejack, to Bon Bon. Even Lieutenant Spitfire joined in to give me a few pointers. Evidently, this was the same with all recruits, and I can't say I didn't appreciate all the help as somepony who'd never even so much as watched an action movie.
With all that guidance, I was able to go from a bumbling foal on the battlefield to somepony who had at least an inkling of what they were doing. I still bonelessly flopped into bed every night with plenty of new bruises to go along with my marginal improvements, but there was also an unexpected but welcome sense of accomplishment as well.
By the end of my first week, I'd actually managed to take down a decent amount of the smaller Avidaeos on my own, somewhat consistently. But then the next week came, and I was essentially forced to relearn everything I knew. The following week marked the start of my team training sessions with the 1st Unit. Training with the Retaliation Team was an entirely different and far more difficult experience.
I found it surprisingly hard to keep up with their pace. I found myself flustered or thrown off-kilter when I needed to be focused and vigilant more often than not. It didn't help that Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash all worked together like a well-oiled machine. More than once, I'd begun to feel like a useless burden, but I wasn't entirely alone in my struggles.
Fluttershy had, apparently, also taken to the magically projected battlefield once the training room had opened back up. True to her word, she'd chosen to wield the massive blast gun model of the ranged Daeus Arms. Unlike me, who'd been training alone for the first week, Fluttershy had actually spent that same week training alongside Rainbow Dash.
Given their apparent history, I wasn't entirely surprised. What was surprising was that, according to Rainbow and Rarity, Fluttershy was both a terror and a saint with her chosen weapon. Just as promised, Rarity had taken it upon herself to teach Fluttershy about bullet crafting and evidently, Fluttershy had taken to it like a fish to water.
When I got some downtime to speak with my prospective team members, I learned that Fluttershy had a knack for bullet crafting. Initially, she only focused on crafting various types of Heal Bullets, all of which had been absurdly effective in power, efficiency, and range. It wasn't just the efficacy of the bullets, either.
Fluttershy seemed to instinctively know just where to be and when to act whenever a teammate needed healing. In this regard, most would consider the shy pegasus a genius. This was, however, balanced out by an unexpected quirk of her personality that had been unwittingly uncovered by both Rarity and Rainbow Dash.
This particular quirk only manifested in combat and was only uncovered because Rarity convinced the mare to craft more offensive ammunition—according to Rarity herself, anyway. Rainbow Dash had been the first to see the change in Fluttershy during the first training session in which she'd chosen to use offensive bullets.
Fluttershy, it seemed, had some anger issues to work out, and fighting Avidaeos was an incredibly effective way to vent whatever frustrations she'd been hiding all this time. It sounded so far removed from what I knew about the mare that I didn't believe it at first. But then it came time for team training sessions, and I saw for myself just how right Rainbow Dash had been.
The mare was indeed a terror to behold. Any injury sustained by the team was met with all the white-hot fury of a mother defending her precious foals. The complete devastation she unleashed on her foes was frankly horrifying, and just went to show how talented Fluttershy was at crafting powerful bullets. What stopped this from being a boon was the fact that it completely disrupted team tactics and put everypony in danger more often than not.
Seeing this, and being a near victim of it myself, I was uncomfortably reminded of my own disastrous mistake in the training room. Fluttershy's attacks weren't quite as destructive as what I'd done, thankfully, but it was a near thing. I couldn't help but think it might've been better for the pegasus to focus on healing like she'd planned originally. Fluttershy herself must've agreed because that first team training session was the last time she'd used offensive bullets.
And then there was Pinkie.
Pinkie Pie had her own special quirk in that she was completely and utterly insane. I'd known there was something off about the earth pony, but seeing her in action, it all clicked into place. If I had to describe the mare's fighting style with her giant pink boost hammer, I would've called it... bouncy. The mare pinballed across the battlefield at nonsensical speeds, her movement boosted by her jet-propelled Daeus Arm.
She moved so fast, in fact, that I was almost certain her boost hammer had been modified in some way to drastically increase the booster's power output. She was a blur, only stopping briefly as her ludicrous inertia smashed her into Avidaeos, knocking them over, dazing them, or just crushing them into paste outright. All this while giggling to herself like a madmare, her previously springy mane whipping about her face like limp drapery in a tornado.
I had my suspicions, but the madness and sheer bloodlust in her eyes and too-wide smile was far beyond anything I could have expected. It sent shivers down my spine, and if I was being honest, I was more afraid of her than I was of Fluttershy. That said, when the work was done and the battle ended, Pinkie went back to just being Pinkie, as if she hadn't just been whaling on Avidaeos with all the enthusiasm of a psychotic serial killer.
When I pulled Applejack aside to ask about it, she just told me not to worry about it and not to ask. Just like with everything else Pinkie did, it was better not to know. I was more than skeptical, obviously, but Applejack went out of her way to assure me that the pink earth pony was completely harmless... to anything that wasn't an Avidaeos.
There was clearly a story there, and I was sure everypony else knew it, but they also knew better than to pry. In the end, I still had many, many reservations, but I ultimately decided to follow the Captain's advice. Pinkie might've been completely unhinged in combat, but I did notice that she had no problems following orders and coordinating with the rest of the team when necessary.
I'd gotten the hang of group tactics more or less by the end of the second week. Before I knew it, I'd moved into my third and final week of projection room training. According to Applejack, if all went well, there'd be an assessment of everything I'd done and learned until this point at the end of the last week. I wasn't told who'd be reviewing my progress, but if whoever it was found my results satisfactory, I would move on to my final test, so to speak.
It was the same with Fluttershy and, presumably, Vinyl Scratch. I hadn't seen much of Vinyl Scratch in the weeks following my magical mishap in the training room, but I assumed she was doing just fine. Regarding the actual week itself, the training this time around was supposed to be focused around Hive Cell activation, or the burst state as Applejack called it.
The first time I stumbled upon the phenomenon was during my first encounter with the Cannibal. I'd had no idea what was going on back then, not until Nurse Redheart explained it to me later. She'd told me it was a state Daeus Hunters reached during combat when their adrenaline reached a certain threshold. Both the threshold and the effect of this heightened state differed for each creature, and the effect in question was temporary, but it was almost always a boon in battle.
Though I'd experienced this burst state myself a few times during training, I didn't know where my actual threshold lie, nor did I know enough to capitalize on the phenomenon. That was what the final week of training was for, and that's why the training was solo. The way Rarity explained it to me was that the burst state was effectively the “combat mark” to our “cutie mark”, except that it wasn't unique to ponies like cutie marks.
The other difference was that, unlike cutie mark talents, the burst state had to be honed and refined in battle. Because of the unique nature of burst states, it wasn't exactly something that could be taught other than to give a few general tips and advice. I had yet to pinpoint when I'd go into my burst state—to me, it just kind of happened out of nowhere—but I did know the effects.
In my case, I went into a temporary state of hyper-cognition and hyper-awareness. For a short time, I could think and react several orders of magnitude faster than the average Daeus Hunter. It was basically as if time slowed to a crawl, and a few seconds turned into what felt like a few minutes, almost. It was an incredibly useful ability, but, like I said, I didn't exactly know how to make full use of it yet.
Fluttershy also had a useful ability, as it turned out. Evidently, with just a look, the pegasus could somehow disrupt the Hive Cells that constituted the body of an Avidaeos, freezing the beast in place for a precious minute or two. Rainbow Dash had taken to calling it, “The Stare”, and after seeing it in person, I couldn't help but agree with the name.
Fluttershy could affect several Avidaeos at once, as long she could get them to focus on her. The only drawbacks were that she couldn't move while she was pinning the enemy down, and she couldn't quite control when it happened yet. It was a dangerous downside, but if she learned how to control her burst state properly, it could provide some amazing opportunities.
As for the others, once Rainbow Dash got going, she could move so fast she essentially teleported across the battlefield, leaving miniature sonic rainbooms—her terminology, not mine—and afterimages in her wake. By my estimate, when her burst state was active, she was even faster than Nightmare Moon, and not by a small margin either.
Applejack's burst state was as simple, straightforward, and stubborn as her personality. Her overall strength and endurance shot through the roof, allowing her to take far more punishment and dish out far more raw damage than should've been physically possible, even for a Daeus Hunter. The mare basically became an immovable mountain with the striking force of a falling meteorite.
Pinkie Pie was a special case in that she was somehow always in a burst state, from the beginning of the battle right to the very end. The effect of her burst state seemed more esoteric than the others. When I asked Pinkie herself, all she told me was that she was always “right where she needed to be”.
I still wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, but according to Applejack, Pinkie always came out of the fight with the most damage done and the least amount of damage taken. Given how powerful Applejack herself was, that was saying something. I couldn't wrap my head around it, so I chose to just chalk it up to some enigmatic seventh sense.
It was while I was listening to Rarity's explanation of her burst state that I started to suspect there might be more to these burst states than just Hive Cells and adrenaline. Some seemed plausible with how Daeus Hunter bodies worked, like my hyper-cognition and hyper-awareness or Applejack's drastic boost in strength and endurance. But then you had Pinkie's strange seventh sense and Rarity's burst state.
Fluttershy's “Stare” was strange, but that could be explained by her Hive Cells manifesting some internal call-and-response reaction through visual perception. I couldn't properly explain why Pinkie's burst state didn't make any sense, but Rarity was different. Her burst state seemed as simple as Applejack's at first glance. The first part of her burst state gave a drastic increase to her accuracy and dexterity.
That made sense as a sniper, and if that was all it was, then I wouldn't have an issue. It was the second effect of her burst state that completely baffled me. Not only was her accuracy perfect in the truest, most literal sense of the word—no matter the distance or angle of the shot—but the shot itself pierced right through the thick Hive Cell layer to hit the core directly.
In other words, if this were an Ogres and Oubliettes campaign, Rarity would have rolled a Nat 20 for damage with each shot. A shot like that could cripple larger Avidaeos and outright kill the smaller breeds in one hit. And this apparently worked on every single Avidaeos. Armor thickness, wind resistance, distance, ammo type, position. All was ignored for as long as Rarity could hold on to her burst state, which, according to Rarity, was about two shots—three on a good day.
It was an easy enough burst state to understand, if you didn't think about it too hard. The question I had was how her burst state could affect so many external factors. How did the bullet gain such godlike piercing power? Rarity herself confirmed she didn't use any special ammunition outside what she normally carried with her. It was absolutely baffling and utterly fascinating to think about.
It made me wonder about Spike's burst state, but, like Vinyl Scratch, I hadn't seen him much since I woke up in the lab. In any case, I spent the third week doing my best to take advantage of the burst state, but I was having trouble even as the end of the week rolled around. I learned that I had a fairly average threshold for activation, and I was able to use my burst state to avoid attacks, but that was the end of it.
Desperate and frustrated, I went to Applejack again for some more advice, but surprisingly, she directed me to Nurse Redheart. I couldn't help but be a bit skeptical, but then again, the mare had been the one to tell me about Hive Cell activation in the first place. Deciding it couldn't hurt, I took some time to go see her in the infirmary. To my further surprise, she completely understood my plight.
“It's a fairly common problem,” the physician said with a knowing nod, “there are many burst states like yours, easy to use but difficult to master,” she paused and leaned forward in her chair to look me in the eye, “in these cases, I find it's easier to take a step back and think about how your other talents might compliment your ability in combat.”
“You mean like the talent related to my cutie mark?” I asked, then gave her pristine, armletless wrists a bemused glance, “and why do you sound like you've experienced this yourself?”
“I haven't, of course,” Redheart tittered lightly, “but I did study psychology for a time, and I sometimes apply what I learned to my work. In this case, I believe perfecting your burst state is a matter of the mind. Specifically, I believe you need to change how you think about how to use your ability. Shift gears, so to speak.”
“Shift gears, huh?” I muttered, lowering my gaze and giving her words some thought. After a second, I looked back up at the mare, “what would you suggest, then?”
“Well, like I said, think about your other talents and how they could help you,” Redheart replied, “you're not the first to come to me for help about this exact issue, and I'll tell you the same thing I tell to everypony who asks me about how to use their burst state ability.”
She paused, and I leaned forward, eager to hear what she had to say, “...Yes? What did you tell the others?”
“I'm sure you've heard some ponies refer to the burst state as a 'combat mark'?” Redheart asked pointedly. When I nodded, she continued, “Well, oftentimes, the abilities burst states provide are complimented by one's cutie mark talent. It's not always the case, but that should give you a clue as to how to use burst state effectively.” She gestured to me with her clipboard, “Ask yourself, Miss Sparkle, how can I use what I know to help me gain an advantage?”
And that was all the mare had to say on the matter. I mulled over her words as I left the infirmary, and it didn't take me long to realize the solution to my problem. It was such an easy solution, in fact, that I felt stupid for not realizing it sooner. I had no easy solutions in regard to controlling my burst state—that I would need to learn the hard way—but in terms of taking advantage of that brief window of opportunity, I already had everything I needed.
Just like Nurse Redheart said, it was a matter of the mind. Specifically, for me, it was a matter of knowledge. It might not have been as extensive as Vinyl Scratch or her grandfather, but I'd done plenty of research regarding the Avidaeos. Their abilities, their habitats, their tendencies, and most importantly, where, when, and how they were vulnerable.
I was a researcher, so I'd fight like a researcher. I'd reference, observe, test, and apply everything I knew to take down the enemy. After all, that was the whole reason I'd chosen to become a Hive Cell researcher. I could never fight the Avidaeos directly like my father or brother, so I would battle them the only way I knew how: Through science. Through understanding.
Knowledge is power, and I would use that power to crush the Avidaeos.
The only thing that changed was that I'd obtained the ability to fight the Avidaeos head on. That didn't mean I had to give up on the scientific method. I just needed to tweak it a bit for combat purposes, and I was confident I could do that much. I'm sure Fluttershy and Vinyl Scratch would do just fine. The former mare was turning out to be a promising Daeus Hunter in her own right.
If she could just put a lid on that temper of hers when using offensive ammunition, Fluttershy would probably be unstoppable. I had high hopes for both her and Vinyl, but in the meantime, I had to focus on what I could do. With only two days left of projection room training, I didn't have a lot of time, but now that I knew what to do, all the worry tearing me up seemed to fade away. I even felt a bit excited now that I was looking at this from a different angle.
Anxiety?
How could I possibly be anxious when there was science to be done?
Four days had passed since my final week of training. My assessment had been handed down by Lt. Spitfire, and I'd been found... acceptable. My performance during those three weeks of training in the projection room hadn't exactly been outstanding—I could admit that much—but it hadn't been terrible either. According to Spitfire, I'd performed about as well as any average recruit possibly could.
Meaning my performance overall was good, but ultimately nothing to write home about...
While I was happy enough to have passed the initial assessment, I couldn't help the slight bitterness that bubbled up in my chest at the news. I wanted to believe such irritation at my results was beneath me—that I wasn't such a prideful mare, but after a bit of self-reflection, I realized that wasn't true at all. I had my pride, but that pride was usually wrapped up in my academic pursuits.
I'd always strived to come out on top when it came to education. It didn't take me long to realize that this blow to my pride came from that same place. Sure, Daeus Hunter training was a different kind of education than I was used to, but it was still education at the end of the day. I'd gotten to use my magic a bit during training and by the end of the third week, the cat was out of the proverbial bag about my bias faction by now, but even with that, I couldn't scrounge up more than a "good but not great" assessment.
It hurt, honestly, and I couldn't help but sulk for most of the day when I finally got my assessment. All the looks and whispers about my bias factor didn't help matters, and Trixie was especially insufferable about the whole thing. I should've been glad that the information embargo on my bias factor was finally lifted. I didn't like having to keep it a secret and should've been relieved that it was all out in the open, but whenever I thought about Trixie's smug face and the vindicated look she kept throwing my way whenever we saw each other, I couldn't help but growl in frustration.
That's to say nothing of the endless pestering about my bias factor...
Still, I did my best to ignore the nosy mare and focus on my upcoming final test. To nopony's surprise, it was a field test. The very same field test all the higher-ups in Wendigo were looking forward to. The test in question, much to my surprise, included not just myself, but the three other recruits who'd joined at the same time I did. That meant I'd be in a small squad including Fluttershy, Vinyl Scratch, and Seeker—the quiet, surly-looking stallion whom I'd almost forgotten about by this point.
From what I understood, we'd be working as a combat squad under a veteran Hunter, the name of which had been conspicuously left out of the mission statement. I found that strange, but didn't pay the oddity too much attention, figuring it was probably going to be Lt. Spitfire. The mission itself was a simple one: Take out a roaming pack of Kali-Gali near Appleloosa before they reached the small desert town. Kali-Gali were relatively weak individually speaking.
Take an ostrich, give it red-brown scales instead of feathers, the head of a crocodile, and make it morbidly obese and twice the size of your average pony, and you have a Kali-Gali. I'd fought quite a few of the monsters in training and had been told they were some of the most common types of Avidaeos you could find around Equestria. They weren't terribly fast or strong compared to most other Avidaeos, but they usually made up for that in sheer numbers.
They hunted in large packs, and the key to taking them out was to separate them and pick them off. It was actually a lot easier to do than it sounded from my experience, as the creatures were as dumb as rocks. In short, Wendigo deemed this the perfect mission to truly test our skills and teamwork out in the field, and I agreed for the most part. Together, we were to take one of the armored VTOL tilt-rotor aircraft and head out to a desert canyon just west of Appleloosa where the pack of Kali-Gali were last spotted.
From there it would be a simple extermination mission. We drop in, take out the threat, and return to base once we've made sure there are no more Avidaeos in the surrounding area. It certainly sounded simple enough, but there was always room for something to go horribly wrong—especially in this line of work. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a nervous wreck at the prospect of being thrown into live combat, but at the very least I wasn't alone like I'd initially feared I'd be.
I'd seen Fluttershy often enough in the last couple of weeks, but I was looking forward to seeing Vinyl Scratch again after what felt like ages. I knew she was off doing her own training with her new team, and she had her own friends to hang out with now, I was sure. We hadn't spoken all that much in truth, and I hardly knew her, but as I took the elevator to the roof of the main building where the VTOL aircraft and our team captain for this mission were presumably waiting, I found myself missing the mare and her easygoing attitude.
Seeker... was a different story.
I knew nothing about the stallion, hadn't seen him since we helped Sunset with her work in the slums, and had almost forgotten about him completely. The impression I had of him wasn't exactly a good one and given how he'd acted so far, I was skeptical of him as a fellow team member. The kindest way I could put his attitude was... unfriendly. He didn't seem like the type who enjoyed working with others, but in the end, we were stuck with him. With that in mind, I resolved to make the best of the situation.
As the elevator reached its destination and began to slow to a stop, I took a deep, calming breath. The doors smoothly slid open and, steeling my nerves and pushing away any uncomfortable thoughts about my mortality, I stepped out onto the roof of the Ponyville Branch's main building. The VTOLs were the first thing I noticed, large as they were. The roof was large enough to fit about four of the helicopter-plane hybrids, but there were only two present.
I'd seen these types of aircraft from afar before, flying over the skies of Canterlot, but up close, they were a lot bigger than I expected. Granted, they weren't the largest air transport vehicles Wendigo had to offer—far from it. What was more surprising to me was just how quiet the thing was despite its bulk. I was only a few dozen steps away from the nearest VTOL aircraft—model name Fenrir Mk2 if I recalled—and the engines of the sleek cyan and midnight blue craft barely made a sound.
There was a sort of high-pitched hum coming from the aircraft as it remained on standby, but it was muted, and I could easily hear my name being called from nearby. That brought my attention to the small gathering in front of the VTOL. It turned out I was somehow the last to arrive, as I saw Fluttershy, Vinyl, and Seeker already present and accounted for. Though, that I was last wasn't technically true, as I didn't see any sign of our would-be team captain anywhere.
I figured either they were waiting in the hybrid copter, or they simply hadn't shown up yet. If it was a case of the latter, I hadn't seen anypony who looked like they were headed in the same direction. It was curious, but ultimately nothing to worry too much about, so I focused instead on greeting my teammates for this mission. Vinyl Scratch had been the one to call out, her hand raised in a lazy wave and her violet shades glinting in the morning sunlight.
I hadn't expected the Wendigo uniform to suit the mare, but she pulled it off fairly well. She wore the dark blue military jacket open, exposing the black utilitarian blouse beneath. It was simple, but somehow she made it look stylish. It might've been the headphones hung around her neck, but she looked good. On either side of the unicorn was a nervous-looking Fluttershy, who gave me a friendly if somewhat strained smile as I caught her eye, and Seeker, who just gave me an impatient glance before looking away in clear disinterest.
Hasn't changed a bit, I see...
I noticed none of the group carrying their Daeus Arms, but from what I understood, the mechanical monstrosities had already been loaded onto the hybrid copter, including mine. I didn't see our team captain either, but I figured they either hadn't shown up yet or were already in the aircraft waiting for us. Setting the matter aside, I let a friendly smile cross my face as I returned Vinyl's wave.
I exchanged a few long overdue pleasantries with Vinyl, filling her in on what I'd been up to for the past month or so. She'd already heard about what happened in the training room and, just like everypony else, had also been made aware of my bias factor. The mare didn't ask too many questions, thankfully, and just seemed to accept my situation for what it was. In return, she told me about her time training with her old friend Octavia and the rest of the Defense Team under Captain Sweetie Drops.
Apparently, the Defense Team, or the 2nd Unit, was a good deal larger than the Retaliation Team and also included the likes of Seeker. I'd found out that Trixie, much to my surprise and chagrin, was part of the 3rd Unit, or the Research Team. I actually didn't know who the captain of the Research Team was, but I'd heard a rumor that it had once been Director Mare, back when she'd just been Mayor Mare.
So... Captain Mare?
The thought made me chuckle a bit. Setting my private amusement aside, I turned to regard Fluttershy, who'd been content to listen to me and Vinyl chat. Before I could ask her how she'd been since I last saw her, I heard the tell-tale ding of the elevator doors opening and turned just in time to see not one, but two figures step out—both of which caught me completely off-guard. The first, to my utter surprise and confusion, was Spike of all creatures. The other was far more shocking, as it was none other than—
"Sh-Shiny?!"
I failed to stifle my bewildered outburst as my dear older brother approached our little group, his stride purposeful and his expression resolutely even. He certainly looked every bit the professional soldier he technically was with his stiff posture and clean and pressed Wendigo uniform, but I knew my brother. Beneath that aloof professionalism, I could see the clear twinkle of amusement at my expense in his cerulean eyes—though it faded quickly as he spoke.
"That's Captain Armor to you, recruit," he replied in a firm tone as he stopped in front of us, Spike stopping awkwardly beside him, "siblings though we may be, I've come from Canterlot to this branch to act as your commanding officer for this mission and that being the case, I expect to be addressed properly."
"Yessir!" Vinyl was the first to reply, giving the stallion a stiff salute that did nothing to take away from her lazy smile, "It's an honor to have you leading the team, Captain Armor, sir!"
Fluttershy, seemingly unsure what else to do, quickly followed suit with a flustered and slightly shaky salute of her own. Seeker silently did the same, but his salute was textbook and his expression blandly neutral. Shining Armor gave a satisfied nod in response before turning back to me with an expectant look and it wasn't until I felt Vinyl nudge me in the ribs that I realized I hadn't said anything.
I'd still been trying to wrap my head around this unforeseen turn of events, but at Vinyl's prodding I gathered myself and frowned at my brother before finally answering."With all due respect, what are you doing here... sir?" I asked. I decided to play along, knowing it wouldn't do any good to argue the point when Shining got like this. "I mean why did you of all ponies take on the role of acting captain? What about Lieutenant Spitfire?"
It wasn't like I wasn't happy to see my brother again, but at the same time, I didn't exactly find the circumstances ideal. For one thing, I'd seen Shining Armor act like this before and, maybe it was because it was so far removed from how he normally was when around me, but his professional commander persona had always irked me. And then there was what I'd learned about the almost fatally low success rate of his Daeification process.
I had several things I wanted to say to and ask Shining Armor, but now wasn't the time and that annoyed me even more. Still, I chose to push my irritation down as best I could and ask the obvious question, to which my brother nodded in understanding. Rather than answer my question immediately, he gestured to the VTOL behind us and replied, "Any and all questions can and will be answered once we're onboard. We're running behind schedule as it is."
My frown deepened slightly, but I didn't argue. Instead, with a sharp command from my brother, we all boarded the surprisingly spacious VTOL. I gave Spike a questioning look as we stepped onto the aircraft, but the drakeling just gave me a helpless shrug and a look that said I'll explain later. Resigning myself to wait for my answers, I took a look around the VTOL. The interior of the hybrid helicopter was a harmonious fusion of utility and comfort.
The aircraft was easily large enough to accommodate our relatively small squad, and the seats in the passenger compartment were rugged but comfortable. There was a narrow door at the front and back of the compartment, one leading to the weapons storage area and the other to the cockpit where our pilot was presumably waiting for the okay to liftoff. There was enough space overall that the passenger compartment felt more like some kind of small waiting room rather than a cramped flying machine.
All in all, I couldn't help but be impressed as I took my seat along with everypony else. After everypony had buckled in and gotten comfortable, Shining spoke into his earpiece to give the pilot the go-ahead to take off. The soft hum of the engine grew a little louder and the vehicle shook lightly as it began its slow ascent. I got one last glimpse of the building roof falling away from us before the gull-wing doors on either side of the VTOL swung shut with a hiss and a heavy click.
It occurred to me then that this was the first time I'd been in any kind of flying vehicle, let alone a military transport plane. The experience was a novel one, but I had no time to dwell on it before Shining Armor spoke again, once again all business and military discipline as he looked at each of us in turn.
"Now then," he began, "for those of you who don't know me, my name is Shining Armor, captain of the Defense Team in Canterlot and, as mentioned earlier, current acting captain of this squad for the duration of the mission. I'm here to make sure things don't go south but what I am not here to do is hold your hand. Just like any other Daeus Hunter worth their salt, you'll all be expected to showcase what you've learned over these past few weeks both as individual soldiers and as one cohesive team and me babying you greenhorns is counterproductive to that goal. As for the mission itself..."
He then went on to explain in further detail what we'd be doing during the mission, what we'd be up against, the avidaeos involved, their numbers, where they'd likely be, and the strategy for dealing with them. He also discussed our escape plan if it worse came to worst and had each of us tell him what kind of weapons we used so he could come up with a few more strategies that played to our strengths.
I knew Fluttershy had opted to go with the Blast Gun but I'd heard nothing about what Vinyl or Seeker chose to wield. I learned then that Vinyl had also picked the Blast Gun and, remembering how Seeker had eyed the Variant Scythe during Derpy's Daeus Arms showcase, I expected him to choose the same as me, but he hadn't. Instead, he'd gone with the Boost Hammer of all weapons. I couldn't fault his choice. The weapon was unwieldy and difficult to master, but it was powerful.
I'd seen the Boost Hammer's power first-hand from watching Pinkie, but I did wonder if Seeker could master his own Boost Hammer to such a degree.
Could he become as skillful as Pinkie...? Yeah, no, I highly doubt that. The mare is a monster on the battlefield.
In any case, my thoughts turned elsewhere—specifically to the fact that it was my turn to talk about my weapon. Doubtless Shining Armor had already heard about my situation and as I realized that, I also realized that he hadn't mentioned anything about it. Maybe he just decided now wasn't the time? It was possible, but when it came time for me to talk, Shining Armor spoke first, confirming my suspicions.
"I already got the details of your situation from Muffins and Director Mare," he said. A strange expression crossed his face for a brief instant, like he couldn't decide on brotherly pride or worried sibling. Ultimately, he settled on a sort of resigned professionalism as he continued, "If even half of the reports I've heard are true, the versatility alone will make you a force to be reckoned with out there."
After a few seconds of hesitation, he seemed to come to a decision. Letting his guard down a bit, he offered me a tired, but proud smile. "I'll be counting on you out there, Twily. We all will, so make sure to put your training and that massive brain of yours to good use, yeah?"
His words were as touching as they were embarrassing and his me far harder than I expected. I couldn't help the small smile that crossed my face as I once again realized and lamented just how little I got to see my brother, and how much I missed having him around despite his more irritating qualities.
And just like that, I'm going to be working with him as a Daeus Hunter. Just what kind of turn has my life taken? Seriously...
"I'll do what I can where, when, and however I can, Shining," I replied, doing my best to ignore Fluttershy's soft, understanding smile, Vinyl's teasing smirk, Seeker's odd grimace, and Spike's slightly confused frown, "and no, I'm not going to push myself too hard so don't worry so much, Captain."
Shining Armor, who looked like he was very much about to tell me just that, closed his mouth and shook his head. "So long as you understand," he replied with a nod before looking at everypony else, "and that goes for all of you. If things get bad, don't try to be a hero. Prioritize your life over the mission. We have other Hunters on standby in case we need to pull out before the mission is complete."
And with that said, we all moved on with the discussion. I expected him to drill into us how important it was to follow his commands to the letter, and he did to an extent, but he also told us to use our own judgment when the situation required it. If we felt like Shining was making a stupid decision that might get us all killed, then be respectful, but be honest and say it to his face.
"And that should be it for the details," Shining said as he finished his speech and, once again, looked to each of us in turn, "with that out of the way, I'd be glad to answer any questions you all might have before the mission kicks off. If you've got any of those questions or gripes, now's the time to get them off your chest because we won't get another chance once we're out in the field."
"First question," I replied before anypony else could speak up, "same question I asked earlier. Why were you the one who was sent to Ponyville? Why not have Spitfire be acting captain when she was already here?"
"Lieutenant Spitfire isn't here as it happens," Shining Armor answered, that hint of amusement flashing in his eyes again for a brief instant, "she's just left due to a prior engagement in Vanhoover. My coming here was a request from Director Mare and approved by the Commander-in-Chief herself. In other words, I'm here as a simple, temporary replacement. Nothing more, nothing less."
I gave my brother a skeptical look, but before I could comment on his reasoning, Vinyl Scratch spoke up, her attention on the other unexpected participant.
"Yeah, I got a question," she said, nodding toward the violet dragon sitting next to Shining Armor, "Is our draconic buddy gonna be joining us on this gig?"
"Yeah, I was wondering about that too," I added, turning my focus to Spike and speaking to him directly, "Are you officially being assigned to the Ponville Branch as a full-fledged Daeus Hunter?"
"Well... yes and no," Spike replied, raising one hand to awkwardly scratch at his neck, "technically, I'm still affiliated with the Tiamat Branch back in the Dragonlands, but for the time being, I'm kind of stranded here in Equestria without any real way to get in touch with the Branch and I wanna continue working as a Daeus Hunter, so Director Mare pulled some strings and, well... here I am."
He trailed off with a shrug and a smile that seemed almost sad. It was then that I remembered the short conversation Spike and I had all those days ago during Pinkie's welcome party—how he'd arrived here in Equestria. I felt a pang of pity for the drakeling and a coincidental glance in Fluttershy's direction revealed the mare giving Spike a look that showed she shared the sentiment, much to my surprise. Still, I had other questions so I moved on.
"Doesn't each Wendigo Branch have ways to communicate cross-country?" I asked with some confusion, "Has Director Mare not tried to get in contact with the Tiamat Branch?"
"No, she has," Spike replied, looking like he'd just bit into something particularly bitter, "but the Tiamat Branch... isn't exactly known for their quick response."
"But... given what happened to you and the transport, shouldn't they—"
"Just... they'll get around to the matter when they get around to it, alright?" Spike interjected with a sharp wave of his claws, "No use worrying about things we can't control. I'm here now. I'm doing my part to help in this moment. That's all that matters."
After a few tense seconds in which Fluttershy and I shared a look, I decided to relent. "Alright, Spike," I finally replied in a gentler tone, "if you say so."
Spike just gave a soft huff in reply and turned his attention to the sky outside one of the windows. I wanted to say more—I really did—but I wasn't so socially inept that I couldn't read the room, and let the matter drop. To my surprise, it was Seeker who picked the conversation back up after a few uncomfortable moments. The stallion had been so quiet I'd forgotten he was even here. To be fair, Fluttershy had been just as quiet, but I considered the mare a friend, and as such, her case was different.
"Forgive me if this sounds rude, Captain," Seeker began, looking Shining Armor over with skeptical eyes, "but if you're the captain of the Defense Team, what makes you think you're qualified for a mission that would, for all intents and purposes, be taken up by the Retaliation Team? Isn't the role of your team normally to fight against the avidaeos on your own turf?"
Shocked by the unexpected disrespect, I started to protest Seeker's words almost out of reflex to defend my brother, but Shining Armor held up a hand to forestall me, all the while keeping his own eyes trained on the bold earth pony stallion. A smile crossed Shining's face but his eyes gleamed with an intensity that told everypony in the compartment that a line had been reached, but not quite crossed. Yet.
"It's fine," Shining replied, his features relaxing a bit as he spoke, "That's a fair question, and Seeker is right. My primary role as captain of the Defense Team is to 'guard the gate', you could say," his smile vanished then, replaced by a stern scowl—one of the sternest I'd seen him make in quite some time, "...that said, I've had more than a few opportunities to do my fair share of hunting out in the field over the years, so rest assured, you'll be in good hands, recruit."
Seeker didn't reply for several seconds, evidently taking a moment to reassess the stallion before him if his expression was anything to go by. Eventually, he nodded once and finally replied, "Fair enough. Thanks for humoring my insolent question, Captain."
"No need for all that," Shining Armor replied with a dismissive wave of his hand, "as I said, it was a fair question to ask... but, Seeker?"
Seeker, who'd started to look away with the same disinterested expression he usually wore, turned his gaze back to my brother, only to flinch as he spotted the danger hidden in Shining's friendly smile. Instinctually, the greenhorn sat a little straighter as he replied, "Yes, Captain?"
"I humored your question because it was a valid concern, but while it is all well good to speak your mind, let's try not to make a habit out of being too bold, alright? This is still technically a military organization at least in part, and the chain of command needs to be respected to some degree—at least while we're on duty."
"Yes, Captain," Seeker repeated with a bit more sincerity in his tone.
I thought back to mine and Vinyl's journey to Ponyville and how casual the atmosphere had been before everything turned sideways. I couldn't help but wonder what had changed since then or if this was simply a different situation than back then. Whatever the case, Shining Armor seemed satisfied and with that, it was Fluttershy's turn to say her piece. If I was being honest, I hadn't expected her to speak at all during the trip, but yet again the bashful pegasus surprised me as she raised a timid hand.
"U-Um, so... I have a question," she said in a small voice. Much like Seeker had, Fluttershy flinched slightly as my brother zeroed in on her, but she found her voice again quickly enough as she continued, "Wh-what do we do if that Cannibal avidaeus shows up during the mission?"
I looked at Fluttershy with a bit of shock. I hadn't even thought about the Cannibal in weeks, let alone considered the possibility that it might show up during our evaluation. The idea gave me more than a bit of pause, but that worry was dispelled somewhat when Shining Armor shook his head.
"An unlikely scenario," he replied before explaining, "Recent reports show the Cannibal is holed up in the Everfree and is rarely seen beyond its edge. Given how far the drop zone is from Ponyville, I highly doubt we'll encounter the beast."
Fluttershy visibly relaxed at that and replied with a barely audible sigh, "Oh... okay then. That's good."
The rest of the trip to the Appleloosan Desert was a relatively quiet affair, but now that Fluttershy had mentioned it, my mind kept wandering back to the Cannibal. Fluttershy might have been relieved to be so far away from the threat of the Cannibal, but I felt differently despite myself. Rather than relief, I found myself feeling almost disappointed. Ever since I saw the dragon-like avidaeus for myself—looked into its fiery and strangely intelligent eyes, I couldn't shake the desire to see it again.
Something was nagging at me, begging me to go seek it out. To try and communicate with it—like it held the answer to some kind of truth or secret I wasn't even aware existed. I wanted to brush off the sentiment as simple scientific curiosity, and to a certain extent that's what it was, but I couldn't deny my suspicion that there was something more to my desire to see the avidaeus again.
